EMS Fitness and Muscle Activation
Do EMS workouts really work?
This is a very common question, and I myself was very skeptical at first.
I was sold after my first session.
The glutes are a muscle that is difficult to activate properly, especially for people that spend most of their time sitting. In my case, I had just spent the previous four years sitting for prolonged periods of time reading and writing papers for my Master’s degree and had taken a job managing private gyms in commercial buildings, which meant sitting for most of the day. I started experiencing all the aches and pains that my clients who had office jobs were dealing with.
Forward head, wrist pain, tight forearms, lower back pain, nagging knee pain, and so on. I was a victim of all the ailments I had been helping my clients treat through exercise.
I also noticed I couldn’t just go straight into squatting or deadlifting. I, like my personal training clients, also needed to activate my glutes before each workout. If you’ve ever done physical therapy or worked with a personal trainer you’re probably familiar with glute bridges, clamshells, and all their variations, sometimes including mini-bands.
When I first heard about EMS fitness, I was very skeptical, but one session later, I was convinced of how effective it was. My glutes were sore for five days. It was the worst glute soreness I had ever experienced. To be clear, this is not how we at Bodybuzz conduct a client’s first EMS workout. This studio knew I was a personal trainer and I suspect they were trying to impress me a bit. They succeeded. Also, soreness is not a good indication of how effective a workout is, but feeling that my glutes had been worked out without any specific activations was a pleasant surprise.
Activating “dormant” muscles takes up a chunk of most personal training sessions and is usually a big portion of physical therapy homework. The fact that EMS workouts can activate these muscles without requiring any time allocation is yet another incredible benefit.
You sometimes hear the terms “dead butt syndrome”, “gluteal amnesia” or “sleeping booty” (I made that one up) to describe this issue with the gluteal muscles.
Reactivating your butt muscles is essential for a healthy back and proper biomechanics. EMS fitness will reactivate your butt muscles better than any exercise without it.
When your glutes aren’t working correctly, your hamstrings and lower back muscles will kick in to compensate. Over time, your hamstrings and lower back muscles get overworked and start causing issues. Imagine an office with three people. If one employee goes on strike, the other two are going to have to work overtime to compensate for the third employee. In this case the third employee, the glutes, also happen to be the strongest of the three, so there’s even more work for the other two to do.
Electro muscle stimulation can reset this muscle imbalance by providing a lower, more relaxing stimulation for the lower back and hamstrings, and a higher, strengthening stimulation for the glutes.
Short term, the relaxation can alleviate some of the lower back pain, and long term this strategy will reverse the imbalance to prevent it from recurring.
What are your favorite glute exercises? Please share.
Email me your answers: conrad@bodybuzzfit.com
Book a 30-minute call with me to see if EMS would be right for you here: https://calendly.com/conradfitness/30min
Conrad
Director of Education and Technology
conrad@bodybuzzfit.com
Bodybuzz
Bodybuzz combines Certified Personal Training with Electrical Muscle Stimulation, giving your body a deeper, safer, and more effective workout. 20 minutes twice a week is all it takes!
Our personal trainers will guide you through a custom EMS workout designed specifically for you. Whether you’re looking to build strength, lose weight, get toned, or recover from an injury or illness, we offer a safe, low-impact solution to help get you there.
EMS has now been FDA-cleared for use in the US and we are proud to be one of the first companies to introduce this technology. It is a full-body workout that uses a special muscle stimulating suit that sends low-level impulses to your major muscle groups to trigger muscle contractions. It’s a unique sensation that is painless and invigorating. EMS workouts are designed to achieve optimal conditioning, burn fat, develop strength, build muscle, tighten skin, combat cellulite, jump-start your metabolism and restore your body’s natural balance.