Shock your way into shape

I’ve been planning to look like Bar Refaeli on the beach for the past ten summers. Not that I even vaguely resembled her eleven years ago (I am a vertically-challenged Jewish woman) but there was a time when wearing a 1950’s style bikini was a novelty not a necessity.

I have been going to The Laboratory gym in Mill Hill and participating in a smorgasbord of classes (body combat/ zumba/schwinn cycling), but rewarding my efforts with an equal number of bagels (sesame/cinnamon/whole wheat) and lots of cheese.

So now there are only 37 days until my pool appearance and while Bar is nowhere to be seen, there is still plenty of me. Pending swimwear deadlines call for drastic measures and while considering Pippa Middleton’s restrictive Sirtfood diet I saw my friend Tara looking fabulous on Facebook dressed in a black waistcoat covered in wires. Further enquiries revealed Tara is an EMS convert and she isn’t alone as there are disciples all over north west London who have discovered the benefits of electric muscle stimulation in pursuit of a better body.

Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo. He is currently flaunting the definitive six-pack in an advert attributing his Adonis-like attributes to EMS technology.

Now this may be a stretch as the soccer champion works out like a demon, but there is some truth in it as the system which was first designed as a rehabilitation aid for elite athletes has since got a reputation for helping mere mortals with weight-loss and improved muscle tone.

But who needs Ronaldo anyway when I have Tara’s success as an endorsement and an introduction to Louise Margolin, the woman who will make it all happen.

Operating in Hendon and her Mill Hill home, Louise is just the sort of person you want to give you electric shocks.

Honest and well-versed in the benefits of EMS, she credits her own weight loss to the technology and if her arms are a hint of what’s to come, I’ll be seeing a lot of her in the next few weeks.

Though I came in gym kit I had to swap it for a skin-tight T-shirt and three-quarter-length gym trousers provided by Louise and the get-up is specially made from 95 per cent breathable cotton, so that nothing  stands in the way of the electrodes as they power through my muscles.

While I changed Louise wet the pads that were then attached to the waistcoat I had to put on as well as straps around my arms and legs which were pulled tight. It felt as though I was preparing for a stint as a ninja in a CGI Sci-Fi movie, but I wasn’t afraid.

Louise explained that EMS technology provides the equivalent of an hour’s workout in 20 minutes by giving your muscles electric shocks as you work out.

After attaching me to the machine (a bit like an astronaut to his ship) she switched it on to give me a taste of the current which was a mild tingle. But as I was told to raise my arms, bend my legs and do lunges Louise turned the dials and the current surged through my limbs, most obviously in my bottom. “Think Kim Kardashian,” said Louise, but I was fixed on the Israeli model, Bar.

Although you can’t see results straight away — it takes about four sessions  — EMS stimulates 90 per cent of your body’s main muscles every time you use it and as well as body shaping it improves posture and reduces back pain. With stars of EastEnders and brides on a mission among her clientele, Louise is understandably in demand, but appreciates I’m on a deadline.

I will have to boycott the bagels and continue to leap at The Lab of course, but with the help of  just one electrifying session a week (£40) I may just be able to ditch the 1950’s bathing suit.

Call Louise Margolin : 07976-244084