Electrical Muscle Stimulation

Electrical muscle stimulation, abbreviated EMS and also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation or electromyostimulation, elicits muscle contraction using electrical impulses delivered through electrodes placed on the skin near the muscles being stimulated. It is used as a strength training tool for healthy subjects and athletes, as a rehabilitation and preventive tool for people who are partially or fully immobilized, and as a testing tool for evaluating neural and muscular function in the body, and it has been found more beneficial before exercise, due to early muscle activation, than during post exercise recovery, where it can even increase delayed onset muscle soreness. In the United States, EMS devices are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.