Abstract
Whole-body electromyostiulation (WB-EMS) has experienced a boom in recent years, even though its effectiveness is controversial. A sedentary lifestyle is deeply rooted in the European population, mainly in the elderly. This experimental study analyzed the impact of WB-EMS on the physical fitness of postmenopausal women. Thirty-four healthy sedentary women between 55 and 69 years followed an experimental design pre–post-test. Both groups conducted a ten-week aerobic and strength training program. The experimental group overlaid the WB-EMS during exercise. At the end of the intervention, both groups improved upper and lower body strength, lower extremity flexibility, agility, and speed levels (pBonferroni < 0.05). Significant interactions were observed at upper and lower body strength, agility, speed, and cardiovascular endurance (p < 0.05). The WB-EMS group scored better agility than the control group at the end of the intervention (pBonferroni < 0.05) and was the only group that improved cardiovascular endurance. WB-EMS shows a favorable isolate effect on the development of dynamic leg strength, agility, and cardiovascular endurance but did not in dynamic arm strength, gait speed, balance, or flexibility of postmenopausal women.
Highlights
It has been established that physical activity plays a fundamental role in the prevention and treatment of the inconveniences associated with advanced age, such as chronic diseases, functional limitation, and dependence
Group, which suggests effect of of whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS). Both groups showed pre–post-test increases in thea positive development leg strength with It higher difficult to make a comparison of these results with those obtained in the existing literature on improvement in the EX + WB-EMS group, which suggests a positive effect of WB-EMS by itself
As far as we know, no previous study has analyzed the effects of WB-EMS on flexibility, but Pérez-Bellmunt et al [60] recently found that proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching were more effective when combined with local electrostimulation
Summary
It has been established that physical activity plays a fundamental role in the prevention and treatment of the inconveniences associated with advanced age, such as chronic diseases, functional limitation, and dependence. Electrotactile electrostimulation provides sensations by passing a low-intensity electric current to stimulate afferent nerve, which is very useful in hand prosthesis for better manipulation performance [17]. On another side, local electrical stimulation entails the placement of little electrodes on the motor unit, applying a current intense enough to activate the muscle. In addition to the aforementioned strength and endurance variables, several interesting aspects of physical condition, such as balance, flexibility, or agility, are commonly studied to draw conclusions regarding the influence of exercise on the health and functional capacity of the elderly [32]. WB-EMS training program on the physical performance of postmenopausal women
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