At the end of every PT session, I get to do something called, “Russian.” Unlike regular muscle stimulation, this stuff hurts. The idea is to get my “mushy” quad to “fire” once again. My therapist cranks up the machine until I can’t stand it. I usually stop at a 20 and I think the highest you can go is 50. Trust me, getting past 20 will be tough. Despite the pain, this has been very helpful with getting my muscle back.
This is from the Downtown STL Chiro:
“Russian Stimulation uses a stronger electrical current to cause a muscle group to contract and then relax by placing electrodes on the skin over the weak muscle. The current will elicit a gentle contraction, which will increase the strength of the muscle.”
The Early Experiments http://ptjournal.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/82/10/1019
I have not had this done for me at all. I was being told that my strength could be better, which would lead me to believe that this type of stimulation would be beneficial to me. I too have a mushy quad even after hundreds and hundreds of leg lifts and leg extentions. I am seeing some definition in the quad area. But still looks like a summer squash compared to my other thigh.
Have you seen any results?
I actually have seen my thight slightly start to form back to a semi-defined shape. Hasn’t been easy, though. I’m with you on the leg lifts, but I think this Russian stimulation has actually helped, based on when I first started doing it, I could barely squeeze my quad, now I can squeeze, take the pain and watch the machine help to move my muscles for me.
Russian Stimulation? There should be a glass of vodka in your hand as well then!
I loved that thing as it was way more enjoyable than acupuncture. My physio even let me adjust the knobs as high as I wanted, but I think I only got as high as 16. I didn’t realize it got more painful after a certain point.
I’m not sure if the machine I use has a different measuring system, but I’ve gotten up to a 53 on it and it hasn’t been totally unbearable. After the initial shock, it doesn’t feel particularly painful, just uncomfortable.
I’ve wondered if I’m getting less out of the exercises I do at since I don’t do this first…