Could EMS help you return to strength training after having a baby?
Jesslyn Wong on electrical muscle stimulation, rebuilding confidence and choosing training you can sustain
Pregnancy and life after birth can change what you need from exercise. You may want to maintain strength as your body changes, feel more capable caring for your baby or find a way back into training when time and energy are limited. A routine that once felt straightforward may now need a different format, a different pace or more support. The wish to feel strong can remain, even when the way you get there changes.
For Jesslyn Wong, known as Jess, this is part of what makes electrical muscle stimulation, or EMS, interesting. An EMS instructor at InterPulse Fitness in Singapore and a personal trainer working with women, she sees it as another way to bring strength training into a busy or changing life. Participants wear a suit fitted with electrodes and perform exercises while electrical impulses stimulate muscle contractions. The technology adds to the muscular work, while a coach guides the movements and adjusts the session.
Her approach also makes room for different training methods at different stages. During pregnancy, she pauses EMS and supports women through appropriately adapted conventional exercise. After birth, EMS may become an option within an individually assessed return to training. Across both stages, her interest is in helping women find an approach that feels achievable and gives them a reason to keep going. Her own return after injury helped shape that perspective: useful training starts with the person doing it.
Key takeaways and quick insights
Your training can evolve through motherhood. Jess explains how she supports women with conventional exercise during pregnancy and an individually assessed return to training after birth, keeping their changing needs and goals at the centre.
Simple movements can offer a meaningful muscular challenge. EMS adds electrical stimulation to guided exercises, giving Jess another way to help someone work towards greater strength using familiar movements and manageable weights.
A shorter appointment could make strength training easier to fit in. Jess describes sessions of around 30-45 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down. Having a coach lead the workout can also take some of the planning off a busy mum’s shoulders.
There is research behind the approach. Studies in adults have reported improvements in muscle strength, mass and power with whole-body EMS. The article explores those findings and how they inform the conversation about returning to fitness after birth.
Progress can mean feeling more capable in the life you have now. Drawing on her own return after injury, Jess shares why adapting a workout helped her rebuild confidence, and why the hardest session is not always the most useful one.
How does EMS fit into a busy mum’s schedule?
For many mums, exercise has to fit around a chain of arrangements: childcare, feeds, travel, work and everything that needs doing at home. The length of a workout matters because it affects how much of that chain has to be organised. Jess describes EMS appointments of around 30 to 45 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down. For someone who struggles to accommodate a longer gym visit, a defined appointment of that length may be easier to make room for.
The guided format can also ease some of the planning involved. Arriving at a gym may mean deciding which exercises to do, remembering how to use equipment and working out whether the session is enough to move towards a goal. In the sessions Jess describes, the coach leads the programme. A mum already managing the decisions and demands of family life can arrive knowing that this part has been organised. That support is part of the experience alongside the electrical stimulation.
You do not have to be in the gym most days of the week to begin building strength. Research into conventional strength training shows that programmes with fewer weekly sessions can still produce improvements.[1,2] For a busy mum, the useful message is that a routine she can realistically attend can give her somewhere to start. The amount of exercise and the challenge it provides still matter, and the programme can develop as she gets stronger. For EMS, the coach also needs to plan sessions around the method’s specific guidance on frequency and recovery.[3]
This is where the shorter format becomes relevant to everyday life. A training method may have promising research behind it, but attending it regularly still depends on how it fits someone’s week. Jess sees value in giving women an appointment they can realistically return to, with a clear purpose and someone guiding the work. The time saved creates an opportunity to train; the programme gives that time its purpose.
What actually happens in an EMS workout?
EMS stands for electrical muscle stimulation. Applying electrical current can cause muscles to contract, and electrical stimulation has established medical uses, including muscle re-education and helping prevent disuse muscle atrophy.[4] In the fitness setting Jess describes, a close-fitting suit positions electrode pads over different muscle groups. The participant moves alongside the impulses, performing exercises such as controlled arm movements or squats. Jess describes the sensation as the muscles tensing. A familiar movement can feel more demanding in the suit, even when the dumbbell being lifted is lighter than the participant would usually choose.
