EMS Studio, Iron BodyFit, is a brand new studio located on Lavender Hill in Battersea. To announce the launch, I thought, what better way to do a Class Review so people can gain an understanding of what exactly EMS is. 

Iron BodyFit are a Global brand with studios located in 13 countries. They have a current total of 120 studios and have over 30,000 members worldwide. Their UK flagship studio is in Battersea, and they’ve recently opened a brand new one in Parson’s Green, with a new one soon opening in Liverpool Street.

What is EMS?

EMS stands for Electro-Muscle-Stimulation. It combines this technology with tailored training, programmed to transform both your health and fitness levels. 

Targeting all major muscle groups in the body at the same time, EMS activates over 90% of your muscle fibres whilst you’re training and pushes your muscle fibres harder than the majority of regular training methods. It’s an innovative form of exercise which uses low-frequency current to elicit muscle contraction just like our bodies do during conventional exercise. 

This stimulus is non-directional, meaning that your powerful fast-twitch muscle fibres are activated with every muscle contraction (which is not the case with conventional training). For this reason, they recommend you only need one 25-minute session per week as they state it offers the same results as spending 4 hours in the gym! 

EMS doesn’t involve load and therefore means less stress on the body, and joints, which makes it a great low-impact form of exercise. Rumour has it that’s the reason celebrities such as Heidi Klum, Elizabeth Hurley and Madonna made the switch. Many studies actually concluded that EMS is a great alternative for those with health issues that cannot take part in regular exercise activities too. 

EMS isn’t just for ‘toning up’ or ‘losing weight’. It’s used and been proven to help with:

• Improving muscle strength and endurance
• Improving range of motion
• Aid lower back pain
• Improving posture
• Improving circulation
• Reducing muscle cramps
• Boosting health and wellbeing
• …Reducing snoring (feel free to share with anyone who needs to hear that!)

The facility

The studio is very light with a little waiting room reception area where they offer free tea, coffee, fruit and teff cookies to fuel you pre and post-workout. The changing rooms are kitted out with everything you need: they provide you with towels for your post-session shower, which is kitted out with all the toiletries you’d need, and they have hair dryers and straighteners, meaning you don’t need to bring anything with you. 

They only allow a maximum of 3 people to train at a time too, so it’s great for those who don’t feel confident in a big gym environment, plus you get full-on support and attention at all times.

The session

The session at Iron BodyFit is only 25 minutes in total: 20 minutes of the workout with a 5-minute cardio blast at the end. You’re given a thermal-looking outfit to wear and advised to remove all underwear to ensure the technology works effectively.

You’re then guided to a station where they fit you with ‘the suit’. Almost like a weighted vest, but without the weights, the Trainer sprays all parts of the suit with a water gun which enables the technology to work. In the end, you’re wearing a vest, bands around your arms and thighs, and one around your pelvis and glutes.

Session breakdown

Setting up:

The first part of the session involves getting connected to the device through wires which are clipped onto the suit. 

The trainer will then begin to adjust the frequencies (intensity) to the right level that feels good for you. Each muscle group is adjusted individually (e.g. glutes, chest etc.)

Workout:

Guided by the Personal Trainer, the exercises are demonstrated within the ‘rest period’ (aka non-tasered part!).

You then go on to perform each exercise, tensing and contracting all of your muscles in the position for a total of 12 repetitions each, with a rest period between each rep. 

The Trainer will increase the intensity of each body part throughout the session by communicating with you if each one is ok or whether it can go up/down. I definitely had to get the legs lowered after the spin class I did that morning!

Each exercise is targeted at a specific muscle group, even though all muscles are working during each exercise. Examples included; squats, abdominal crunches, and tricep kickbacks.

Finisher:

After the 20 minutes is up, they alter the frequency for the 5-minute cardio part of the workout. This feels different from the usual impulse. It feels less intense, so you can move more freely, and it also stays constant.

The trainer will get you to do a series of different exercises with the aim of raising your heart rate. Examples included; fast feet, jogging on the spot, squats and reverse lunges.

An added bonus

By becoming a member, you’d receive a high-tech full-body scan before your first session, which analyses your body composition, among other factors, to enable you to monitor your progress on your health and fitness journey. They also save all of your details (i.e. level of intensities) from your previous session, so you can continue making progress and level up each session.

The Verdict

I’ve tried EMS a few times, and although I didn’t feel like I had done a proper workout, I did feel it 2 days later (particularly throughout my core and glutes). Thankfully the DOMS wasn’t as bad as when I first tried it and I felt as if I had been dropped from a skyscraper and landed flat on my A**! I can definitely see the benefits of becoming a member and making progress each session, particularly due to the factors EMS has proven to help improve.

Overall:

• Sweat = 5/10
• Endorphins = 7/10
• DOMS = 8/10
• Recommendation = 10/10, a must try

Iron BodyFit Battersea offer a free trial for anyone looking to give it a go.