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Train from anywhere, on your schedule. Work one-on-one with Zach by live video, with a personalized plan, your own direct current device and ongoing guidance from wherever you are.
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Prefer to train side by side? Work with Zach in person, locally in Baltimore, or with travel options available.
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Small group training
Join us weekly on Tuesday mornings at TIMBRE in Fells Point, Baltimore, for a small group experience focused on building strength, improving body awareness, and boosting energy.
Reserve Your SpotCoach. Engineer. Athlete. Educator.
Zach Michael
He’s the coach, engineer and educator who helps you understand your body, move with confidence and get back to the activities you love.
Zach is a chemical and biomedical engineer, a former Division 1 athlete, a direct current stimulation coach, and a movement and performance coach.
For nearly a decade he has coached people with direct current, from youth athletes to NFL professionals to weekend warriors, and his purpose is simple: to help people learn how their bodies work, so they can feel better, move with confidence and live without fear of their own bodies. Combining science, technology and the body’s natural intelligence, Zach teaches how to take ownership of how you move. He is the creator of The Embodi Method and the author of the Muscle Is Life Blueprint.
Articles
All articlesLearn From Zach
How direct current works, and what it means for your recovery and your training.
Why Won't My Quad Turn On After ACL Surgery?
Your quad won't fire after ACL surgery? In most cases your brain has turned it down to protect the knee. What is happening, a free exercise to try today, and what to do if it still won't turn on.
Can You Speed Up ACL Recovery? Zach on Kneed To Know
Zach's answer on the Kneed To Know podcast: start prehab before surgery, get range of motion back once your surgeon allows it, and get the quad working early.
What Direct Current E-Stim Shows About the Quad After an ACL Tear
On the Starting Block podcast, Zach explains why an ACL tear shuts down the quad, and what he sees when direct current e-stim goes on both legs.
Behind Schedule After ACL Surgery? Zach on Full Extension and Pain
Zach explains the most common reason he sees athletes fall behind after ACL surgery, and the pain levels he lets them work through when they return to sport.
TENS vs EMS: Which One Builds Muscle, and Where Direct Current E-Stim Fits
A TENS unit is built to ease pain, and an EMS unit is built to make a muscle contract. Here's how to tell which one you own, what the research says about e-stim after ACL surgery, and where direct current e-stim fits.
ACL Recovery Timeline: What Parents Should Expect in Each Phase
Most high school and college athletes return to sport about 9 to 12 months after ACL surgery. Here is what each phase looks like, where athletes tend to fall behind, and how direct current e-stim can help them stay on track.
Build a Body That Supports Your Bones
Being diagnosed with osteoporosis can change the way you think about movement.Suddenly, activities that once felt normal can feel risky.C...
How the Neuromuscular System Limits Performance (and How Direct Current Helps To Break Through)
Your muscles may be capable of more than your body is currently allowing them to do. That might sound strange. We tend to think of performance as a simple equation: if you want to get stronger, build more muscle. If you want to move better, practice the movement. If you want to perform at a higher level, train harder. But your muscles don't operate independently.
The Link Between Muscles, Mitochondria & Longevity
Martin Picard, leading researcher at Columbia University is developing an intriguing body of research around what he calls the “Energy Resistance Principle.” As a whole, he links human health, longevity and disease to how well the body allows energy to flow. In order for health to be optimal, the flow of energy must be resisted enough for necessary for transformation to take place; however, if is resisted too much, the cellular environment becomes less than optimal, and health begins to decline.
3 Ways Muscle Is Like Armor For Our Health
Over the years, I’ve talked a lot with clients about how muscles are like the “shock absorbers” we have on our cars. They lengthen to absorb force and they shorten to create force. When they perform well, the muscles sufficiently create and absorb force in a way that ensures other soft tissues, ligaments, and tendons do not take on undue stress.
7 Reasons Building Muscle After 50 Can Be Difficult (And How to Build It Anyway)
You've probably heard the message by now. “Build muscle.” “Maintain your muscle mass.” “Do everything you can to stay strong as you age.” And for good reason. Muscle does far more than change the way the body looks. It helps us lift, climb, carry, balance, and move through the world. It also contributes to metabolic health and provides part of the physical reserve that allows us to continue doing the things we enjoy as the years go on.
Why Does My Son’s Elbow Pain Keep Coming Back?
What Parents Need to Know When Rest, Physical Therapy, and Time Aren't Solving the Problem A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with a dad who was expressing his confusion for the best way to help his son navigate his arm injury. “I don’t get it,” he said. “We’ve done everything they’ve told us to do - rest, ice, physical therapy.. All of the band exercises in the world. But his elbow pain just keeps coming back. Adding to the confusion, the MRI results came back completely clean.
What Is My BMI?
What is my BMI? BMI or “body mass index” is a scale that uses height and weight to estimate whether you are: Underweight Healthy Weight Overweight Obese Limitations of BMI Before I go further, I want to include a disclaimer about BMI. BMI is one of my biggest pet peeves in the world of health and wellness - while height and weight can give us a VERY rough estimate of how healthy a person is based on their weight, it has significant limitations.
