In recent years, a large number of studies have confirmed the advantages of EMS as a passive muscle exercise. However, the improvement of muscle strength or quality may still be affected by the specific training protocol and the frequency of use. In this study, we observed that the combination of resistance training (RT) and EMS significantly improved muscle mass and upper limb muscle strength, while there was a non-significant trend for improvement in lower limb muscle strength. Importantly, we found no evidence of abnormal liver and kidney function when EMS was used appropriately.
EMS is believed to significantly reduce body fat because it increases resting metabolic rate, thereby continuously reducing body fat. This effect may be attributed to increased physical activity, which is associated with improved lipoprotein profiles and increased fat oxidation. A systematic review of 23 articles showed that the EMS group had significant improvements in muscle mass and function, reduced fat mass, and reduced low back pain. The simultaneous increase in fat loss and muscle hypertrophy suggests that muscle hypertrophy may offset the negative metabolic effects of intramuscular fat.
However, there is still controversy about the effect of EMS on fat loss, which may be due to differences in study populations and intervention protocols. Healthy adults received EMS radiation therapy and we observed a significant reduction in body fat percentage of 4.33% compared with baseline in the group receiving daily EMS therapy, which was also significant compared with the group not receiving EMS therapy.
