AUTHOR=Abitante Thomas J. , Rutkove Seward B. , Duda Kevin R. , Newman Dava J. 

TITLE=Effect of Athletic Training on Fatigue During Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2022.894395

DOI=10.3389/fspor.2022.894395

ISSN=2624-9367

ABSTRACT=The purpose of the this study was to explore the effect an individual’s exercise training type will have on the muscle fatigability during repetitive contractions induced by Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES). 34 subjects comprising of competitive athletes and controls were recruited into 3 cohorts: Endurance (runners/cyclists) n=13; 9 male, 4 female; 27 ± 8 years old, Explosive (Lifters/Sprinters) n=11; 9 male, 2 female; 30 ± 7 years old, and controls n=10, 6 male, 4 female, 26 ± 4 years old. Subjects were placed in a custom made leg extension rig, and received NMES against a fixed resistance (NMES-FR), to the Vastus Medialis muscle resulting in isometric leg extensions,  at a duty cycle of 1 second on/3 seconds rest, for 20 minutes. The force of the isometric contractions were recorded with a Hogan MicroFet2 dynamometer, and 3 separate fatigue metrics were calculated to compare the different cohorts, sports within each cohort, and gender within each cohort. For every fatigue metric, the endurance group fatigued significantly less than both the explosive and control cohorts, with no difference observed between the explosive and the controls. Within each cohort, no significant difference was observed in any fatigue metric between sport or gender, but these comparisons lacked power. The results show that only high capacity endurance activity will have any effect on reducing one’s fatigability during repetitive NMES. The implications of this conclusion can aid in the development of NMES regimens for use in healthy populations, such as athletic training or astronaut musculoskeletal countermeasures.