Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) & Glute Activation
FIRE UP YOUR GLUTES! Inactive or weak glute muscles is something that we commonly see at our clinic.
Many factors can contribute to this, like:
- Tight hip flexors
- Multiple active trigger points in the glutes
- A sedentary lifestyle
- Overactive lower back/hamstrings
- Lack of specific glute exercises
- Poor technique or biomechanics
- Inactive motor neurons
- Pain or previous injury
- Poor posture
Our glutes are our powerhouse leg muscles. They are responsible for hip extension, internal rotation, and abduction of the hip.
We use our glutes for multiple things including to walk, run, jump, squat, deadlift, sit and stand, lunge! When they are inactive or weak it can lead to injury, reduced power/strength, poor biomechanics and excessive tightness in other muscles.
The use of an EMS machine can be an extremely useful tool for us as therapists to help facilitate the strengthening of weak or inactive glute muscles. HOW you might ask?? The EMS machine electrically stimulates the muscle/nervous system. If the glutes are inhibited or weak, muscle fibres can become dormant. This EMS helps to stimulate these fibres to become active. This technology can also help to improve motor neuron speed, meaning a muscle can fire/activate much faster. The more frequent your muscle is recruited the better your body becomes at finding the quickest way to recruit that muscle.
By applying an EMS machine through dry needles, we as therapists can get deep into a muscle, enhancing the overall result. Post this treatment, pads can be applied instead and we can train our clients through an exercise to actively contract whilst the machine is passively contracting.
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