This Suit Shocks You Into Becoming Stronger

Stop me if you’ve heard (or said) this before: “I want to workout, but I don’t have the time.”

I’ve often found myself in this camp as I juggle work and family life. Sometimes, it feels like finding an hour or two to really pump some iron or get stronger just isn’t feasible.

What if I could promise you two hours worth of results in just 20 minutes?

Now you’re intrigued. So was I.

That, friends, was the pitch when I first heard about Katalyst. On the surface, Katalyst is a funky workout suit designed to, as the name suggests, speed up your workouts. But it’s much more scientific than that.

Katalyst is a full-body experience that relies in EMS (Electro Muscle Stimulation) to boost your body’s natural abilities and (hopefully) help you gain strength, stamina and flexibility without spending hours in the gym.

Sound too good to be true? I thought so, too. That’s why I spent 30 days working out in the Katalyst suit, shocking my muscles with its special EMS tech in order to give you the skinny on whether this device will indeed, make you skinny (or strong).

Let’s talk about it.

The Elephant in the Room

Before we dive into Katalyst and explain what EMS is, I need to clear the air about a few things. First and foremost, the Katalyst suit is definitely not cheap. Starting at $2,500, plus the need for a monthly membership, it’s definitely not for everyone.

To put it into perspective, the average gym membership is between $40 and $70 a month. Say we spend $50 per month on that membership. You could go to the gym for more than four years for the same price as Katalyst.

On the flipside, $2,500 could also buy you about 1,200-plus McChickens from McDonalds. You get the idea. This suit ain’t cheap.

If the price turns you off, that’s understandable. It’s probably not the product for you. But I will tell you for whom I think Katalyst works.

If you’re an elite athlete looking for something to take your fitness to the next level, Katalyst is for you.

If you can’t find more than 20 minutes a day to work out and will do (and pay) whatever it takes to get into better shape, then Katalyst is worth a short.

Outside of these two personae, though, it’s near impossible to justify the steep price tag, even with the results (we’ll get to that later). For now, let’s talk a little more about how Katalyst works.

About EMS

“Does it shock you?” That’s the first question I got from my spouse and coworkers about the suit. It was generally followed up by “Does it hurt?”

Before I answer that, it’s important to talk about EMS. My first introduction to this type of muscular stimulation was back in 2016 when I was rehabbing a nagging ankle injury. EMS is a common practice in physical therapy.

This tried-and-true method of recovery has been adapted for full-body workouts. Numerous studies show there’s a lot of benefit to full-body EMS.

Armed with this new knowledge, you can understand my coworkers’ questions. Yes, the Katalyst suit “shocks” your muscles … but not really. It’s more of a buzzing sensation than anything else. Think of that shocking gum you were pranked with as a kid.

Does it hurt? At its highest intensities, I definitely would not call the Katalyst suit comfortable but it definitely didn’t have me writhing in pain.

Now that you understand the basics of how the suit works, let’s dive deeper into its construction.

How Does it Work?

The suit consist of a vest, shorts, and arm straps. With 26 electrode pads in all, the suit covers every major muscle group to ensure targeted EMS.

The system is powered by a central Impulse pack. This power source connects to an app and to the suit to provide power to each of the electrode pads. Once you’ve donned the suit and connected the impulse pack, you’re ready to choose from Katalyst’s exhaustive list of workouts (more on that later). The only issue, though, is donning that the suit is more of a chore than it looks.

Before putting the suit on, each of the 26 electrodes must be soaked with an included spray bottle. The water helps with conductivity. Between this process and fitting the numerous straps of the suit, it takes about 15 minutes before you’re ready to start your first workout.

This process in and of itself could be enough to make someone lose all motivation to work out. At least, that’s how I felt on occasions where I would have rather walked to the local gym instead of spend the 15 minutes to hook everything up.

Once you’ve got the hang of it, though, you can probably bring that prep time down to 10-12 minutes.

Now you’re ready to work out! Luckily, Katalyst has plenty of guided fitness videos to choose from.

Using the Suit

Katalyst’s library of workouts consist of four main training modes: Strength, Power, Cardio and Recovery. I was given a 30-day golf-specific workout plan that included workouts within each of those four modes.

Within each training mode, you’ll find even more niche workouts, even stuff tailored to your sport. For example, one can do a Golf Stretch Recovery Workout or a Golf Stability Strength Workout.

Once you’ve started working out, the real magic of the suit starts to become apparent. With nothing but your body weight, you’re able to work up quite a sweat or build up a lot of lactic acid. How? EMS.

For workouts in the Strength and Power modes, the suit stimulates your muscles, on and off, for four seconds at a time. This continues through the duration the guided workout (most of which are 10 or 20 minutes in length).

Four seconds on, four seconds off. Over and over again. By the end of the workout, those four seconds feel more like four minutes, as the intensity ramps up and your muscles start to really feel the stimulation.

The Cardio and Recovery modes are more “chill” as far as the EMS is concerned. It manifests itself in smaller pulses, rather than full-on body convulsion.

In my experience, I generally enjoyed the Recovery mode the most …. but I guess that’s on purpose. Workouts aren’t supposed to be easy, and the Strength, Power and Cardio modes can get pretty darn hard, thanks to the powerful impulses of the suit.

Let’s just say that after 20 minutes in the Katalyst suit, your muscles will be feeling it.

My Verdict

If I haven’t explained things very well, that’s my fault. There’s a lot to cover. But I hope you’ve got the gist of what the Katalyst suit is about and what it does. Now, if I may, I’d like to share my thoughts and experience with Katalyst.

First and foremost, I’ve never experienced anything quite like Katalyst. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I’m still not sure. What I can say is that each workout in the Katalyst suit left me drained and ready for bed.

Translation: 20 minutes of weight-less lifting really can give you a solid workout, thanks to EMS.

Did Katalyst make me stronger? I think so. While I don’t have a baseline to measure against, I left each Katalyst workout feeling a little stronger. If the soreness was any indication, my muscles were getting a darn good workout.

I’m a huge fan of the guided workouts, especially the golf-specific workouts. This, in conjunction with the EMS, is Katalyst’s real superpower.

As for the other stuff? I don’t love the amount of time it takes to prepare to workout and, frankly, the EMS is just uncomfortable once the intensities get high. That in and of itself, is enough to make me question why someone would use Katalyst.

If the suit can objectively cut down workout time and speed up your fitness gains (which I think it does), then it’s useful for someone. Probably not the majority of people and, honestly, not for me. But I do think that Katalyst does what it’s supposed to do and does it well.

If you’re interested in learning more or want speed up your fitness journey, Katalyst is worth a shot.