A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.
<h4>Background</h4>To investigate if the cramp threshold frequency (CTF) can be altered by electrical muscle stimulation in a shortened position.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 15 healthy male sport students were randomly allocated to an intervention (IG, n = 10) and a non-treatme...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| author | Michael Behringer Markus Moser Molly McCourt Johannes Montag Joachim Mester |
| author_facet | Michael Behringer Markus Moser Molly McCourt Johannes Montag Joachim Mester |
| author_sort | Michael Behringer |
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| description | <h4>Background</h4>To investigate if the cramp threshold frequency (CTF) can be altered by electrical muscle stimulation in a shortened position.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 15 healthy male sport students were randomly allocated to an intervention (IG, n = 10) and a non-treatment control group (CG, n = 5). Calf muscles of both legs in the IG were stimulated equally twice a week over 6 weeks. The protocol was 3×5 s on, 10 s off, 150 µs impulse width, 30 Hz above the individual CTF, and was at 85% of the maximal tolerated stimulation energy. One leg was stimulated in a shortened position, inducing muscle cramps (CT), while the opposite leg was fixated in a neutral position at the ankle, hindering muscle cramps (nCT). CTF tests were performed prior to the first and 96 h after the 6(th) (3 w) and 12(th) (6 w) training session.<h4>Results</h4>After 3 w, the CTF had significantly (p<0.001) increased in CT calves from 23.3±5.7 Hz to 33.3±6.9 Hz, while it remained unchanged in nCT (pre: 23.6±5.7 Hz, mid: 22.3±3.5 Hz) and in both legs of the CG (pre: 21.8±3.2 Hz, mid: 22.0±2.7 Hz). Only CT saw further insignificant increases in the CTF. The applied stimulation energy (mA² • µs) positively correlated with the effect on the CTF (r = 0.92; p<0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>The present study may be useful for developing new non-pharmacological strategies to reduce cramp susceptibility.<h4>Trial registry</h4>German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00005312. |
| format | Article |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-a79917ea216041f5b7012b2dea9e59692025-08-20T02:28:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0194e9491010.1371/journal.pone.0094910A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.Michael BehringerMarkus MoserMolly McCourtJohannes MontagJoachim Mester<h4>Background</h4>To investigate if the cramp threshold frequency (CTF) can be altered by electrical muscle stimulation in a shortened position.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 15 healthy male sport students were randomly allocated to an intervention (IG, n = 10) and a non-treatment control group (CG, n = 5). Calf muscles of both legs in the IG were stimulated equally twice a week over 6 weeks. The protocol was 3×5 s on, 10 s off, 150 µs impulse width, 30 Hz above the individual CTF, and was at 85% of the maximal tolerated stimulation energy. One leg was stimulated in a shortened position, inducing muscle cramps (CT), while the opposite leg was fixated in a neutral position at the ankle, hindering muscle cramps (nCT). CTF tests were performed prior to the first and 96 h after the 6(th) (3 w) and 12(th) (6 w) training session.<h4>Results</h4>After 3 w, the CTF had significantly (p<0.001) increased in CT calves from 23.3±5.7 Hz to 33.3±6.9 Hz, while it remained unchanged in nCT (pre: 23.6±5.7 Hz, mid: 22.3±3.5 Hz) and in both legs of the CG (pre: 21.8±3.2 Hz, mid: 22.0±2.7 Hz). Only CT saw further insignificant increases in the CTF. The applied stimulation energy (mA² • µs) positively correlated with the effect on the CTF (r = 0.92; p<0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>The present study may be useful for developing new non-pharmacological strategies to reduce cramp susceptibility.<h4>Trial registry</h4>German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00005312.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094910&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Michael Behringer Markus Moser Molly McCourt Johannes Montag Joachim Mester A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. PLoS ONE |
| title | A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. |
| title_full | A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. |
| title_fullStr | A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. |
| title_full_unstemmed | A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. |
| title_short | A promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. |
| title_sort | promising approach to effectively reduce cramp susceptibility in human muscles a randomized controlled clinical trial |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094910&type=printable |
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