Shocking: NHL players pumping electrical current into their bodies to improve performance.

A bizarre new practice incorporated by some NHL players.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Shocking: NHL players pumping electrical current into their bodies to improve performance.
Keystone Press

It appears that some National Hockey League players have adopted a seemingly new and slightly bizarre technique to get the best out of their bodies just prior to game time. It's something called Accelerated Recovery Performance, and it involves strapping electrodes to one's body and quite literally pumping electrical current through your own muscles. 

Think it sounds crazy? Well according to a report from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post it's a technique that has been adopted by players like Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise, as well as many others.

Khurshudyan spoke to Oshie regarding his use of the practice, and he reportedly uses while he is working out, warming up prior to the start of an NHL game, when recovering from injury and, believe or not, even when he's sleeping.

Oshie's teammate Jay Beagle however is more skeptical of it's efficacy even though he believes it may have helped him recover from a previous injury.

[pub]

“I just don’t know if it actually works,” Beagle said. “I don’t like doing things that don’t help, you know what I mean? But I think it did help. It helped the swelling get out. Would it have been the same thing — you know, it was a two-week process — so would it have been the same with ice and all that?”

It does not seem like there is a consensus on the benefits of using Accelerated Recovery Performance, however Khurshudyan reports that the professionals she spoke to had their doubts.

From the Washington Post:

It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but a neurologist and a physical therapist interviewed for this story said that while the ARP doesn’t do any harm, the evidence for it being a benefit is empirical and anecdotal.

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