EMS – Electrical
Muscle Stimulator
The theory is that Electrical
Muscle Stimulation can speed
up recovery by improving
blood flow in the targeted
muscles. The electrodes are
placed on the muscles and
cause them to twitch, which
is believed to work the same
way a massage does by
forcing blood to flow through
the muscle.
A study in the Journal of
Strength and Conditioning
analysed 13 studies (v)
researching the efficacy of
EMS with regards to soreness,
muscle damage indicators
and performance.
Compared to doing nothing,
the EMS worked with athletes
rating their level of perceived
soreness as improving. EMS also
worked well at enhancing blood
flow however it was noted that
other modalities such as massage
were just as effective as EMS.
Pros: Can be used for other
modalities such as pain relief
and injury recovery.
Cons: Expensive, practice
needed to get the settings just
right. Too much EMS and you
might end up even more sorer!
RECOVERYRecovery Pump Boots
These are a set of boots that
cover your entire leg although
you can get them for arms and
hips as well. The boots inflate
and use compressed air to
pulsate and massage your legs.
This pulsing starts at the feet
and progressively moves up the
leg. The science behind this is
that it is helping to move fluid
and metabolite waste product
from your legs to help speed
up recovery.
There isn’t a great deal of
research published on the
effectiveness of these, three
small studies found that the
boots were effective whilst one
study found that the boots had
no effect.
A massage could have the
same effect as the boots but
the availability of a massage
therapist just when you want
one is hard to come by. Light
recovery should, in theory, have
the same effect but sometimes
the rider is too sore or too tired
to even contemplate anything
apart from chilling out.Pros: They feel great, your own
personal masseuse!
Cons: Expensive, need electricity
so can’t be used everywhere.The take away from my research
into the topic of recovery is that
there is still a lot of research to be
done in this space however there
is plenty of anecdotal evidence
out there to support whatever
modality of recovery you choose.
The most effective form of
recovery I haven’t listed is sleep
and should should the priority for
everyone. Good sleep quality is a
recognised predictor of physical
heath, mental health and overall
wellness. The relationship of
sleep quality to exercise recovery
can be viewed in three ways:
1 Sleep length (noting that most
people need 7-8 hours sleep
per night, but some people
lie outside these norms and
need more or less).
2 Sleep quality (number of
times awake, how long it
takes to get to sleep).
3 Sleep schedule (matching
your bedtime and wake up
times to the natural circadian
rhythm of your body).
The better you fare in each
of these parameters, the better
your overall quality of sleep.
So there you have it! After all
that it is sleep that provides the
foundation of recovery.Good night all, I’m off to bed!(i) Machado AF1, Ferreira
PH2, Micheletti JK1, de
Almeida AC3, Lemes
ÍR1, Vanderlei FM1,
Netto Junior J1, Pastre
CM4. [2016] Can Water
Temperature and
Immersion Time Influence
the Effect of Cold Water
Immersion on Muscle
Soreness? A Systematic
Review and Meta-
Analysis.(ii) Wiewelhove1 T, Döweling
A, Schneider C, Hottenrott
L, Meyer T, Kellmann
M, Pfeiffer M, Ferrauti A
(2019) A Meta-Analysis of
the Effects of Foam Rolling
on Performance and
Recovery(iii) Poppendieck
W, Wegmann
M, Ferrauti A, Kellmann
M, Pfeiffer M, Meyer T.
(2016) Massage and
Performance Recovery: A
Meta-Analytical Review.(iv) Hill, J., Howatson, G., van
Someren, K., Leeder, J.,
and Pedlar, C. (2013).
Compression garments
and recovery from
exercise-induced muscle
damage: a meta-analysis(v) Malone J, et. al., (2014)
Neuromuscular electrical
stimulation (NMES)
during recovery from
exercise: A systematicCITATIONS