Dr Mel Siff Blog

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When Serge Reding and I discussed the possible mechanisms for strengthening
by means of electrostimulation training about 30 years ago, we both felt that
the process may have to do with enhancing the ability of the athlete to
tolerate high levels of muscle tension if the ES is applied with progressions
to very high levels of activation. The following paper offers some
corroborating evidence in this regard.

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Improvement in isometric strength of the quadriceps femoris muscle after
training with electrical stimulation.

Selkowitz DM

Phys Ther 1985 Feb; 65(2): 186-96

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 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.

Dr Mel Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

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Tags: Contraction, Control Group, Dr Mel Siff, Electrical Stimulation, Forceful Contractions, Intensity, Isometric Contractions, Mel Siff, Muscle Tension, Muscles, Quadriceps, Relative Strength, Serge Reding, Strength Improvement, Strength Training, Super Training, Supertraining