Effects of 8-Week Electromyostimulation Training on Upper-Limb Muscle Activity and Respiratory Gas Analysis in Athletes with Disabilities

Jongbin Kim, Joonsung Park, Jeongok Yang, Youngsoo Kim, Inhyung Kim, Himchan Shim, Changho Jang, Mincheol Kim, Myeongcheol Kim and Bomjin Lee ()
Additional contact information
Jongbin Kim: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Joonsung Park: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Jeongok Yang: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Youngsoo Kim: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Inhyung Kim: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Himchan Shim: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Changho Jang: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea
Mincheol Kim: Independent Researcher, Busan 48316, Republic of Korea
Myeongcheol Kim: Independent Researcher, Busan 48499, Republic of Korea
Bomjin Lee: Division of Kinesiology, Silla University, Busan 46958, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: This study was aimed at verifying the efficacy of EMS training by investigating the changes in upper-limb muscle functions and energy expenditure in athletes with disabilities after an 8-week intervention of EMS training. We compared variations in muscle activity, respiratory gas, and symmetry index (SI) after an 8-week intervention in eight professional male athletes with disabilities wearing an electromyostimulation (EMS) suit (age: 42.00 ± 8.67 years, height: 1.65 ± 0.16 m, weight: 64.00 ± 8.72 kg, career length: 11.75 ± 3.83 years). For EMS training, each participant wore an EMS suit. EMS was applied to the upper-limb muscles pectoralis major and triceps at 40 °C water temperature, with a 25 Hz frequency (duty cycle 10%) for 15 min, followed by a 5 Hz frequency (duty cycle 5%) for 5 min. The pre- and post-intervention measurements were taken in the same way at a pre-set time (for 1 h, twice a week) for 8 weeks. Training involved a seated chest press, and the muscle activity (pectoralis major, triceps, and antebrachial muscles), upper-limb SI, and respiratory gas variables (maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2 ), carbon dioxide output (VCO 2 ), respiratory quotient (RQ), metabolic equivalents (METs), and energy expenditure per min (Energy expended per minute; EEm)) were analyzed. Variations pre- and post-intervention across the measured variables were analyzed. Regarding the change in muscle activity, significant variations were found in the pectoralis major right ( p < 0.004), pectoralis major left ( p < 0.001), triceps right ( p < 0.002), and antebrachial right ( p < 0.001). Regarding left-to-right SI, a positive change was detected in the pectoralis major and triceps muscles. Additionally, respiratory gas analysis indicated significant variations in VO 2 ( p < 0.001), VCO 2 ( p < 0.001), METs ( p < 0.001), and EEm ( p < 0.001). EMS training improved muscle strength and respiratory gas variables and is predicted to contribute to enhanced muscle function and rehabilitation training for athletes with disabilities.

Keywords: disabled athletes; disability; electromyostimulation; respiratory gas analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/299/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/299/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:299-:d:1014146

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().