Effect of plyometric training and neuromuscular electrical stimulation assisted strength training on muscular, sprint, and functional performances in collegiate male football players.

Background: The study's objective was to analyze the influence of an 8-week neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) with a plyometric (PT) and strength training (ST) program on muscular, sprint, and functional performances in collegiate male football players.

Methods: Sixty collegiate male football players participated in this randomized controlled trial single-blind study. All the participants were randomly divided into two groups: (1) NMES group (Experimental, = 30) who received NMES assisted ST and (2) sham NMES group (Control, = 30) who received sham NMES assisted ST. In addition, participants from both groups received a PT program; both groups received intervention on three days a week for 8-weeks. The study's outcomes, such as muscular, sprint, and functional performances, were assessed using a strength test (STN) for quadriceps muscle, sprint test (ST), and single-leg triple hop test (SLTHT), respectively, at baseline pre-intervention and 8-week post-intervention. The interaction between group and time was identified using a mixed design (2 × 2) ANOVA.

Results: Significant difference found across the two time points for the scores of STN: F (1.58) = 5,479.70, < 0.05; SLTHT: F (1.58) = 118.17, < 0.05; and ST: F (1.58) = 201.63, < 0.05. Similarly, the significant differences were found between groups averaged across time for the scores of STN: F (1.58) = 759.62, < 0.05 and ST: F (1.58) = 10.08, < 0.05. In addition, after 8-week of training, Cohen's d observed between two groups a large to medium treatment's effect size for the outcome STN (d = 10.84) and ST (d = 1.31). However, a small effect size was observed only for the SLTHT (d = 0.613).

Conclusions: Findings suggest that the effect of PT and ST with either NMES or sham NMES are equally capable of enhancing muscular, sprint, and functional performances in collegiate male football players. However, PT and ST with NMES have shown an advantage over PT and ST with sham NMES in improving muscular performance and sprint performance among the same participants.