GET THE BODY YOU WANT FASTER THAN EVER
We use electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) as an efficient method for high-intensity workouts of short duration. The system stimulates nearly all your muscles with low-frequency electric pulses. EMS is the latest trend of our time and gives you the most effective and easiest whole body workout in the world.
Whether your goal is explosive strength, endurance, anti-cellulitis or body relaxation: EMS makes your training program that much more efficient in the shortest period of time. In just one 30-minute training session, you can achieve results of up to 18x more effective than traditional training without electrical muscle stimulation.
In everyday life, your body stimulates muscles naturally by sending bio-electrical pulses down the spinal cord and into your nerve fibers. Muscles need this stimulation in order to move.
Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is nothing more than an amplification of the body’s own electrical pulses. The extra stimulus causes your muscles to contract more and work harder.
Combining EMS with exercise is a very targeted way of super-charging the effects of your workout. Deep muscles are stimulated far more effectively than through conventional exercise alone, making every move stronger and delivering visible improvements more quickly.
We all have two types of muscle fibre - slow-twitch and fast-twitch. Understanding how each of these works, is the key to ensuring a workout that will really get results.
Slow-twitch muscle fibers support endurance activities like walking, swimming and cycling. These fibers are always stimulated first during exercise. They contract slowly so they can keep moving for a long time without getting tired.
Fast-twitch fibers support quick, powerful movements, like jumping or sprinting. They contract quickly, consume a lot of energy (in other words - they burn fat!) and deliver the strength and power you need to spring into action.
To improve your overall strength, fitness and body tone, it’s important to flex both types of muscle fibre. EMS specifically targets those harder to reach fast-twitch fibers, boosting the effects of your workout.
During an EMS training session at Fit collective, we can configure a wide range of training parameters to suit your individual needs. However, an important difference to other forms of exercise is that we are able to activate ALL of the muscle groups simultaneously. This makes a Fit collective workout much more time-efficient than conventional strength training or gym sessions, which typically only work a few muscle groups at a time.
EMS training has also a quick and deep-acting tightening effect on all the core muscle groups. That means you can achieve the same strengthening of low-lying muscle fibers that we’d normally associate with Yoga or Pilates exercise, without any of the time-consuming holding moves (e.g plank).
EMS has been applied for many years in the fields of physiotherapy and competitive sports. The training intensity comes from gentle electrical stimulation, not heavy loads (such as weights/dumbbells), so EMS training puts no additional strain on joints or ligaments.
It has been scientifically proven that EMS training achieves better results than conventional exercise and can help improve your strength, body shape and stamina in a number of ways:
Typically, when you train at the gym (or other similar exercise), you will only use between 40 - 70% of your strength potential. EMS improves how your muscles work together and increases the intensity of your muscle contractions, enabling your body to use up to 90% of it’s potential - achieving more, in a shorter time.
The extra stimulation given to your muscles during an EMS training session is what leads to an increase in muscle mass. After just a few training sessions, you will typically notice an increase in the size of your chest, arm and leg muscles. Several studies have also demonstrated that EMS is particularly effective at speeding up the muscle re-building process after an operation. (Note: always seek the advice of your surgeon or GP before training after an operation).
EMS promotes a high level of metabolic activity during, and for many hours after, a training session. The higher your metabolism, the better your body will burn fat and build lean muscle mass.
For women, EMS training has been proven to reduce the size of common problem areas, such as around the waist, hips and thighs. At the same time, it will firm up the chest and arms.
For men, EMS training reduces waist size, whilst developing the arm, chest, back and leg muscles.
EMS training promotes the circulation of blood throughout the muscles, which can significantly help to release muscular tension and knots.
In many types of sport, strength has a major impact on performance. EMS training maximizes the capacity and strength of the muscles, as well as correcting the postural imbalances that can impede performance. It is an incredibly useful, and time-efficient, program to run alongside conventional training for sports such as competitive cycling, athletics, football and swimming.
EMS training promotes blood circulation which dramatically helps release muscular tension, contractures and knots.
An imbalance in the postural muscles in the back, tummy and pelvic floor can cause a variety of uncomfortable symptoms, including back pain. You might notice this particularly if you sit at a desk for long periods of time. EMS can specifically target and train these difficult to reach muscle groups, often causing a noticeable reduction in symptoms and an improvement in overall posture and flexibility.
EMS training poses no additional strain. The training intensity does not result from heavy loads, but from electrical stimulation. This is much easier on the joints and musculoskeletal system. During EMS training, the training intensity is generated by electrical stimulation. This enables the user to enjoy gentle training sessions that are easy on the joints, without any extra burden being posed by weights / dumbbells.
EMS is designed to allow for the selective targeting of particular muscle groups. This is especially important if muscular misbalances are to be corrected. Sitting at a desk for extended periods, for example, leads to a shortening of the chest muscles and the simultaneous weakening of the shoulder and back muscles.
During normal every day life your muscles are continuously and naturally being stimulated by bioelectric impulses. It’s what causes your muscles to contract, so you can move.
Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is a method of amplifying this natural process to encourage your muscles to work harder. Extra electrical impulses are delivered to your body through a specially designed training suit containing electrodes. The extra stimulation creates stronger, more intense muscle contractions than from conventional training, making EMS much more effective in developing strength, stamina and improving body shape.
