Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation improves fatigue performance of the treated and contralateral knee extensors

Behm, D. G.; Colwell, E. M.; Power, G. M. J.; Ahmadi, H.; Behm, A. S. M.; Bishop, A.; Murph, C.; Pike, J.; McAssey, B.; Fraser, K.; Kearley, S.; Ryan, M.

doi:10.1007/s00421-019-04253-z

Original Article
Published: 06 November 2019

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation improves fatigue performance of the treated and contralateral knee extensors

D. G. Behm ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9406-6056¹,
E. M. Colwell¹,
G. M. J. Power¹,
H. Ahmadi¹,
A. S. M. Behm¹,
A. Bishop¹,
C. Murph¹,
J. Pike¹,
B. McAssey¹,
K. Fraser¹,
S. Kearley¹ &
M. Ryan¹

European Journal of Applied Physiology volume 119, pages 2745–2755 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Purpose

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can reduce acute and chronic pain. Unilateral fatigue can produce discomfort in the affected limb and force and activation deficits in contralateral non-exercised muscles. TENS-induced local pain analgesia effects on non-local fatigue performance are unknown. Hence, the aim of the study was to determine if TENS-induced pain suppression would augment force output during a fatiguing protocol in the treated and contralateral muscles.

Methods

Three experiments were integrated for this article. Following pre-tests, each experiment involved 20 min of TENS, sham, or a control condition on the dominant quadriceps. Then either the TENS-treated quadriceps (TENS_Treated) or the contralateral quadriceps (TENS_Contra) was tested. In a third experiment, the TENS and sham conditions involved two\; 100-s isometric maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) (30-s recovery) followed by testing of the contralateral quadriceps (TENS_Contra-Fatigue). Testing involved single knee extensors (KE) MVCs (pre- and post-test) and a post-test 30% MVC to task failure.

Results

The TENS-treated study induced greater (p = 0.03; 11.0%) time to KE (treated leg) failure versus control. The TENS_Contra-Fatigue induced significant (p = 0.04; 11.7%) and near-significant (p = 0.1; 7.1%) greater time to contralateral KE failure versus sham and control, respectively. There was a 14.5% (p = 0.02) higher fatigue index with the TENS (36.2 ± 10.1%) versus sham (31.6 ± 10.6%) conditions in the second fatigue intervention set (treated leg). There was no significant post-fatigue KE fatigue interaction with the TENS_Contra.

Conclusions

Unilateral TENS application to the dominant KE prolonged time to failure in the treated and contralateral KE suggesting a global pain modulatory response.

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Abbreviations

DNIC:: Diffuse noxious inhibitory control
EMG:: Electromyography
KE:: Knee extensors
MVC:: Maximal voluntary contractions
NLMF:: Non-local muscle fatigue
rms:: Root mean square of the electromyography signal
TENS:: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
TENS_Treated:: TENS-treated dominant quadriceps with testing of treated dominant quadriceps
TENS_Contra:: TENS-treated dominant quadriceps with testing of contralateral non-dominant quadriceps
TENS_Contra-Fatigue:: TENS-treated dominant quadriceps subjected to a fatigue protocol (2 × 100 s MVCs) with testing of treated dominant and untreated non-dominant quadriceps

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Acknowledgements

The study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Grant number 2017-03728).

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School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NF, 1C 5S7, Canada
D. G. Behm, E. M. Colwell, G. M. J. Power, H. Ahmadi, A. S. M. Behm, A. Bishop, C. Murph, J. Pike, B. McAssey, K. Fraser, S. Kearley & M. Ryan

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D. G. Behm
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E. M. Colwell
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G. M. J. Power
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H. Ahmadi
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A. S. M. Behm
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A. Bishop
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C. Murph
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J. Pike
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B. McAssey
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K. Fraser
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S. Kearley
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M. Ryan
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Contributions

BDG: data interpretation and writing of manuscript. CEM, PGMJ, AH, BASM, BA, MC, PJ, MB, FK, KS, RM: data collection, analysis, and review of manuscript.

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Correspondence to D. G. Behm.

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Behm, D.G., Colwell, E.M., Power, G.M.J. et al. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation improves fatigue performance of the treated and contralateral knee extensors. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 2745–2755 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04253-z

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Received: 19 July 2019
Accepted: 31 October 2019
Published: 06 November 2019
Issue Date: December 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04253-z

Keywords

Crossover
Endurance
Pain
Strength
Isometric