Effectiveness evaluation of whole-body electromyostimulation as a postexercise recovery method

Impact of Active Recovery and Whole-Body Electromyostimulation on Blood-Flow and Blood Lactate Removal in Healthy People

This study aimed to determine whether an active recovery with added whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) can increase blood flow and lead to blood lactate removal after intense exercise. Thirty-five healthy individuals (23.1 ± 4.6 years) were randomly assigned to: (a) an experimental group using active recovery together with the WB-EMS (n = 18) or (b) a control group using the same active recovery protocol with the suit with no-stimulation (CON, n = 17). Participants performed a maximal graded exercise test followed by an active recovery protocol (walking at 40% of their maximum aerobic velocity). During the recovery, participants in WB-EMS and CON received continuous stimulation at 7 Hz or no stimulation, respectively. Heart rate, blood lactate concentrations, pain/discomfort, and hemodynamic measurements were recorded before and after the test, and repeated immediately after and at min 30 and 60. The between-group analysis showed a substantially greater Peak blood velocity (-0.27 [-0.68; 0.14]) in WB-EMS compared to CON. The pain/discomfort levels were also lower in WB-EMS compared with CON (0.66 [-0.12; 1.45]). Non-significant differences in participants' blood lactate were observed in WB-EMS compared with CON both immediately; at 30and 60 min. Our findings suggest that increased local blood flow induced by WB-EMS may have contributed to greater lactate removal from active muscles and blood lactate clearance. WB-EMS may be an effective means of increasing muscle blood flow after a maximal graded exercise test and could result in improved recovery.

Effects of whole-body ELECTROMYOSTIMULATION on health and performance: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Whole-body electrical myostimulation (WB-EMS) is a relatively recent training methodology that has been extraordinarily used in recent years. However, there is a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of WB-EMS in the situations in which its use has been largely popularized. The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effects produced by WB-EMS.

METHODS

A search of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane was performed to identify all the studies that have applied electrical stimulation in lower and upper limbs simultaneously and that have clearly presented their protocols for the training and application of the stimulation. The last search was performed on September 9, 2018. Studies written in English or German were included.

RESULTS

A total of 21 articles met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed following the guidelines of the Cochrane Guide for Systematic Reviews. Nineteen studies analyzed the chronic effects of WB-EMS, and 2 analyzed acute effects with a total of 505 subjects (310 men and 195 women). In total, 35% were moderately trained, and 65% were sedentary subjects. Different dependent variables were studied, such as anthropometric parameters, strength parameters, energy expenditure, psychophysiological parameters and blood parameters. There is a lack of randomized controlled studies, and the studies included exhibit a moderate to high level of risk of bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the limited number of available studies on WB-EMS, the scarce amount of scientific evidence found does not allow definitive conclusions about its effects; therefore, future studies about WB-EMS are necessary.