Effects of superimposed electrical stimulation training on vertical jump performance: A comparison study between men and women

Abstract

Vertical jump height is a relevant feature in the assessment of muscle power; besides, jumps are essential in sports like volleyball, basketball and gymnastics. Training protocols combining Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) to voluntary contractions are valuable tools to improve jump height, although differences are expected according to gender. This paper aimed to evaluate the effects of a 4-week training protocol superimposing NMES to squats, into the vertical jump height of healthy, non-athlete men and women. Six women and eight men, age between 18 and 35, volunteered the study, being divided into groups according to gender, and subdivided into a group that would receive NMES and the control group. All the volunteers performed 5 series of 10 squats along the four weeks; a series of 10 Counter-Movement Jump and other of 10 Squat Jump were performed before and after the training protocol, in order to evaluate jump improvement. The results indicate that the superimposed training protocol improves men's jump height, although no results have been found for women. © Springer International Publishing Swit zerland 2014.