Does this EMS unit look decent?:
http://www.activeforever.com/p-4747-slendertone-revive-professional-muscle-conditioner.aspx
It’s pretty cheap and I mainly want if for recovery instead of max stimulation work. I have an old TENS unit that just doesn’t seem to work well anymore and don’t want to spend too much cash. The same site (activeforever.com, mostly an old folks site) has many other untis to choose from but this one caught my eye.
Frye, Frye, Anyone, Anyone…
Is there any opinion on this device???
what are the specs?
Here are the programs it comes with:
EXERCISE PROGRAMS:
SLENDERTONE ENERVIVE has three programs for warming-up and exercising your muscles.
Exercise Preparation - Program 1
This program gently warms up the muscles prior to exercise. It uses a technique called “twitch potentiation”
to prepare muscle fibers for exercise. It feels like a rhythmic massage. Increase the intensity until you
get a strong but comfortable muscle movement.
Build Endurance - Program 5
This program uses a low frequency pulse train which favours slow twitch fibers. It develops their aerobic
capacity and capillary supply and thereby improves fatigue resistance during long duration moderate
intensity exercise. The exercise comprises an alternating sequence of work and rest phases lasting
several seconds. Increase the intensity until you get a strong and deep muscle contraction. Do not exceed
your comfort level.
Muscle Strengthening - Program 6
This program uses a pulse frequency appropriate to fast twitch muscle fibers. It improves their anaerobic
capacity and is used for improving maximum muscle strength. The exercise comprises a sequence of
work phases separated by longer relaxation phases. Increase the stimulation intensity until you get a
strong and deep contraction. Do not exceed your comfort level.
POST-EXERCISE RECOVERY:
SLENDERTONE ENERVIVE has three programs for active recovery following exercise.
Active Recovery 1 - Program 2
This program produces muscle twitches at very low frequency and it feels like a tapping massage.
This stimulates blood flow and helps speed up the removal of lactic acid as it accelerates the exchange
between the blood supply and the muscle fibers. As a result, the muscles recover more quickly from
fatigue, becoming more relaxed with reduced stiffness. Use it after intense exercise to promote recovery
and relaxation.
Active Recovery 2 - Program 3
This 20-minute program is similar to Active recovery 1 except that the muscle twitch rate slows down
during the session. It feels like a tapping massage, but softer than Active Recovery 1
Active Recovery 3 - Program 4
This form of stimulation activates the muscle in a rhythmic motion in a short contraction/ relaxation
cycle. It feels like a kneading massage and is smoother than the other active recovery programs.
Well it looks like it may be ok if you just want it for recovery like you said but I wouldn’t depend on it for any max strength work. For that you generally need a much higher end unit.
I’ve had good strength/stim work from a lower end unit, namely this one:
http://www.activeforever.com/p-2086-reliamed-analog-ems-unit.aspx
I might not have that exact model but it’s very similar and it works great.
If you’re interested in EMS recovery producing superior results, check out the discussions in this Yahoo group forum. Any Yahoo username works, and then you need a username for the group, which is granted immediately.
I agree with mortac on a higher end unit for strength work. Last year, I sparingly used a cheap one similar to the one Juggler mentioned, but I dreaded using it because the contractions were painful and it only had two leads so it took forever to get anything done. I have been facing an injury for the past few months, and so limited in what I can do training wise, so I ended up buying a Globus unit to help out. With a higher end unit, the contractions are much more comfortable, they feel more like a “real” contraction compared to a painful burn on the cheap ones. I would say another upside to a higher end unit is that they are actually meant for sport training, as opposed to rehab settings for the cheaper ones… most of the companies selling the cheap units I would bet know nothing about them, so if you run into problems or have questions about the unit, you might be in trouble. For the higher end units like Globus, those companies are experts in the field and would obviously be more knowledgeable.
RunningMechanics and SpeedEndurance have posted a review of the Globus Premium Sport. There are both a write up and a video.