Abstract
PurposeMuscle pain is a natural consequence of intense and prolonged exercise and has been suggested to be a limiter of performance. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential current (IFC) have been shown to reduce both chronic and acute pain in a variety of conditions. This study sought to ascertain whether TENS and IFC could reduce exercise-induced pain (EIP) and whether this would affect exercise performance. It was hypothesised that TENS and IFC would reduce EIP and result in an improved exercise performance.MethodsIn two parts, 18 (Part I) and 22 (Part II) healthy male and female participants completed an isometric contraction of the dominant bicep until exhaustion (Part I) and a 16.1 km cycling time trial as quickly as they could (Part II) whilst receiving TENS, IFC, and a SHAM placebo in a repeated measures, randomised cross-over, and placebo-controlled design. Perceived EIP was recorded in both tasks using a validated subjective scale.ResultsIn Part I, TENS significantly reduced perceived EIP (mean reduction of 12%) during the isometric contraction (P = 0.006) and significantly improved participants’ time to exhaustion by a mean of 38% (P = 0.02). In Part II, TENS significantly improved (P = 0.003) participants’ time trial completion time (~2% improvement) through an increased mean power output.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that TENS can attenuate perceived EIP in a healthy population and that doing so significantly improves endurance performance in both submaximal isometric single limb exercise and whole-body dynamic exercise.
Highlights
Communicated by Guido Ferretti.Exercise-induced muscle pain (EIP) arises from an accumulation of endogenous algesic substances and an increase in intramuscular pressure (Cook et al 1997)
These findings demonstrate that Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can attenuate perceived exercise-induced pain (EIP) in a healthy population and that doing so significantly improves endurance performance in both submaximal isometric single limb exercise and wholebody dynamic exercise
Part II was subsequently conducted to ascertain whether the reduction in EIP from TENS and interferential current (IFC) would elicit an improvement in endurance exercise performance
Summary
Exercise-induced muscle pain (EIP) arises from an accumulation of endogenous algesic substances and an increase in intramuscular pressure (Cook et al 1997) These endogenous algesics are released from cells when homoeostasis is disturbed as a consequence of intense exercise (Mauger et al 2010). As EIP increases linearly with exercise intensity, it is suggested that intolerable EIP may influence decisions to reduce work rate (to reduce pain), or disengage with the exercise task (Kress and Stratler 2007; Mauger 2014). In both these instances, an impeded endurance performance will be the result. In support of this notion, individuals who are willing to tolerate more pain demonstrate superior endurance performances than those who are not (Astokorki and Mauger 2016), and reducing pain during exercise can result in an improved endurance performance (Mauger et al 2010; Foster et al 2014)
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