# Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS)



## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

I've read a few posts by @Joshua on here and an article about EMS. It seems it could be a beneficial addition to body building.

This is cheap on groupon right now:

http://www.beurer.com/web/en/product/heart_rate_monitors/weight_management/detail.php?pk=31&id=7694&bek=168&bct=%26nbsp%3B%26gt%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26gt%3B%26nbsp%3BEM35

Ideally you would want a device with separate pads you could adhere to a particular muscle, but I am on a budget and I just wondered if you thought I could get away with using this particular device? I don't know if I could open it up to get to the pads or if I could just wrap it around an area e.g. thigh.

Thanks for reading


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

tbh there **** mate, the best ems you can get is what the nhs give you its iv used a few and the 1 i got of the nhs is the most powerfull, if i was to buy 1 it would be that, i think there £20-30, iv used other brands for bbing etc £60+ and there pathetic dude.


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

stone14 said:


> tbh there **** mate, the best ems you can get is what the nhs give you its iv used a few and the 1 i got of the nhs is the most powerfull, if i was to buy 1 it would be that, i think there £20-30, iv used other brands for bbing etc £60+ and there pathetic dude.


Do you have a link?

Yeah, I read that the electrical stimulation has to be quite powerful to have a desirable effect. The device I posted goes up to "40" but that means f*ck all to someone who's never used their product.


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## Wheyman (Sep 6, 2011)

rectus said:


> Do you have a link?
> 
> Yeah, I read that the electrical stimulation has to be quite powerful to have a desirable effect. The device I posted goes up to "40" but that means f*ck all to someone who's never used their product.


link as all the ones i have tried since my first one have barely contracted the muscle


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

this is what the hospital supply to patients

http://www.tensmachines.co.uk/EASY-TENS-Dual-Channel--Everything-you-need_p_137.html

the one i had from them was a black colour but ithese muse be the new design as mine was quite old

the front sides down and you have 2 knobs to control the wave length and speed so you can tune it to any type of contraction you like


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## corporates (Nov 12, 2006)

I've have one from years ago, has individual pads and you can definetly feel the contractions when turned to whatever your muscles will take. After a while you can feel the heat in your muscles, as well as the pads.

I have not used it in years though as i found it did very little for me.

mine is an elysee electro, same as one in this thread http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/general-conversation/3263-elysee-electro-bodyman-ems-unit.html


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

stone14 said:


> this is what the hospital supply to patients
> 
> http://www.tensmachines.co.uk/EASY-TENS-Dual-Channel--Everything-you-need_p_137.html
> 
> the one i had from them was a black colour but ithese muse be the new design as mine was quite old


Hero. What was the highest setting like?


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

corporates said:


> I've have one from years ago, has individual pads and you can definetly feel the contractions when turned to whatever your muscles will take. After a while you can feel the heat in your muscles, as well as the pads.
> 
> I have not used it in years though as i found it did very little for me.


Well I want to attach a pad to my anus to strengthen it up so stuff stops falling out of it without my permission.


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## corporates (Nov 12, 2006)

rectus said:


> Well I want to attach a pad to my anus to strengthen it up so stuff stops falling out of it without my permission.


I'm sure theres a few people to help you out with that without the need of pads. :lol:


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## chrisch (Mar 11, 2011)

I got this one to help relieve back pain when i shifted two vertebra in my lower back, it was much more powerful than the nhs ones.

Don't know how good it will be for use but can make the muscles contract very strongly. As i say i only used it to relieve the pain.

http://www.bodi-tek.co.uk/exercise-for-life/muscle-toning/elite-2-and-ab-tek-belt.html


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

chrisch said:


> I got this one to help relieve back pain when i shifted two vertebra in my lower back, it was much more powerful than the nhs ones.
> 
> Don't know how good it will be for use but can make the muscles contract very strongly. As i say i only used it to relieve the pain.
> 
> http://www.bodi-tek.co.uk/exercise-for-life/muscle-toning/elite-2-and-ab-tek-belt.html


That looks pro, cheers. Will have to go with Stone's idea though due to financial constraints.


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## ausbuilt (Nov 22, 2010)

these machines, particiularly the NHS one DO work.... and are used to decrease muscle atrophy in patients with spinal injuries etc. However, as you can see by most people in wheel chairs who can no longer voluntarily contract their muscles, even the use of these machines does not prevent quite drastic muscle atrophy over the longer term. They are useless on any muscle which can "bear weight" (i.e legs if you can walk).


