Short answer no, longer answer yes…but with a few catches.
Electromagnetic Muscle Stimulation, or EMS, is the process of toning muscles through electronic stimulation. it has a rich history of success and notable failures, including being partially blamed (unfairly) for the death of martial arts legend Bruce Lee (it’s actually a very interesting story if you’re up for a Google).
The most important point is this – EMS works. It has been proven that electronic stimulation of muscles fools the body into thinking it’s exercising and produces a similar result.
Similar, not the same.
It’s like when you go to the gym: your muscles respond to the exercises you perform based on a number of factors. These include how long you train for, the nature of the exercise (weights, running on a treadmill, pilates etc) and results become apparent over a period of time. However, as we have all experienced, just because one person exercises a certain way doesn’t mean that those results can be duplicated by another person. We all have unique characteristics that create virtually limitless variables in the exercise/results formula.
Additionally, direct electronic stimulation of the muscles isn’t an entire workout – it just recreates one component of exercise.
But, it can make a significant difference
While EMS is not a replacement for exercise, it does give your clients a method to get rid of those pesky “last few kilograms.” The real strength of EMS is that it can target problem areas with a specificity that exercise alone simply cannot offer.
You know that client who goes to boot camp every morning, cycles to work and eats only low-fat organic food? The one who says, “I just wish I could get rid of this,” and grabs a small amount of excess fat on their stomach. EMS is a perfect and powerful solution to their problem. Personal trainers have been telling their clients for years that weight loss happens all over the body, and it’s difficult to target a particular area – which is true. But EMS’s can, because it isn’t normal exercise and other muscle groups aren’t becoming exhausted and mental strength is not a factor.
It’s part of a solution, not the whole solution.
EMS is a fantastic aesthetic solution for the right client. When combined with fat freezing and HIFU it is the ideal “summer body ready” solution for those who have been working hard over winter. Is it a replacement for exercise and a healthy diet? Absolutely not – but it is certainly an unfair advantage for your clients.