The exercises themselves can be straightforward. Jess describes sessions using a mat, dumbbells and, in some programmes, body weight alone. Movements are controlled, and the coach helps the participant understand what to do as the session progresses. For someone who feels unsure in a gym, this gives the workout a clear structure without requiring her to learn several machines or organise a programme on her own. The first session is an opportunity to become familiar with both the sensation of the stimulation and the way the exercises feel alongside it.
The stimulation can be adjusted for different muscle groups. Jess explains that the legs, arms and abdomen can respond differently, and that what feels appropriate may change from one day to another. Depending on the setup, the coach or participant can adjust the stimulation. Communication is therefore part of the workout: how does it feel, and how comfortably can she perform the movement? Alongside changes to the settings, the coach can adapt the exercise or weight. This flexibility is central to Jess’s approach. It gives her several ways to create an appropriate challenge through movements the participant can manage.
Jess also addresses a practical concern that can arise before someone even books: whether there will be a suit that fits. She says InterPulse has a range of suit sizes and describes the fabric as stretchy, accommodating different body shapes. For a woman getting used to changes in her body after birth, understanding the suit and what happens during that first visit can make an unfamiliar form of training easier to picture.
Although those movements may be low impact, the muscles can still be working hard. A gradual introduction, attentive supervision and suitable intervals between sessions are part of using whole-body EMS well.[3] In practice, Jess’s emphasis is on helping someone become familiar with the experience before building the challenge.
How can training adapt during pregnancy?
Pregnancy brings a change in the way Jess supports strength training. She advises pausing EMS and moving to appropriately adapted conventional exercise, in line with published recommendations on whole-body EMS use during pregnancy.[5]
ACOG guidance supports physical activity during uncomplicated pregnancy, with assessment and modifications where needed.[6] The evidence behind the Canadian pregnancy activity guideline gives further weight to continuing appropriate exercise: prenatal physical activity was associated with 38% lower odds of gestational diabetes, alongside lower odds of several other pregnancy complications.[7] (These findings relate to prenatal exercise in general.) For a woman who has enjoyed EMS, the focus can remain on movement and strength while the training method changes.
Jess works with conventional strength training as well as EMS. This gives her a way to support a client through changing comfort, symptoms and goals during pregnancy. A familiar coach can help a client adjust an existing routine and choose exercises that suit her current needs, working alongside clinical advice where needed. The underlying idea is continuity: the relationship with exercise can develop as pregnancy progresses.
Finding your starting point after birth
After birth, Jess begins with what a woman feels able to do now and what she wants to build towards. That might mean feeling stronger when carrying her baby, finding everyday movements easier or enjoying time set aside for herself. These goals give the programme direction. The first sessions provide an opportunity to understand her current ability and introduce an appropriate level of challenge, with room to develop as she becomes more familiar with training again.
A gradual return is consistent with postnatal exercise guidance, which supports building activity as recovery allows.[6,8] For a woman interested in EMS, the starting point is to discuss her birth, recovery and any symptoms with the coach, and check with her healthcare professional that the method is appropriate for her stage of recovery, particularly after a caesarean or complications.[5] Once suitability is established, the focus can turn to a manageable introduction and the exercises that will help her work towards her goals.
The programme also needs to fit the person who arrives that day. Between appointments, she may have been carrying a baby, caring for other children, working and sleeping in short stretches. A session that felt manageable one week may need adjustment the next. Jess sees responsiveness as part of good coaching: the workout can still have purpose while taking account of the energy and capacity a woman brings to it.
What does the research say about EMS and muscle strength?
Research supports whole-body EMS as a strength-training option. A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Medicine included 26 studies involving 1,183 adults and reported improvements in muscle mass, strength and power, as well as reductions in body fat compared with control groups.[9] These are measurable outcomes that help explain why EMS has attracted interest as a training method. They also give substance to the idea Jess describes: electrical stimulation alongside exercise can provide a muscular stimulus that contributes to getting stronger.
