Acute effects of superimposed electromyostimulation during cycling on myokines and markers of muscle damage.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of superimposed electromyostimulation (E) during cycling on myokines and markers of muscle damage, as E might be a useful tool to induce a high local stimulus to skeletal muscle during endurance training without performing high external workloads.


METHODS
13 subjects participated in three experimental trials each lasting 60 min in a randomized order. 1) Cycling (C), 2) Cycling with superimposed E (C+E) and 3) E. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin were determined before (pre) and 0', 30', 60', 240' and 24h after each intervention.


RESULTS
Only C+E caused significant increases in levels of CK and myoglobin. BDNF and IL-6 significantly increased after C and C+E, however increases for IL-6 were significantly higher after C+E compared to C.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study showed that superimposed E during cycling might be a useful tool to induce a high local stimulus to skeletal muscle even when performing low to moderate external workloads. This effect might be due the activation of additional muscle fibers and mild eccentric work due to the concomitant activation of agonist and antagonist. However the higher load to skeletal muscle has to be taken into account.
Institute of Training Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
P
P
Wahl
M
M
Hein
S
S
Achtzehn
W
W
Bloch
J
J
Mester
D001642:Bicycling; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D015850:Interleukin-6; D009211:Myoglobin; C579455:BDNF protein, human; D003402:Creatine Kinase