Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is a method of delivering electrical pulses to muscles to increase their contraction force.
During our research, we’ve come across several queries raised by people “does electrical Stimulation build muscle or not?
Well, EMS devices use low-voltage currents to stimulate nerves and muscles, causing them to contract.
Hence, it improves conditions including paralysis, spinal cord injury, stroke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.
Additionally, EMS can improve blood flow and oxygen delivery to working muscles.
Furthermore, when it comes to how does ems workout work, lots of studies mentioned its effectiveness.
EMS devices may help improve muscle function and mobility for people who have trouble moving their limbs.
In this blog post, you will learn about electric muscle stimulation and its effects on muscles.
Does Electrical Stimulation Build Muscle?
It’s hard to say that electric simulation can lead to muscular growth directly.
Despite the fact that electric stimulation contracts muscles over and over, this doesn’t mean it will have the same effects as workouts.
The muscle contraction during a workout is different from the muscle contraction due to ES.
There has been no significant research done regarding this. The lack of evidence and proof is somehow making it unclear whether ES directly causes muscle growth or not.
Additionally, even if someone observes muscle growth by doing this, the degree of muscle gain is insanely low. For sure, it will be too early to claim 100% that electric stimulation can lead to muscle growth.
However, one thing you should keep in mind is, it is not totally useless. It can help in muscle building indirectly. But how does it affect muscle growth indirectly, and what are some other effects of ES on muscles?
#1. ES Effects on Strength
Certain studies have shown, electrical stimulation has low effects on muscle strength. Also, this is pretty much a common observation.
Nevertheless, many times it can compel a workout and can aid in strength training.
For example, EMS can aid strength training when practiced with weight lifting.
Why? This is so because it can activate more fibers by nearly 30%. As a result, EMS makes strength training more efficient. Therefore, electrical stimulation does help you build muscle.
The Journal of Strength and Conditioning also approves this fact; it significantly increases the strength of athletes.
#2. EMS for Muscle Recovery
EMS is something worth it for muscle recovery. Muscle recovery can have other benefits for muscles and strength as well.
EMS at lower intensity levels improves blood flow and sends more oxygen to the muscles. This can lead to a surge of lactic acid. Now, this is very important, as it can push muscle recovery limits.
Therefore, EMS improves muscle recovery and makes you very ready for your next workout. which further improves every aspect of the muscle.
All in all, improving blood flow is how EMS can aid muscle recovery rate.
#3. EMS for Complete Muscle Contraction
EMS, or electrical muscle stimulation, is a popular method for achieving complete muscle contraction. Likewise, EMS works by sending electrical impulses to the muscles, causing them to contract.
This method is often used by athletes to help them achieve maximum muscle contraction. Through this, EMS can aid muscle strength, power, and endurance.
If you don’t know why muscle contraction is essential for muscle building, then let me tell you why.
Muscle contraction is essential for muscle building because it helps to create the force that is necessary to build muscles.
Consequently, this force is necessary to help the body grow and repair itself. Without muscle contraction, the body would not be able to create the necessary force to build muscles.
Hence, muscle contraction is a necessary thing when considering muscle building. And EMS can improve complete muscle contraction. As a result, EMS indirectly improves workout and muscle-building results.
#4. EMS Reduces Joint/Muscle Pain
There are many reasons why people experience muscle and joint pain. Sometimes it is due to an injury, overuse, or a medical condition. Whatever the cause, it can be very painful and difficult to manage.
One way to help ease muscle and joint pain is to use EMS (electrical muscle stimulation). As this therapy uses electrical impulses to stimulate the muscles, it can help to reduce pain and inflammation.
EMS can be used as a standalone treatment or as part of a physical therapy program.
If you are experiencing muscle and joint pain, talk to your doctor or physical therapist about whether EMS might be right for you.
You see, even if EMS does not directly build muscles, it has a lot of additional benefits for muscles.
So, you may ask, is electric muscle stimulation good or bad? Whether you should use it or not. In short, it is beneficial in many cases.
However, there are a few unique ways to get these benefits. You first need to know how to use EMS for muscle-building purposes.
How to Use EMS for Muscle Building? Efficient Tips
You need to consider these tips to get ample benefits from EMS for your muscles.
- EMS should be used as a complement to the workout, not as a single-handed muscle builder. Try to use EMS for nearly six to eight hours after the workout. As during this time muscle get recovered after workouts, now it’s time for EMS to enhance the situation further.
- Use EMS only two to three times a week. Observations shown this way led to better results.
- Keep a gap of 48 hrs between EMS sessions on an individual muscle group.
- The more muscle you get, the more beneficial it is going to be. Better injury prevention increased strength and muscle recovery, all things get better for a bulkier body.
For best results, keep these tips in your mind. Try to implement them, and EMS can be worthwhile.
All in all, EMS is worth giving a try if you have already gained some muscle mass. Plus, you are going to use it as a side option, and not totally depend on it.
Conclusion
This blog describes how electrical stimulation can build muscles. One of the most common uses of electrical stimulation is the treatment of muscle disorders.
Rather than allowing your muscles to atrophy, electrical stimulation can help power them up and, indirectly, even build them up.
In this blog, we highlighted some of these facts and provided ways that you can use electrical stimulation yourself. These ways help you to build muscle by using electrical Stimulation.
We hope you found our blog informative and found it helpful. If you did, please let us know. Thank you for reading. We would love to hear from you!