There is also research into its potential to deliver benefits within a shorter training format. A 16-week randomised controlled study involving 48 healthy, untrained men aged 30 to 50 found broadly comparable improvements in muscle outcomes between its whole-body EMS and high-intensity resistance training programmes.[10] This supports the potential for time-efficient training, although it's not a universal equation in which a certain number of EMS minutes replaces a fixed amount of gym time.
The studies concern general adult populations, so the programme for a woman returning after birth still needs to reflect her individual recovery. The research helps explain the potential of the method; coaching connects it with the person using it.
What Jess’s own return taught her
Jess discovered EMS before her injury, but using it during her return to exercise deepened her appreciation of the method and changed how she understood a worthwhile workout. She had been used to chasing performance and fitting in multiple workouts a day. Returning meant learning to recognise progress from a different starting point. EMS became one helpful part of that process. With movements adapted to what she could manage, she began to appreciate a session that allowed her to build from her present ability.
She also reconsidered how much exercise she needed to fit in. Constantly adding more did not always leave her feeling better or more motivated. Allowing time between sessions gave her space to recover and look forward to training again. That experience helped her see the value of a rhythm she could continue, with individual sessions contributing to a longer process of rebuilding strength.
Research into conventional strength training offers some reassurance here too. Reviews suggest that people can build strength and muscle without pushing every set to its absolute limit.[11,12] For a mum balancing exercise with disrupted sleep and the demands of caring for a baby, that leaves room for a more manageable approach. A session can offer a worthwhile challenge, with the exercises and effort matched to what she feels able to do that day. Over time, the programme can develop alongside her strength and confidence.
This informs the perspective Jess brings to women whose training needs have changed. A person who has exercised before may already know the movements but still need to adjust what she expects of herself. Jess wants the programme to give her a way to recognise the progress she is making now. Becoming more comfortable with an exercise or feeling more capable during a session can help her see that she is moving forward, even when the workout looks different from the one she used to do.
Jess expresses that plainly:
“The smartest programme isn’t necessarily the hardest one.”
What can returning to strength training mean for postnatal mums?
This understanding of progress also shapes the way Jess talks about goals after birth. She hears the wish to get an “old body” back and understands why appearance becomes a familiar reference point. It is visible and often central to the messages women receive about postnatal exercise. She wants to widen that conversation to include what a woman needs her body to do in the life she has now: lifting with greater confidence, returning to an activity she enjoys or feeling stronger through the physical demands of caring for a child.
Appearance-related goals can have a place alongside those priorities. A mum can care about how she looks and still recognise changes in capability, confidence and enjoyment. That gives her more than one way to notice progress, particularly when family life interrupts the routine. A session can contribute something useful even when it does not resemble her previous training or produce an immediately visible change.
The broader benefits of returning to activity also deserve space in that conversation. The 2025 Canadian postnatal guideline drew on 221 randomised trials examining key maternal outcomes. Its evidence synthesis associated postnatal physical activity with 45% lower odds of depression, alongside improvements in other measures of wellbeing.[8] It adds context to Jess’s interest in how women feel as well as how they look, and why finding an enjoyable way to move can have value beyond appearance.
EMS makes part of the workout visible through the settings on the equipment. Jess’s view is that those numbers should sit alongside the quality of the movement and the participant’s response. As she puts it: “That number isn’t the achievement. In fact, it’s the quality of the training that is.” Adjusting a setting has a purpose when it helps create the right challenge for that session. Progress is also found in how a woman moves, what she feels able to attempt and how her strength supports everyday life.
For Jess, that is where EMS earns its place in the conversation about returning to fitness. It brings an additional muscular stimulus into a guided workout, with a format that may help a woman make room for strength training again. The value comes into focus when that opportunity becomes a useful part of her week, helping her build strength for the life she is living.
Further reading: more specific uses of electrical muscle stimulation
Alongside whole-body EMS for fitness, researchers have studied targeted neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for particular muscles and recovery needs. These applications use electrical currents to stimulate muscle contractions within a defined rehabilitation programme.
