Effect of Earthing with Grounding Mats on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Authors

Paola N. Ramos Salinas, Texas A&M University-San AntonioFollow
John D. Smith, Texas A&M University-San AntonioFollow

Abstract

The practice of earthing, or grounding, is a practice of direct skin contact with the earth, and now, the innovation of grounding mats has led to studies looking into the effects grounding can produce. Previous studies focus on long grounding periods and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), but as of this study, no studies have looked to the effects of short grounding periods and DOMS. PURPOSE: To determine if grounding on a grounding mat has a significant effect on delayed onset muscle soreness. METHODS: Single blind, counterbalanced, repeated measures study with participants being grounded (G) in one session and no (fake) grounded (NG) in the other. Twelve participants (age= 23.9 ± 4.6 yrs, height= 162.8 ± 9.4 cm, weight= 78.6 ± 18.6 kg) were recruited by word of mouth. In both visits, participants removed their shoes (removal of sock was optional) and sat on a chair with feet on the grounding mat for 30 minutes, then completed a set of weighted squats at a tempo of 55 beats per minute (males held 10 lbs, females 5 lbs) to exhaustion. After 1-2 min rest, a second set was performed without the weight and participants reported RPE (6-20 scale). Participants then took home a quadriceps soreness questionnaire that included a 0-6 pain scale (PS) and a 0-100 visual analog scale (VAS) to complete on both right and left legs after 24 and 48 hours. A 2 by 4 repeated measures ANOVAs with Alpha set at 0.05 was used to determine differences. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed no significance between conditions (NG vs G) for VAS (F_(7,5) = 1.65, p = 0.299), and PS (F_{(7, 5)} = 1.3, p = 0.395), or in the RPE between conditions (t₍₁₁₎ = 0.978, p = 0.349). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that grounding for 30 minutes on a grounding mat did not cause a significant change in muscle soreness in the quadriceps after 24 or 48 hours of exercise in this sample. This may be due to insufficient amount of grounding time whereas previous studies grounded individuals between 4-10 hours after the exercise bout. In this study the participants were only grounded for 30 minutes before starting the squat sets and thus may not be sufficient for an effect.

Recommended Citation

Ramos Salinas, Paola N. and Smith, John D. (2026) "Effect of Earthing with Grounding Mats on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2: Iss. 18, Article 175.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss18/175