Using EMS in training.

[Guest guest]

Dr. Siff,

I'm also interested in the uses of EMS as an aid to training. I've

heard that EMS can be useful after training to promote the removal of

wastes and speed recovery, as well as aid in hypertrophy. Do you need

a large EMS unit to get these effects or are the smaller TENS units

also useful? I'm also very curious regarding the benefits you have

seen firsthand in using EMS.

[The body of the healthy athlete generally is perfectly capable of 'removing'

its waste, while acceleration of recovery can disrupt the normal adaptive

processes, as

is mentioned in Ch 8 of " Supertraining " and discussed in far more detail in

" Sports

Restoration and Massage " (Siff & Yessis). Restorative EMS seems to be far more

effective if one uses microcurrent at a suitable individualised frequency. It

can be

very effective in treating some forms of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction,

and

can speed up recovery from decubitus ulcers and other tissue trauma quite

significantly.

I provided a very extensive list of references and notes on this topic on the

following webpage:

<http://www.sportsci.com/SPORTSCI/JANUARY/macrocurrent_and_microcurrent_el.htm>

The 'large' EMS units usually are Faradic or interferential machines and do not

appear to play

any significant role in restoration, though they can offer the equivalent of

deep massage if used

correctly. TENS can sometimes be useful in controlling some pain, but, like

other macro-EMS

modalities is not very effective for restoration. For the trainign uses of EMS,

see Ch 4.2 of

" Supertraining " (2000). Mel Siff]

Thanks very much.

Carey

Chicago, IL