Would you receive similar benefits to max strength EMS work if you intensely contracted muscles(eg. ham, quad) without the assistance of an EMS machine? The price sure is right if it’s possible.
I’m gonna give this a try and report back…
No, that is like doing isometrics. The CNS would be activated where as in an EMS session CNS is bypassed. You would get an effect but only the angles of joints where you practiced the isometrics.
Blinky, I do not think you could stimulte the muscles with the intensity the same way as a good EMS but then again I am probably wrong and I think the only way to test your theory is to TRY IT MAN!!! Why wouldn’t you? One of Charlie’s T-mag artilces wrote that, “I can tell you, however, that the key to a good stim is the tolerability of the wave-form it generates. This is the key to achieving a maximal contraction… You should also know that EMS reverses the body’s normal order of muscle fiber recruitment, hitting the fast twitch fibers first. This is because the larger neurons found in these fibers have lower resistance to the current flow. An outflow of this phenomenon is that the more white fiber you have, the less current it takes to achieve a maximal contraction.” I am not sure if Flexing hard (I think that is what you are asking) will recruit the muscles the same way as really CRANKING up a torture device, :eek: I mean EMS. Also to just to add on yo what Charlie said in that T-mag aritcle, in Supertraining it says that “ES tends to recruit the largest diameter axons first, which is the reverse of natural order of recruitment. These largest axons are difficult to recruit under normal training conditions…”(211)…I think just flexing will not activate the same muscle fibers the same way as a good shock treatment from an EMS…I hope this helps answers your question a bit ???
EMS contracts your muscle so much more than a normal voluntary contraction with mch more stimulation. it also recruits fibres that would not normally contract with voluntary contraction. give it a try though and report back
Kind of off topic but…I know there are many uses for EMS such as strength and recovery, most of my knowledge on it comes from Supertraining…in the book it also says that EMS was used before plyo sessions and during with good results…I have used them on Glute Hams raises only a couple of times and not enough to really make a bold statement but I think the followong session I felt a stronger contraction and quick on the GHR exercise with out the stim…maybe a good carrover effect??? I was interested in anyones ideas on doing this with other exercises maybe benching on dips??? What is everyone’s thoughts? I also read an article in ESPN about archuleta (football player and maybe Dwight Freeney?? can’t remember)were Electro Stimming themselves at high voltage prior to training…what might be the science behind this??? :eek:
Archuleta uses the ARP, which is eccentric not concentric. He will use it at a low intensity with some of his workouts.
The reason why he uses the machine before he excercises is to lossen/warm up. The guys at Evosport dont believe in stretching, therefore use the ARP to keep them loose.
EMS across the chest is not a good idea with your heart being so close.
thanks NV! Good info!