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

rectus said:


> Hero. What was the highest setting like?


the tighter your muscle the less you can handle, over a few minutes the muscle relaxes and you can increase to the max, once at the max your muscle will be prity relaxed, i used to use it on my lower back after my opperation and took about 5mins to reach the max, but some muscle with no problems can get to the max straight away.

the muscle contraction cuts the blood supply off the them muscle so this tells the brain your muscle is in a spasm so it relaxes the muscle to improve its blood flow/supply and because a spasm is normally caused by damage to the area it will release hormones to kill the pain and also the tens blocks the nerve pain signals to the brain numbing the pain, but this is only tempo and doesnt have a very long carry over effect once the machine is taken off.

i think there good to warm up and loosen cold stiff muscles pre-training and to give them abit extra work post-training, other than that i cant see you gaining size or strength from it lol, mainly just to relax your muscles and get some blood flowing.

after about 15mins there muscle relaxing effect will be at it max tbh so if you useing for tight or spasmed muscle then 15min max is the time to go off once you reach the max setting you wont get much more from it once the max setting feels like nothing, it will almost feel as if the muscle is numb to the tens effect since its relaxed that much.

to get more out if it past its max you would have to try difrent positions, when i did my lower back once i got to the max setting i would curl up so my lower back was curled to stretch the muscle out, then go the opposite way to arch my back so the contraction was harder, that only gives you a few more mins of feeling then your max out at that aswell.

one guy told me he used to use his tens on his abs after an ab workout and it increased his aching the next day, so it may give you a little bit but but imo wont make any change to your physuqiue in bb'ing terms


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

chrisch said:


> I got this one to help relieve back pain when i shifted two vertebra in my lower back, it was much more powerful than the nhs ones.
> 
> Don't know how good it will be for use but can make the muscles contract very strongly. As i say i only used it to relieve the pain.
> 
> http://www.bodi-tek.co.uk/exercise-for-life/muscle-toning/elite-2-and-ab-tek-belt.html


i bought the 1 below that model from argos and it was crap, total waste of cash, no were near the strength of the nhs 1 which was also less than half the price of the elite, i was soo disapointed, also the fact the elite is dc mains power and the nhs is 1battery, i assumed the dc main power would have more kick but far from it 

if you want a real kick then you need a professional machine with either/and/or inter frag, tens,ems, ultra sound machine with starting preices of £1000-1500 up to £10,000s


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## Mez (Jul 31, 2012)

I use one all the time, and one of those abs belt things. Really helps with my back injury, my company Physio gave it me.

Spend about 8hrs a day being electrocuted, even wear it for work when really in pain. Every one takes the **** when I turn it up to full power to lift something heavy. I feel like ironman though, with all the wires and straps.


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

rectus said:


> That looks pro, cheers. Will have to go with Stone's idea though due to financial constraints.


definatly werth it over the rest imo, i found out paying more doesnt mean you get more power


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

Mez said:


> I use one all the time, and one of those abs belt things. Really helps with my back injury, my company Physio gave it me.
> 
> Spend about 8hrs a day being electrocuted, even wear it for work when really in pain. Every one takes the **** when I turn it up to full power to lift something heavy. I feel like ironman though, with all the wires and straps.


i think thats what there best for imo, injuries to relax spasmed muscles and abit pain releif, not for bodybuilding muscle gain like alot of them advertise, just bs imo


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

stone14 said:


> it may give you a little bit but but imo wont make any change to your physuqiue in bb'ing terms


Good info.

Yeah it's not about making big gains from it, I never would expect that but as body builders we're always looking for that extra push, however little it may be.


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

The self adhesive pads, are they one time use only? That would be bloody expensive if so.


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

rectus said:


> The self adhesive pads, are they one time use only? That would be bloody expensive if so.


no you can keep using till they loose there stick, the doctor told me to keep it moist to get a longer life out of it, he said just lick the pad once when it starts to loose its 'stick' and it defo works for a while, think i got about 3weeks or more out of 1 set of pads, you can buy the pads from asda a set of 2pair for £4-5

also the plastic you peel it off, keep it and re stick it to it once you finish with the pad , the less dust etc etc you get on it the better, and keep it moist, dont soak it, just a normal lick from your tougue is enough lol.


