Light Therapy and Electrical Stimulation on Functional Performance in Volleyball Athletes

Low Level Laser Therapy and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Knee Extension Strength and Jump in Volleyball Athletes: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Volleyball players constantly perform vertical jumps, the higher the height of the jump is better sports performance of these players. Several methods have been tested to improve jumping performance in these players. It will be investigated the addition of electrical stimulation and phototherapy to jump training in volleyball athletes. DESIGN: randomized controlled trial. METHODS: This study will be conducted with 36 male athletes volleyball with minimum experience of 12 months sport. Will be randomized and assigned to 3 groups (control group, NEMES group and group phototherapy). All 36 healthy volleyball athletes who passed the initial selection and agreed to participate in the study, conduct a muscle strength and jump training program, which is held in both legs simultaneously. The 12 healthy athletes electrical stimulation group will perform the same training program described above, but strength training is associated with electrical stimulation. The 12 healthy athletes participating in the phototherapy group will undergo a phototherapy protocol before performing the strength and jump training. All selected participants will undergo an assessment of muscle strength of knee extensors and evaluate the jump. These evaluations were baseline, 6 weeks and 8 weeks after baseline.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Muscle Weakness; Sports Performance
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Exercise; Other: NMES; Other: LASER

Detailed Description

Background: Volleyball players constantly perform vertical jumps, the higher the height of the jump is better sports performance of these players. Several methods have been tested to improve jumping performance in these players. It will be investigated the addition of electrical stimulation and phototherapy to jump training in volleyball athletes.

DESIGN: randomized controlled trial METHODS This study will be conducted with 36 male athletes volleyball with minimum experience of 12 months sport. Will be randomized and assigned to 3 groups (control group, NEMES group and group phototherapy).INTERVENTION All 36 healthy volleyball athletes who passed the initial selection and agreed to participate in the study, conduct a muscle strength and jump training program, which is held in both legs simultaneously. The training will be held in a period of six weeks with frequency of three times a week, totaling 18 training. The interval between one session and another will be 24 hours.

STRENGTH TRAINING To conduct the training all 36 healthy athletes, carry out heating in stationary bike for six minutes. After heating, the individuals are positioned in the extension machine with the knee joint positioned at 60 ° of flexion and hip at 75 ° flexion, which will perform 10 repetitions of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), and the isometric contraction time will be 10 seconds and the rest time between repetitions of 30 seconds.

JUMPING TRAINING After the training the leg extension 36 individuals remain at rest for 5 minutes before starting the jump training. One type of jumps will be trained, countermovement jump (SCM). SCM in the participant will begin the movement of an upright standing position, with the knees fully extended, the volunteer will bend your knees up to about 90 ° before starting the movement up the jump. In each jump training individuals hold five sets of 10 repetitions with one minute intervals between each series.

ELECTRICAL STIMULATION The 12 healthy athletes electrical stimulation group will perform the same training program described above, but strength training is associated with electrical stimulation, medium frequency current (1kHz), Burst duration equal to 2ms with, modulated at 70Hz, cycle Work 10% T-on and T-10 seconds off and 30 seconds intensity used will vary according to the capacity and tolerable for each individual will be recorded for later analysis. The stimulated muscle group will be the quadriceps muscle, with two self-adhesive electrodes 8x13 cm (area of 104cm2). An electrode is placed in the rectus femoris muscle region with a distance of 20 cm from the anterior superior iliac crest and the other is positioned on the oblique vastus muscle region with a distance of 5 cm from the superior pole of the patella.

PHOTOTHERAPY The 12 healthy athletes participating in the phototherapy group will undergo a phototherapy protocol before performing the strength and jump training. Phototherapy will be conducted through a cluster with 03 diodes with 850nm wavelength and the following parameters: Power 50mW diode, diode energy by 2J, power per point of 6J, totaling 36J per member. The irradiation time is 40s by point in the continuous mode. The laser is applied in stationary manner in touch and perpendicular to the skin. The application sites will be six points on the belly of the quadriceps muscles bilaterally.

Evaluation and monitoring All selected participants will undergo an assessment of muscle strength of knee extensors and evaluate the jump. These evaluations were baseline, 6 weeks and 8 weeks after baseline.

The maximum isometric muscle strength of the knee extensors will be quantified using a hand dynamometer. To evaluate the ability of the jump was performed Jump and Reach Test. The maximum amount of countermovement jumps will be performed for 2 minutes. The overall impression will be assessed by scale of perceptation of the overall effect.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 36
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • São Paulo, Brazil, 04504000
    • Ronaldo Alves da Cunha

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 17 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy volunteers;
• volleyball players;
• gender male;
• non-smoking;
• aged between 17 and 18;
• weight within 15% variation limit of normal weight for male athletes, taking into account height and physique.

