Back in the saddle! How VIEMAX Sculpt helped one horse-rider strengthen her muscles after injury

If you’re into sports and keep-fit, then may be intrigued to know that EMS (Electric Muscle Stimulation) is one of the latest trends in aesthetics medicine and the fitness world. As with our own VIEMAX Sculpt, these advanced procedures use electromagnetic energy to simultaneously burn fat and build muscle in targeted areas of the body, such as the abdomen, buttocks, upper arms and legs. The most advanced, CE-certified machines, such as ours, offer bespoke programmes for HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), Hypertrophy (body building) and combination body contouring (trimming away stubborn excess fat), and it is suitable for men and women.

In a single 30-minute session, the most advanced EMS machines can essentially perform in you the equivalent of 20,000 sit-ups or squats – all while you relax lying on a bed! But surely, you may think, it’s too good to be true, right?

One of the most exciting aspects of our own VIEMAX Sculpt is that it can be used for a variety of specific goals. This includes speeding up recovery from injury by strengthening muscles and reconditioning muscles that have softened through lack of exercise. It is with these goals in mind that I wanted to bring your attention to the success story of one of our clients, Vanessa Daly, who used VIEMAX Sculpt to aid her recovery from a broken back. And I’m happy to say she was delighted with what she achieved in just six weeks.

Vanessa is an amateur horse-rider who has been competing in dressage since 2018. In November 2019, Vanessa broke her bottom vertebrae after falling from her steed. She was originally diagnosed in hospital with a fractured pelvis and told to rest. When she resumed riding some weeks later, she was unable to turn left on her horse and she lacked the stability to canter, which is a medium-fast pace. Unfortunately, these problems persisted for several months with little improvement, leaving Vanessa concerned and frustrated.

“My riding had regressed, and I couldn’t compete at the level that I was prior to injury,” she explains. “My left side had become weak and I wasn’t sure why.”

Vanessa says that her trainer, Karen, recommended she visit a chiropractor for rehabilitation. It was while meeting a local practitioner in early summer 2020 that she discovered that she had broken her back and not fractured her pelvis. This explained her difficulties in her riding. Her left leg had become weaker because the break had affected a major nerve. Vanessa was poised to embark on a chiropody course but learnt about VIEMAX Sculpt at our clinic while visiting for a facial. Intrigued by the muscle-strengthening capabilities of EMS, she booked herself in for a consultation to see if it could help.

During her initial assessment, our practitioners measured Vanessa. Her left thigh had lost an entire inch of girth compared to her right leg, which was due to the muscle softening since the injury. She also showed a loss of abdominal muscle tone as well. Vanessa was advised to embark on a 12-session course of VIEMAX Sculpt to build her core strength and address the muscular imbalance in her legs. This bespoke course involved 30 minutes targeted treatment on both legs, and 30 minutes on her abdomen, twice a week, for six weeks.

Vanessa says she began noticing improvements to her riding after just the fourth session. She competed in her first dressage event since the injury, albeit competing at a lower level to ease herself back in while she continued her rehabilitation.

“I was sitting straighter on my horse and I could even canter a little,” she says. “In the competition, I finished fifth out of 15 in one event, and third out of 20 in the event. But more importantly, the judges said that my horse moved quite straight and anyone who rides horses will know riding straight is one of the hardest things to do!”

These improvements continued. By the end of her six weeks, even Karen, her trainer, described this sudden and rapid progress as “miraculous”. Vanessa was able to do manoeuvres again that she was struggling with since the injury.

Vanessa says, “I can now do half-hour lessons with cantering and I’m more stable in my seat from using my core. My confidence has improved dramatically. My trainer said it was like two different riders! I’m virtually back to where I was before the injury. I can honestly say that the VIEMax Sculpt has saved my riding because I was in such a dark place in the months after my injury. I’m blown away with what I have achieved in such a short space of time. It’s been incredible.”

Vanessa came in for her post-treatment review after seven weeks. I can still picture her literally jumping around the room for joy as our practitioners compared her new measurements and the before and after photos. The results were outstanding. Her weak left leg had grown by 0.6 inches around the upper thigh where the muscle had rebuilt itself. Her lower stomach was 0.8 inches slimmer and her waist was 0.9 inches slimmer. Vanessa was understandably ecstatic.

“My legs are more even now, which was the priority,” says Vanessa. “I wasn’t doing this for aesthetic effect, but for athletic performance and recovery, and to restore my confidence in the saddle. The fact it’s made my stomach visibly flatter is a bonus! I recognise that I still need chiropractic help longer term to fix the alignment of my bones, but EMS has been an excellent complementary treatment to speed up my recovery and restore my confidence in the saddle.”

If Vanessa is delighted with her results, it’s fair to say that we are, too. It’s been exciting to observe this treatment benefiting a sportsperson first-hand.

EMS can also support complement existing exercise for added benefits. At Vie Aesthetics, we are so happy with the results we see, that we are now adding more VIEMAX devices to create our first VIEMAX Studio in Essex and soon in London too. If you consider trying the EMS, feel free to contact me for more information [email protected]

Alternatively, book yourself in for a consultation and taster session using the BOOK CONSULTATION button on this page. You can also find more about the VIEMAX Sculpt EMS here.

Kind regards

Vicky Grammatikopoulou
CEO, Vie Aesthetics