Electrostimulation in hockey has proven to be a very effective tool to improve players’ physical condition. Also known as EMS (electrical muscle stimulation), electrostimulation is a novel way of exercising muscles. In this article, we’ll explain what it consists of and its benefits for those who play hockey.
Electrostimulation in hockey players: use with Wiemspro
This technique is based on exercising the muscles through local electrical impulses. These impulses are generated from devices and are transmitted to the muscle group that we want to work, through electrodes located on the area.
Additionally, these impulses mimic the messages sent by the central nervous system to contract the muscles, thereby developing their power and capacity.
However, electrostimulation is never a substitute for physical exercise. In fact, it is a complement, but also an excellent aid to help you achieve your training goals more quickly and efficiently.
The Wiemspro system
Our company has gone one step further in the field of electrostimulation. We have developed a biosuit or EMS suit that includes electrodes.
In turn, these are connected to a device that emits electrical impulses of medium frequency and low intensity to certain muscles. This way, they cause them to contract in a similar way to when they receive orders from the central nervous system.
But the value of the biosuit is even greater. The electrical impulses it generates are stronger and better controlled. This way, they can work the deepest muscle layers, precisely those that are most difficult to stimulate with classic training.
Specifically, training with electrostimulation through our suit offers you the following benefits:
- Allows localized work. The device’s electrodes give you the option of working only specific muscle groups. Furthermore, the intensity of the electrical impulses can be regulated. This is an especially useful advantage to treat muscle injuries in players, but also to help people who suffer from some type of bone or muscle disorder.
- Faster results. Treatment with this method optimizes muscle performance in less time. Their strength and endurance are improved in shorter periods than if we only used conventional training.
- More active metabolism. Electrostimulation increases calorie consumption. Studies show that the metabolism remains active for up to 72 hours after wearing the biosuit.
- Deeper activation of the muscles. As we said, EMS reaches the deepest muscle fibers. This way, they work more than in conventional training, improving their elasticity and power.
- Minimizes the risk of injury. In relation to the previous point, EMS treatment reduces the risk of injury. By stimulating the resistance of the muscles, their fibers are strengthened. In any workout, efforts are made and mistakes are made when performing some exercises. This can damage the muscles, something that does not happen with EMS.
What’s more, electrostimulation is always applied with the help of a professional technician in the field.
The only contraindications to this treatment have to do with pregnant women and individuals with pacemakers or epilepsy. Electrostimulation should not be used with any of them. Additionally, the electrodes should not be applied to the neck, spine, or open wounds.
Electrostimulation and hockey: How to get the best results
Nicola A. Maffiuletti is one of the scientists who has researched the most about the benefits of EMS applied to sport. In collaboration with other scholars, he has carried out empirical work on the advantages that this technique brings to athletes from different disciplines like basketball, volleyball, or athletics.
He has also worked with hockey players. A scientific team led by Brocherie, in which Maffiuletti was found, conducted a study with 17 ice hockey players. Nine of them received electrostimulation training for three weeks.
Specifically, they received the treatment for three days each week. Electrodes were applied to the knee extensors and given a power of 85 Hz in series of 30 contractions of 4 seconds each.
The results were very positive. The patients improved their isokinetic strength significantly. And the same happened with the 10-meter sprints on skates. However, the height of their jumps decreased. The latter clashed with other studies that also found benefits to jumps.
Perhaps the problem was that the treatment was short. In longer studies, from 12 to 16 weeks, improvements were seen in their jumping, both in terms of power and in terms of height. Additionally, as in the previous case, these studies showed benefits in the strength and speed of their sprints.
EMS Training and Hockey
In light of the studies mentioned above, you can see that reinforcing hockey players’ training with EMS is very beneficial for them. This is so, not only because of the muscular improvements that this complementary technique contributes to the training, but also because of the unique idiosyncrasy of this sport.
Electrostimulation is recommended for hockey players
Specifically, in this sports discipline, the concept of resistance is different from that applied in other activities like athletics or swimming. In the case of hockey, you don’t need as much resistance to achieve optimal performance.
It’s a type of general aerobic resistance very similar to that required in other team sports like soccer or basketball. In other words, it’s long lasting and is also called match endurance. It’s characterized by the muscles’ need to resist fatigue throughout a match in which different capabilities are required of them.
Throughout a match, the hockey player must have his muscles ready for different load intensities. There will be times when they have to make medium efforts, others when they will at a maximum and a third at rest.
For all this, a hockey player’s muscles must be strong to withstand these overexertions and, additionally, have a quick recovery. Precisely both benefits are provided by electrostimulation treatments such as those performed with our Wiemspro suits.
On the one hand, as we explained before, the impulses from the suit reach the player’s deepest muscle fibers, stimulating the strength of the muscle in its entirety. And, on the other, they improve their elasticity and power. And all this results in a more developed musculature suitable for playing hockey.
EMS for top competitive hockey players
EMS is useful for anyone, whether you’re an athlete or not. But, if used for sports, electrostimulation training is even better for top competitive hockey players.
It is the perfect complement for professionals in this field. We already explained the benefits, as found in the study with hockey players. But, additionally, hockey players will see their muscle performance improved in a very short time and with very few sessions.
Boost performance in just two sessions
In fact, the most recent studies on the subject have allowed Wiemspro to achieve an improvement in the performance of these highly competitive athletes in just two sessions. Logically, the longer the use of EMS lasts, the greater the benefit it will bring them.
But in just two days of work with the device they already see their muscles strengthened, and this allows them to optimize their power in the sprint with skates and their maximum isokinetic force, both concentric and eccentric; they even improve their ability to jump with counter movement.
However, any EMS treatment must be accompanied by the appropriate professional training that a highly competitive hockey player needs. Electrostimulation is a complement, but in no case a substitute for the physical preparation required to engage in an elite sporting activity.
By combining EMS treatments and professional training, the top competitive hockey player optimizes their physical performance; but they also prevent injuries that, in these highly competitive categories, cause enormous damage to both the athlete and their team.
Conclusions
In short, EMS has proven to be a very useful tool to improve and strengthen muscles. What’s more, it does so from the root, that is, from the deepest muscle fibers. This has been shown by numerous studies such as those by Nicola Maffiuletti, who experimented with professionals from different sports, including hockey.
Regarding this last discipline, electrostimulation in hockey with the use of our Wiemspro devices has shown its usefulness to improve both sprinting on skates as well as jumping and power. If you want more information about our biosuits, subscribe to our blog! You will have more information on this and other topics related to electrostimulation
