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영어

Aim: Although whole body-electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is known to improve the body composition, there have been conflicting opinions regarding the effectiveness of WB-EMS on psychological enhancement. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of WB-EMS on psychological variables, which included body image, body shape, physical self-description, and self-esteem and physiological variables, which included body composition measured by Bioimpedance Analysis (BIA) and Computer Tomography (CT) in accordance with various intensities of electrical stimulation in collegiate men. Materials and methods: The subjects consisted of 14 men, aged between 20 and 31 years, who were recruited from Hanseo University. All subjects wore WB-EMS suits with 3 types of stimulation parameters and worked out 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Participants were allocated to 1 of 4 groups according to randomized control study design: low stimulation group (LSG, n=3), mid stimulation group (MSG, n=4), high stimulation group (HSG, n=4), and control group (CG, n=3). Non-parametric statistical methods were conducted on collected data with a significance level set a priori at P≤.05. Data were analyzed using Spearman rho test to find relationships among variables. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to investigate differences among the 4 groups and Friedman tests were performed to detect differences among Week 0, Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6. Finally, Bonferroni post hoc test was used to identify significant differences in groups and times. Results: The first section addressed the relationship between body compositions from BIA and CT tests as follows: 1) The body fat mass and % fat detected by BIA test showed higher correlations with CT variables as time progressed and 2) psychological questionnaires showed Body Image-Acceptance Action Questionnaire (BI-AAQ) had a significant relationship with Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ), and self-esteem. The second section addressed the changing variables within groups from Week 0 to Week 6 as follows: 1) BIA tests showed that body weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) were significantly decreased only in HSG as time progressed, 2) CT scans showed that there was a decreasing fat mass in the abdominal area only in HSG, 3) CT scans showed that thigh fat mass was significantly decreased in subcutaneous fat and total fat, 4) the BI-AAQ in HSG was higher than those of other groups with scores that steadily increased every two weeks, which indicated that only high-intensity electrical stimulation could improve body image, 5) the BSQ of HSG showed the lowest score, which indicated a very positive result, 6) among the 10 parts that were investigated by PSDQ, health and physical activity scores were higher in HSG than those of the other three groups, and 7) self-esteem in HSG showed a higher tendency compared with those of the other three groups from Week 0 to Week 6. Conclusion: This study confirmed that there were some significant relationships between body compositions of BIA and CT tests and significant associations among 4 psychological questionnaires. Moreover, this study found out that the high electrical stimulation of WB-EMS applied in HSG improved psychological and physiological factors than those applied in other groups.