Quick Overview
A 2022 Journal of Sport Rehabilitation trial, published by Human Kinetics in the USA, tested EMS on 32 college American football players.
Sixteen added peroneus longus sessions three times a week for five weeks. Sixteen did team training only.
Scientists measured isometric strength in kilograms and one-leg dynamic balance sway. EMS dorsiflexion rose 29.5 to 32.6 kg; controls stayed 32.5. Eversion rose 27.8 to 29.5 kg; controls fell 29.6 to 27. Side sway fell 36 to 30.5 mm/s; controls rose to 40. Group changes differed (P = .039, .027, .030).
That pattern suggests EMS may help footballers and other cutting-sport athletes. Read the full post for the protocol and numbers.
We always provide direct links to the original research at the end of every article so you can review the evidence yourself.
Five Weeks of Ankle EMS. Better Strength. Steadier Balance. A Football Study Mapped the Change.
EMS on one ankle muscle. Five weeks. College American football players. Better strength and dynamic balance than teammates who skipped it.
That is the short version of a 2022 sports science paper. Read on if you cut, plant, and change direction.
Why this post sits on real research
The paper ran in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. Human Kinetics published it. That house is a long-standing sports-science publisher.
The work came from Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. Sports medicine staff and coaching scientists ran it. A city-hospital sports-medicine doctor led the author list.
An ethics committee at Ege University approved the protocol. Thirty-two healthy male college players finished the trial. Sixteen used EMS. Sixteen did not.
This is not locker-room gossip. It is a peer-reviewed study with a control group.
The problem the scientists cared about
American football is fast and physical. Players slam the brakes. They cut. They land. Ankles take the hit.
The peroneus longus sits on the outside of the lower leg. It helps turn the foot outward. That eversion action steadies the ankle when the body rolls inward.
The team asked a simple question. Could targeted electromyostimulation of that muscle lift strength and balance in trained players?
What the players actually did
Everyone kept the same team sessions. Four practices a week.
The EMS group added extra work on the dominant leg. Three sessions a week. Five weeks. Twenty-five minutes each time.
Staff placed two small pads along the peroneus longus. The current sat at 80 Hz and 200 µs. Five seconds on. Twenty-five seconds off. About fifty contractions a session.
Each player raised the intensity to the highest level that did not hurt. The recorded range sat between 26 and 136 mA.
The control group trained as usual. No EMS.
What they measured
Before and after the five weeks, the same tester ran the same tests.
Strength came from a handheld digital dynamometer. They recorded isometric dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, eversion, and inversion in kilograms.
Balance came from a Tecnobody Prokin platform. Players stood on one leg. Eyes open. Thirty seconds. Static first. Then dynamic balance, with the plate free to tilt.
The machine tracked front-back sway, mediolateral sway, ellipse area, and perimeter. Lower sway is the helpful direction.
The numbers that moved
The groups did not change in the same way.
Dorsiflexion median in the EMS group rose from 29.5 kg to 32.6 kg. The control group stayed at 32.5 kg. That pattern differed between groups (P = .039).
Eversion median in the EMS group rose from 27.8 kg to 29.5 kg. The control group slipped from 29.6 kg to 27 kg. That pattern also differed (P = .027).
On dynamic balance, mediolateral sway in the EMS group fell from 36 mm/s to 30.5 mm/s. The control group rose from 36.5 mm/s to 40 mm/s. That difference was significant (P = .030).
Static scores did not show the same clear split. Plantar flexion and inversion did not carry the headline result.
So the signal sat in three places. Ankle lift. Foot eversion. Side-to-side control when the platform moved.
Why that matters for similar sports
If your game looks like American football, this paper is aimed at you.
Think rugby. Soccer. Basketball. Australian rules. Any sport with cuts, landings, and sudden stops.
Those games ask the same ankle to stay quiet while the body darts the other way. This study did not time sprints. It did not count matches won.
It did show that five weeks of targeted EMS, on top of normal training, lined up with better lab strength and better dynamic balance than training alone.
The authors framed EMS as a practical add-on. Portable. Repeatable. Easy to standardise. Regular sessions over weeks tracked with the better change.
Keep the claim inside the study
This article reports what the paper measured. It is not medical advice. It is not a treatment plan.
The trial did not count sprains on the field. It did not prove EMS stops injuries. It tested healthy college men, not every athlete.
If you play a cutting sport and you are curious, treat this as training research. Talk with a qualified coach or clinician before you add a device.
The honest takeaway is modest and useful. In this trial, EMS on the peroneus longus went with stronger eversion and steadier dynamic balance. For players in sports like this one, that is the evidence the scientists put on the table.
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Research Summary
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Study title | Electromyostimulation Application on Peroneus Longus Muscle Improves Balance and Strength in American Football Players |
| Authors | Yavuz Lima, Ozgur Ozkaya, Gorkem A. Balci, Ramazan Aydinoglu, and Cetin Islegen |
| Journal record | Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 2022, Vol. 31, No. 5, pages 599–604. First published online 10 March 2022. PubMed ID 35272268 |
| Publisher and country | Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., Champaign, Illinois, United States |
| Research centres | Ege University Faculty of Sports Science and Faculty of Medicine, Izmir; Sports Medicine Department, Balıkesir Atatürk City Hospital, Turkey |
| Ethics approval | Approved by the Ege University Clinical Research Ethical Committee (70198063-050.06.04) |
| Aim | Test whether 5 weeks of EMS on the peroneus longus changed balance and ankle strength in college American football players |
| Participants | 32 healthy male college-league players who trained 4 times a week; finished as 16 EMS vs 16 control after dropouts |
| Design | Randomised two-group trial. Both groups kept team training. Only the EMS group received extra stimulation |
| EMS protocol | Dominant peroneus longus, 3 non-consecutive days a week, 5 weeks, 25 minutes a session, about 50 contractions each time |
| Device settings | Endomed 482; 5×5 cm pads; 80 Hz, 200 µs, 5 s on / 25 s off; intensity to pain-free maximum (26–136 mA) |
| How scientists measured | Handheld digital dynamometer for isometric dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, eversion, and inversion (kg). Tecnobody Prokin 252 for one-leg eyes-open static and dynamic balance sway |
| Key numbers | EMS dorsiflexion median 29.5 → 32.6 kg (control stayed 32.5). Eversion 27.8 → 29.5 kg (control 29.6 → 27). Dynamic mediolateral sway 36 → 30.5 mm/s (control 36.5 → 40). Group-change P = .039, .027, .030 |
| Authors’ conclusion | The 5-week EMS program had positive effects on isometric strength and dynamic balance in these players, which they said may also matter for similar cutting sports |
| Original study | Human Kinetics full record · DOI 10.1123/jsr.2021-0264 · PubMed 35272268 |
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