Jump-start your exercise regime with electricity

14 May 2017 - 02:00 By Claire Keeton
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Electrical muscle stimulation is hailed as the best-kept secret in conditioning, writes Claire Keeton

"Nobody is forcing you to do this?" asks trainer Nigel Williams, kitted out in black and holding an X-Men-type jacket with electric wires protruding from it.

Once he's satisfied I'm not going to be shocked against my will he explains how the jacket will work when I get strapped in and a current runs into my body.

I'm doing a trial of an increasingly popular form of training known as electrical muscle stimulation, during which a machine sends electric impulses into muscle groups, forcing them to contract and work.

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A 20-minute session will not chisel an Adonis physique, but studies overseas have shown muscular benefits to EMS training.

Despite the speed and ease of EMS, it is not a get-fit-quick scheme: it targets muscles — not the heart, like cardio training.

Nor do you lie back and read a book while a machine does the work. Instead, you do lunges, squats and other movements while the current is active.

But back to Williams. He sprays the black jacket until it is wet and, when it is on, he tightens the straps until it fits "like a corset". Then he attaches padded bands to my arms, legs and glutes, pulling them taut.

"Are you ready?" he asks, hand hovering over a dial on a machine, a similar size to a standing scale such as doctors use.

When I assent, he runs electric currents into my muscle groups one at a time, starting with the quad muscles, while I watch the dials light up.

As a precaution, he limits the intensity to my abdomen because it's only two months since my gallbladder was removed.

After he has established a baseline of what's tolerable, he keeps increasing the charge while I follow him through a set of exercises: four seconds with the current on, four seconds off to rest.

The current starts as a gentle tickling, like ants crawling under the skin, but the tempo soon picks up until if feels like a rapid hammering against the muscles.

"One more lunge," he says, just as I exclaim: "Ow, that's sore!"

Smiling, he replies: "Then we'll make it two more."

To be fair, he never pushes me beyond what I'm willing to do and following his instructions keeps my mind off the pain.

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High-intensity training, like skipping fast for 20 minutes, takes you out of your comfort zone, and EMS fits right into that.

Biokineticist Robert Evans, based at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Newlands, Cape Town, confirmed that EMS provides an intense workout in a short time. "EMS has the potential to create muscle contractions that are stronger than the brain can produce on its own," said Evans, who regularly uses EMS for rehabilitation.

In effect, more muscles are recruited and the training impact is larger. But he cautioned that incorrect use could trigger injuries and it was difficult to use without a background in anatomy and physiology.

Johannesburg biokineticist and triathlete Charl Greeff is so enthusiastic about EMS that he has become a supplier to home users.

"EMS is a probably the best-kept secret in conditioning and rehabilitation," said Greeff, who wishes it was approved by the Health Professions Council of South Africa for use in the practice.

Boris and Sandra Leyck, the owners of Bodytec, the biggest EMS provider in South Africa, do not make sweeping claims about EMS even though they look like poster ads for it. They started in 2011 with one studio and now they have 30 across the country, despite the expense. In Europe there are hundreds of EMS studios.

Boris said: "I came from the soccer industry in Germany and had been in sports all my life. I was sceptical about EMS, like everybody else, but when I tried it out for the first time I couldn't walk for days."

A long-distance runner, Sandra said many runners used it for strength and cross-training.

She added: "This is not a miracle machine for weight loss as it depends on the combination of strength, cardio and mainly nutrition or a cellulite programme. All our training is research-based."

Bodytec has loyal members from novices to 85-year-old Nola Rathbone from Sunset Beach, who trains with a champion stand-up paddler. She convinced Boris to let her join at 83 (the maximum advised age is 70) and said: "We must push our boundaries to enjoy our lives. I am much stronger, fitter and walking well without the old pain in my hip."

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Sandra said: "We have a lot of elderly clients and some say it reduces back pain and increases mobility. We have people who are starting out in sports and we see results when they run their first 5km."

Sports scientists warn, however, that people must start slowly with EMS conditioning or risk injury or, in rare cases, medical complications like rhabdomyolysis (a breakdown of muscle tissue that releases a damaging protein into the blood).

An athlete who recovered from a six-month paralysis, in which EMS was part of the rehab, said she felt that the body had a sensitive nerve and electrical system and she would not use EMS for fitness training.

I found that EMS had a harder impact on a wider range of muscles — judging by their unusual stiffness. I rock-climb and cycle and seldom get sore. For example, over Easter I climbed Spitzkoppe peak in Namibia from 5am to 8pm on Saturday and was fine.

Yet following only 20 minutes of EMS, my shoulders and glutes were painful. Walking up stairs to our office was an effort and sitting down was best avoided. It seems I will need more than one session of EMS to power me up into an X-Woman.

sub_head_start The good, the bad and the ugly sub_head_end

The Good: EMS is effective at building muscle, can benefit people aged 60 and older, eases back pain, is easy on the joints and helps soccer players with strength and performance, small studies show. Plus, it is quick: over in 20 minutes.

The Bad: EMS can trigger injuries or aggravate old injuries if used incorrectly. Whole-body EMS may put individuals at risk of rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscle cell breakdown harms the kidneys. Therefore it should not be applied until exhaustion, warns Dr Wolfgang Kemmler and colleagues in recent research.

Individuals with pacemakers cannot try it.

The Ugly: Hobbling around after an EMS session barely able to lift your coffee cup.

keetonc@sundaytimes.co.za

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