By John Cardillo
Article featured in Iron Man Magazine
The effects of electrical stimulation (Faradic Current) on skeletal muscles have been recognized for more than a century. Faradic stimulation was first used as part of strength training programs by top Russian and eastern block athletes. It was discovered that the Russians had been employing Faradic stimulation with great success, in their athletic training programs, at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany and decades since. In particular the Russian athletes have always displayed extraordinary hypertrophy and definition in large muscle groups.
Canadian physical educationists visited the Soviet Union and brought back interesting reports of an “Electric Stimulator” that would produce incredible hypertrophy. A group of orthopedic surgeons from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, became very intrigued by this new Faradic technique and began a study of its use on the treatment of post surgery, atrophied quadricep muscles.
Following knee surgery the standard means of restoring muscle strength has been exercise using isotonic, isometric or isokinetic techniques. Although these techniques would restore quadricep strength and increase muscle hypertrophy, they cannot be used immediately following surgery due to the pain and discomfort caused by moving the joint through a full range of movement. The inhibiting knee would almost make it impossible for a person to achieve any appreciable contraction in the quadricep for a period of six to eight weeks, whereas by using Faradic Stimulation rehabilitation can begin immediately.
In a case study conducted at the Carleton Sports Medicine Clinic by M.D.’s Johnson and Thurston, 50 patients completed a treatment course of Faradic stimulation. The projected length of therapy was six weeks with each patient receiving three treatments per week on an every other day basis. The average age of the patients was 24 years. During the treatment the patients were not restricted from any activity they wished to undertake, within the limits of their pain. Initially, the strength of the quadricep muscles was assessed and girth measurements taken.
The treatment was carried out with the patient in long sitting and with knee held straight, resting on a rolled towel tucked under the knee joint. A Siemen’s Neuroton 627 Electrical Stimulator was used. An active electrode (3×2”) was placed over the vastus medialis and another electrode (5×3”) was placed on the upper thigh over the femoral. The electrical stimulator used has a maximum current of 60 milliamperes and a maximum voltage of 110. The pattern of electrical stimulation was set to produce a maximum contraction within a patient’s pain threshold. A 10 second contraction with a 50 second rest period and 10 contractions per treatment were given. The patients were encouraged to progressively use the highest amperage possible.
Following the completion of the study, strength and thigh girth measurements were repeated. The individual results were grouped together for comparison and the 50 patients showed an increase of 36.2 percent in quadricep strength. Comparison in the girth measurement revealed an average increase of 6.8 percent.
This study and many others like it have proven that Faradic Stimulation is a useful mode of therapy. Faradic Stimulation also causes very direct and severe muscle contraction resulting in hypertrophy (muscle growth). Other studies have shown that patients who have attained the highest amperage, thus receiving a greater contraction, have shown the best results in both strength gain and muscle growth.
My vast research on this topic has led me to firmly believe that Faradic stimulation can be a very worthwhile training aid for the bodybuilder. The ideology of electrical falls in the same line as that of progressive weight training. The greater contraction results in greater muscle and strength gains. The ability of a trainee to achieve maximum contractions on particular muscles is dependent on several factors—right amount of resistance, proper exercise form, speed of the movement, and motivation. If one of these factors is not right, the trainee will not achieve the greatest contraction possible, thus receiving less growth stimulation.
Attaining maximum contractions using a Faradic Stimulation is much easier. As long as the electrode pads are placed over the right area over a muscle, a severe contraction will be possible. The only factor to consider here is the trainee’s motivation to withstand pain from the intensity of the contraction and increase in amperage.
In concluding this article, I would like to state that Faradic Stimulation is very safe provided you are using a certified machine used in the medical field. A person cannot get electrocuted nor will this apparatus interfere with a person’s heart as it only works on the skeletal muscles. Famous bodybuilders like Mike and Ray Mentzer and Boyer Coe used this technique as part of their training for many years. I, too, have derived great results from it. In a future article I will discuss how electric stimulation can best be used by bodybuilders as part of their weight training program.