Denita’s journey from professional Rugby to EMS advocate

I am Denita Wentzel and I want to share my personal experience with EMS training with you.

How did I get to EMS training from playing Rugby?

Born in South Africa and grew up in a town roughly an hour’s drive from Cape Town, I did not really believe that technology will get you stronger, fitter and faster. Who did in the old days, right?

Rugby Springbok professional
 Denita on the rugby field (grey scrum cap)

Long story short, I started my career in personal training while focusing on my position on the professional rugby field. 2012 was a tough year for me. We had two home tests which I went into with a knee injury. With the whole season of provincial rugby in front of me, the surgeon assured me it was a quick fix with a few days on crutches and 2 weeks to get back onto the field. I woke up from surgery with the doctor telling me that it was more severe than he expected. He had to fix a ligament and to prevent arthritis by the age of 30 he had to stitch my meniscus after a horrible bucket handle tear.

12 weeks of non-weight bearing and after that I slowly eased into walking.

So plans changed for me. For 2013 I was told I am unfit and too fat (seriously?), and I missed our Nations Cup in the USA. I just could not get to the point of being strong and fit enough. Luckily being part of the World Cup qualifier at the end of 2013 gave me the back door to slip into the setup again. But I knew, I had to do a little bit more than the rest to have my strength and speed back again.

This was the point where I was luckily introduced to EMS training. The local studio in Stellenbosch gave me the opportunity to train in their studio once a week. Just at the right time.

To give you a rough idea, we had training targets, a maximum one rep bench press of 80kg – I couldn’t press it. The closest I got to that 80kg was 77.5kg. 2.5kg can be a lot!

I trained 6 times a week, mostly 7 days a week as we were preparing for the World Cup in France and we had training camps every second to third weekend. So, I did all the things I could. To this regime, I now added one full body EMS training session to my training program.

A few months later we tested again for our one rep max and I was able to press 90kg. Can you believe it?!

I was able to squat again, able to push through hardcore scrum sessions without a knee that kept on swelling with inflammation and I felt on top of my health again! I went on to play in the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup in France and when we came back I decided to be an EMS personal trainer. I got additional training and EMS related qualifications. That’s where it all started.

Denita EMS trainer

So today – my daily goal is to help someone like you to get closer to their goal, and that is not only girth measurement, kilograms on a scale or dropping body fat percentage point, for me it is to make you SMILE when you walk through the studio’s door.

20min of high-intensity training, once or twice a week. That is what EMS training is. It is a way of giving your body a nudge in the right direction. Whatever your goal might be.

I have witnessed my clients succeeding and getting fitter & stronger due to EMS training:

  • The guy with two knee replacements and an ankle replacement because of arthritis who could barely do any other form of exercise
  • The Springbok men’s’ rugby captain with a knee injury before the 2015 Rugby World Cup,
  • The new mom after she had her baby who feels just super weak and fragile,
  • The ultra marathon runner who’s working on strength and better economical running,
  • The time-poor mom who’s juggling a 9 to 5 job, 2 kids and an active lifestyle,
  • The lady who wants to build up strength because her days involve pulling and pushing rental trailers back into her yard,
  • The surfer with his weak core leaving in 3 months for a surf trip
  • The nana who wants to do gardening and be able to pick up her grandkids,
  • The CEO of a big company that’s travelling way too much to spend another hour at the gym,
  • The office-bound man or woman who struggles with lower back pain because they spend 9 hours in the office chair.

Name them, I’ve had them for a training 🙂

EMS training is your way of training smarter.

With personal experience and studies from all over the world, it will improve posture, back pain, speed, strength and flexibility. This high-intensity training session works into deep muscle tissue without putting any strain on your back and other joints.

It is saving you time, and in this ‘rat race’ that we’re living in these days, all of us can do with a little bit more time.

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