HIFEM (High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic) technology is changing how we approach muscle strengthening, rehabilitation and pelvic health. Unlike traditional exercise or therapy, HIFEM stimulates your muscles to a point past what you can achieve voluntarily.
This technology is the foundation behind treatments like EMSELLA, pelvic floor strengthening and rehabilitation, and EMSCULPT Neo, focusing on strengthening muscle groups throughout the body.
What is HIFEM?
HIFEM uses a circular electromagnetic coil placed over the body to generate magnetic fields. These magnetic fields safely pass through skin and fat to reach your deep muscle tissue, up to about 10cm from the coil.
Once there, they induce electrical currents within the muscle tissue. These currents stimulate motor neurons, the nerves responsible for telling your muscles to contract, resulting in a supramaximal contraction.
In simpler terms, HIFEM “talks” directly to your muscles, triggering contractions without any effort from you.
HIFEM & Muscle Strength
One of the key benefits of HIFEM is its ability to create supramaximal contractions, contractions that are stronger and more sustained than what can achieved through voluntary movement These contractions are more intense, rapid and repetitive, and able to engage a greater percentage of muscle fibers.
During a typical workout, you brain naturally limits how hard your muscles work to prevent fatigue. HIFEM bypasses this limitation by directly stimulating the motor nerves, allowing the muscle to contract repeatedly at a high intensity.
Because of this increase demand, the muscle is forced to adapt. This leads to:
- Muscle Hypertrophy: Growth of existing muscle fibers that increases overall strength
- Muscle Hyperplasia: Formation of new muscle fibers that enhance muscle structure
- Improved neuromuscular connection allowing for better control and coordination
Because muscle contractions using HIFEM energy are deeper, more intense and consistent than what you can achieve on your own, it is an efficient way to strengthen muscles.
Pelvic Floor Strengthening with EMSELLA
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that support the pelvic organs like your bladder. These muscles play a key role in bladder control and pelvic health. These muscles must be able to contract and relax for proper control and function.
When the pelvic floor muscles become weakened or dysregulated, this can lead to symptoms such as:
- Urinary leakage (stress or urge incontinence)
- Feeling of heaviness
- Changes in sexual function
EMSELLA uses HIFEM technology to target the pelvic floor muscle directly stimulating thousands of supramaximal pelvic floor contractions in a single session. This results in activation of entire pelvic floor and strengthening of pelvic floor muscles.
Targeted Muscle Strengthening with EMSCULPT Neo
EMSCULPT Neo also utilizes HIFEM to strengthen target muscle group through supramaximal contractions. These contractions stimulate muscle fibers and create a workload stimulus that is difficult to achieve with voluntary exercise alone.
Treatment areas include glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abdominal (core), biceps, triceps and more.
While these muscles are commonly targeted using traditional workouts, many individuals are unable to train them effectively, whether due to time constraints, improper muscle engagement, injury, underlying weakness.
EMSCULPT is particularly beneficial for individuals looking for:
- Enhance muscle growth and definition by increasing the demand placed on muscle fibers
- Address muscle disuse or weakness, whether from inactivity, aging or medical conditions
- Support pre- and post-rehabilitation, helping restore strength and function after injury or surgery
Reduce the impact of sarcopenia (age related muscle loss) by maintaining and rebuilding muscle tissue
FAQ
+ How do muscles contract?
A muscle contraction starts from a signal from your nervous system. Your brain sends an electrical message down a nerve to the target muscle. When the single reaches the end of a nerve, it releases a chemical messenger called acetylcholine (ACh).
This chemical binds to a surface of the muscle fiber to effectively “turn on” the muscle, creating an electrical change that spreads across the muscle. This change releases calcium ions inside the muscle cell which allows the muscle to contract.
Your muscle fiber is made up of two proteins: actin and myosin. When the calcium ions are present, these proteins interact with each other creating a sliding motion that shortens the muscle resulting in a muscle contraction.
Once the movement is complete, the calcium is pumped back into storage within the muscle cell. Without calcium, actin and myosin stop interacting with each other and the muscle relaxes.
