Adarq.org

thank you very much my friend... putting it in the OP now

I really need to get an EMS when i start making some money again... thats one thing I would love to experiment with..

peace

Yahh I wish I would find the time to experiment with mine. I keep forgetting to order new pads for it.



Improvement in Isometric Strength of the Quadriceps Femoris Muscle After Training with Electrical Stimulation.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if training isometrically with electrical stimulation (ES) alone would significantly increase isometric strength of the quadriceps femoris muscle. The relationships between the strength changes and the relative force and duration of training contractions were also studied. An experimental group (Group 1) and a control group (Group 2), 12 subjects in each, underwent pretesting and posttesting to obtain their maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs). Group 1 trained with maximally tolerable isometric contractions induced by ES, three days a week for four weeks. Results showed that although both groups demonstrated increases in isometric strength of their quadriceps femoris muscles, training isometrically with ES produced a significantly greater increase (p < .01) than not training with ES. The relative strength improvement in Group 1 was positively and significantly correlated with training-contraction intensity and duration. The relative increase in isometric strength, using only ES, may be determined by the ability of the subjects to tolerate longer and more forceful contractions. Suggestions for further research and implications for the clinical use of ES for strength-training are discussed.

http://ptjournalonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/65/2/186

Muscular Strength Development by Electrical Stimulation in Healthy Individuals.http://www.physther.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/6/915

Electrical stimulation of the thigh muscles after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. Effects of electrically elicited contraction of the quadriceps femoris and hamstring muscles on gait and on strength of the thigh muscles.

The effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on the strength of the thigh muscles and on gait were examined in ten patients after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: neuromuscular electrical stimulation and volitional exercise, or volitional exercise alone. A four-week course of electrically elicited co-contraction of the thigh muscles resulted in significant attenuation of the characteristic loss of strength of the quadriceps as compared with volitional exercise. There was no significant difference between groups in any measure of performance of the hamstring muscles. In the group that received neuromuscular electrical stimulation, the values for cadence, walking velocity, stance time of the involved limb, and flexion-excursion of the knee during stance were significantly different from those of the volitional exercise group. Flexion-excursion of the knee during stance was directly and significantly correlated with strength of the quadriceps femoris muscle. Flexion of the knee during stance was qualitatively different in the involved extremity as compared with the uninvolved extremity in all patients. There is a rapid flexion of the knee at weight acceptance that is maintained throughout stance and probably reflects stabilization of the joint by muscular coactivation to compensate for weakness of the quadriceps. The patients who received neuromuscular electrical stimulation had stronger quadriceps muscles and more normal gait patterns than those in the volitional exercise group.

http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/content/abstract/73/7/1025

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation. An overview and its application in the treatment of sports injuries.

In sports medicine, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been used for muscle strengthening, maintenance of muscle mass and strength during prolonged periods of immobilisation, selective muscle retraining, and the control of oedema. A wide variety of stimulators, including the burst-modulated alternating current ('Russian stimulator'), twin-spiked monophasic pulsed current and biphasic pulsed current stimulators, have been used to produce these effects. Several investigators have reported increased isometric muscle strength in both NMES-stimulated and exercise-trained healthy, young adults when compared to unexercised controls, and also no significant differences between the NMES and voluntary exercise groups. It appears that when NMES and voluntary exercise are combined there is no significant difference in muscle strength after training when compared to either NMES or voluntary exercise alone. There is also evidence that NMES can improve functional performance in a variety of strength tasks. Two mechanisms have been suggested to explain the training effects seen with NMES. The first mechanism proposes that augmentation of muscle strength with NMES occurs in a similar manner to augmentation of muscle strength with voluntary exercise. This mechanism would require NMES strengthening protocols to follow standard strengthening protocols which call for a low number of repetitions with high external loads and a high intensity of muscle contraction. The second mechanism proposes that the muscle strengthening seen following NMES training results from a reversal of voluntary recruitment order with a selective augmentation of type II muscle fibres. Because type II fibres have a higher specific force than type I fibres, selective augmentation of type II muscle fibres will increase the overall strength of the muscle. The use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation to prevent muscle atrophy associated with prolonged knee immobilisation following ligament reconstruction surgery or injury has been extensively studied. NMES has been shown to be effective in preventing the decreases in muscle strength, muscle mass and the oxidative capacity of thigh muscles following knee immobilisation. In all but one of the studies, NMES was shown to be superior in preventing the atrophic changes of knee immobilisation when compared to no exercise, isometric exercise of the quadriceps femoris muscle group, isometric co-contraction of both the hamstrings and quadriceps femoris muscle groups, and combined NMES-isometric exercise. It has also been reported that NMES applied to the thigh musculature during knee immobilisation improves the performance on functional tasks.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1565927

The effects of electrical stimulation of normal quadriceps on strength and girth.

The effect of surging faradic electrical stimulation on the strength and girth of normal quadriceps was studied in 18 young adult females (9 experimental and 9 control). Both quadriceps of the experimental subjects received 10 treatments of 15-min duration of electrical stimulation administered over a 5-wk period. Before and after the study, thigh girth was measured and knee extension strength assessed with a Cybex II, isometrically at 65[degrees] of knee flexion and isokinetically at 30[degrees]/s and 60[degrees]/s. There were no differences between groups in thigh girth. Isometric strength increased 31% in the non-dominant leg and 21% in the dominant leg (P< 0.05). The only significant change in isokinetic strength was found in the non-dominant leg at 30%. Surging intermittent faradic stimulation can develop both types of strength at slow speeds of motion. Such stimulation should be a valuable modality for developing isometric strength when normal voluntary motion is hampered. However, it appears to have little applicability to developing the kind of strength associated with rapid movements.

http://www.acsm-msse.org/pt/re/msse/abstract.00005768-198203000-00007.htm;jsessionid=KthLNKYQrvN1y9Q6JXd1YjXPv3rMHzL5JqKV2VsVhQDnQM0pM9Y2!-1260103914!181195628!8091!-1

Anaerobic energy release in skeletal muscle during electrical stimulation in men.

The quadriceps femoris muscles of seven men were electrically stimulated under extended anaerobic conditions to quantitate anaerobic energy release and the contribution of the glycolytic system to total ATP production. Muscles were intermittently stimulated 64 times at 20 Hz while leg blood flow was occluded. Each contraction lasted 1.6 s and was followed by 1.6 s of rest. The total contraction time was 102.4 s. Muscle biopsies were taken at rest and following 16, 32, 48, and 64 contractions. The ATP turnover rates during the four 16-contraction periods were 6.12, 2.56, 2.17, and 0.64 mmol X kg dry muscle-1 X s-1 contraction time. Glycolysis provided 58%, phosphocreatine 40% and a decreased ATP store 2% of the consumed energy during the initial 16 contractions. Glycolysis was responsible for 90% of the total ATP production beyond contraction 16. Absolute glycolytic ATP production decreased to 60, 55, and 17% of the amount in the initial 16 contractions during the final three periods, respectively. In conclusion glycolysis produced approximately 195 mmol ATP/kg dry muscle during the initial 48 contractions (76.8 s) and only approximately 15 mmol ATP/kg dry muscle during the final 16 contractions. Equivalent values for total ATP turnover were 278 and 16.5 mmol/kg dry muscle.

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/62/2/611