photo courtesy of pixabay.com

How Can I Develop a Better Body?

Have you ever found yourself up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep so you turned on the television and started to watch the shopping channel? Inevitably some fancy gadget comes on that you think, “I must have that.”

I hope if you fell victim to the night time buy-a-thon and pulled out your credit card to buy a cheesy product  that you settled for something simple like a Ginsu Knife or ShamWow and not an electronic stimulation device.

Manufacturers of these devices claim that these are equivalent to doing hundreds of exercises like sit-ups. But (as I’m sure you’ve heard) if it’s too good to be true than it’s probably not true.

Electrical stimulators work similarly to the nervous system—an electrical signal causes a specific muscle to contract. A key difference is that the body generates signals internally, while electrical stimulators generate the signal outside of the body. But the devices are not without risk.

Muscle injury, such as tears, can be caused by electrical muscle stimulation if the tissue becomes too tense during the electrically induced contraction. Pre-existing muscle injuries, such as tears and deep bruises, can get worse and may even prevent full tissue healing. Even skin can become irritated because of a reaction to the electrode adhesive or the electrical current itself. Those with pacemakers or implanted defibrillators are at much higher risk of shock.

No device develops a better body without any work on your part. (tweet this)

There is no substitute for your own effort. If you want strong abdominal muscles without doing hundreds of sit-ups, you’d be better off taking a 30-day Plank Challenge to improve your core than spending oodles of money on a device that’s potentially dangerous.

So, next time you can’t sleep stay away from the infomercials.