FIT & LEAN WITH EMS TRAINING

 

Fit and lean in just 20-minute (weekly) training sessions? Every lazy person’s dream (and stubborn fat’s nightmare)!

Is there anything more disheartening or frustrating than ‘stubborn fat’? Sometimes, no matter how faithful you are to your workout routine, it’s those last few pounds that just refuse to melt away.

If this is your situation, then adding Electrical Muscle Stimulation (or EMS for short) to your regular workout routine may just be for you. EMS is a type of training method that improves body tone, strengthens muscles, and overall fitness. It involves wearing an EMS device that stimulates muscles with tiny electrodes.

A regular workout routine typically only stimulates fast twitch muscles but with an EMS device both the slow and fast-twitch muscles are activated. Incorporating an EMS device into your routine will also shorten the amount of time spent in the gym. The efficiency of these devices promises results for as little as 20 minutes a day.

Almost every wellness center and gym offer EMS training sessions with their licensed personal trainers. During an EMS training session, the individual wears an EMS device in the form of a suit, vest, and/or shorts that is wired and fits tight (to prevent accidents during the workout) of a which will electrically stimulate distinctive groups of muscles. The individual is instructed to hold different poses for several seconds.

As you exercise (which is already engaging your muscles), electrical impulses from the EMS device force muscles to contract, resulting in more muscle recruitment. These pulses act as resistance, making the seemingly ‘simple’ movements feel much harder to do and leaves you fatigued much faster. 

EMS training does not hurt but the light tingling sensation from the device may take some getting used to. The sensations are completely normal as they indicate the device is working and stimulating muscles. Just like any other training, how sore the body will feel after a session of EMS training depends on multiple factors, such as the intensity of the work out, weights used, and length of time.

Although EMS training sessions are brief, they are quite intense and failing to properly assess the maximum electrical exposure can be dangerous. The German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imagery (DGKN) warns that EMS devices can cause muscle and kidney damage, when used incorrectly.

Before starting, you should have your liver function checked and make sure that you are not suffering from a muscle disorder. The best (and safest) way to add EMS training to your regular workout routine is with a trained physical therapist who is knowledgeable in applying the device and using regulated with FDA-approved units. In moderation and under medical supervision, EMS training is acceptable.

Besides accelerated body toning results, other benefits include improved muscle strength and endurance. The EMS device encourages your body to enter a high metabolic state, helping sculpt even the most stubborn areas of the body such as the waist, hip, and thigh areas. Results will be evident if you use the device for 20-30 minutes a day, 5 times a week.

The best EMS machine depends on which EMS device best targets your stubborn areas and is of specific body concern to you. Most EMS devices are made to tone a muscle group or body part.

Here are the most popular EMS devices in the market today.

SHOP EMS DEVICES

EMS BOOTY TRAINER AT LE PEACH CLUB FOR $49

Le peach booty trainer stimulates your (booty) muscles for a low effort/ high intensity workout. Just 20 minutes a day get your bum in those perfect peachy curves.

SLENDERTONE ABS 8 TONING BELT AT AMAZON FOR $130

With 10 toning programs and 100 intensity levels, you can sculpt the midsection of your dreams in just 8 weeks. The SlenderTone ABs & Toning Belt is a comfy band designed specially for the abdominal muscles. Like with any EMS machine, the SlenderTone Belt mimics a workout by flexing your muscles very rapidly.

Out of the 10 programs, 7 are for passive use when you’re on the couch, in bed or lounging. Then when you’re doing any cardio activity or ab exercises, tap into the 3 active programs to amplify your results.

POWERDOT 2.0 DUO SMART MUSCLE STIMULATOR AT THERABODY FOR $349

More than just an EMS machine, the FDA-cleared THERABODY POWERDOT 2.0 DUO SMART MUSCLE STIMULATOR relieves pain, helps you get a faster recovery and unlocks better performance from your workouts.

The duo version has 2 pod devices for faster results when you target both sides of the muscle group or both sides of your body at once. This EMS machine also includes transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) too. This sends little electrical pulses to the nerves to release pain-blocking chemicals. And that’s renowned for pain relief, especially for menstrual cramps.

Lastly, it’s pretty smart. The app-powered personalized treatments make sure that you place the pads in the right place to get the most from your 20 minutes, once or twice daily session.

