Procedures and outcome measures
®, muscle involuntary contraction
Outcomes were measured at the BCM Post‐COVID‐19 Care Clinic at baseline and 4 weeks visits during regular work hours (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.). Upon arrival to the hospital, participants were located on a regular exam chair in Fowler's position (60 degrees) with the legs extended (Figure Study setup: electrical stimulation device, plugs and pads, and surface electromyography sensors. Participants received electrical stimulation through electrode adhesive pads placed on both proximal and distal gastrocnemius muscles using a bioelectric stimulation technology® (BEST) micro‐current platform (Tennant Biomodulator®). E‐Stim was active in the intervention group and nonfunctional in the control group. Two surface electromyography (Delsys Trino Wireless EMG System) sensors were placed on the proximal lateral gastrocnemius of each lower extremity to evaluate muscle endurance in response to E‐Stim. sEMG, surface electromyogram; E‐stim, electrical stimulation.During the 1 h E‐Stim session, changes in GNM endurance (GNMe, defined as sustained muscle involuntary contraction (Hagberg, To evaluate GNMe, two sEMG sensors (Delsys Trino Wireless EMG System) were placed vertically next to each other at the lateral proximal GNM of each leg according to sEMG for a Non‐Invasive Assessment of Muscles (SENIAM) guidelines (Hermens et al., 