Abdominal Trainer is one of the most suitable pieces of equipment which comes to our mind when we talk about fitness products. However, there always remains a cloud of myth and truth around it. Marketers are always breathing down on each-others neck, trying to constantly topple the other by hyping up their own product features just to stay ahead in the race.
This thereby is resulting in false advertisements. Often products are falsely advertised to do stuff they actually don’t. In this article, we will be looking at the truth behind the EMS Abs Stimulators aka the abdominal trainer (Abs Toning Belt) and address some of the burning questions that come with it. “Do Electrical Muscle Stimulators really work?”,“Do electronic muscle stimulators build muscle?” or “Do Abs stimulator belts burn fat?”
Before we proceed further, let us first understand the basic concept of where do Abs really come from. Can it be build? The simple answer is, Abs are just muscles that are always present in our body. It’s like that saying “six packs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.” As oversimplified as it is, this statement is not totally wrong.
The fact is that we all have abdominal muscles, it’s just that most of us can’t see them underneath that little bit of extra padding of fat that we have. Abs are just deep-seated abdominal muscles that can come out once the padding of fat over it is burned. If you really want to expose those deep cuts that separate the muscles, you have to burn off that extra fat. This is what an Electrical Muscle Stimulator or an EMS machine or as we know in our common term the ems abdominal trainer do.
So let’s dive into studying a little bit more about how an electrical muscle stimulator aka an ems abdominal trainer work and thereby understanding whether it is really effective or not. Also read about Best Back Neck and Shoulder Massager and more to balance your posture, relieving stress in your day to day to lives.
What is Electrical Muscle Stimulation?
The Electrical Muscle Stimulation that also goes by names like neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation is the process of inducing muscular contraction. What is meant by this is, electrical muscle stimulation is the process of strengthening the weak muscles of the body.
As it happens, even in our most active state, we don’t use all the muscles fibres in our body. On the contrary, we use only a fraction of all the muscles fibres that we have. Some sources even claim that to be as less as 20–30%. If we believe this percentage then it would mean there is a very low usage of a muscles’s strength even in our busy days. As a result, most part of the muscles becomes weak as it remains dormant.
When we are active our muscles work by expansion and contraction. So as I mentioned earlier, even when we maximally contract a muscle, at best, only 30% of all our muscle fibres come in a state of contraction. The remaining 70% remains dormant and awaits recruitment when the contracting fibres fatigue. What an electrical muscle stimulation machine aka abdominal trainer (as popularly known) does here is, it electrically stimulates these resting muscle fibres to improve their strength.
The EMS machine also improves our overall health and fitness by recruitment of nerve conduction rates. Simply put, the ems abdominal trainer takes approximately 10000 repetitions for our brain to learn how to quickly send a message to our muscles via the quickest nerve pathways. This contraction pattern becomes our “memory engram”. The more frequent our muscle is recruited the better our body becomes at finding the quickest way to recruit that muscle. EMS abdominal trainer can potentially provide us with repeated contractions to accelerate this learning process.
Our EMS Abs Stimulator User’s Story
This is what Kevin from New Jersey has to say about using an EMS Abs Stimulator.
Honestly, I was Skeptical at first about using a EMS Abs Stimulator. But luckily it worked for me. This equipment along with a proper diet and exercise really gave a nice shape to my body. I have used the stimulator device for over a month along with a stringent exercise routine and a good diet to get into shape. I believe this is where people get misguided.
They believe just by using this machine they can built abs without any physical exercises or without intaking proper nutrition. I also did that and failed. An Abs Trainer Works best when combined with a nutritioinous diet and a good exercise routine. My body and mind now feels fresh and active. Hardwork pays off indeed.
This is what Tracy from Indiana has to say about using an EMS Abs Stimulator.
As a Patisserie chef I am a bit of a food lover myself. Every now and then I pop in one or two sweet items in my mouth while at work. Quite obviously that caused me to gain a little bit of fat in my abdominal area. It was annoying and was uncomfortable especially when I had to getting in my swimming costumes. EMS Muscle Stimulator helped me a lot in this regard.
Using an Abs Trainer not only toned my muscles but also boosted up my confidence level. Although the result was slow to come…nonetheless I got my toned body after 8 weeks. It worked!
So, What is an Abs Stimulator Device?
