Contralateral Effects of Russian Current on Adolescent Athlete

The strength loss associated with immobilization causes long term decreases in performance and loss of hours of participation for athletes during rehabilitation period to regain a competitive form. Therefore, reducing such effects throughout the immobilization period is highly preferable. Cross-educational strength transfer to the inactive muscle by means of unilateral strength training may provide an opportunity to avoid strength loss and atrophy.

After injury and/or surgery, neuromuscular electrical stimulation is widely used to train muscles and enhance muscle strength. and some studies have found it to be superior to voluntary exercise after immobilization . One of the preferred common NMES techniques for muscle strengthening is the Russian current (RC) It stimulates almost all muscle motor units to contract synchronously, resulting in a greater muscle hypertrophy. While some studies exist to confirm the efficacy of this current in the Russian language, there is very little evidence to support its use in English literature. The aim of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of cross education of Russian current on the strength of the contralateral inactive biceps and triceps muscles of the affected elbow in pediatrics athletes to decrease some of the negative effects of immobilization on muscle tissue and enhance recovery.