3 Key Things You Must Do Before and After an Electric Muscle Stimulation Workout

An electric muscle stimulation workout is an effective method of staying in shape, losing weight and generally, maintaining your physicality. While we know that the powerful workout is effective for everyone that engages in it, there are also a number of ways that you can make it even more impactful for your body and lifestyle. The time before and after a workout is incredibly important for making the days after your workout much easier, and for ensuring that the actual session is as impactful for your body as it can be. 

Why Are Before and After an Electro Stimulation Workout Important?

When it comes to your electric muscle stimulation workout, your actual training session gets all the credit without any thought of before or after taken into account. Your body’s changes are not solely based on your actual workout, but also before and after. 

Before a workout is key because this is the period where your body can ingest food which gives your body energy and generally, prepare muscles for exercise which helps them to become resistant to impact and reduce the risk of injury.

Specifically for an electro stimulation workout, the time after is extremely important as your muscles continue to contract after your session. The time after an exercise session, regardless of if it is an electro stimulation workout, is where repair of your muscles and recovery of your body takes place. This process is important as it helps get your body ready for the next training session (usually 2 to 3 days for an electro  stimulation workout), and ensures that your muscles have fully recovered from the intensity of the workout.

3 Tips for Before and After Your Electric Muscle Stimulation Workout

Before

• Get Enough Sleep

Ensuring that you get consistent sleep the night before is important for having enough energy to work out consistently and effectively throughout the day. The role of sleep is to restore the body’s energy supply which is needed for exercise. Without proper sleep before your session, you may feel lethargic and reluctant to even start your electric muscle stimulation workout!

• Eat Smart

The best time to eat is about 30 minutes before your EMS training session. Don’t eat a lot of food as you can risk bringing it back up during your exercise. However, a snack or light meal rich in carbohydrates and protein (more carb-heavy) will provide you with the energy needed for your workout.

Suggested Snack: Oats with Banana

Oats will slowly release carbohydrates, ensuring that you are fuelled throughout your workout while bananas contain potassium which is important for nerve and muscle function.

• Drink Enough Water

Your body cannot run without water. You will be sweating a lot during your session, making it pertinent that you are properly hydrated. Water or proper hydration also ensures that your energy levels are where they should be during your workout.

After

• Stretch

Stretching promotes circulation throughout your body. This increased blood flow can help your muscles heal more quickly after your workout and may also help to prevent muscle soreness and stiffness commonly felt after intense workouts.

• Eat Smart, Again

This is listed under our ‘after’ tips as well because it is that crucial to your recovery. After your electric stimulation workout, you should eat within an hour. Aim for food that will help to replenish your energy as well as kickstart your recovery process. Foods that are high in carbohydrates will restore your low glycogen and energy levels while protein will aid in muscle recovery and provide amino acids which help to rebuild your muscles.

Suggested Snack: Peanut Butter on Toast

• Hydrate, Rest and Recover

The worst thing that you can do is to have another session of your electro stimulation workout too soon. This will not get you to your goals fast, in fact, it may slow it down. Without giving your body sufficient time to rest and repair, you can potentially damage your muscles if you start working out too soon. Even though our electric muscle stimulation sessions are only 20 minutes, they are very intense and rely on the recovery period post-workout to gain the maximum benefits from the training session.

Hydration is another important part of the recovery process as it replaces fluids lost through sweating during your session. This water is necessary for flushing toxins out of the body, keeping joints lubricated and muscles in proper shape.

If you’re interested in joining 20PerFit but still have a few questions, then contact our team. They will also be more than happy to guide you through each step of the workout, explain its advantages and offer training advice. 

Try it for yourself and reap the benefits.

Book in a session here or contact our friendly team on 1300 202 073!