Sarah Loogman

Electric muscle stimulation, or neuromuscular electric stimulation (NMES), is a common modality of physical therapy and rehab treatment. For serious athletes, however, it is also used as a powerful tool for training and physical recovery to optimize performance. More commonly referred to as e-stim or muscle stim, an NMES device delivers electronic pulses to motor nerves through electrodes placed on the skin, causing a motor response to achieve a number of desired results.

Top E-Stim Picks

Compex Mini Wireless  | Compex Wireless USA  | Compex Sport Elite

An e-stim device allows you to contract up to 100% of your muscle fibers, an effect that is virtually impossible with exercise alone. Compex devices can add quality to your training in ways that traditional methods of exercise, mobility or recovery can’t and will give you an added edge to your sport or training. The broad variety of programs offered with Compex will allow maximal contraction of Type 1 (slow twitch, endurance) and Type 2 (fast twitch, power) muscle fibers for a better quality of performance and improved worked capacity in any domain.

Effective Warm-Ups

Use the Compex Warm-Up or Potentiation programs to increase the efficiency of your warmup and thoroughly prep your body for training or an event. The wireless unit is especially convenient to move through exercises as you follow a quick prep program.

Enhanced Training

Not only can Compex be used in addition to your training sessions, but it can be used for accessory work or even as a stand alone workout. Boost your performance by recruiting more muscle fibers by adding the Compex device to your workout routine, an extra session at home, or during travel. The Compex device can also be beneficial to reeducating muscle groups to contract correctly and can be used to target problem areas or muscle imbalances and deficiencies that you struggle to balance and correct with conventional methods.

Rapid Recovery

The twitches of muscles produced by your Compex recovery programs help to promote blood flow that brings vital nutrients to sore and fatigued areas that assist in healing and recovery. It can also be used to alleviate muscle spasms by breaking the pain spasm cycle, allowing it to relax.

Using a Compex device is easy with low effort for high rewards. The Compex program instructions are simple to follow and will benefit any athlete or training enthusiast driving for the next level. E-stim is a powerful tool to move you beyond your routine!

The CrossFit Open is the opening mark of the CrossFit season and is the first step for an elite few who will advance towards the Regionals and even fewer to the international CrossFit Games. For the majority, however, it marks the single largest event of the year in which members of the fitness community push one another and get to share a leaderboard with the best athletes in the world. This all-inclusive event embodies the true spirit of CrossFit and each year, box members around the globe accomplish incredible personal feats of strength, conditioning and skill, regardless of their level. Whether this is your first time participating or you’ve signed up every year since it’s hallmark in 2011, and whether you’ll be at the bottom of the leaderboard or move on to Regionals with the best, we have some tips to share with you on how to survive and thrive in this years Open with your Compex programs.

Warm-Up

Start off your preparation with the Warm-Up program to activate blood flow and increase muscle movement. Whether you plan to do your Open event first thing in the morning or after a full day at your desk job, it’s important to take some time to wake up your cells and get things moving and shaking… literally! Choose a large, general area such as the quads, back, or shoulders and choose a low to moderate setting while you move around to set things up. If you have more time, you could even sit or lay down during the program and use that time to practice breathing methods or visualize the workout.

Potentiation

Lasting only four minutes, this is the shortest program on the Compex device but arguably the most powerful! Establish a strong connection, or proprioception, of your mind to movement and muscle so that your body knows exactly what should be working before and during the event. If the workout calls for pull-ups, place your electrodes on the lats or if it calls for a lot of squats, target your quads, hamstrings, or glutes. The strength of contractions will increase with each wave of the program so take it up as high as you can to maximize your potential!

Recovery

So the workout is over, now what? Maybe you’ll re-attempt the workout one more time before the deadline or maybe you’re ready to move on to the next one. Either way, recovery will be important to optimize your next performance and your training in between. The Compex Recovery program can flush out lactic acid to prevent soreness and increase blood flow to your tissues so that you’re better prepared for your next workout in a shorter period of time.

Our electric stimulation devices can help you prep, train and recover in ways that you simply can’t with traditional workouts or methods. For many CrossFitters, the Open is a momentous community event and an opportunity to test the hard work of the past year. For some, it may even be a chance at moving on to the next level - the CrossFit Regionals. Whether you’re aiming at the CrossFit Games or just to crush your own standings from last year, be more ready than ever for this years CrossFit Open with Compex!