Whole Body EMS workout

How EMS Mimics Brain Signals to Get Your Muscles to Fire Off

Muscle is required for all movement humans take. Even when you are standing still, stabilizer muscles maintain your balance. So it is no surprise that when muscles get more exercise they become stronger; this is the basic premise behind working out to build muscle and maintain health. Whole Body EMS workouts are becoming more popular because of their effect on muscles.

What is WB EMS?

Whole Body Electrical muscle stimulation, or WB EMS, uses electrical impulses to stimulate motor neurons and contract muscles. The benefits of this type of workout or therapy are wide-ranging, and WB EMS can improve fitness and strength, and it can help with recovery and rehabilitation.

To understand how WB EMS works, it’s essential to understand how muscles work and what function the brain provides during muscle movement. There are three types of muscle tissue in the body. Both cardiac and smooth muscles are controlled involuntarily since they make up the heart and internal organs. These muscles do not require any deliberate thought to function.

The third type of muscle, skeletal muscle, is different. These muscles are used for body movement, and they are dictated by deliberate thought in the brain. Furthermore, skeletal muscle contains two types of muscle fibers. The first type – Type 1 or Slow Twitch – of fiber can maintain long-term contractions but produces less force than the other type. These fibers are crucial for maintaining posture throughout the day and engaging in more prolonged activities.

The second type of muscle fiber is Type 2a and 2b Fast Twitch fibers. They are very powerful but fatigue quickly. These muscle fibers help with activities like jumping or sprinting. However, they are less efficient than Type 1 muscle fibers. All muscles in the body contain both types of fibers. The fast-twitch fibers often don’t take over until the slow-twitch fibers become fatigued. This trait makes it much harder to strengthen the fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Attempting to build muscle through strength training workouts requires conscious and deliberate thought. The brain sends a command made up of electrical signals that travel through the spinal cord. The motor neurons in the correct muscle then fire up the muscle fibers to carry out the command. Essentially, these actions occur because of the electrical signal coming from the brain.

How Whole Body EMS Bypasses the Brain

WB EMS removes the brain from the process and allows the muscles to contract without deliberate thought. WB EMS directs the targeted muscles and activates them for a defined amount of time. When you take the brain out of the process, you do not stop the contraction when your brain signals it (as many do when they begin to feel their muscles burn during a workout). The contraction stops when the electrical signal ends. For this reason, WB EMS often delivers a much deeper muscle contraction than people can achieve with a traditional workout.

The deep contractions result in maximum muscle activation. During a traditional workout with electrical signals coming from your brain, you may only use approximately 40% of your muscle fibers. Our bodies adapt and learn, so they will use only the muscle required to complete the task. When building muscle mass, your body has to switch on the extra muscle fibers and do so in order. With WB EMS workouts, you can maximize the activation of the correct muscles. WB EMS contractions activate Type 2 fibers first, which is impossible to achieve with voluntary contractions. The process of applying Whole Body EMS also allows the fibers to contract fully without holding back at all. No workout alone can achieve the same physiological response.

WB EMS is most effective when used in conjunction with targeted strength training or exercise, making WB EMS workouts far more effective than alternatives. But even when applied as a passive activity, WB EMS can encourage the growth of new muscle. But when combined with additional workout activities, WB EMS can lead to huge increases in strength, muscle mass, and endurance. It also increases the time it takes for a muscle to become fatigued, a huge component of physical performance.

EMS has a long history of therapeutic and rehabilitation purposes. However, the involuntary muscle contractions and activation achieved by mimicking brain signals have led many people to understand the benefits of EMS workouts. It’s difficult for many individuals to devote the time to working out or strength training required to build muscle mass, and WB EMS provides a way to maximize the results you can get in less time. To learn more about the benefits of WB EMS workouts, contact WB20 today.

WB20 provides a whole body EMS workout in 20 minutes with the next evolution in fitness. Our physical trainers can work with you to target your areas of concern. With the latest technology, our team can help you increase your strength, improve your metabolism, and work 95% of your muscles. Workout smarter, not harder.