Shock to the System: A Runner's First Experience of EMS at E-Pulsive

A demanding introduction to electrical muscle stimulation and the questions it raises for endurance athletes.

E-Pulsive provided a complimentary session for this review. This piece was written independently, with no editorial input or approval from E-Pulsive before publication. The views below reflect my experience and the research discussed.

A first impression in Belgravia

My visit to E-Pulsive began in the elegant surroundings of Belgravia. The area's upmarket feel set the scene, but it was the welcome inside the studio that made the strongest first impression.

Jamie, my trainer, was friendly and professional, immediately making an unfamiliar form of training feel approachable. He explained that he had discovered EMS through a friend after completing his personal training course. His own introduction had started with curiosity, much like mine. I arrived wondering the same question. Could electrical muscle stimulation add value alongside my regular running training?

For context, I train seven to eight times a week across running, track sessions, gym, and I have run a 5K in under 15 minutes. I went into the session confident in my fitness, particularly my endurance.

After getting changed and putting on the suit, it was time to find out.

Understanding the EMS setup

The suit contains electrodes placed over major muscle groups, adding electrically stimulated contractions to the movements performed. Jamie described how the impulses alternate with short pauses that allow the muscles to relax. He also explained that the exercises themselves are kept simple, although the added stimulation can make them feel far more demanding than expected.

As founder Eladio de León puts it, "The session is active, not a passive treatment."

My first EMS session

Standing in the E-Pulsive studio with a mix of scepticism and curiosity, I expected the first exercise, a simple squat, to ease me into the session. Instead, the moment the first impulse ran through my body, I realised how wrong that assumption was. The sensation was completely unfamiliar. A sharp, growing ache that felt almost like my muscles were cramping as the stimulation pulsed through them. Suddenly, performing a squat while holding just 2kg in each hand became a very difficult movement.

Although the session lasts only twenty minutes, the structure of thirty seconds of work followed by twenty seconds of rest makes it continuous and intense. As we moved through the exercises, Jamie adjusted the focus to different muscle groups, starting with core work like planks, and upper body movements such as press ups for the chest and triceps. What surprised me most was not just the difficulty, but the level of discomfort. By the halfway point, I was drenched in sweat, and each new impulse felt like a fresh challenge.

When Jamie eventually announced, with a bit of humour, that the session was over, I felt an immediate wave of relief. Those twenty minutes had felt closer to a two-hour workout. Despite how tough it was, there was a genuine sense of satisfaction in having completed something so unfamiliar and challenging.

What followed, however, was unexpected. The muscle fatigue and DOMS over the next five days were intense, far beyond anything I've experienced from running or strength training before. Walking upstairs, sitting down and other basic movements were sore and difficult. For anyone trying EMS for the first time, I would approach it with caution and an awareness that your body may react strongly to a stimulus it isn't used to. The training itself is short, but the recovery can be long. I'd say it took me five days of rest to fully recover.

Personalisation and progression

Talking through my settings afterwards, Jamie explained that different muscle groups had been set at different intensities. He also described how later sessions could be tailored more closely to a client's goals, with different emphases for the legs, upper body or core. That gave me a clearer picture of what an ongoing programme might involve.

Eladio says this personalised approach was part of the thinking behind establishing E-Pulsive in London in 2014: making closely supervised strength training fit more realistically into busy schedules.

Where EMS might fit for endurance athletes

For endurance athletes, Eladio sees a potential role in developing strength and power, with possible benefits for running economy, the oxygen needed to maintain a given pace.

There is some encouraging research behind that idea. A 2018 study involving twelve male recreational runners found improvements in maximum oxygen uptake, running economy and vertical jump after six weekly EMS sessions, compared with a group maintaining its usual running. However, only six out of the twelve men received EMS, and their running programme also changed. The results offer a promising starting point rather than proof that EMS outperforms conventional training.

A 2023 trial involving 59 adults found that running with and without EMS improved aerobic measures, with no significant difference between the groups. These participants had little running experience, further limiting what the findings can tell us about competitive athletes.

Eladio acknowledges that distinction.

I would not promise a faster race time or a specific endurance improvement. Eladio de León, founder, E-Pulsive

His emphasis is on EMS as a complementary tool. He also clarifies that the comparison between twenty minutes of EMS and ninety minutes in the gym should be understood as a message about time efficiency, rather than a universal equivalence.

Recovery and safety considerations

My own experience highlighted another consideration: recovery. I was so sore that I could not walk comfortably for three days and missed about five days of training. That response should not be treated as a necessary part of EMS or as proof of its effectiveness.

Eladio says first sessions should be introductory, with intensity progressed carefully. The 2023 international safety guidance likewise stresses gradual familiarisation, close supervision and awareness of the risk of excessive muscle damage, including in trained athletes.

Cost and practicality

Cost also shapes its practicality. Eladio quoted £60 for an introductory appointment and £115 for a subsequent individual studio session, with reduced rates through bundles. For younger runners, that is a substantial cost and barrier.

Final thoughts

E-Pulsive offered a welcoming, insightful and professional introduction to a form of training that genuinely surprised me. Jamie's guidance and Eladio's openness helped me understand EMS beyond my own session. I remain interested in its potential, but for my own running, the cost and the recovery I experienced make it difficult to justify as a regular addition at present. Any future benefit would need to support the consistency of my training.