The Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Versus Foam Roller as Recovery Modalities on Muscular Power Output

This research aimed to determine and compare the effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) versus foam rolling on muscular power output. Sixteen kayak sprint (n=16) athletes were involved in this research. All the participants underwent both interventions (traditional and modern-technological based methods) on different days. All the participants were required to perform 10 repetitions of squat jump as a pre-test, then 1 minute of body weight squat as a training. After that, participants need to recover using the recovery methods in different session. Then, a post-test was done to compare and determine the results. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the mean and standard deviation and paired T-Test was used to compare the effect of both interventions. Pearson correlation and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were used to determine validity and reliability of squat jump test protocol on power development. There were significant differences found in the kinetics and kinematics performance in term of power produced during squat jump (p < 0.05) using foam roller. Both interventions reported high correlation between jump height and force and power produced during squat jump performance; foam roller (p = 0.000, r = 1.00) while TENS (p = 0.000, r = 1.00) but less reliable in foam roller compared to TENS; force (foam roller, ICC = 0.47; TENS, ICC = 0.80) and power (foam roller, ICC = 0.48; TENS, ICC = 0.88). This is probably due to the limitation of participants, the effectiveness of the foam roller and insufficient lack of rest intervals. As a conclusion, foam rollers revealed a significant effect on kinematics and kinetics performance during squat jump and researchers recommended and suggested that foam rollers are more practical due to being affordable and easy to carry. Future research is needed for reliable and accurate markers for performance and recovery.