WINTER CLEARANCE. SAVE 30% SITE-WIDE WITH CODE: DJSWINTER30 + FREE SHIPPING ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. SHOP NOW

Use Muscle Stimulators to Maintain Muscle Strength While Recovering from a Cheerleading Injury

group of cheerleaders
By Fara Rosenzweig

In cheer and gymnastics, you need to have powerful leg strength to kick, jump and tumble strong. It’s easy to tweak the back, twist the ACL, roll the ankle, snap the wrist, or dislocate the shoulder. Take a seat to let the injury heal is best for recovery, but not ideal for full-body strength and future performance.

When injured you’re told to stay off of the injury until cleared by a doctor. Once you’re back to movement, it’s a long road to recovery before you can get back to the skill level you were at pre-injury. It’s a lot of work to regain the endurance and performance strength needed—especially for tumbling.

But, there is a therapy that can help speed up the recovery process while gaining strength: electric muscle stimulation (EMS).

Here’s the thing, your muscles don’t know how they are being activated (worked). Your brain sends signals to your muscles to work. So when using (EMS), you recruit muscle fibers to actively work, even if you’re not in motion.

How do you use EMS? A little device—Compex—sends electric pulses to your muscles to maintain your strength when injured. Compex is intended for adult use only. This allows you to activate muscles that you need to jump, tumble, kick or stunt with to maintain strength when sidelined so you don’t set yourself back too far.

EMS Breakdown

When exercising, the brain sends messages through the nerves to all the muscles causing them to contract. Using an electrical therapy stimulates the nerves to send signals to the muscles to contract (work). This increases blow food and sends appropriate nutrients to the muscle area allowing for it to work effectively without putting any weight or pressure on the injured area. Using EMS on the injured area allows for lactic acid to flush out faster, allowing for the muscles to relax quicker and repair faster.

Numerous studies show that athletes who use EMS during training and recovery to those improved strength gains faster than those athletes who did not use EMS. Studies suggest that athletes improved performance and jumping strength within 5 weeks.

How to Use Compex

Compex has pre-designed programs for every type of athlete. It’s simple to use and delivers big results. Simply, place the self-adhesive pads on the muscle areas you would like to strengthen, select the appropriate program, and allow your muscles to work for the designated time that is set.