Francois wrote:
Are you saying that sticking electrodes on your abs won't give you a 6-pack? Shocking! (pun intended)
Oh it can work, but typically it becomes painful to get to the sort of electrical current levels* and muscle forces necessary to effectively strengthen and cause hypertrophy (unless the muscle is highly deconditioned). E.g. Most of my work has been with the quadriceps muscles and most people can't even tolerate 50% of their max force generating ability with electrical stimulation, less force than you would even just use to warm with in the gym. My take on it is, if you can strengthen voluntarily there's very little reason to use electrical stimulation to do so.
*Most commercially available electrical stimulators limit the maximum current so people don't hurt themselves, so they are often not even capable of eliciting the sort of high forces necessary for strengthening/hypertrophy.