Abstract
Athletes aim to improve muscle strength to optimize sports performance and gain a competitive edge. Although modern sports medicine includes rehabilitation treatment methods for improving the explosive force of athletes, including acupuncture, a common alternative therapy, research on the effectiveness of acupuncture in improving the timeliness of explosive forces is limited. There is uncertainty regarding how long the effects of acupuncture treatment persist after treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of acupuncture on the timeliness of explosive forces generated by the male shoulder joint. Eighteen healthy men underwent tests of shoulder adduction/abduction (Add/Abd) and flexion/extension (Flex/Ext) through an isokinetic measurement system. Acupuncture was used to stimulate LU1 (Zhongfu), LU3 (Tianfu), LU4 (Xiabai), LI14 (Binao), SJ13 (Naohui), SJ14 (Jianliao), and SJ12 (Xiaoluo), and the isokinetic parameters were recorded before and after acupuncture. After acupuncture, isokinetic muscle force parameters including the maximum (Max) torque, the average power, the average peak power, the average work, and the total work increased significantly (P < 0.05), whereas the average max torque Abd/Flex did not. Additionally, the preintervention values of the shoulder joints for Add/Abd and Flex/Ext were significantly greater than those at post 1 and post 2 (P < 0.05). The isokinetic results suggest that acupuncture can increase the explosive force of the male shoulder joint Add/Abd and Flex/Ext. Muscle cannot be fully activated when calcium saturation is below the maximal level. In this case, the postactivation potentiation (PAP) may enhance voluntary muscle force production. The effect of acupuncture is time-dependent, that is, the effects of acupuncture gradually weaken and disappear by approximately 10 minutes after acupuncture. Therefore, we suggest that acupuncture is used as an alternative therapy in sports competitions to increase the explosive forces of the shoulder joint, thereby improving sports performance.
Highlights
Explosive force is the ability of the muscles to increase the force generated rapidly from a small force or resting state [1]
Explosive force generation during athletic activities is often integrated with multidirectional movements involving high levels of neuromuscular activation [2].postactivation potentiation (PAP) is one of the influencing factors of explosive forces and represents an acute increase in muscle force velocity or explosive force caused by submaximal activation levels under short time of muscles reached prepotentiation [3]. e potential mechanism by which this event occurs is that PAP increases the excitability of α-motoneurons, resulting in an increase in their subsequent contractility performance after previous muscular activity [4]. e stimulation of nerves by acupuncture is one of the ways that explosive muscle forces can be increased
Another study showed that fatigue resolution is associated with increased muscle strength, which is attributed to the PAP effect, which is caused by the increased excitability of α-motor neurons [12]
Summary
Explosive force is the ability of the muscles to increase the force generated rapidly from a small force or resting state [1]. Acupuncture can cause changes in the excitability of cortical motor neurons [5] and the recruitment of more motor units and/or increase the activation of already active motor units to higher. Acupuncture-induced motoneuron recruitment may increase the fast-twitch fiber contribution and enhance performance in subsequent explosive activities [7, 8]. Another study showed that fatigue resolution is associated with increased muscle strength, which is attributed to the PAP effect, which is caused by the increased excitability of α-motor neurons [12]. Acupuncture and PAP seem to have similar effects After stimulation, they increase the excitability of motor neurons and enhance explosiveness and athletic performance. PAP stimuli induce a state of fatigue, and individuals require a sufficient rest period before performing a subsequent explosive movement [13]. PAP stimuli induce a state of fatigue, and individuals require a sufficient rest period before performing a subsequent explosive movement [13]. erefore, when acupuncture is used to enhance muscle explosive forces, the effect on the timeliness of force generation should be studied
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