Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation, is a protocol that elicits a muscle contraction using electrical impulses that directly stimulate your motor neurons.
WB-EMS, which is also called whole/full-body electrical myostimulation, has emerged as the evolution of traditional electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) applied locally, since it is now possible to activate several muscle groups in a synchronised manner as a result of technological development.
This stimulation creates muscle contractions that can be quick and frequent, fast with pauses, or contractions that are held for several seconds at a time.
Normally, it is the body that fires muscles by sending electrical impulses from the brain through the central nervous system (CNS). But an EMS device allows to engage in deep, intense, and complete muscular contractions without actually activating (or stressing) the CNS — not to mention joints and tendons. EMS in particular, is very effective as up to 200 contractions of all skeletal muscles take place in an EMS training session of only 20 minutes.
Though EMS as a whole body movement method is a new and innovative training method, its history has been well documented since the 1950s. Localized electric muscle stimulation has been used for decades in physical therapy to treat various chronic ailments and bring relief to countless patients.
WB-EMS training is applied worldwide by different Health Service providers from Physiotherapists, to GP’s, Rehabilitation Centres, Weight Loss Clinics, Personal Trainers or specialised EMS training Studios.
It is absolutely crucial that an EMS-Training session takes place under the supervision of a trained professional. EMS training has been growing as a category for over 5 years now in New Zealand.