EMS Fitness: What results to expect
WB-EMS is an effective and efficient method of training. It stimulates all the major muscle groups simultaneously. Workouts are short, intense, joint-friendly, and get you stronger quickly. We touched on the subject of what factors play a role in getting results with EMS workouts in this previous blog.
Recommended EMS workout prescription
Our strong recommendation is to do WB-EMS twice per week. This will exceed national weekly strength training recommendations and cover a good portion of aerobic exercise.
Of course, it all depends on what else you are doing during the week. If you are doing Pilates once per week, attending an Orangetheory or similar class, and playing pickleball, I would only recommend maintaining one EMS workout weekly.
EMS Results
We take caliper and circumference measurements of our clients at the start of their program and then every eight sessions to track progress. Calipers allow us to measure body fat at specific locations, and circumference measurements show any increase or decrease in size around the same body parts.
We want to see caliper measurements go down (lose fat), and circumferences in certain areas go up (building muscle) or go down (reducing fat).
How fast can you expect to get results from EMS workouts?
This is embarrassing, but with one of my clients, I kept forgetting to bring my calipers and measuring tape. Three sessions into their program, I finally brought the measuring tools which only left us with five sessions to see any progress. I was a bit worried that this was too few sessions and too little time to see any change, and yet, there was a positive change in every measured area.
So, to answer the initial question, expect some body composition changes within 8 sessions of WB-EMS, and sometimes even sooner.
Does fitness level matter?
Yes, results will vary from person to person, even if they are doing the exact same workout. We see this with our Duo sessions, where typically a wife and husband will work out together, and one loses more fat or gains more muscle than the other. Many factors go into these physiological processes.
What kind of results can I expect within 8 sessions?
On average within 4 weeks clients have lost 3-5% of body fat while reducing abdomen circumference by an average of almost one inch.
Weight loss with EMS, as we covered in previous blogs, depends on many factors. The great thing about EMS fitness is that it helps you get stronger and maintain muscle mass. On average our clients either slightly increased or maintained their arm circumference while losing fat in their triceps. We also found that most people slightly increase their hip circumference (yes, this means their butts got slightly more muscular) while decreasing fat in their thighs.
Even with some human error, the trend has been the same for every client: lose some body fat, while maintaining circumference measurements where muscle can increase. If toning was a real physiological phenomenon, this is exactly what EMS workouts accomplish within a month of training 2 x 20 minutes per week.
We hope to see you soon at our new flagship Costa Mesa EMS studio:
419 E 17th Street, Costa Mesa, CA, 92627.
If you want to try EMS, please book an intro session at our Costa Mesa EMS studio or contact us at info@bodybuzzfit.com.
Conrad
