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How Does It Work? Exercising with EMS

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) is used successfully in medical rehabilitation and all levels of sports. Professional athletes all over Europe use EMS as a complement to regular training. EMS produces intense, effective muscle contractions for training, or vibrations for relaxation. Cefar stimulators offer a complete range of sports and fitness training programs that provide sophisticated training.

Normal muscular activity is controlled by the central and peripheral nervous systems, which transmit electrical signals to the muscles. EMS works similarly, except that it uses external electrical impulses transmitted through the skin. They go via the nerves into a specifically targeted muscle, which reacts by contracting just as it does with normal muscular activity.

In sports and fitness, EMS is used for various kinds of muscular exercises, such as:

  • Warm-up
  • Maximum force
  • Resistance force
  • Explosive force
  • Endurance
  • Recovery
  • Capillarization
  • Lipolysis
  • Drainage
  • Firming
  • Toning
  • Sculpting
  • Body building
  • Relaxation

The main objective of EMS is to create muscle contractions or vibrations. Place the electrodes on the muscle you want to activate. Increase the amplitude until the muscle contracts or vibrates, depending on the type of stimulation, (read more under EMS Program Structure). Contractions should be powerful, but not painful. Contractions caused by electrical stimulation are often experienced as more powerful than voluntary contractions. Increase the amplitude gradually.

Make EMS a part of your regular training program by stimulating specific muscles in between or during your training sessions. A Personal Trainer is programmed into all of our stimulators, which suggests training programs and how often they should be used.


EMS program structure

Different parameters cause different effects in the stimulated muscle. All the parameters are preset in Cefar stimulators, but we would like to explain how different frequencies and pulse duration settings work.

The warm-up, recovery, relaxation and capillarization programs use low frequencies, usually 1–10 Hz. This stimulation should cause muscle vibrations, not contractions. These programs improve the circulation, which enhances toxin elimination, oxygen supply and metabolism in the muscle.

The endurance programs use medium frequencies, usually 15–30 Hz, and the contractions should be visible. The endurance programs are long, submaximum sessions that induce the slow fibers to work and improve the aerobic capacity.

High frequences, 50–120 Hz, are used in all kinds of muscle strengthening programs to achieve maximum muscle contractions. These programs boost muscle strength and mass. There are different types of strengthening programs, depending on the purpose of your training: maximum force, resistance force, explosive force,etc. and so on.

Each pulse lasts a specific time, called the pulse duration. This is a way of regulating the amount of the energy sent to the muscle. A shorter pulse duration is usually used on smaller muscle groups while longer durations are used on larger muscle groups.

Cefar stimulators have preset modulation settings. During the work phase, the stimulation frequency varies between two defined settings to make the stimulation as effective and comfortable as possible.

Gradually increasing and decreasing pulse durations over a set time also ensures greater comfort. Serial contraction programs stimulate muscles to contract one after the other in a series, which makes the session more effective. The serial contraction programs are especially comfortable for massage, recovery and relaxation.

Some Cefar stimulators let you run two programs at once. So you can run a recovery program on a thigh muscle while massaging your neck.


Electrode placement

Place the electrodes on muscles to activate them while resting or in movement. The placement of the electrodes is essential for the best possible results.

There are different sizes of electrodes; small ones are best for smaller muscles and large ones for larger muscles. Place two or more electrodes over the muscle you want to stimulate. We recommend a distance of at least 1-1/4 inches (3 cm) between the electrodes. To ensure the most comfortable and effective contraction, try out different electrode placements. Larger muscle groups sometimes need more than one electrode pair. Always use the Cefar electrode placement recommendations, which you find in the manual.

Cefar Electrodes

Advantages of EMS

The main advantages of exercising with an electrical muscle stimulator are:

  • The muscles are trained effectively in a short period of time.
  • You can target specific muscles. This makes EMS a very useful method after an injury, when some muscles need extra support.
  • EMS is an excellent recovery method, since it enhances blood circulation and toxin elimination.
  • EMS has a muscle-relaxing effect.
  • EMS stimulates both the slow and the rapid muscle fibers. Slow fibers are mainly used in endurance sports, while rapid fibers are espeically important in sports that demand strength at high speeds. Rapid muscle fibers are normally difficult to target in ordinary training.
  • You can exercise when ever you want to, as a complement to your regular training, when traveling, or at home. Cefar stimulators are small and easy to take with you.
  • EMS has a pain-relieving effect.
  • EMS is a low-impact training method.