TACTICAL-X ABS STIMULATOR AT SPINPAPER FOR $60

The L(A)B EMS Body Toning System tightens and tones your body with pre-programmed workouts for stubborn fat areas. Use the EMS toning technology that’s always non-invasive and pain-free to sculpt yourself across these 6 unique programs.

Relieve tension and tightness while you target problem areas on your tum, arms, thighs, bum and more. Overall, you can combine these fast and slow-twitch muscle movement stimulation sessions with any regular workouts you’re doing in the gym for even faster results.

TENSCARE PERFECT EMS & TENS UNIT AT CURRENT BODY FOR $69

The TensCare Perfect EMS & TENS Unit is a reasonably priced entry into the muscle toning and pain relief arena. With its easy-to-use digital display, quickly strengthen weakened muscles and get pain management where you need it most.

It’s easy to place the pads wherever you like on your body and the integrated treatment timer helps you use the EMS and TENS technology to full effect.

 Just follow the program 1-2 times a day with effects that last up to 4 hours after using the EMS machine. It’s discrete and easy to add to your regular daily routine.

 

ODD BEHAVIOR OF TATTOOS

 

The mysterious staying power of tattoos and why they are so difficult to remove.

In Kalinga village in the Philippines, 106 years young Apo Whang-Od holds an inked gisi (a bamboo stick with a thorn attached to one end), uses a larger stick to whack it with her right hand, driving over a hundred times per minute into the flesh. This is a centuries old practice of the indigenous tattooing. Tattooing skin since she was a teenager, Apo Whang-Od graces the April 2023 Vogue cover of Vogue Philippines and she is one of the last people on earth who practice ‘batok’.

In the cover photo, Apo Whang-Od is seen gracefully sitting, clad in the symbols of her tribe, the Kalinga. Apo uses delicate and precise tools to ink the stories of the Kalinga onto skin, allowing the wearer to carry history with them through life.

This practice is very spiritual for the members of Apo’s tribe as it symbolizes identity and kin as well as a mode of communicating stories and knowledge passed from their ancestors. It is believed that the designs on their skin protect them from evil spirits and travel with them to the afterlife, whereas tangible possessions do not.

This artistic form of self and cultural expression, tattooing or the carving of wounds into permanent, inked-in shapes that we find aesthetically pleasing, has been around for thousands of years. Tattoos have been discovered on humans as far back as 3,000 B.C. on mummified skin and in 4,900 B.C. tattoos were represented as an ancient art form. One of the strangest and least-studied enigmas, though, is how tattoos survive at all. Why is it that some tattoos quickly fade while others remain intact or their reaction to light (like the sun).

So much of tattooing still remains mysterious. Let’s dig deeper for a better understanding of what is really happening below the surface of the skin when receiving a tattoo.

THE PROCESS

When you get a tattoo, the ink is inserted via needle into the dermis (the second layer of skin). Your body sees this ink as a foreign invader and activates the immune system to seek out and destroy the unfamiliar material.

As part of this process, special white blood cells called macrophages envelop the ink and try to break it down with enzymes to a size small enough to be disposed of through the body’s lymphatic system.

(When the tattoo needle introduces bacteria at the same time as introducing ink, a similar macrophage response takes place. If the bacteria multiply faster than the white blood cells can destroy them, you will get an infection).

However, large tattoo ink droplets are not broken down by these enzymes. Once taken in by a macrophage, the ink molecules are stuck there. It is this trapped ink that you see when admiring your or your friend’s latest tattoo.

REMOVING TATTOOS

If you tattooed your ex-lovers name, what can be done to remove it? Removing tattoos can be quite challenging/difficult because of the macrophage death and renewal life cycle/process. Lasers are used to break up the ink droplets into small enough sizes that the body can successfully remove. This process often takes multiple costly visits with the service technician.

If we can somehow stop the arrival of new macrophages to the area where a tattoo is being removed, it could speed along the laser process and allow the lymphatic system to remove fragmented particles more easily. There is still more research needed to be done before this can be a possibility.

HEALTH & SAFETY

If someone is immunocompromised, is it safe to get a tattoo? The jury is still out. There have been instances of immunosuppressed individuals experiencing severe muscle pain and swelling after receiving a tattoo. However, it is not clear whether this is because of the tattoo process itself or by another external factor (such as an injury) that coincided with the time of receiving the tattoo. It seems plausible that a body already struggling to fight infections could be overwhelmed when a tattoo is added to the equation. More research is needed.