What Is Body Composition?
A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a client about her body weight and the diet she recently started. She said that she is on a mission to get skinny again, and has noticed that she is about 10 lbs above what she used to consider heavy.
8 Considerations For Playing Sports Through Pain Or Injury
This Sunday was the opening day for baseball season in my 30 and over Harford County men’s league. It was a chilly, shady, windy, 44 degree morning - there’s no better way to start baseball season in the north east! Thanks to a combination of lifting weights, cardio work, sauna, and signal training, my body was feeling the best it has in a long time heading into the game. The game started easily enough with a quick 1, 2, 3, inning before my team, the Cubs, came to bat.
Supercharge Your ACL Prehab Exercises With Direct Current E-Stim
Direct current e-stim lets you combine a strong muscle signal with movement, which most stimulators can't. Here's how we use it in ACL prehab and what athletes have done with it before surgery.
8 Exercises In The Embodi³ ACL Prehab Protocol
The exact exercises we use in ACL prehab, in two stages: active range of motion, then yielding isometrics. Each one trains the muscles to work through a full range of motion before surgery.
4 Important Types Of ACL Prehab Exercises
A quality ACL prehab program uses 4 types of exercises: range of motion, strengthening, neuromuscular training, and perturbation training. Here's what each one does for the knee before surgery.
8 ACL Prehab Goals To Hit If You Want To Go Into Surgery Feeling 100%
Your doctor's prehab goals will put you in a better position for surgery. Here are the 8 goals we recommend if you want to go into ACL surgery as close to 100% as possible.
What To Eat After ACL Surgery: Start With Protein
If you're not giving the body the things it needs to recover in between workouts, you're going to limit how efficiently you can recover. This article covers protein: how much you need after ACL surgery and how to get there.
If My Daughter Tore Her ACL: 7 Things I'd Want Her To Know Within 24 Hours
We receive a lot of calls from parents of high school athletes who have just torn an ACL. I tried to envision what I would want my own daughter to know within the first 24 hours of tearing an ACL.
3 Months Post-Op… Still Not 100% Straight
An athlete asked: "I am now 3 months post-allograft surgery and I am still struggling to get fully straight." The answer to this question is yes, quad weakness (or inhibition) can lead to a slight bend in the knee.
ACL Inspiration: Excuses Are For Wusses
University of Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee took home the national championship without an ACL in either knee. His response? "Excuses are for wusses." YOU are the number one person responsible for the success of your recovery.
How To Hack The Neuromuscular System During ACL Recovery
Understanding these concepts may be what stands between where you are now in your ACL recovery and where you WANT to be. This article will help you do a little more "root cause" thinking and finally break through the plateau you're running into.
How To Get Your Knee Straight After ACL Surgery
It's something you'll hear over and over again during recovery after ACL injuries and surgery. We've gotta get your knee straight. In most cases, it is THE number one priority immediately after injury and then again after surgery.
Is It OK To Wait To Have ACL Surgery?
Athletes commonly ask us, "Is it OK to wait to have ACL surgery?" Here are a few general thoughts on the question, and a quick look at a research study that tackled the exact question.
Breaking Free From The ACL Cycle Of Frustration
It's been months since ACL surgery. You've done everything that's been asked of you, and yet you're not feeling like your old self just yet. You are not alone.
In their words
Hear From Zach’s Clients
Play: Ella, D1 soccer: more confident after her ACL injuryElla, D1 soccer: more confident after her ACL injury
"Having someone who believes in me and pushes me to do my best... It just meant the most to me."
Ella, D1 soccer
Play: Brian, 13: quad strength from 57% to 81% in one monthBrian, 13: quad strength from 57% to 81% in one month
"It gave me hope, as I saw what the road was ahead of me. I would be stronger, faster, quicker, and coming back in a new form."
Brian, basketball
Play: Riley, hockey: his confidence back after his ACL injuryRiley, hockey: his confidence back after his ACL injury
"After working with Zach for a few weeks, I started getting my confidence back. I was back to my normal self within a few weeks."
Riley, hockey
Video link to comeBreece Hall, NFL: back for Week 1 after his ACL
"My legs would be sore, but they would feel a little more fresh at the same time. They were even stronger after each session, so that was always a positive to me."
Breece, NFL running back
Play: Julian: back from debilitating back painJulian: back from debilitating back pain
Julian
Play: Liz: moving past years of injuriesLiz: moving past years of injuries
Liz
Free guides
Read Zach's Work
The Muscle Is Life Blueprint: 5 foundations for building and optimizing the muscle that helps you feel better, perform at your best and live fully.
The Embodi³ ACL Recovery White Paper: the limits of standard ACL rehab, the process Zach uses with direct current, and the results.
Get the free guides
Your first step
Join the Embodi³ waitlist
Upon joining the waitlist, you will get the chance to schedule a call with a member of our team. During the call, we will take time to understand your goals for the program, any scheduling requirements, and determine the best time frame to start your Embodi³ program.
Join The Waitlist Or call (443) 489-6157