Conventional resistance training, which is any exercise that causes muscles to contract against external resistance, improves skeletal muscle mass, strength and power. Likewise, using a widely available, non-invasive neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) device to induce involuntary muscle contractions can increase strength and mass in muscles of the upper and lower body.

Now, researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) have led a study to investigate the effect that combining the two – resistance training (RT) and NMES – has on muscle mass and strength.