Trying a EMS Workout at 20V Toorak

Words by Simon Jones 

I love going to the gym. Usually five days a week for 45 minutes to an hour. Supplemented with a run or two each week. I’m no Schwarzenegger or Dwayne Johnson; I hate lifting weights. But I love cardio. So when I heard about 20V – something completely different from anything even remotely related to what I would consider ‘gym’ – it struck my interest. 

What on earth is EMS? 

While I’d say I’m keen to jump headfirst into most things, I wanted to do a bit of research on what sounded like a very different type of workout. Here’s the lowdown: 

EMS training uses small electrical impulses to stimulate muscle contractions – think a TENS machine for 70% of your body – and mimics the natural signals sent by your brain. It essentially allows for an intense full-body workout in just 20 minutes, which is claimed to be the equivalent to a four-hour traditional weightlifting session. 

While I can’t exactly say that was my exact experience, I certainly felt the post-weightlifting fatigue more than I had anticipated. 

Taking the electro-plunge 

As a local Melburnian, I headed over to 20V Toorak. My lovely PT for the session, Ben, guided me upstairs at the popular Toorak Health Club into the dedicated 20V floor. It’s a very relaxed vibe, with a changing room adjacent to the workout room where I was able to slip into some tights. 

Wandering into the EMS room, Ben talked me through what to expect: a potentially strange sensation if I’d not experienced EMS before, but something that could easily be adjusted so I was never uncomfortable. As he spoke, he used a water spritzer to spray down a vest, arm pads, leg pads and glute belt that were then attached to my body and tightened as firmly as possible. The water helps conduct the electro stimulation. 

Then, we got to work. 

I can’t even remember how many movements I completed in the 20 minutes but about 50% of the time involved clenching my entire body (especially my core) as the voltage ran through the suit, during which I was doing squats, flys, lunges and all manner of other movements that trainer Ben showed me how to do – and do them I did, in spite of the intensity. 

Maybe I was far too emboldened by my usual training regimen. I upped the ante on the electro intensity, which I wouldn’t recommend for beginners, but it was never painful – just more challenging with every minor movement. 

The after-effects 

As soon as I left the studio it felt like I’d done a heavy workout. Like I said – I’m not a weightlifting guy. I love cardio. This felt like I’d done a couple of back-to-back strength sessions with some serious weights. Yet I’d not lifted anything heavier than a tennis ball. How could this be so? 

Ben told me I wouldn’t feel the real effects for a couple of days. And he was right. Day three was difficult. Day four I struggled to squat down and pick up my three-year-old. But I could tell that the session had done some serious heavy lifting (without the heavy lifting from me), and after a few magnesium supplements I was back to myself in no time. 

I’d say that if you did two sessions every week for a month, your body would very easily adjust.