Effect of EMS and Strengthening Exercises on Pain, Fatigue and Physical Performance in Motocross Athletes

July 3, 2024 updated by: Furkan Çakır, Istanbul Bilgi University

Effect of Electromyostimulation and Strengthening Exercises on Pain, Fatigue and Physical Performance in Motocross Athletes

Motocross, a popular sport, involves riding motorized vehicles on rugged tracks with obstacles. It's physically demanding, with high speeds and a risk of accidents. Grip strength is crucial, especially in the arms and forearms, which are prone to injury. Physiotherapy often employs strength exercises, including electromyostimulation. However, there's little research on their effectiveness for motocross athletes. This study aims to compare electromyostimulation combined with strength training versus strength training alone in relieving pain, fatigue, and improving strength in motocross athletes.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Motocross is a popular sport in which participants ride a two-wheeled, motorized vehicle around a 2 km rugged track with natural or man-made obstacles. Participants race at high speeds and it is considered a strenuous sport with a high accident rate. Motocross racers grip the handlebars of their bikes with both hands throughout the race, which lasts between 18 and 26 minutes. Therefore, it is a sports branch where control is concentrated on the arms and upper extremities. It has been reported that the most frequently injured and painful area is the forearm. Therefore, good and strong upper extremity and forearm control is important for the prevention of injuries or subsequent recovery processes.

It is known that strengthening exercise programs are used in physiotherapy practices to improve strength and stabilization parameters. The use of electromyostimulation applications for strengthening in different populations is also becoming widespread.

There are no studies demonstrating the effectiveness of strengthening and electromyostimulation applications on pain, fatigue and strength parameters in motocross athletes.

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of electromyostimulation application applied simultaneously with a strengthening exercise program on pain, fatigue and strength, with strengthening exercises performed with sham application (electric current turned off).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
      • Istanbul, Turkey, 34440
        • Istanbul Bilgi University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having at least 5 years of professional motocross training experience
  • Being between 18 and 30 years old
  • Volunteering to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • To be absent from the 6-week EMS and strengthening program for more than 2 consecutive sessions
  • Having suffered any injury that prevents you from training in the last 6 months
  • Being receiving a physiotherapy program other than the protocol to be used in the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental
These participants will receive electromyostimulation simultaneously with strengthening exercise.
Device: Electromyostimulation
Electromyostimulation (EMS), a low-frequency current, will be used for electrical stimulation of the wrist flexor muscle group. Stimulation frequency will be applied as 25 Hertz. Care will be taken to ensure that the current intensity does not cause pain in the patient. The size of the EMS electrodes is 2 cm2 and they will be placed in the form of 4 electrodes on the wrist flexor muscles (inner wrist area) with a distance of 1 cm between them. Each strengthening session will be 15 minutes for 6 weeks, 3 days a week, for a total of 18 sessions. EMS application will be carried out together with strengthening exercises. Laica MD6078 branded device belonging to the researchers will be used.
Other: Strengthening exercises
All participants will do resistance exercises for strengthening, 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks. Each movement will be performed in 3 sets and 12 repetitions according to the planned intensity. Wrist curl, reverse wrist curl movements (with 10kg dumbbells) and power web flex grip movements will be applied simultaneously with EMS application. The program will last 15 minutes in total.
Sham Comparator: Sham control
These participants will receive sham electromyostimulation (current turned off) simultaneously with strengthening exercise.
Other: Strengthening exercises
All participants will do resistance exercises for strengthening, 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks. Each movement will be performed in 3 sets and 12 repetitions according to the planned intensity. Wrist curl, reverse wrist curl movements (with 10kg dumbbells) and power web flex grip movements will be applied simultaneously with EMS application. The program will last 15 minutes in total.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual analog scale
Time Frame: 6 week
Pain assessment: Pain scores of patients will be recorded using 0-100 mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to grade pain. For VAS; A measured horizontal line will be created, and definitions such as 'no symptoms' and 'severe symptoms' will be written at both ends. The participant will be instructed to mark a point on the line appropriate to the severity of the symptom. Wrist pain values in the resting position will be recorded before and after the 6-week program.
6 week
Strength measurement
Time Frame: 6 week
Lafayette Dynamometer: Lafayette Manual Muscle Testing device will be used to evaluate muscle strength. While the measurements are being made, the device will be kept stationary and the resistance given by the participant will be measured in Newtons. Measurements will be made in the sitting position for wrist flexion/extension and forearm flexion, and total muscle strength will be recorded.
6 week
Fatigue assessment
Time Frame: 6 week
Fatigue Severity Scale: The fatigue level of the participants will be evaluated with the Fatigue Severity Scale. It is a survey with 9 questions and 8-point Likert form.A high score means a high level of fatigue.
6 week
Grip strength assessment
Time Frame: 6 week
Jamar Hand Grip Dynamometer will be used to evaluate hand grip and finger flexor muscle strength. The participant will sit upright during the assessment. Elbow and knee angle will be 90 degrees. A full force grip will be required with the wrist in the neural position. The measurement will be performed 3 times with an interval of 10 seconds. Increasing values will indicate higher strength. Measurement results will be recorded in kilograms and pounds.
6 week

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Istanbul Bilgi University

Investigators

  • Study Director: Hulya Sisli, PhD, Istanbul Bilgi University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 3, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 5, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 3, 2024

Last Verified

July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IstanbulBUFC5

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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