Supporting thigh strength after knee surgery. A 2025 systematic review examined NMES after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. Its pooled strength analysis found that adding NMES to standard rehabilitation improved quadriceps strength compared with rehabilitation alone.[13] Here, stimulation was used to support a particular muscle group during postoperative recovery.
Postnatal abdominal rehabilitation. A 2025 randomised trial involved 84 postnatal women with abdominal muscle separation of at least three centimetres. Over eight weeks, participants using a trunk-wearable NMES device alongside exercise showed greater improvements in selected measures of abdominal separation, trunk strength, lower-back pain and quality of life than those doing exercise alone.[14] The findings offer an encouraging example of targeted stimulation being investigated for a specific postnatal need.
These studies help illustrate the wider possibilities of electrical muscle stimulation. Their results relate to the devices, participants and treatment programmes studied. Targeted clinical NMES differs from a commercial whole-body EMS workout in its application, equipment and programme; these findings do not establish that a fitness class treats abdominal separation or birth-related injury.
Frequently asked questions
What is EMS training?
EMS means electrical muscle stimulation. In the whole-body fitness setting described here, electrodes in a suit stimulate muscle contractions while a coach guides exercises. The experience and demand vary with the equipment, settings and programme.
Can EMS help build strength after having a baby?
Adult research supports strength benefits from whole-body EMS, but does not establish a universal postnatal programme.[9] It may be an option for a suitably assessed individual; healing, symptoms, contraindications and the proposed protocol need consideration first.
When can I start EMS after birth?
There is no universal start date established by the evidence reviewed here. General permission to resume exercise should not be treated as specific clearance for whole-body EMS. Discuss the actual method with your healthcare professional and coach, particularly following surgery or complications.[5,6]
Can I do EMS during pregnancy?
Jess does not recommend it. Pregnancy is listed as an absolute contraindication to non-medical whole-body EMS in the 2024 German consensus recommendations.[5] Ask about an appropriate alternative form of activity during pregnancy.[6]
Is a short EMS session equivalent to a longer gym workout?
There is no universal minute-for-minute equivalence. Some comparative research supports time-efficient benefits in specific adults and programmes.[10] Appointment length and how tired you feel do not, on their own, demonstrate the results you will obtain.
How often should I do whole-body EMS?
The 2023 international recommendations advise a reduced introductory programme, with at most one session of up to 20 minutes weekly during the first eight to ten weeks of EMS training. After conditioning, they recommend at least four days between intense sessions.[3] These are weeks of EMS training, rather than weeks since giving birth. Your coach should explain how the proposed schedule follows the guidance and fits your recovery and other activity.
Do I need to be fit before trying EMS?
Prior gym experience is not the only consideration. Jess supports beginning at an appropriate level, with simple movements and guidance. Suitability depends on health, recovery and contraindications as well as fitness; the first appointment should not be a test of maximum tolerance.
About Jesslyn Wong
Jesslyn Wong, known as Jess, is an EMS instructor at InterPulse Fitness in Singapore and a personal trainer working with women. She is an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer with additional training in coaching pregnant and postnatal women. Her approach combines conventional strength training with EMS where appropriate, with an emphasis on individual capacity, sustainable progression and confidence. Her own experience of returning to movement after injury informs her interest in helping people rebuild strength when their usual routine no longer fits.
Find out more about the organisation's EMS offering at InterPulse Fitness.
Footnotes and supporting sources
Ralston and colleagues (2018). Weekly Training Frequency Effects on Strength Gain: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine - Open, 4, 36. When weekly training volume was matched, the analysis found no significant frequency effect on combined strength outcomes. This does not establish that one short weekly workout is equivalent to a higher-volume programme. Read the review.
Currier and colleagues (2023). Resistance training prescription for muscle strength and hypertrophy in healthy adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57, 1211-1220. The strength analysis included 178 studies and 5,097 participants. All studied prescriptions improved strength compared with no exercise; higher loads maximised strength gains. This was not an EMS or postnatal-specific analysis. Read the review.
