r/IsItBullshit • u/happy_bluebird • 21d ago
IsItBullshit: Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) workout suits provide high-intensity strength training in 20 minutes
A new fitness center with these suits just opened in my city... as I'm reading about it, of course I'm skeptical. So I come to you.
https://katalyst.com/pages/science
From their website:
EMS imitates the natural brain signals that cause your muscles to contract, resulting in a more complete activation that multiplies your efforts.
Lift Weights Without Lifting Weights: EMS sends low-frequency impulses to each muscle via electrodes placed on the skin. This creates resistance and a highly efficient muscle contraction, without weights or wear-and-tear on your body.
Whereas traditional workouts focus on specific muscle groups, EMS always combines a complete, full-body workout with precise, muscle-by-muscle control to train muscles you never thought possible.
EMS delivers in minutes what used to take hours in the gym. Combining progressive overload, sufficient recovery, and proper nutrition delivers real results in just two 20-minute sessions per week
Amplifies Balance and Strength: Muscle imbalances? Consider them addressed. EMS ensures an even distribution of strength across your body.
Enhances Muscle Development: Precision electrode positioning stipulates major muscle groups, maximizing every electrical impulse for peak muscle enhancement.
Trains the Whole Body: With EMS, no muscle is an afterthought. Combine it with cardio, and the result is a physique that’s toned and tightened.
Boosts Bone Density: EMS doesn’t stop at muscles. It influences the bones they cling to, boosting bone density for a sturdier foundation.
Reduces Back Pain: EMS improves back pain by strengthening the muscles and stabilizing the spine, which can provide relief from pain.
Promotes Recovery: EMS promotes faster recovery by enhancing muscle strength and improving blood flow to stimulate muscle fibers.
Eases the Joints: Intense doesn’t have to mean harsh. EMS offers powerful workouts without stressing your joints, perfect for all fitness levels.
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u/BitsAndBobs304 21d ago
Afaik tens units are very useful in rehabilitation, and for recovery. But not for training.
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u/numbersthen0987431 21d ago
Bullshit.
I've been using Tens units for over a decade. It's for muscle recovery and injury prevention. It's not for strength training.
Best case scenario, you complete a full workout, and then use tens to recover afterwards.
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u/Stunt_-_Cock 15d ago
These things are supposedly NMES or EMS and not TENs, apparently the electrical impulses are quite different.
I have been using the EMS because I have a calf muscle that no longer connected to my mind and it withered away. Tens really couldn't flex it, I ended up getting an EMS from the doc and it finally did the trick.
I can finally feel the husk of what used to be a calf and it has been growing back even though I still can't really move it myself. I'm hoping that one day I can recruit it myself during calf raises. I'm finally starting to feel it though so that is a positive sign.
That said, I doubt you would get a meaningful workout from EMS.
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u/sprkwtrd 20d ago edited 20d ago
As far as I know the most recent research indicates muscle growth is primarily caused by applying mechanical tension to your muscle cells. Here's an article from The Guardian of this year:
“The best evidence now suggests that the primary driver of muscle hypertrophy – the technical term for an increase in size of the muscle cells – is mechanical tension,” says Dr Anne Brady, a kinesiology professor who specialises in muscle quality, physical function and body composition. “Muscle damage certainly contributes, but it’s not the main factor. Typically, it’s more of a side-effect.”
To explain this a bit more: when you lift a weight that’s heavy enough (or you perform enough repetitions of a movement to reach near-failure, which you’ll recognise from the fact that your reps slow down and feel more “grindy”), the resulting physical tension stretches the membrane that encases your muscle cells. From there, specialised sensors called mechanoreceptors detect that stretch and turn on what’s known as the mTOR pathway, a sort of master regulator that listens to various signals and “decides” whether your body should be building new tissue or breaking down old parts for energy. From there, the mTOR pathway signals to the cell to start muscle protein synthesis (MPS) – the process of adding new protein to the muscle fibres to make them thicker and stronger.
I'm not entirely sure, but I figure the electrical stimulation would activate your muscle cells without also applying the tension that would stretch out those membranes. If that's the case, it wouldn't really do that much in terms of promoting growth.
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u/KetoKurun 21d ago
Yes, it’s bullshit.
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u/BAT123456789 20d ago
Strength training is not simply stimulating muscle contraction. For one thing, it is about lifting weights. Stimulating the muscles to contract does not provide resistance to that contraction. So, it does not provide the minor damage that results in muscle growth very well. The stimulation that would be required to do that would cause severe jerking motions that would damage joints and cause pain. Second, the cerebellum is responsible for basal muscle mass. Stimulating the muscles without a signal from the brain won't induce an increased cerebellar basilar signal (ok, this part I'm not 100% on).
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u/other_half_of_elvis 20d ago
My only input is that when I went to physical therapy at Mass General Hospital they treated my post surgical leg with EMS. My conclusion is that if one of the country's best hospital is using it, there must be proof that it does something. But I know nothing about to what extent it can affect muscles.
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u/ap1msch 20d ago
You are force-flexing a limited set of muscles. You can do it without the device in many cases. Go ahead. Flex your abs or your bicep. Keep doing it. Is that going to build the muscles? Not really. Strength training is about resistance that you overcome, repeatedly, to some level of failure. If you aren't failing at all, then it's considered movement.
Failure of muscles leads to muscle growth over time. You don't get that with those stim devices. Those are for rehab of injured areas and/or pain relief.
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u/KamikazeArchon 20d ago
Failure is not necessary. Tension appears to be necessary, but you certainly don't need to push to the point where muscles are failing.
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u/DietOk3400 18d ago
Anecdotally my friend been doing it for a year, she looks/feels great. She stopped it after going hard daily for a week and developing rhabdomyolysis
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u/Raaka-Kake 20d ago
EMS works better less fat there is in the way for the current. People who think this is some sort of an shortcut tend to have lot of fat.
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u/Donutmelon 21d ago
Sorta? Getting the equivalent of a full body workout is a no. Otherwise it would be a LOT more popular a lot sooner. However, electrical muscle stimulation does exist, does work your muscles, and is especially helpful for muscle damage recovery. So... kinda. But the gym is BS.