A Brief History on Electrical Muscle Stimulation
The Trim and Tone belt has both red light therapy(RLT) and electrical muscle stimulation(EMS) technologies. To learn more about these technologies I did some research and in a previous blog post the history of red light therapy was discussed. Now we delve into the history of EMS.
Surprisingly enough EMS use can be tracked as far back as to around 500 B.C. in ancient Egyptian times. A discovery of certain fish that emitted electrical impulses was discovered and the ancient Egyptians had harnessed this discovery to treat pain. The Ancient Greeks and Romans also used this same discovery to treat patients as well.
It wasn't until much later when EMS was rediscovered in the 19th and 20th centuries where physicists such as Michael Faraday conducted studies that lead to the acceptance and use of EMS treatments in London hospitals in 1840. Twenty years later, EMS devices like the Electropathic Battery Belt or ab belts were invented.
EMS had become a common practice and many more devices were created that were very bulky and not at all portable. EMS had been continued to be used throughout the years to treat many ailments.
1976 was a big turning point for this widely-used technology. It was no longer just in the interest within the medical field but was introduced to the athletic field as well. Dr Yakov Kots, a Soviet scientist introduced this technology to olympic athletes during the Montreal Olympics to enhance the USSR athletes for when they performed in the games.
He implemented what was eventually called the Kotz Current, which was a frequency that was about 2500MHz! Not only did this frequency improve these athletes' performance by activating an increase in fast-twitch muscles making them faster, but also helped them build muscle as well.
As you can tell, EMS is not new to the fitness game! EMS has benefited many athletes in the past and present and has evolved and made many improvements such as being way more portable and easy-to-use just like the Trim + Tone belt!
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