Kemmler and colleagues (2023). Position statement and updated international guideline for safe and effective whole-body electromyostimulation training. Frontiers in Physiology, 14, 1174103. Consensus recommendations on supervision, introductory dosing and recovery. They recommend at most one 20-minute session weekly during the initial eight to ten weeks, with reduced introductory volume and intensity, and at least four days between intense sessions after conditioning. Moderate-intensity endurance protocols are distinguished from intense resistance-type sessions. These are expert recommendations, not Singapore regulations or a postnatal clinical guideline. Read the recommendations.
US Food and Drug Administration. Electronic Muscle Stimulators. Explains muscle contraction and established rehabilitation uses. Its device regulation applies in the United States; it is not evidence of Singapore approval for a particular suit. Read the FDA guidance.
von Stengel and colleagues (2024). Revised contraindications for the use of non-medical WB-electromyostimulation. Evidence-based German consensus recommendations. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1371723. Includes pregnancy and recent operations in stimulation areas among absolute contraindications. The article’s screening examples are not the complete list. Read the consensus.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2020). Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period. Committee Opinion 804. Supports appropriate pregnancy activity and gradual postnatal resumption according to birth and complications. It does not specifically authorise whole-body EMS. Clinical guidance and exercise during pregnancy.
Mottola and colleagues (2018). 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52, 1339-1346. The guideline’s evidence synthesis included 104 exercise-only randomised trials. The 38% figure refers to lower odds of gestational diabetes, rather than a 38-percentage-point reduction in absolute risk. Its prenatal activity recommendations do not authorise EMS during pregnancy. Read the guideline.
Davenport and colleagues / Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (2025). Canadian guideline for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep throughout the first year post partum. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 59, 515-526. Draws on 221 randomised trials examining critical maternal outcomes and supports gradual, individual progression. The reported 45% reduction concerns the odds of depression across studied activity interventions, not a guaranteed individual benefit or an EMS-specific finding. Published guideline and guideline and screening resources.
Rodrigues-Santana and colleagues (2023). The effects of whole-body muscle stimulation on body composition and strength parameters: A PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine, 102(8), e32668. The review rated evidence certainty as low, meaning confidence in the estimated effects is limited. Its adult findings do not establish a postnatal-specific protocol. PubMed abstract and full text.
Kemmler and colleagues (2016). Effects of Whole-Body Electromyostimulation versus High-Intensity Resistance Exercise on Body Composition and Strength: A Randomized Controlled Study. Comparative 16-week study in 48 healthy, untrained men aged 30 to 50. It was not a postnatal trial. Study and abstract.
Grgic and colleagues (2022). Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 11, 202-211. Included 15 studies in young adults and found no significant overall difference in strength or muscle growth. Some subgroup results differed, so the finding should not be read as proof that all training approaches are equivalent. Read the review.
Refalo and colleagues (2023). Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-to-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 53, 649-665. Across 15 studies, the subgroup comparing momentary muscular failure with non-failure training found no clear hypertrophy advantage. Results varied with how failure was defined. This is conventional resistance-training evidence, not a postnatal EMS protocol. Read the review.
Li and colleagues (2025). Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Strength and Knee Joint Function in Patients After ACL Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 13(1). Included 11 studies, with nine contributing to the pooled quadriceps-strength analysis. The strength findings concern NMES added to postoperative rehabilitation, rather than whole-body EMS fitness sessions. Read the review.
Zheng and colleagues (2025). Effectiveness of a trunk-wearable neuromuscular electrical stimulation device in postpartum women with diastasis rectus abdominis: A prospective randomized controlled trial. Wearable Technologies, 6, e55. Compared a targeted NMES device plus exercise with exercise alone in 84 women over eight weeks. Improvements varied by abdominal measurement site and quality-of-life domain; the study does not establish equivalent effects from a commercial whole-body EMS class. PubMed abstract and full text.
About this article
This article was created from Jesslyn Wong's recorded conversations with Pregnant and Popped, supported by her original voice notes and a follow-up editorial discussion. It has been shaped for clarity and readability while preserving Jesslyn Wong's ideas, experiences and intended meaning.
Disclaimer
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