“Russian currents encounter the sympathies of many practitioners, and many are still using them. The reasons are historical: Russian currents were the first to succeed at professional sport training. Although modern training currents have evolved toward square wave currents, old habits get entrenched and are culturally difficult to change, because they are transmitted from early users to newer users.”1
Russian (Sine wave) currents compared to square wave currents have the following shortcomings:
• Waste a lot of unneeded energy in the muscle tissue, triggering several possible issues, ◦ skin irritation, ◦ tissue heating, ◦ shorter battery lifespan.
“In other words a square wave gets more bang for the buck than a sine wave. However, sine wave was the best technology available at the time, and electronic was not sophisticated enough to produce a good square wave.” 1
The PDF below explains the principles of EMS theory presented, why Russian stimulation works, how a square wave compares with it, and why the latter is more performing
1) Square vs Sine Wave Guide to Understanding Electro-Muscle Stimulation for Sport Training
