“AB’-YSMAL” News about Electrical Muscle Stimulation
Can you build rock hard “abs” or shrink fat circled around your waist while watching TV or sitting on your computer?
Plenty of infomercials claim to do so - the makers of electrical muscle stimulation contraptions (EMS) would have us believe that “hooking up”’and turning on the right switch can - not only burn fat but also add muscle (6-pack) while you wait.
Let’s be clear: this is marketing nonsense. The FDA has not cleared EMS devices for fat loss, muscle building, or body shaping, simply because the technology cannot biologically produce those results.
What EMS can do is valuable, but very different from what is advertised. EMS has a long, respected history in medical rehabilitation - for paralytic patients, for post-surgical recovery, after fractures, and to retrain muscles that have lost function. It improves blood circulation, neuromuscular activation, and functional movement in people who genuinely need medical support.
But using these devices to get a “model’s body,” burn fat, or replace real training is absurd and physiologically impossible.
Fat loss comes from a calorie deficit and cardio, and muscle growth comes from progressive resistance training, proper nutrition, and recovery - not from passive electrical pulses.
Don’t let gadgets mislead you. Science still wins over shortcuts.
Zareer Patell
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