Exclusion Criteria:

• smoking volunteers;
• history of alcohol or substance abuse;
• diagnosis of cardiac, renal, gastrointestinal, hepatic, pulmonary, neurological, psychiatric, hematological or metabolic disorders; that are not available to participate in all stages of the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise; All 12 volleyball athletes performed a strength training and jump, to be held in both legs at the same time. The training will be held in a six-week period, a total of 18 training. Athletes will hold a warmup in stationary bike for 6 minutes, maximum isometric strengthening in leg extension (knee positioned at 60 ° of flexion and hip in 75 ° of flexion), 10 repetitions of 10 seconds with 30 seconds interval. After strengthening conduct a complete rest 5 minutes and jump training countermovement in 5 sets of 10 jumps (1 minute interval between each jump).	Other: Exercise; Warmup program, maximum isometric strengthening, and jump training; Other Names: Plyometric training
Experimental: NEMES; All 12 volleyball athletes performed a strength training and jump, to be held in both legs at the same time. The training will be held in a six-week period, a total of 18 training. Athletes will hold a warmup in stationary bike for 6 minutes, maximum isometric strengthening in leg extension (knee positioned at 60 ° of flexion and hip in 75 ° of flexion), 10 repetitions of 10 seconds with 30 seconds interval. After strengthening conduct a complete rest 5 minutes and jump training countermovement in 5 sets of 10 jumps (1 minute interval between each jump).The healthy athletes electrical stimulation group will perform the same training program described above, but strength training is associated with electrical stimulation, medium frequency current (1kHz), modulated at 70Hz, cycle Work 10%, intensity used will vary according to the capacity and tolerable for each individua. The stimulated muscle group will be the quadriceps femoris	Other: Exercise; Warmup program, maximum isometric strengthening, and jump training; Other Names: Plyometric training; Other: NMES; electrical stimulation, medium frequency current (1kHz), Burst duration equal to 2ms with, modulated at 70Hz, cycle Work 10% T-on and T-10 seconds off and 30 seconds intensity used will vary according to the capacity and tolerable for each individual
Experimental: Phototherapy; All 12 volleyball athletes performed a strength training and jump, to be held in both legs at the same time. The training will be held in a six-week period, a total of 18 training. Athletes will hold a warmup in stationary bike for 6 minutes, maximum isometric strengthening in leg extension (knee positioned at 60 ° of flexion and hip in 75 ° of flexion), 10 repetitions of 10 seconds with 30 seconds interval. After strengthening conduct a complete rest 5 minutes and jump training countermovement in 5 sets of 10 jumps (1 minute interval between each jump). The 12 healthy athletes participating in the phototherapy group will undergo a phototherapy protocol before performing the strength and jump training. Phototherapy will be conducted through a cluster with 03 diodes with 850nm wavelength and the following parameters: Power 50mW diode, diode energy by 2J. The application sites will be six points on the belly of the quadriceps femoris muscles bilaterally.	Other: Exercise; Warmup program, maximum isometric strengthening, and jump training; Other Names: Plyometric training; Other: LASER; a cluster with 03 diodes with 850nm wavelength and the following parameters: Power 50mW diode, diode energy by 2J, power per point of 6J, totaling 36J per member; Other Names: Phototherapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle strength measured by dynamometer	The athletes will be evaluated in 3 phases: initial evaluation (pre-training), immediately after post-training, and a 8-wk follow up. It will be assessed the isometric muscle strength of knee extensors.	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Global impression measured by global perceived effect scale	The athletes will be evaluated in 3 phases: initial evaluation (pre-training), immediately after post-training, and a 8-wk follow up. It will be assessed the global perceived effect scale about the jump.	6 weeks
Jumping frequency measured by jumping frequency in 2 minutes	The athletes will be evaluated in 3 phases: initial evaluation (pre-training), immediately after post-training, and a 8-wk follow up. It will be assessed Jumping frequency in 2 Minutes (countermovement jump)	6 weeks
Jump ability measured by jump ability test	The athletes will be evaluated in 3 phases: initial evaluation (pre-training), immediately after post-training, and a 8-wk follow up. It will be assessed the jump ability test.	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centro de Traumatologia do Esporte

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 23, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): May 14, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 13, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 10, 2015
• Last Verified: August 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Muscle Weakness
• Other Study ID Numbers: U1111-1169-4661