Quick Overview
French scientists ran a 12-week EMS trial on 25 elite rugby players.
Fifteen added EMS to quads, calves and glutes. Ten did rugby only. They measured knee torque, squat 1RM, jumps, scrum force and sprints.
After 12 weeks EMS players gained 15.0% squat, 10.0% squat jump and 6.6% drop jump. Selected torques rose 18.0%, 19.4% and 10.0%. Controls did not.
The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research published this university and French Rugby Federation study.
Those figures suggest EMS can help rugby strength and power — and other sports that need the same qualities.
Read the full post for the protocol.
We always provide direct links to the original research at the end of every article so you can review the evidence yourself.
French Rugby Study: 12 Weeks of EMS Training Linked to Stronger Squats and Higher Jumps
Elite rugby is a collision sport. Players need strength. They also need power. A French team asked whether EMS training could add extra gains.
They tested that idea in a 12-week trial. The paper appeared in 2007. It was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. That journal is produced by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
The lead author was Nicolas Babault. He worked at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg. Co-authors came from the University of Burgundy in Dijon. One author represented the French Rugby Federation. Another worked with an INSERM motor-control lab. A fifth author came from the physiology laboratory in Saint-Étienne.
That is a sports-science team. Not a marketing brochure. France has a long record in exercise physiology. The trial followed the Declaration of Helsinki. A local human-research committee approved it. Players gave written consent.
What the study set out to do
The purpose was clear. Could a 12-week EMS program improve muscle strength and power in elite rugby players? The researchers also asked about tapering. Would fewer sessions in the second half still help?
Twenty-five highly skilled players took part. They competed in the French first or second division. Three also played for France. All trained with the same national military-team coach.
Fifteen players joined the EMS group. Ten stayed in the control group. Both groups kept the same rugby sessions. Nobody added extra weight training.
How they used EMS
EMS targeted three lower-body groups. The knee extensors. The plantar flexors. The gluteus muscles. A Compex stimulator delivered the current.
The settings were specific. Frequency was 100 Hz. Pulse width was 400 microseconds. Each contraction lasted five seconds. Rest lasted 15 seconds. Each muscle group received 36 contractions. Each group session lasted about 12 minutes.
Players set intensity to their tolerance. Staff checked that force reached at least 60% of a pretest max on the quads. Sessions began with a short low-frequency warm-up.
The first six weeks used three sessions a week. The next six weeks used one session a week. That second block was designed like a taper.
What they measured
Tests happened at week 0, week 6, and week 12. Researchers measured isokinetic knee-extensor torque. They measured scrum force on a scrum machine. They measured full-squat 1RM. They measured squat jump, countermovement jump, drop jump, and repeated jumps. They also timed 20-metre and 50-metre sprints.
Those are hard numbers. Not vibes.
What improved in the EMS group
After six weeks, one change stood out. Squat strength rose by 8.3%.
After 12 weeks, more tests moved. Squat strength was up 15.0% from the start. That was a further 6.2% gain from week 6 to week 12.
Squat jump height rose by 10.0%. Drop jump from 40 cm rose by 6.6%. Compared with week 6, those jumps were also higher after week 12.
Knee torque rose in selected speeds. Eccentric torque at −120° per second rose by 18.0%. Concentric torque at 120° per second rose by 19.4%. Concentric torque at 240° per second rose by 10.0%.
The control group did not show those significant changes.
That is the bright line in the data. In already elite players, added EMS training was linked to bigger squats and better jump scores. The full 12 weeks produced more complete gains than the first six weeks alone.
What did not change
Honesty matters. Scrum force did not rise. Sprint times over 20 and 50 metres did not improve. Countermovement jump and the 15-jump test also stayed flat.
The authors did not hide that. They said EMS helped selected strength and power tests. It did not replace rugby skill. Scrum technique still needs scrum practice. Speed still needs sprint work.
Why the researchers still saw value
Gains appeared in both single-joint torque and multi-joint squat work. Jump height rose in two explosive tests. That matters for contact sports. Lower-body strength and power help players hit, drive, and leave the ground.
The taper finding was useful too. Session count dropped from three a week to one a week. Progress did not vanish. Several of the biggest changes showed up after week 6. The authors said that pattern could fit preseason work, then a lower in-season volume.
They also said EMS should sit beside specific training. Jumps. Sprints. Scrum practice. Not instead of them.
Why this source is a solid base for a blog
This is a peer-reviewed sports-science paper. Named scientists ran it. Named French labs supported it. The French Rugby Federation was involved. A recognised strength journal published it. Sample size, methods, and numbers are on the page.
It is not a miracle story. It is a training study. The evidence suggests EMS can add strength and some jump power in elite rugby players when rugby training continues.
What that means beyond rugby
This trial used rugby players. The qualities it tracked are not rugby-only. Many field sports prize squat strength and vertical power. The same paper points to earlier EMS work in basketball, ice hockey, and volleyball.
So the lesson is broader than one sport. In this French study, a structured EMS block was linked to measurable gym and jump gains in highly trained athletes. The authors argued those gains are most useful when paired with the sport itself.
That is the evidence. Short sessions. Clear tests. Named researchers. A real journal. And a result that still points to the upside of well-planned EMS training.
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