In short, an Electrical Muscle Stimulator or abs stimulator is an ems machine that sends electrical impulses to the muscles to promote muscle contractions. Specifically, a NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) causes Type 1 (slow-twitch) & Type 2 (fast-twitch) muscle fibers to contract, and at different Hz levels which can provide a number of benefits to health like performance and recovery.
Abs Toning Belts or abs stimulators in general uses this EMS technology.
So now that we are aware of the science behind how the muscle toning technology works, we have to now address the effectiveness of the ems abdominal trainer device.
Do Abs Stimulator aka Abdominal Trainer really work?
Yes It does. Abs toning belts or an abdominal trainer in general indeed work, although may not be in the scale in which the advertisers advertise. Nothing can happen overnight, and we are talking about abs here! So it is ludicrous for the advertisers to claim that using their abs stimulators or abs toning belt can grow six-packs instantly. Abs are the latent muscles that are present in the deep cores of our body underneath the layers of fat. So what a ems abdominal trainer does is, it works on the deep core layer of the abdominal muscle and stimulates or strengthens it to appear in the form of ‘six-pack’ abs.
On buying an ems abdominal trainer, you will find that the abs stimulator device comes with 3 soft Hydrogel pads where there would be a large pad for the abdomen and two smaller ones that can be used for arm training, leg training and so on. In order to use it, all you need to do is insert 2 AAA batteries into the ems machine and then attach the host to the Hydrogel pads that you want to use.
You will need to tear off the back sticker and then attach the Hydrogel pad to the part of the body you want to use it on. Once you are done attaching the device to your body, switch on the ems abdominal trainer and the conductive gel pads will then start sending electrical impulses to the deepest core of the muscle fibers.
Among the two layers of muscles that we have, the Rectus Abdominis (the External oblique/the Sixpack) and the Transversus Abdominis (the internal oblique), EMS Abs toning belts work on the internal core layer. These ems abdominal trainer belts sends impulses to the Transversus Abdominis, thus waking it up from its dormant state and strengthening the muscles from the core, giving you the desired deep etched six pack abs.
Now if we ask how much effective the EMS machine is in regards to weight loss and fat, we must keep in mind, abs stimulators are not aimed at weight loss. It would only burn that much fat that is required to effectively strengthen the muscles. As a matter of fact, electrical muscles stimulator won’t be of any use if you have obesity as your problem. In such a case you would need to revert to those good old practices of going to gym and living in austerity with strict dietary practices.
Experts suggest that a proper work-out and a good diet while using the EMS machine will give you the best visible result. One might now ask, “What’s the use of an EMS abdominal trainer if it can’t rule out physical exercise and diet as a whole?!” To them I would want to say, an abdominal trainer or an abs stimulator will reduce the amount of exercise required, on the contrary, it will fasten up the process of strengthening the muscles. So you will get the desired results at a much lesser effort. Also, what might take months will happen in just 2-3 weeks which is quite incredible in itself.
Muscle Building Workout Plan To Go With EMS Abdominal Trainer Belt
An Electrical Muscle Stimulator is more than a device for making you look good, rather it is a fitness device aimed at improving your overall health. Using an EMS abdominal trainer or an abs toning belt has been visibly effective in improving the body metabolism and correcting posture. A correct posture will reduce the chances of back pain and will improve the overall nervous system of the body. However, as I have mentioned the EMS abdominal trainer works best when combined with the best work-out plan, so here is a training plan that can be used with different levels of intensity of the EMS Machine.
We would lay out the plan based on three levels of ems machine training that is beginning, intermediate and advanced training. A beginner level muscle building plan is for those who have weight trained for six months or less. Intermediate level workout plans are best for those who have been weight training for between six to 18 months, and advanced muscle building workouts plan would work best for those who have consistently weight trained for 24 months or more on a consistent basis.
We are articulating a 3-Day workout plan where we would make a pattern of alternate days of workout and recovery for the beginners and the intermediates and, a recovery time for the third level intense workout players.
