purchasing EMS units

It’s called Premium Sport I believe.

Yeah I was looking at them all appears to be a top of the range unit. Will you be using on any athletes or just to review

I’ll be doing both

Any update on your findings Charlie? Or am I too early lol

I’ve used it on myself a few times so far and the current form is very comfortable and it’s pretty cool to operate with the graphics. I had a pile of projects to get through so I am just getting to the point I can write a review after trying it out on a few more people

Thanks Charlie, just feel it benificial to have your opinion knowing your input and use over the years. Lol still use on yourself?

Charlie I hope you’re gonna crank it up! I have a Compex Sport ems machine. How would you prescribe the 10r contractions on a machine that has a max strength setting of 6secs contraction with a 22 sec rest period?

Actually, the Globus programs, during the off interval have a pulsating twitch at 3 Hz (not sure if the Compex has it), which increases blood flow and allows muscles to replenish their energy stores faster. This in turn postpones fatigue. I suspect it allows to shorten Charlie’s suggested 5x rest interval.

Charlie’s Globus Premium Sport has also an additional program identical to his protocol 10 sec on, 10 sec off x 10. His machine (code named SportCoach) has the capability to tweak all parameters. It would be possible to experiment and find a shortened optimum, given the improved off period at 3 Hz.

Hi Gciriani the Compex Sport 500 too has low hertz pulse during the rest interval…so what you are saying is because of this pulsing action this shortens the CF prescribed 50sec?

Yes that is my hypothesis.

In Charlie’s original protocol, 50 seconds are necessary to recover from fatigue. So it seems logical to me that if during that time you do something improving it, the recovery would take place sooner. Exactly how much I don’t know. We could easily find out with a few tests, since the program in Charlie’s unit can be adjusted.

Has there ever been a comparison of the various EMS manufacturers ie. Compex, Globus, Cefar? Most of the research I have read the compex models have been used as a part of the intervention?

That’s because Compex has deeper pockets and was able to sponsor the studies. However, the protocols (programs) that were used in the studies are identical between the Compex and the Globus machines.

But the Globus machines sold in the US have a somewhat more robust (longer) pulsewidth: it increases the strength of the contraction at the same current intensity; conversely it allows to decrease current intensity to obtain the same contraction strength, thereby increasing comfort (see the relative post on Chronaxie and Rheobase and Lapique’s Law in the EMS Theory thread).

Could you direct me to any recent studies that used any of the Globus devices.

Cheers

GH responses to two consecutive bouts of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in healthy adults; Sartorio, Jubeau, Agosti, De Col, Marazzi, Lafortuna, Maffiuletti;
European Journal of Endocrinology, Mar 2008, vol.158, pages 311-316.

If you go to my Research Page, and click on Bibliography and Abstracts you can find a well organized collection by topic on EMS studies.

I haven’t tried it enough to say what number is optimal yet.
For example, if you shorten the rest, albeit with active recovery added, you will be fine for a set number of reps but might find additional fatigue after that starting number.
So you might start with a maximum of 10 reps, counting on the shorter contraction times to compensate for the shorter rest and move to 15 once you can determine that:
A: You have no training losses elsewhere in your training program
B: The intensity of the contraction remains high to the last rep you use.
Another option is to divide the EMS sessions in a day, divided by 4 hours. IE 2 set of 6 or 3 sets of 5, basically whatever you want.
This is very handy when recovering from an injury that limits other training and we have done this at times .
There is no reason why you can’t be as flexible with the use of EMS as you would be with other training modalities, keeping in mind that you are sparing the nervous system compared to other methods.

Hey Charlie, I’m just wondering how things are going with the new Globus.

Still looking into all it can do. There is a lot there! I think the key is to start with a conservative approach as I listed above and then move towards more reps, to see how much difference the active recovery and a superior wave form available here can do for you. You know it will help but you need to see how much. This option didn’t exist when I first started experimenting so many years ago. I have used it mostly on myself so far but the real test will come when I can transfer it to top athletes who are in a max power training phase. I have some coming here soon for that and it will be very interesting to see how they respond.

Ok, Charlie, so after 8 months what do you think?

This past summer two highly ranked jr 18 year old tennis players from a US tennis academy came to work with Charlie. Unexpectedly one of them arrived with a foot injury so Charlie worked with the one who was healthy and had me work with the one who could’nt play tennis.
I used the mobiliztion 1 and 2, the warm-up for rehab and then used max strength for quads, glutes, hams and the back. She was not very lean on arrival but after one day on bike tempo and stim you could already see an excellent response. We used the stim for the better part of every other day for 10 days with bike and pool. Her body was transformed despite not doing any running or much tennis. ( she was able to hit a ball an hour or less every other day but no running or moving on court until the very end)
I have also been using the stim on one of Charlie’s clients for a knee injury to bring blood flow to the area and strenghen the quad and keep his hamstrings loose as well.
This is an excellent device with options to deal with all sorts of issues.
We love it.

great job and great infos :slight_smile: