Yes, we stimmed the feet- either size pad could be used.
If you have 2 ems machines would it wise to stimm both hamstrings at once to?
You’re in for a long night if you only use one EMS unit.
As long as you don’t stim agonists and antagonists at the same time, you should be good.
Edit: Looking at your question again, if you are referring to doing hamstrings while doing feet, this might not work. From what I’ve read/done, you stim the feet while standing on the pads, and the hams while lying down. So both at once might be incompatible.
how many ems units should I get more than 2? you could do the spinal erectors, then both hamstrings, then both quads, then the glute, and than the feet in about an hour. could any of those groups of muscle be done together to cut down on the time? i know not to do the hams and quads together but is there a combo that would work? Is the sequence in which you stim the groups of muscle important? and how would do abs and calves since you are not really looking the get them to build the same kind stregth as the others? other than cfts is there a place where i can find pictures that would give an idea of proper pad placement. finally for the feet would you stick to 10 on and 50 off and how should i place the pads.
I have the NeuroTrac Sports XL unit. It has 2 channels with 2 leads per channel = 8 pads in total (4 positive and 4 negative). With this type of set up you can do both quads, or both hamstrings, or both glutes etc in one program i.e. 10 mins of work/rest @ 10sec/50sec. Other similar units are available that can also run 8 (or more?) pads. This will probably be cheaper and easier than buying more than one EMS unit.
You can warm up with physical activities such as body weight or ‘hindu’ squats, or you can run the unit in a pulsing warm-up mode - most units should come with these sorts of things pre-programmed. Your estimate of 1 hour is about right for the whole session including warm up, set ups and doing the stim.
I think you may find it a bit too painful to consider doing more than 1 muscle group at a time. You could try combinations of the posterior muscle groups but I’d leave the quads to themselves. I don’t think the sequence is important as these aren’t compound exercises so fatigue and soreness in one muscle group shouldn’t effect the others. Just pick a sequence that appeals to you I guess.
As for pad placement, the Sports XL comes with a booklet that shows a large variety of placements for the entire body. I’d guess that most units will have similar info. You may be able to find a PDF from a manufacturer on the web somewhere.
I’ve tried stimming the feet, and it didn’t appeal to me - it produced very little contraction and I couldn’t be bothered playing around with it to make it work better. There are other ways to strengthen the foot if you find that EMS doesn’t work for you in that application.
Two EMS 7500s from www.wisdomking.com (with shipping included) come out cheaper than one NeuroTrac Sports XL (generally about 70 pounds a pop) before shipping comes into play; international shipping at that for us poor souls across the Atlantic.
One machine with 8 pads would be nice though.
I found the ems 7500 cheaper, for those who are interested at http://www.triadhealth-care.com/product_info.php?products_id=533
look on ebay it will be cheaper. lol
Because i will be purchasing the machine in a little bit which means ill be well into the maintenance phase, can the ems machine still be used other than recovery? Would the intensity be dialed down a bit but still hard enough for contraction? How close to competition can it be used? I consistently get tight calfs and shin splints even though i avoid track or other hard surfaces, can the ems, be used in a pulsing mode to help recovery?
I’m not sure what you mean by 'maintenance phase. If that means you’re competing then you should find out how your body reacts to EMS - your body will likely need time to adjust in order to utilise the strength gain from this type of stimulus because the CNS is not really involved. The CFTS suggests that athletes peak 3 x’s per year using a triple periodised annual training plan, and never getting too far away from their best condition. An athlete would use EMS for 2 or sometimes 3 of these periods in a year i.e. 1 x in each period. If only using it in 2 periods per year then the last period with the most important comps would not have an EMS component. I think that the t-nation article which is reproduced above has more detail on this so check it out for the info. Hopefully you can apply this to suit your training plan.
Regarding the intensity, I would expect that EMS builds strength by a few mechanisms:[ul]
[li]Maximal contractions resulting in changes to the muscle composition
[/li][li]Maximal contractions could result in some hypertrophy of the muscles
[/li][li]Isometric strength may increase at and near the specific joint angle used during stim
[/li][/ul]
So I wouldn’t bother using sub-maximal contractions for anything other than recovery. Most units will have at least one and probably several recovery programs. I think a setting of 1Hz is recommended by CF for recovery (that is 1s on, 1 s off), but the NeuroTrac programs seem to use between 2 to 10 Hz. The other settings (mA, pulse width etc.) are dictated by what’s comfortable and effective for you.
EMS recovery may help relieve your shin pain and tight calves but it may not address the root cause. There are many potential causes and you should find someone experienced in assessing this kind of problem. Just briefly the kinds of things you can expect to cover may include:
[ul]
[li]foot strength, foot structure and footwear
[/li][li]medial glute strength, lumbar tightness and hip alignment
[/li][li]knee stability
[/li][li]calf tonus, strength and flexibility
[/li][li]tibialus anterior, peronius etc. strength (maybe tonus and flexibility too)
[/li][li]hydro-therapy, icing, massage and EMS
[/li][li]injury history
[/li][/ul]
I can give more info on these if you wish but like I said, getting a professional assessment from someone competent in this area is best.
I do this all the time! what is not a good idea is the hamstrings and the quads at the same time!!! 
In my experience the best PTs are nearly always former athletes and usually still students (Grad interns). I think that the major reason is that they remember what it is like to be an injured athlete (i.e. the difference between rehabbing for health and for competing again) and that they realize that they don’t know everything yet. Thoughts?
can and how would one apply ems for abs and calf strenth?
That was really helpful, I appreciate that. I have gone to professional ART and gotten work done, and that has made the pain go away, and she corrected any other imbalances, but I have a leg length difference, and any molding to correct that doesnt work causing my hip to rotate. Thats why i was looking at ems to help with recovery. The indoor season is not important to me and will be only racing officially once due to lack of facilities here in vancouver. So if i can work on some strength (as charlie said a beginner should improve strength by 25%) for the outdoor season.
im considering purchasing an ems machine. does anybody know of a model with a ramp up time of less than 1 second and 50 second rest features. is it supposed to be on the high intensity days
These quotes from the article imply that the ramp time is very important.
How is it so important considering EMS bypasses the CNS? Isn’t training for recruitment velocity better suited by training on the track/field/court?
And is a 1 second ramp not ideal in comparison to a 0.5-0.75 second ramp?
Since EMS bypasses the CNS, I thought that with such a general training means that small things like these wouldn’t matter too much.
What does everyone else think?
Thats a very good question, my thoughts would be to allow the athlete to prepare however to briefly for the contraction. You would think a faster ramp time would be desirable for recruitment of fast twitch fibres
With EMS, the FT fibers are going to be recruited no matter what. And they will be recruited first.
So does ramp time really have any effect? In terms of absolutely recruiting the FT fibers, no. You are going to work the FT fibers for their 10 second contraction. In terms of the rate of recruiting (I guess this is recruitment velocity), yes. I’m not so knowledgeable about some of this so maybe, like you say, a faster rate will lead to higher threshold fibers (higher than those recruited with a slower rate) being recruited. Though with EMS, I think this is different in comparison to voluntary contractions.
But since EMS bypasses the CNS anyways, what’s the point?
“Don’t train RFD in the weight room”- This is one guideline that brings me to this question.
bump for the last few posts while Mr. Francis is online. 
The FT will be recruited first with EMS, forcing the ST to play catch-up, possibly by improving RFD in ST during subsequent voluntary actions, or, more likely, shortening the time from initial ST recruitment to FT involvement BUT the real key to improved RFD, by whatever means, is the duration of the EMS training block (10 to 15 sessions per block at most).
BTW, I would say you MUST 'train RFD" in the weight room by selecting a program that won’t adversely affect it by compromising speed work.