So let’s begin with our chart to go with electrical muscle stimulator aka abdominal trainer:
For Beginners
Day 1 | Monday
Exercise 1 | Dumbbell shoulder press | 3 sets x 12 repetitions
Exercise 2 | Barbell front squat | 4 sets x 8 reps
Exercise 3 | Romanian deadlift | 2 sets x 12 reps
Exercise 4 | Pullup | 25 reps
Exercise 5 | Incline barbell bench press | 3 sets x 12 reps
Exercise 6 | Dumbbell hammer curl | 4 sets x 8 reps
Exercise 7 | Single-arm neutral grip dumbbell row | 4 sets x 8 reps per arm
Day 2 | Wednesday
Exercise 1 | Dumbbell shoulder press | 5 sets x 4 reps
Exercise 2 | Barbell front squat | 2 sets x 8 reps
Exercise 3 | Romanian deadlift | 2 sets x 12 reps
Exercise 4 | Pullup | 15 reps
Exercise 5 | Incline barbell bench press | 5 sets x 4 reps
Exercise 6 | Dumbbell hammer curl | 5 sets x 4 reps
Exercise 7 | Single-arm neutral grip dumbbell row | 2 sets x 12 reps per arm
Day 2 | Friday
Exercise 1 | Dumbbell shoulder press | 3 sets x 12 repetitions
Exercise 2 | Barbell front squat | 4 sets x 8 reps
Exercise 3 | Romanian deadlift | 2 sets x 12 reps
Exercise 4 | Pullup | 20 reps
Exercise 5 | Incline barbell bench press | 3 sets x 12 reps
Exercise 6 | Dumbbell hammer curl | 3 sets x 12, 12, 4 reps
Exercise 7 | Single-arm neutral grip dumbbell row | 4 sets x 8 reps per arm
For Intermediate
4-Day Split Workout Plan
A four-day split muscle building workout plan includes three days of rest and recovery.
See the example muscle building workout plan below, designed with intermediate level training in mind.
Example Workout
Monday | Chest | Barbell bench press | 3 sets x 12 reps
Wednesday | Back | Weighted Pullup | 3 sets x 12 reps
Friday | Shoulders | Barbell military press | 4 sets x 8 reps
Saturday | Arms and legs | Barbell curls and walking lunges | 4 sets x 8 reps, 3 sets x 12 reps
For Advanced
5-Day Split Workout Plan
Five-day split workout routines are typically done to work one muscle group per week. This allows you to fully break down each muscle group and reserve one full week of recovery before working that muscle group again. Intermediate to advanced bodybuilders benefit most from this type of training because they are more accustomed to intense weight training on a regular basis.
See the example muscle building workout plan below, designed with intermediate to advanced bodybuilding in mind.
Example Workout
Monday | Legs and abs
Tuesday | Chest
Wednesday | Back and abs
Friday | Shoulders and abs
Saturday | Arms
EMS Abs Trainer Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I use the Abs Stimulator?
Maintaining a timing while wearing this equipment is a must. You don’t need your abdominal muscles to get all worked up. Therefore, the optimum duration of use should be 20 to 40 minutes during each trainig session. Also to prevent over working of muscles you should limit your training session to just One each day. It is first important to get comfortable wearing the Abs Trainer first. As a beginner you can start with 20 minutes; at an advanced level make it up to 40 minutes.
Can I Use EMS Trainer Everyday ?
Yes you can, provided you use it within the prescribed duration. In simple words, if you are planning to use the device everyday then don’t use it more than 20 to 30 minutes. Do not overwork your muscles!
What are the side effects of the EMS Stimulator?
Like the good effects, this abs builder also has some side effects. Harmful effects often include skin irritations and rashes at the site of the electrode applicators. Other effects might include Headache, painful sensations and other irritations. If so happens, you should stop using the trainer immediately.
Is EMS Safe?
The biggest question of using this electrical application is whether it is safe or not. It is indeed SAFE 99% of the time. The tight fabrics and the inner mechanisms prevents the chances of electrocution and EMS training is also not painful. Except few side effects that are uncommon EMS equipment is most of the time safe.
Does EMS tighten skin?
Yes an EMS machine indeed tightens the skin. EMS trainer helps in skin tightening since it strengthens the muscle. As the muscles are strengthened and, the loose skin around it also gets tightened.
Conclusion
To sum up, to what I have written above, the abdominal trainer do help in ‘building’ your muscles by strengthening the muscles to its deep core. Does it burn fat? Yes, but only to a little extent; that much which is required for your muscles to show. To get the optimum result however, your daily routine of using the abs stimulator should be accompanied by a good dietary habit and a thorough work-out plan, like the one mentioned above.
So Strap on and Get Started With Your Abs Building!
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