Infographic on the use of Electrical Muscle Stimulation for sports performance by John Abreu & Derek M. Hansen. Originally published on March 23rd, 2015 on strengthpowerspeed.com. Link: http://www.strengthpowerspeed.com/ems-infographic/

1. wDelCasoetal.(2011)usedEMSto
wdetectfatigueinducedbyprolonged
wexerciseinheat
wIncombinationwithRPE,currentsrequiredforcontractioncanbeusedtocomparerecruitment,
wandslowtwitch/fasttwitchfiberatrophyincontralaterallimbs
wSuperimposedEMStofacilitate
wmovement
wUsedduringexerciseinordertoaid
wmuscularcontraction,particularlyif
winhibitionispresent
wForexample,usedonquadsorglutes
wwwhileperformingabacksquat
wPNFprogramsfollowing5-second
whigh-intensitycontractionsat50-70Hz
wProgramscanfollowcontract-relaxpatternsorreciprocalinhibition
wTENS&High-frequencyprograms
wHelpmitigatepaincyclewhichmaybecausing
wcompensatoryeffects
wDCunitscancreateionicflowandaccelerate
wdissipationofedema
wNon-circulatory,high-intensitycontractionshigherthan60Hz
wCanbeusedto“freeup”musclefibersandre-setmuscletone
wwith30-40%durationofregularEMSmaxstrengthprogram
wLowtomoderateintensities
wVaried/Constantfrequenciesof1-10Hz
wLongerdurationsof20-40mins.withcirculatory&muscle“loosening”effects
wCanbeusedaspartofwarm-up,massage-like,andactiverecoveryprotocols
However,itdependsonmusclearchitecture:
wGreatestdistanceforfusiformmuscles=paralleloreintation
wParallelorientationnotaseffcientforpenniformmuscles;mustbediagonal
SimilartoWork:Restratiosinstrengthtraining
*Pulsingat1-10Hzcanbeusedforcirculation
1:1 MuscularEndurance
1:2-3 Hypertrophy
1:5 MaximalStrength
wAdjustedforcomfort
wVariesbymusclesize
Small
200µs
Large
450µs[
Whilecurrent(mA)isimportant,voltagedeterminescurrentpassage.
Somesmallerunitsmaynotbeabletodeliverlargecurrentstodeeper
fibersoflargemusclegroups.
SquareWave:Sameareaunder
curve=sameelectricalcharge
=sameneurontriggering
potential
SinusoidalWave:Higherintensity=more
potentialfordiscomfort
wslowtwitch
wslowtofatigue
wfasttwitch
wintermediate
wfatiguing
wfasttwitch
wquicktofatigue
Type
2b/2x
70-120
Hz
Type
2a
40-70
Hz
Type
1
1-40
Hz
wNewtechnologyisportable,convenient,andallowsfor
adjustmentofnumerousparameters
wCanhelpconserveneuralresourcesby“bypassing”CNS
Allure:
Reality:
wPotentialforperformancegainsoutsideofconventionaltraining
wTechnologicalintervention
wDependingonprogram,muscularcontractioncanbeveryintense
wRequirescarefulplanningalongsidequalitytraining
wItworks
forsportsperformance
byDerekM.Hansen&JohnAbreu
@DerekMHansen @realcoachjohn