Can Electricity Make Your Workouts More Effective? I Tried EMS To Find Out

The first time I heard about electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) was probably three or four years ago.

I remember seeing a handful of content creators I followed on Instagram posting videos of themselves zipped into these futuristic-looking black bodysuits covered in electrodes. They'd be doing what looked like pretty basic exercises—bodyweight squats, lunges, planks—but reacting like they were in the middle of the hardest workout of their lives.

At the time, I wasn't buying it.

Maybe that's the skeptic in me, but it felt like one of those wellness trends that looked a little too perfect for social media. I figured there had to be some exaggeration involved.

Since then, though, EMS has become much harder to ignore. Professional athletes have started incorporating it into training, boutique EMS studios have opened across the country, and companies are now selling at-home suits that promise to intensify your workouts in as little as 20 minutes.

I found myself wondering whether I'd written EMS off too quickly. Was this another overhyped fitness gadget? Or was there actually something here?

Before I ever plugged the suit in, I wanted to understand what was actually happening beneath all those electrodes.

Electrical muscle stimulation uses low-frequency electrical impulses to trigger muscle contractions. Normally, your brain sends signals through your nervous system telling your muscles when to contract. EMS adds another layer to that process by delivering controlled electrical pulses directly to the muscles through electrodes placed across your body.

Think of it as strength training with an extra layer of muscle activation.

If you're doing a squat, your glutes and quads are already contracting to move you through the exercise. With EMS, those same muscles are also responding to electrical impulses from the suit, creating stronger contractions while you continue moving normally.

For this experiment, I tested the PEPPER EMS suit, a wireless system with built-in electrodes positioned over the major muscle groups. Through the accompanying app, you can adjust the intensity of each muscle group individually and choose between strength, cardio, or recovery-focused sessions. Unlike many studio-based EMS systems, the suit doesn't need to be connected by wires, making it feel much more like putting on workout clothes than medical equipment.

There's considerably more research on EMS than I expected, and much of it points in the same direction: when paired with exercise, EMS appears to be an effective way to increase muscle activation and improve strength. The bigger question isn't whether it works; it's how well it works compared to traditional strength training.

One of the strongest pieces of evidence comes from a systematic review1 that analyzed 89 studies on EMS and athletic performance. Researchers found significant improvements in maximal strength, explosive power, sprint performance, and jump performance, even among elite athletes. That's particularly noteworthy because elite athletes are already training close to their physiological ceiling, making additional improvements much harder to achieve.

Another study found that combining EMS with resistance training led to greater improvements in muscle mass and upper-body strength than resistance training alone after eight weeks.

But as encouraging as those findings are, the research isn't entirely one-sided.

A 20-week trial2 published last year compared 25-minute EMS sessions with 90-minute traditional resistance workouts. While both groups improved their body composition and strength, the traditional lifting group experienced greater increases in strength and larger reductions in body fat percentage.

That difference helps clarify where EMS fits. The science doesn't suggest EMS is some revolutionary replacement for strength training. Instead, it seems to be another effective training tool, one that can complement a lifting routine or help people get more out of shorter workouts.

Safety was another question I had going into this experiment.

Overall, the research paints a reassuring picture. Multiple reviews have concluded that whole-body EMS is safe3 for healthy adults when used appropriately. That said, it's not recommended for everyone. People with pacemakers, severe heart disease, acute infections, or those who are pregnant should avoid EMS unless specifically cleared by a healthcare provider.

By the time I finished reading the research, my skepticism hadn't completely disappeared, but it had shifted. I no longer wondered whether EMS was entirely legitimate. Instead, I was wondering whether I would actually notice a difference.

I don't think it's a coincidence that EMS has taken off when it has. Right now, the wellness conversation is less about doing more and more about doing things more efficiently. We're looking for workouts that fit into busy schedules, recovery tools that help us bounce back faster, and ways to make the most of the limited time we have.

EMS fits neatly into that mindset.

The promise isn't necessarily that you'll replace your gym membership. It's that you can turn a relatively simple 20-minute workout into something that feels much more challenging. For busy parents, frequent travelers, or anyone struggling to fit strength training into an already packed schedule, that's a compelling pitch.

Whether it actually lived up to that promise was another story.

I'll admit it: I felt a little silly putting the suit on for the first time.

The fitted black suit wraps around your arms, legs, and torso, with electrodes positioned over all of your major muscle groups. You're supposed to wear minimal clothing underneath so the electrodes can make direct contact with your skin, and a small battery pack clips onto the side to power the entire workout.

I expected it to feel bulky or restrictive, but it was actually surprisingly comfortable. The only reminder that I was wearing something different came every four seconds, when the electrical impulses kicked in.

For my first workout, I intentionally kept things simple. Fifteen minutes. No weights. Just bodyweight squats, planks, donkey kicks, glute bridges, and a few push-ups.

The best way I can describe the sensation is that your muscles suddenly become impossible to ignore. Every four seconds, the suit sends electrical pulses that make the targeted muscles contract before giving you four seconds of rest. The contractions weren't painful, but they were strong enough that every movement suddenly felt much more demanding.

My bodyweight squat was still just a bodyweight squat. My plank hadn't changed. The push-ups were the same push-ups I'd done hundreds of times before. But it felt like every muscle involved was working overtime.

The next morning, I was sore. Really sore.

Normally, that might sound like a glowing review. But if you've read any of my previous fitness articles, you know I'm the first person to point out that soreness isn't proof that a workout was more effective. Often, it simply means your body is adapting to something new. So I tried not to read too much into it.

Instead, I paid attention to what happened over the next four weeks. And that ended up being much more interesting.

I used the suit twice a week while keeping the rest of my routine exactly the same. I continued lifting weights, playing pickleball, walking, and doing Pilates. I didn't want this experiment to become an overhaul of my fitness routine. I wanted to see what the EMS suit added.

And week after week, I noticed small but meaningful changes.

I found myself increasing the intensity of the electrical impulses almost every session. Planks that felt impossible during week one became manageable. I could squeeze out a few more push-ups before my arms gave out. Exercises that initially demanded my full concentration started feeling more controlled. At the same time, I was becoming less sore after each workout.

Those changes are much more meaningful markers of progress than post-workout soreness. Being able to tolerate greater resistance and perform more work suggests my muscles were becoming stronger and more capable.

Going into this experiment, I assumed EMS would either become my new favorite workout or confirm everything I originally believed about it. Instead, I landed somewhere in the middle. I don't think EMS is the future of fitness, but I also don't think it's a gimmick. I think it's another tool.

For me, its biggest advantage isn't that it replaces lifting weights. It's that it makes shorter workouts feel much more productive. There are plenty of weeks when I have time to get to the gym, follow my lifting program, and progressively overload my exercises. During those weeks, I'm still choosing traditional strength training.

But there are also weeks filled with deadlines, travel, or long workdays when I only have 20 minutes to move my body. That's where I think EMS really shines. Instead of skipping my workout altogether, I can throw on the suit and turn a relatively simple bodyweight session into something that challenges my muscles. 

After digging through the research and spending a month using it myself, I think the evidence points to a fairly balanced conclusion. EMS can be an effective way to make strength training more challenging, particularly when you're pairing it with movement rather than expecting it to do the work for you.

Will I stop lifting weights? Not even close.