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## rectus (Jan 18, 2012)

stone14 said:


> no you can keep using till they loose there stick, the doctor told me to keep it moist to get a longer life out of it, he said just lick the pad once when it starts to loose its 'stick' and it defo works for a while, think i got about 3weeks or more out of 1 set of pads, you can buy the pads from asda a set of 2pair for £4-5
> 
> also the plastic you peel it off, keep it and re stick it to it once you finish with the pad , the less dust etc etc you get on it the better, and keep it moist, dont soak it, just a normal lick from your tougue is enough lol.


What if you just put the pad on and attach some Sellotape over the top to secure it to your skin?


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## chrisch (Mar 11, 2011)

stone14 said:


> i bought the 1 below that model from argos and it was crap, total waste of cash, no were near the strength of the nhs 1 which was also less than half the price of the elite, i was soo disapointed, also the fact the elite is dc mains power and the nhs is 1battery, i assumed the dc main power would have more kick but far from it
> 
> if you want a real kick then you need a professional machine with either/and/or inter frag, tens,ems, ultra sound machine with starting preices of £1000-1500 up to £10,000s


You may be right i had two different ones off the hospital and there weren't as good but i'm going back 5-6 year now and as i said only used it to relieve pain which it was much better then the pain killers i was given.


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

rectus said:


> What if you just put the pad on and attach some Sellotape over the top to secure it to your skin?


you could if you want did aslong as its flat on your skin, any gaps n you might feel a nip if the elec has to jump from the pad to your skin lol


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## Mez (Jul 31, 2012)

rectus said:


> What if you just put the pad on and attach some Sellotape over the top to secure it to your skin?


As long as you don't put the pads on after using cream/oil/after sun etc they will last months. And smear warm water on them and put in an air tight bag they stay super sticky.

But you can pick the pads up for not much, and cost even less if you know anyone with a disability badge (vat free).


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## andwin37 (Dec 31, 2012)

how does the bodi-tek ems unit compare with the nhs ems? can buy/bid on a bodi-tek ems unit on the bay for about 10-20 pounds?? cheaper than retail price 150-180 pounds, but worth it?? many thanks.


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## Mez (Jul 31, 2012)

andwin37 said:


> how does the bodi-tek ems unit compare with the nhs ems? can buy/bid on a bodi-tek ems unit on the bay for about 10-20 pounds?? cheaper than retail price 150-180 pounds, but worth it?? many thanks.


What do you want it for ?

Pain relief or to build muscle. You can always buy new pads if the unit works.


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## Guest (Jan 1, 2013)

rectus said:


> Well I want to attach a pad to my anus to strengthen it up so stuff stops falling out of it without my permission.


Super glue would be better.


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## bigstee (Nov 15, 2011)

theres a guy im my gym who used it to recover after a tricep injury. said it works great for that.


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## mygym-mytemple (Jun 8, 2012)

I have had a boditec one for years, use for injury recovery helps sometimes.

I wouldn't use for exercise but on full wack it can certainly contract hard. Bruce lee supposedly rated them, so the salesman said!


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## andwin37 (Dec 31, 2012)

ordered the tens ems unit. have used the bodi-tek ems years before so will see how this compares. will report on any progress made with this item. many thanks.


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## latblaster (Oct 26, 2013)

andwin37 said:


> ordered the tens ems unit. have used the bodi-tek ems years before so will see how this compares. will report on any progress made with this item. many thanks.


What are you going to use the device for?


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## andwin37 (Dec 31, 2012)

i'm thinking of putting into practice, ems on calves after long daily walks i already endure for cardio. and will want to observe any vascularity of the arms. once upon a time, had good arm vascularity. lol. in response to input and the OP, the tens machine recommendation was the reason to commit to the purchase. not for gains; to tweak and to aid recovery with muscle stiffness. and also, i have a hernia <left groin> of last year. and am uncomfortable with going repititous on intercostals and abs (gray area). the ems unit is not a replacement for abs training but i am also wanting to avoid pairing a second hernia. diet is strict. deadlifts and strecthing (which i detest) will be by degress my abs trained. welcome input.


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

EMS is damn good, but there are quite big differences in the type of outcome, from small tweaks in electrical frequency.

TENS is good for pain relief and it can in some cases aid with spasming muscles.

J


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