EMS for back & joints · Belgravia
One-to-one EMS strength training for your back, core and legs, without heavy weights or jumping. 20 minutes, with a personal trainer who adapts every movement to you.
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Strength for your back, core and legs without heavy weights or jumping, with a trainer who adapts every movement to you.
The suit adds the resistance, so you train with slow, simple movements instead of heavy loads. In a seven-month trial of adults with knee osteoarthritis, no EMS-related side effects were reported.
One-to-one, every session. Your trainer sets the intensity muscle group by muscle group and adjusts each movement to how your back and joints feel that day.
In the back studies, people trained once a week for 20 minutes. That is easy to keep up, and keeping it up is what counts.
Whole-body EMS has been tested in randomised trials with adults who have long-standing back pain, and in one with knee osteoarthritis. Here is what they found, and who took part.
~30%
average drop in back pain after 12 weeks of EMS once a week, similar to conventional back exercise
Micke et al., 2021240 adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain, 12 weeks
200 min
of EMS in total over 12 weeks, against 471 minutes of conventional back exercise, with comparable drops in pain
Weissenfels et al., 2019110 adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain, 12 weeks
89%
noticed less back pain after 10 sessions over six weeks
University of Bayreuth, 2002 · not peer reviewed49 university staff with back complaints, 10 sessions over 6 weeks, no comparison group
In a trial of 240 adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain, the 80 who trained with EMS once a week for 12 weeks reported about 30% less pain on average, similar to conventional back-strengthening training, with 57% less training time. Trunk strength improved by similar amounts too.
240 adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain, 12 weeksMicke et al., 2021, Frontiers in Physiology
Adults with long-standing lower-back pain trained once a week for 12 weeks, with 20 minutes of EMS or 45 minutes of conventional back exercise. Pain fell in both groups, by 22% and 30%, with no significant difference between them, and back strength rose in both.
110 adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain, 12 weeksWeissenfels et al., 2019, BioMed Research International
A 2025 review of six studies of adults with long-standing back pain found that whole-body EMS, usually 20 minutes once a week, reduced pain and improved function, mostly measured as trunk strength. Against other active treatments, the differences were small.
6 studies of adults with long-standing back painKonrad et al., 2025, Cureus
Overweight adults aged 40 to 70 with knee osteoarthritis trained with EMS three times a fortnight for seven months. Their knee pain improved more than in a usual-care group prescribed six physiotherapy sessions, and no EMS-related side effects were reported.
72 overweight adults aged 40 to 70 with knee osteoarthritis, 7 monthsKast et al., 2024, Scientific Reports
Results vary from person to person. These studies were run by university researchers with trained instructors. EMS with us is personal training, not treatment. Each link opens the source.
We go through your health history, your back or joint history and anything your GP or physio has told you. If something needs checking first, we will say so.
We provide the EMS suit and a base layer. Your trainer fits the electrodes over your major muscle groups.
Slow, simple movements at a low intensity, built up only as far as feels right.
Once a week to start, built around what you want to be able to do.
We are personal trainers, not physiotherapists. If your pain is new, severe or getting worse, or you have a recent injury or surgery, see your GP or physio first.
Three quick questions
Answer three questions and we’ll tell you straight away whether an introduction session fits you.
No. We are personal trainers, not physiotherapists, and EMS with us is strength training, not treatment. If you are under a physio’s care or have a diagnosed condition, check with them first; we are happy to work around their advice.
In the back-pain trials, adults aged 40 to 70 trained once a week with trained instructors. Every session here is one-to-one, starts gently and is adjusted to how you feel. We go through your health history before you start, and EMS is not suitable for everyone: the last question below lists who should not do it.
We can’t promise that. In the trials, adults aged 40 to 70 with long-standing lower-back pain who trained with EMS reported less pain on average, about as much as with conventional back exercise. Results vary, and if your pain is new, severe or getting worse, see your GP first.
Often, yes, once your GP or physio is happy for you to train. The suit adds the resistance, so you train with slow movements instead of heavy weights or jumping. In a trial of overweight adults with knee osteoarthritis, no EMS-related side effects were reported. Your trainer adapts every exercise to you.
Once a week, which is how the back-pain studies did it and how we start everyone. Your trainer will tell you when it makes sense to add a second session.
A health check, then the suit, then a gentle 25-minute workout. Plan for about 45 minutes at 9 Kinnerton Street, three minutes’ walk from Hyde Park Corner.
EMS isn’t suitable during pregnancy; with a pacemaker or other electronic implant; with epilepsy or another neurological condition, heart rhythm problems, narrowed or hardened arteries, untreated high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or a hernia in the abdomen or groin; within six months of a stent or bypass; soon after surgery in the area being trained; while you are unwell or have an infection; or after alcohol or drugs. With diabetes, cancer, heart or kidney disease, new back pain that hasn’t been diagnosed, nerve pain or a slipped disc, or an implant such as a joint replacement, you need your doctor’s approval first. We go through your health history before your first session, and if you’re unsure, check with your GP.