Effects of Arm-cranking Training with Electrical Muscle Stimulation on Vessel Function

Hajime Miura; Mizuki Ishikawa; Ayako Murakami; Yasuaki Tamura; Kenichi Deguchi

doi:10.1055/a-1510-9135

International Journal of Sports Medicine, Table of Contents

Int J Sports Med 2022; 43(01): 34-40
DOI: 10.1055/a-1510-9135

Physiology & Biochemistry

Effects of Arm-cranking Training with Electrical Muscle Stimulation on Vessel Function

Hajime Miura

¹Laboratory for Applied Physiology, Institutes of Socio-Arts and Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan

,

Mizuki Ishikawa

²Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Osaka Yukioka College of Health Science, Osaka, Japan

,

Ayako Murakami

³Center for Faculty-wide General Education, Shikoku University,Tokushima, Japan

,

Yasuaki Tamura

⁴Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tokushima Prefecture Naruto Hospital, Naruto, Japan

,

Kenichi Deguchi

⁴Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tokushima Prefecture Naruto Hospital, Naruto, Japan

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether arm-cranking training with electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) results in a greater improvement in vessel function than performing the same exercise without EMS. First, nine healthy young men performed two 20-min arm-cranking trials at 50% V˙O_2max with and without EMS applied to the lower limbs. The flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the right brachial artery was measured using a high-resolution ultrasound device. Both FMD and normalized FMD were increased significantly after the arm-cranking with EMS trial, and significant differences were observed between the two trials. Second, 16 healthy adult men were randomly assigned to either the arm-cranking exercise training (A) group or arm-cranking training with EMS (A+EMS) group. The subjects were engaged in 20 min of arm-cranking at 50% V˙O_2max twice a week for 8 weeks with/without EMS applied to the lower limbs. The FMD increased significantly after A+EMS training session and the FMD in A+EMS group was significantly higher than that in the A group. These results indicate that acute/chronic endurance arm-cranking with EMS applied to the lower limbs improves the brachial artery endothelial function more markedly than the same exercise without EMS.

Key words

electrical muscle stimulation - arm-cranking - training - endothelial function - flow-mediated vasodilation

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References

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