title: Electrostimulation's enhancement of recovery during a rugby preseason.
abstract: Rugby preseason training involves high-volume strength and conditioning training, necessitating effective management of the recovery-stress state to avoid overtraining and maximize adaptive gains.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Compression garments and an electrostimulation device have been proposed to improve recovery by increasing venous blood flow. These devices were assessed using salivary testosterone and cortisol, plasma creatine kinase, and player questionnaires to determine sleep quality, energy level, mood, and enthusiasm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five professional rugby players were assigned to 1 of 2 treatments (compression garment or a concurrent combination of electrostimulation and compression) in a crossover design over 2 × 2-wk training blocks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Substantial benefits were observed in self-assessed energy levels (effect size [ES] 0.86), and enthusiasm (ES 0.80) as a result of the combined treatment when compared with compression-garment use. The combination treatment had no discernable effect on salivary hormones, with no treatment effect observed. The electrostimulation device did tend to accelerate the return of creatine kinase to baseline levels after 2 preseason rugby games when compared with the compression-garment intervention (ES 0.61; P = .08).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Electrostimulation elicited psychometric and physiological benefits reflective of an improved recovery-stress state in professional male rugby players when combined with a lower-body compression garment.
authors.affiliation: United Kingdom Sports Council, London, UK.
authors.forename: C Martyn
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Beaven
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Downes
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Drawer
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.forename: Liam P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Kilduff
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003020:Clothing; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005538:Football / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D011312:Pressure; D011594:Psychometrics; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012890:Sleep; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D003402:Creatine Kinase; D006854:Hydrocortisone