Numerous studies by Erlangen-Nuremberg (2009), the German Sports University of Cologne (2008), and the Heart Clinic in Bad Oeynhausen (2010) have all scientifically proven how effective EMS training is. Research from Bayreuth University in Germany reported the following results after a six-week training program with EMS.
- On average, 85% of people tested saw an improvement in their body shape.
- The higher intensity training produced visible results in terms of enhanced muscle definition and tone.
- Whole body EMS training is up to 40% more intensive than traditional strength training with weights.
- Overall, maximum strength ability increased by 12%.
- Endurance and fitness levels improved by 69%.
EMS training has been used for several decades in physiotherapy, medicine and competitive sports.
It is mainly used to correct muscular imbalances, relieve back pain, strengthen pelvic floor muscles and improve circulation. Because impulses are transmitted directly onto the muscles, bypassing the joints entirely, there is no impact on ligaments or joints. That’s why EMS is commonly used to repair and strengthen muscles and joints for people who are recovering from injury.
The built-in electrodes used during EMS training can stimulate and develop all the muscle groups, or just selected ones, so the ’weaker links’ of the body can be strengthened. In professional sports, EMS training is also used to optimize the stimulation of core muscles to help improve power and performance.
With EMS training, electrodes are placed directly on the body, which means all the impulses reach their target and stimulate the required muscle fibers. This helps to build muscle, resulting in improved body shape, stamina and strength. It also speeds up your metabolism, which is key in transforming the way your body uses calories. This makes it an effective tool for reducing body fat and losing weight.
By training at a Fit collective gym , you’ll burn up to 700 calories each time you train, compared to an average of 400 calories with conventional training. EMS training also improves circulation and encourages a better blood supply to the tissues beside the muscles, which is the most effective way of reducing cellulite.
A person with a medium build, eating a healthy diet and doing one 30-minute EMS workout at Fit collective each week can expect to reduce their body fat by around 4% in the first 6 weeks. Over a 12-week period your body fat ratio could be reduced by up to 10%. (Note: this is only a guideline as everyone is different and trains at different levels of intensity.)
Depending on your current level of fitness, EMS training can be used alongside other forms of training and exercise. This has to be managed carefully though, so your Fit collective Personal Trainer will advise you on the best way to use EMS training within your current fitness regime.
Regular, long-term training is just as important for EMS training as it is for conventional exercise. The performance capacity of your muscles can only be maintained if you train regularly. And, just like with conventional power training, if you stop exercising for extended periods of time, your muscles will eventually return to their former (pre-training) state.
During a full body workout with EMS in Fit collective fitness center , over 90% of the muscle fibers are contracted at the same time. Unlike with conventional strength training, the deep-lying muscles are also stimulated. This improves coordination within the muscles themselves and also between different muscle groups, making this form of training particularly intensive and fast. EMS is brilliant for general muscle buildings, but also works wonders when targeting specific areas of the body, such as the buttocks, abdomen or back.
The electrical current is low impulse and completely safe. Whilst the workout sessions can be intense, the actual feeling of the current is gentle and non-invasive. Our personal trainers will tailor your routine so you won’t be stretched beyond your personal capabilities.
No. Training or therapy with low frequency electrical stimulation does not pose any danger whatsoever. This is because our muscles are continuously working with the help of natural electrical impulses all the time anyway. When you’re training with EMS, these impulses are simply amplified.
The major advantage to EMS training is that, unlike conventional training, there is no additional strain on the joints. The electric impulses work on the muscles directly, so there is no pressure on the joints ensuring they cannot be over-worked (as can often happen with weight training).
Even if you’ve never stepped foot into a gym before, you can quickly achieve visible results by training with EMS for 30 minutes a week. It is a form of full body workout that can be used by almost anyone over the age of 18. Note: EMS training is not advisable for certain groups who should not be exposed to physical stress or engage in sports. This includes, people with acute febrile diseases, circulatory disorders and anyone with a heart pacemaker. If you’re pregnant, you are also not able to train with EMS. If you’re unsure, speak to your GP for advice.
EMS training with Fit collective is a high intensity training session and it is therefore important to have a sustainable meal (carbohydrate and protein-based) 2 to 3 hours before training. We also recommend drinking at least 500ml water an hour before training to ensure proper hydration. Avoid heavy, starch-based meals and sugary or carbonated drinks before your EMS training session.
Conventional training - such as a session at the gym or an exercise class - requires about 60-90 minutes, at least twice a week to deliver visible results. This quickly adds up to around 3 hours of training each week. By comparison, a single 30 minute session at Fit collective every week can make a big difference to your body shape and metabolism, even when you’re working towards very ambitious body goals. So, on average, you could save 2.5 hours a week by training with EMS instead of other traditional methods.
You’ll feel a difference after your first EMS training session. As your body releases endorphins and as most major muscle groups in your body have been activated, you will experience increased physical awareness, resulting in an improved posture. After a day or two, you’ll feel some muscle stiffness, which is normal and is indicative of your body’s recovery process. Within a period of about 4 weeks, you’ll feel stronger and different muscles will improve to coordinate movements more effectively.
After roughly 6 to 8 sessions (6 to 8 weeks) you will not only feel, but also see a visible difference from the EMS training in the form of gradually increased muscle formation and a possible reduction in body fat (depending on your diet). As with conventional training, EMS training should be done regularly to ensure and maintain optimal results.