However, muscle contractions are not infinite. With repeated use, the muscle begins to fatigue. As this happens, your brain starts to dial back the effort, reducing the strength of contractions or recruiting fewer muscle fibers. This protective response occurs because energy stores decrease, metabolic byproducts build up and the nervous system becomes less effective at continuously activating the muscle.
How HIFEM Fits in?
Instead of relying on signals from the brain, HIFEM delivers electromagnetic energy that directly stimulates the motor nerves within the muscle. This bypasses voluntary control and triggers the muscle to contract automatically. Because this process doesn’t rely on your brain, it also bypasses the usual limitations that reduces effort as you fatigue. As a result, the muscles can continue to contract at a high intensity without the typical drop off you would experience during regular exercises.
+ What is Muscle Hypertrophy?
Muscle hypertrophy refers to an increase in the size of a muscle and is how your body adapts to a repeated challenge.
Hypertrophy happens when your body builds more muscle protein than it breaks down. This can be influenced by resistance or strength-based exercise and protein intake.
When you apply an overload stimulus (where your muscle is pushed beyond its usual workload, like when you workout), your body starts to repair and rebuild. During this process:
- Actin and myosin (muscle proteins) increase in size and number
- Muscle adds more structure (called sarcomeres)
- Supporting tissues around the muscle expand to accommodate growth
As a result, the muscle becomes thicker and stronger.
How HIFEM fits in?
HIFEM energy supports muscle hypertrophy by placing a greater demand on muscle fibers than what is typically achievable through voluntary exercise. By initiating intense, repeated muscle contractions; HIFEM creates a powerful overload stimulus increasing the need for the body to adapt. This demand encourages muscle hypertrophy (muscle repair, strengthening and growth), helping muscles become stronger and more functional over time.
+ What is Muscle Hyperplasia?
While hypertrophy is about increasing the size of existing muscle fibers, muscle hyperplasia refers to an increase in number of muscle fibers.
This process less common than hypertrophy and still being researched. Current research suggests that it occurs when muscles are exposed to high level of stress or repeated overload over time. Under these conditions the body may adapt by creating new muscle fibers to help handle the increased demand. Most increase in muscle size and strength comes from existing fibers getting larger, not creating new ones.
How HIFEM fits in?
While muscle hyperplasia is less common, in situations where muscles are exposed to high intensity, repetitive contractions as seen in HIFEM, hyperplasia may contribute, alongside hypertrophy to overall muscle development.
+ What does a HIFEM treatment feel like?
During HIFEM session you will feel strong, repetitive muscle contractions in the treatment area. These contractions are more intense than what you would typically achieve during a workout, but they should not be painful. Most patients describe the sensation as unusual at first.
+ Is HIFEM safe?
HIFEM technology is designed to safely stimulate muscles using electromagnetic energy. The magnetic fields pass through the skin, targeting only the motor nerves that control muscle contractions. Treatments require no downtime.
+ Why does it take 3 months to see the full result of a HIFEM treatment?
Improvements in muscle function from HIFEM typically take around 8–12 weeks because the body needs time to rebuild and strengthen muscle tissue after each session.
Following treatment, the muscle enters a repair phase where it adapts to the high-intensity contractions it experienced. This includes strengthening muscle fibers, improving structure, and enhancing overall function.
Because these adaptations occur gradually with repeated treatments and recovery, results develop over time rather than immediately.
+ Does HIFEM replace exercise?
HIFEM is not a replacement for exercise, but rather a complement to it. It can enhance results by targeting muscles more efficiently, especially in areas that are difficult to activate. It is also beneficial for individuals who are unable to exercise at full capacity due to injury, weakness, or other limitations.
+ How quickly do muscles adapt to HIFEM?
Muscles respond right away to the stimulus, but meaningful changes develop over time. While you may feel increased activation or strength early on, visible and functional improvements typically occur after multiple sessions and continue to progress over several weeks.
This is because muscle growth and strengthening rely on consistent overload followed by recovery; the same principles as traditional strength training, just delivered in a more targeted and efficient way.
References
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