Key result
Acute arm-cranking exercise combined with higher-intensity EMS increases normalized flow-mediated dilation compared to baseline.
Why the study?
To facilitate clinical application, the authors evaluated the effects of acute arm-cranking exercise combined with lower-extremity electrical muscle stimulation at different intensities on vascular endothelial function.
Does acute arm-cranking exercise combined with moderate-to-high intensity lower-extremity electrical muscle stimulation improve vascular endothelial function compared to low-intensity stimulation in healthy adult men?
RCT (n=8)
Open-label
Randomized crossover
No
Does acute arm-cranking exercise combined with moderate-to-high intensity lower-extremity electrical muscle stimulation improve vascular endothelial function compared to low-intensity stimulation in healthy adult men?
Absolute Event Rate: 2.3% vs 0.8%
p-value: p=<0.05
Combining arm-cranking exercise with 50% intensity lower-extremity electrical muscle stimulation significantly improves vascular endothelial function, offering a potentially more tolerable clinical rehabilitation strategy than maximum-intensity stimulation.
Acute combined arm-cranking with maximal EMS may enhance endothelial function acutely; hypothesis-generating for patients and chronic use.
Arm-cranking exercises combined with electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) of the lower limbs at maximum intensity enhance vascular endothelial function. To bring this procedure into clinical application, we examined the effects of acute arm-cranking exercise combined with lower-extremity EMS at different intensities on vascular endothelial function. The study included eight healthy adult males. After resting in the supine position, arm-cranking exercises were performed at an intensity of 50% VO2max for 20 min, and the lower limb received EMS under three trials: maximum intensity trial (A+100%EMS trial), 50% intensity trial (A+50%EMS trial), and 25% intensity trial (A+25%EMS trial). Flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which reflects vascular endothelial function, was measured before and after the procedure, and the normalized FMD (nFMD) was calculated. The mean nFMD before and 30 min after exercise was 0.8 ± 0.3 and 2.3 ± 1.8, respectively, in the A+100%EMS trial and 0.9 ± 0.4 and 1.4 ± 1.0, respectively, in the A+50%EMS trial, indicating a significant increase after exercise under both trials. No changes were observed in the A+25%EMS trial. The combination of arm-cranking exercise and 50% intensity EMS appears to be a clinically applicable program for improving vascular endothelial function, even with reduced exercise intensity.
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Nakamura et al. (2025) conducted an RCT in Healthy (n=8). Arm-cranking exercise with lower-extremity electrical muscle stimulation vs. Baseline and 25% intensity EMS was evaluated on Normalized flow-mediated dilation (nFMD) 30 minutes post-exercise (p=<0.05). Acute arm-cranking exercise combined with 100% or 50% intensity electrical muscle stimulation significantly increased normalized flow-mediated dilation compared to baseline.
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