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I'd like to share my experience of taking electrostimulation classes of and share some of the myths and false statements around electrostimulation that I'd come across with before deciding to book my first session.
First of all, you may be wondering what electrostimulation is, in case you have never heard that term before. Electrostimulation is a physical activity that used to be reserved for elite athletes to help them regenerate damaged muscle tissue. However, in the recent years, an increasing number of gyms offers electrostimulation as an extra service that anyone can try. It's believed that electrostimulation was born in the 1960s when Soviet elite athletes were applying these electric stimulators to increase their strength (and these guys knew what they were doing!).
Despite the variety of gyms offering it and people becoming fans of this modern fitness activity, there's still some disbelief around it, as many people think that is not a natural way of exercising and that it can do more harm than good.
In my case, I decided to try electrostimulation after a colleague recommended it to me suggesting I would lose weight quicker if I combine my regular training with it. So, here I am booking my first class.
The first thing you need to know about electrostimulation is that you are required to wear cotton gym clothes to let the electric impulses penetrate your muscles better. When you get to the gym, your personal trainer will spray water all over your body, and then ask you to put a sort of astronaut suit on, are able toconnected to the electrostimulation device, similar to a computer. The suit helps to connect the electrodes and cables from the machine to the muscles you are planning to train during the session. The intensity of the electric impulse you'd feel in each muscle can be set up separately, depending can tolerate.
What´s the training like when you have the electrostimulation machine connected to your body? An electrostimulation training session can be just like any other gym session: you can do aerobic exercises or simply focus on strength training, like squats, lunges, etc. The only difference is the electric discharges you feel while you perform the exercise. For example, if you are doing bicep training, you will feel the electrostimulation on your biceps.
The sessions are usually shorter, around 20 minutes, but trust me, once you finish, you'll feel as if you've been training for hours. Both times I tried this, I felt dizzy just after finishing my class. Thus, it´s vital to eat well and get plenty of energy with your food the day you are going to train.
The immediate effect you´ll feel is that you are extremely tired and just want to lie in bed. The day after you do it for the first time, you'll probably wake up feeling sore. In my case, I couldn't walk properly for 3 days after the session. Now to the most interesting part - a weight loss: in the first couple of days you won't notice anything special (at least, that was my case). But after 3-4 sessions, you will start seeing results, especially if you combine this with other fitness routines and with a healthy diet.
Electrostimulation is forbidden for people with the following conditions:
- people with a pacemaker;
- children;
- people with thrombosis or thrombophlebitis;
- people in the febrile state;
- pregnant women should not use this around the abdomen muscles.
Some people believe that electrostimulation can be effective just by itself, but the truth is that you need to combine it with other fitness routine and also with a balanced diet, just like you'd do with any other training program. The other myth is that you don´t need to work out, just connect the device to your body while watching TV which, of course, is not as simple as one could imagine.
Also, don´t hope to get a Beyoncé´s body after one session, you need to be tenacious with your practice as electrostimulation is not a miracle training. Otherwise, we would all have toned and hot bodies from night to day.
I'll be honest: the first time I tried it, I hated its guts. I thought it was an artificial way of doing sport and didn't like that electric thing connected to my body. But what can I say, it's July and my bikini diet didn't work as expected, so I thought it could be a good way of speeding things up before looking stunning on the beach.
I recommend to give it a go, just like you'd do with any other trendy fitness activity that influencers are talking about - it was CrossFit first and Pole dance later, and now it´s electrostimulation. You may not like it the first time, but I'm sure it's going to be worth it.
Wish me luck with my goal! I'll keep you posted with my progress!
Photo Credit: Depositphotos