OTHER FINDINGS

Other research has shown a possible link between tattoos and a strengthened immune system. When you get a tattoo, the body’s immune system immediately bolsters itself to fight off infection, but research has found that this happens not just at the “injured” tattoo site but throughout the entire body, and the response has shown to be cumulative.

As part of the body’s endocrine system, levels of cortisol (the hormone known to produce the “fight or flight” response in times of stress) seem to decrease during subsequent tattoo creations.

When cortisol levels are too high over a period, blood pressure and the processing of food can run amok, causing diabetes, and anxiety can become uncontrollable. These decreased moments of cortisol post-tattooing can, thus, be beneficial to overall health.

While tattoos seem only “skin deep,” research continues to show us that they affect numerous body systems, including the immune, lymphatic, and endocrine systems.

 

AERIAL SILKS CLASSES

 

A melting pot of stretching exercises, discover why Aerial Silks might be the best fully body workout you’ve ever tried. Read on to find out what makes Aerial Silks so special.

When my friend Christine invited me to join her Aerial Silks class, my mind conjured up flashbacks of the 2010 Grammy’s where singer songwriter Pink sang her song, ‘Glitter in the Air’ mid-air in aerial silks (a routine she is well known for when she goes on her world tours). To say I was intimidated to try this alternative work-out routine would be an understatement.

After some convincing, I joined my friend in her new found hobby and exercise program to discover how much I loved it and would recommend it to anyone and everyone to try it at least once.

AERIAL SILKS

Aerial Silks is a full-body workout from your upper body to shoulder muscles. It is a melting pot of stretching exercises: Pilates based core moves, strength training, balance and posture work, and aerial challenges (that ensure new brain to body connections).

Secured from the ceiling are two lengths of fabrics that you maneuver yourself (and your full body weight) up and down these silks as instructed by your head teacher. As you learn ways to wrap the silks around your body (or vice versa) you begin to improve your flexibility as you achieve incredible poses mid-air.

AERIAL CLASSES

Every class begins with a warm-up to help avoid injury or cramps, followed by some cardio such as running to increase the heart rate, then some gentle moving stretches, and finally working with the silks. This final stage begins with warm-up climbs, suspending mid-air, and body conditioning. When everyone in class is comfortable on the silks, the class starts to learn new more intricate moves. While also revisiting older moves to ensure everyone gets their opportunity to  master the skills.

Each class is different as every instructor has their own style and preferred variation of moves that they incorporate into their classes. Some common moves that are covered in class are known as ‘foot-locks’, ‘French climbs’, and ‘candy-canes’.

HEALTH BENEFITS

FLEXIBILITY

Aerial Silks helps to increase flexibility in the body with minimal impact. The extra freedom the body has to move around when in the air increases flexibility. As you maneuver between positions, your weight is off the ground, strengthening joints and ligaments. It will also help you discover areas of stiffness in your muscles that you hadn’t realized were there even for season yogis!

MUSCLES

Aerial Silks is a great workout to strengthen muscles that may be difficult to work on otherwise. While many traditional exercises neglect upper body strength, Aerial Silks improves core, arms, legs, and grip strength with each position on the silks. For instance, turning the body upside down once on the silks is equivalent to doing 20 sit ups. After the position is achieved, the pose is held for about thirty seconds. This pause also helps increase muscle gain.

FOCUS

A good focus is beneficial in all areas of life, not just when working out. The positions your body will be in during an Aerial Silks class will be quite challenging and will require attention to control your movements. Each pose is then held for about 30 seconds. These pauses serve as anchors to hold the position and increase your focus.

STRESS RELIEF

Stress is often stored in our body as tension which builds up in our muscles and joints. Aerial Silks helps release this pressure and help improve posture. During a session, when the body is suspended in the air, the body experiences deep muscle relaxation throughout. This relieves the stored stress in the body as an abundance of oxygen floods the brain (crucial for brain function). With each pose, the spine becomes decompressed relieving more stored stress in another form.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Aerial silk classes are one of the best mind-body activities. If you’re looking for a new challenge or an out-of-the-box workout routine, Aerial Silks may just be for you!