In a studio by Londons Spitalfields Market, Nooroa Ogden wets a suit ready for the next trainee. The suit has two halves, a vest and a trouser section, both have electrodes throughout them.

Ogden is head trainer at Exerceo Training, specialists in Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) whereby electrodes will stimulate muscles with electrical impulses while the trainee works out. As Ogden puts it, the muscles work quite a bit harder – a 25-minute session with him could see a trainee do a workout that may have taken them the equivalent of an hour and a half at the gym.

IBTimes UK went down to Exerceo to try out the popular workout technique and see if this reporter could survive the intense training. A condensed version of the results are above but the full Facebook Live can be found here.

Ogden says theres no danger to the training: Theres no danger to it unless you just go a little bit crazy, obviously its got to be done with a trained professional on it. And its good for all kinds of exercise: I work with special populations across the board, from ex-Olympic athletes to people who suffer from MS, people who are post-surgery, pre-surgery, anything that requires a bit of rehab work, this is suitable right through from beginners to the athletes.

According to Ogden, EMS has become a huge fitness phenomenon in Germany and in Spain, where he trained. Its been spreading in the UK too – Exerceo has three other studios in London.

The first thing youre going to feel is like tapping, someone tapping on your skin; second sensation is like pins and needles, like sitting in a massage chair; that sensation is going to get stronger and stronger and stronger and cause your muscles to contract. Aside from that, the work out is much the same, but at a much higher intensity and ending with a soothing muscle massage from the machine.

As with any fitness regime, you still have to keep it holistic – nutrition and diet are still important, especially when youre training so intensely. But as this reporter can attest, it really gives you a work out.

For more information on Exerceo Training, check out their website here.