The knee is the largest joint in the human body. It is vitally important to take care of them and keep them strengthened, since they are responsible for supporting the weight of the body when we run, walk, or stand. Above all, because the knee muscles are responsible for movement.
So, what benefits does the use of muscle electrostimulation in the knee generate? Let’s investigate about them and Wiemspro technology.
What muscles make up the knees?
Several muscle groups that play an important role in your stability and movement. The main muscles involved are:
1. Quadriceps femoris: The quadriceps is a group of four muscles in the front of the thigh that extend from the hip to the knee. These muscles are the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius. The quadriceps is responsible for knee extension, that is, straightening the leg.
2. Hamstrings: The hamstrings are a group of three muscles at the back of the thigh, including the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. These muscles extend from the pelvis to the tibia and are responsible for knee flexion, that is, bending the leg.
3. Calf Muscles: The calf muscles, specifically the gastrocnemius and soleus, also play an important role. These muscles extend from the back of the knee to the heel via the Achilles tendon. They assist in plantar flexion of the foot and can also have a stabilizing effect on the knee.
4. Medial and lateral thigh muscles: In the thigh, there are the adductor muscles in the medial part (such as the adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor median, adductor magnus and gracilis muscle) and the abductor muscles in the lateral part (such as the tensor fascia lata and the gluteus medius and minimus). These muscles play a role in adduction and abduction movements of the knee.
These muscle groups work together to provide stability, control, and movement to the knee joint. Good balance and development of these muscles is important for proper functioning and injury prevention.
Knee electrostimulation with Wiemspro
The knee is a joint that joins two of the most important bones, the femur and the tibia. It is located in the center of the legs and allows them to rotate, bend or rotate. In addition, the muscles in the knee that insert into it are what allow movement and exert great force.
Among the best-known muscles we can highlight the quadriceps, the biceps femoris or the rectus femoris. They all make the movement of the legs possible in one way or another, and some of them even intervene in more than one movement.
To strengthen this important joint, you should perform routine stretching and physical activity that works the knee muscles. Otherwise, injuries may arise that make mobility difficult.
“Electrostimulation in the knee causes an increase in physical capabilities, improving health and helping to prevent injuries”.
Electrostimulation It is a tool that helps activate the knee muscles and muscle fibers when training, performing any sport or muscular exercise. It can also be used when you are at rest, helping patients who have reduced mobility. Electrostimulation in the knee causes an increase in physical capabilities, improving health and helping to prevent injuries. It also improves and increases the rehabilitation capacity after an intervention or injury.
Many health and sports professionals use EMS or Wiemspro electrostimulation to strengthen and improve physical capabilities after an operation, or to maximize physical potential.
The role of electrostimulation in knee injuries
As we have talked about before, the knees suffer a lot of pressure from supporting weight and being involved in all leg movements. That is why, to avoid injuries, we must regularly perform exercises that strengthen them and help us prevent deterioration of the knees.
Knee injuries mainly affect the limitation of movement. Within these injuries, you can find some very common ones, such as:
- Sprains: These are caused by a partial or total tear of some of the knee ligaments.
- Knee strain or stretched muscle: It usually occurs due to excessive physical exercise.
- Ligament rupture: This type of injury occurs when you make a sudden knee movement, and the knee is not able to support it. This injury is the most common among elite athletes, who subject the joints to greater pressure.
- Patellar tendonitis or jumper’s knee: It is an injury that occurs due to overuse, when repeatedly performing an action injures the knee. It can appear when jumping, running, or changing direction frequently.
When the body suffers an injury, treatments usually vary depending on the severity. However, during recovery or once recovered, the most important thing is to strengthen the muscles of the joint, in this case the knees, to avoid suffering new injuries.
Electrostimulation for the knees is a highly valued tool among experts for rehabilitation or recovery when a knee injury occurs, or simply to strengthen them during training.
One of the most useful moments is when exiting an operation. When an intervention is performed on the knee, the muscles become disinhibited and lose strength, so they need to be recovered to return to normal as soon as possible. These muscles can accelerate their recovery through the electrostimulation system for the knees, since their discharges cause an increase in the recruitment of fibers and improve muscle recovery.
Exercises to strengthen knee muscles
At Wiemspro, we want to help you have strong and healthy knees, so we recommend several exercises that will be very useful and that you can do at home without needing help:
Proprioception exercises
These exercises will help you improve balance, stability, coordination and strength. This type of exercise is very important since it will improve your ability to react to certain situations such as, for example, a trip. It is very simple, simply, with your leg straight, contract your quadriceps for 2 seconds and then relax it for another 2 seconds. We can perform this exercise in intervals of 10 movements, and it will help us wake up the muscle.
Isometric in 4 directions
Push your foot against the ground, first with the ball of your foot, then with your heel, and the same with the inside and outside of your foot. When you perform this exercise, remember to feel the tension in your knee.
Load and balance exercise
If the previous ones were simple, this one is even more so. You simply have to lift one of the two legs, bending at the knee without reaching a 90º angle, and maintain balance with the other leg, bending the knee just 5 degrees. This puts tension on the knee of the leg that is on the ground, which will help strengthen the muscles and maintain balance.
Tension and bending
Raise your foot slightly off the floor, and make tension and flexion movements, as if you wanted to clean a stain from the floor with the sole. Give wax and polish wax.
What does the science say about electrostimulation for the knee?
Science has extensively investigated the use of electrostimulation for the treatment of knee problems. Studies have had mixed results, but overall, they suggest that electrostimulation may be beneficial in certain circumstances.
The system Knee TENS, for example, has been the subject of numerous studies that have evaluated its effectiveness as an analgesic for knee pain. Some studies have found that transcutaneous electrical stimulation can significantly reduce pain intensity in people with knee arthritis, sports injuries, or after surgery. However, other studies have found no significant differences compared to placebos or conventional treatments.
EMS system has been studied mainly in the context of rehabilitation and muscle strengthening. It has been shown that the Electrostimulation for the knee can improve muscle strength and function in people with knee injuries, as well as those recovering from surgeries such as ligament reconstruction or knee arthroplasty. By strengthening the muscles around the knee, you can improve stability and reduce the risk of future injuries on your knees.
You can find scientific articles on experiments carried out with electrostimulation for the recovery from knee injuries, as well as to avoid pain.
Bassas García, in 2017, carried out an analysis of a knee exercise and electrostimulation protocol. The results found showed that the jumper’s recovery rates improved with the use of electrostimulation and that, by eliminating electrostimulation for recovery from knee injuries, the readaptation levels decreased again, slowing down rehabilitation.
There are several articles that carry out research on the advantages or disadvantages that electrostimulation produces in the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone knee surgery, demonstrating that the improvement in the recovery process increases when electrostimulation is used. But in addition, it is recommended to use it combined with physical activity to achieve greater toning and strength of the muscles of the knees and others. If you apply the EMS system in the warm-up round, before performing jumping exercises, you will be able to enhance your performance.
Conclusion
The knees are of great importance in our daily lives, and having strong knees will allow you better and more comfortable mobility, as well as greater safety in preventing injuries. The Wiemspro electrostimulation system, applied to the knee muscles, combined with physical exercises, improves the most important joint of the legs, strengthens it, and tones the muscles that compose it.
