I purchased a high end EMS unit (Globus Sport Plus; $1100 US), which has 13 Training objectives, 11 Sports Adjustable parameters and use a “Biphasic Rectangular Symmetrical Waveform”, and wondered if you’ve had any experience with this brand. My second question is when is the optimal time to use EMS in conjuction with strength training; day before, same day or next day of training.
* Stimulations (2+2): carry out simultaneously 2 different programs on different body parts.
* Syncro-Stim: adjust simultaneously the intensity on all 4 channels.
* Auto Recall: use a training program without any adjustment of the current intensity.
* Last Session: automatically stored and recall at the push of a button the last 10 Training Sessions.
* Multi-User: share the electrostimulator with other users, while keeping each user's setting and preferences unchanged.
* Personal Trainer: built-in menus guide you to choose the appropriate training session to achieve your own objectives.
Technical Characteristics
* 4 Independent Channels (8 electrodes)
* Frequecy: 1-120 Hz
* Maximum Current: 120 mA on each channel
* Pulse Width: 200-400 microseconds
* Waveform: rectangular, compensated, biphasic, symmetrical.
* Certifications: CE MDD Medical.
I just got one and like it so far. Very comfortable wave form like Compex and a lot of flexibility. I’ll have a report coming soon on it.
I would most likely use the EMS at night after the strength training session if it was a matter of a choice between days. You can use EMS daily but if you feel your overall training demand requires less frequent EMS use, that’s how I’d split it up.
Thanks Coach! The company I ordered from is Hammer Nutrition and they seem to deal with mostly endurance athletes and sell a lot of these machine to them. So If I were on a Hypertrophy program (lifting between 55%-70% 1RM) or a power program (lifting between 75%-90% 1RM) what program would optimize either training effect, without over doing it and would I use the same splits you recommended?
It is difficult to answer with specifics without knowing your particular circumstance but you can think of a few ways you might use EMS to expand on your training.
One might be to “superset” during the hypertrophy phase. Supersets, where you go up to your max working weight and then go downwards in sets as far as possible, were very popular years ago as they increase capacity quickly- but often at the expense of longer term gain due to CNS overload. A compromise can be hypertrophy weights at top working weights and then EMS after. The standard thinking is to wait 4 hours after the last workout session but it might be interesting to go immediately after with the muscles you want to superset. I haven’t tried that yet as I like to stick closely to what I know works unless I am stuck in an unusual situation, like a longer term injury etc.
If you think this way, you would prob follow the same pattern of work distribution as your weight exercises. You can see the early weight phase set-up in the GPP download for a guide, stimming muscle groups on the days they are worked. This would move you progressively from every traing day to every other day by the late GPP stage.
I would recommend a period away from the EMS before using it in the second portion of each max strength block as shown in the CFTS model (on weights day, occuring every other day at this point).
Thoughts?
BTW, I just achieve my Poliquin Level One Certification. Some of his writings clearly state that if one wants to know about Strength and Conditioning for T&F, you’re the person to talk to because of what you accomplished with Ben Johnson. Mike Boyle state the same!
I think I have an idea now. After reviewing the EMS section of the CFTS book which states that if one were to train 3 times a week the EMS should be administered no earlier than 2 hours after the workout, using no more than 10 contractions. Therefore because EMS bypasses the CNS, using EMS after weight training will not result in overtraining. The CNS is not disturbed and remains in recovery mode correct? So if I were to use your weight training model which advance phases into 3 times a week, I should reframe from EMS on those non training days?
EMS spares the CNS but still is muscular work and is part of the total load there. Earlier in the phase, more overall work can be done on the low intensity days but later both the CNS impact and, to a lesser extent, overall muscular load will be reduced. Of course, the way you create the load is up to you and you have great flexibility there.
One overlooked factor when using EMS is the “consolidation” phase, Charlie talked about that.
I’ve been using Compex since 7-8 years ago, and I found that EMS is a great adjunct.
As for evolution in time, I found a rapid increase in muscle tone and strength, then a plateau and a subsequent increase in performance after the end of the EMS phase.