Lower Body Acceleration and Muscular Responses to Rotational and Vertical Whole-Body Vibration at Different Frequencies and Amplitudes

Acute neuromuscular responses to whole-body vibration in healthy individuals: A systematic review

Whole-body vibration (WBV) training has been employed alongside conventional exercise like resistance training to enhance skeletal muscle strength and performance. This systematic review examines the evidence regarding the effect of WBV on muscle activity, strength, and performance in healthy individuals. The Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, PubMed, ProQuest One Academic and SCOPUS databases were searched from 1990 to April 2023 to retrieve relevant studies. Methodological quality was assessed using the Modified Downs and Black checklist, while the level of evidence was evaluated through the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) tool. Even though the quality of the included studies was moderate to high, the level of evidence was very low owing to serious concerns with three or more GRADE domains (risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision, and publication bias) for each outcome of interest across studies. The review suggests that in WBV training, using moderate to high vibration frequencies (25-40 Hz) and high magnitudes (3-6 mm) can enhance muscle activation and strength in pelvis and lower limb muscles. However, findings regarding WBV effect on muscle performance measures were inconsistent. Future research with robust methodology is necessary in this area to validate and support these findings.

Effects of whole-body vibration or resistive-vibration exercise on blood clotting and related biomarkers: a systematic review

Whole-body vibration (WBV) and resistive vibration exercise (RVE) are utilized as countermeasures against bone loss, muscle wasting, and physical deconditioning. The safety of the interventions, in terms of the risk of inducing undesired blood clotting and venous thrombosis, is not clear. We therefore performed the present systematic review of the available scientific literature on the issue. The review was conducted following the guidelines by the Space Biomedicine Systematic Review Group, based on Cochrane review guidelines. The relevant context or environment of the studies was "ground-based environment"; space analogs or diseased conditions were not included. The search retrieved 801 studies; 77 articles were selected for further consideration after an initial screening. Thirty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. The main variables related to blood markers involved angiogenic and endothelial factors, fibrinolysis and coagulation markers, cytokine levels, inflammatory and plasma oxidative stress markers. Functional and hemodynamic markers involved blood pressure measurements, systemic vascular resistance, blood flow and microvascular and endothelial functions. The available evidence suggests neutral or potentially positive effects of short- and long-term interventions with WBV and RVE on variables related to blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, inflammatory status, oxidative stress, cardiovascular, microvascular and endothelial functions. No significant warning signs towards an increased risk of undesired clotting and venous thrombosis were identified. If confirmed by further studies, WBV and RVE could be part of the countermeasures aimed at preventing or attenuating the muscular and cardiovascular deconditioning associated with spaceflights, permanence on planetary habitats and ground-based simulations of microgravity.

Short-term effects of side-alternating Whole-Body Vibration on cognitive function of young adults

Recent research in rodents and humans revealed that Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) is beneficial for cognitive functions. However, the optimal WBV conditions are not established: contrary to vertical WBV, side-alternating WBV was not investigated before. The present study investigated the short-term effects of side-alternating WBV in standing and sitting posture on specific cognitive function of young adults. We used a balanced cross-over design. Sixty healthy young adults (mean age 21.7 ± 2.0 years, 72% female) participated. They were exposed to three bouts of two-minute side-alternating WBV (frequency 27 Hz) and three control conditions in two different sessions. In one session a sitting posture was used and in the other session a standing (semi-squat) posture. After each condition selective attention and inhibition was measured with the incongruent condition of the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test. WBV significantly (p = 0.026) improved selective attention and inhibition in the sitting posture, but not in the standing posture. The sitting posture was perceived as more comfortable, joyous and less exhaustive as compared to the standing posture. This study demonstrated that side-alternating WBV in sitting posture improves selective attention and inhibition in healthy young adults. This indicates that posture moderates the cognitive effect of WBV, although the effects are still small. Future studies should focus on the working mechanisms and further optimization of settings, especially in individuals who are unable to perform active exercise.

Biodynamic Responses to Whole-Body Vibration Training: A Systematic Review

In recent years, whole-body vibration (WBV) training has received an increasing interest in the sports and medical fields. However, there has been inconsistency among several studies regarding the effect of WBV training on the human body, which is partly due to the lack of the existence of guidelines for using WBV training machines. To understand the effect of WBV training on the human body and build the needed regulations, it is essential first to understand the biodynamic responses to vibration which represent how vibration is transmitted to and through the human body. The purpose of this study is to systematically review previous studies that measured biodynamic responses when using WBV training machines to highlight inconsistencies in their results and provide possible reasons for them. An extensive literature search was performed on the SCOPUS database to obtain relevant studies. One hundred and fifty-six potentially relevant studies were obtained but after further screening, 23 papers from 2007 to 2020 met inclusion criteria and were included in the study. The papers were analysed with respect to acceleration, transmissibility, interface force, and apparent mass during different vibration settings, body posture, age, and sex. Results and conflicts among studies were highlighted and possible explanations for the inconsistency were provided.

A Comparison of the Effect of Two Types of Whole Body Vibration Platforms on Fibromyalgia. A Randomized Controlled Trial

Whole body vibration has been proven to improve the health status of patients with fibromyalgia, providing an activation of the neuromuscular spindles, which are responsible for muscle contraction. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two types of whole body vibrating platforms (vertical and rotational) during a 12-week training program. Sixty fibromyalgia patients (90% were women) were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: group A (n = 20), who performed the vibration training with a vertical platform; group B (n = 20), who did rotational platform training; or a control group C (n = 20), who did not do any training. Sensitivity measures (pressure pain and vibration thresholds), quality of life (Quality of Life Index), motor function tasks (Berg Scale, six-minute walking test, isometric back muscle strength), and static and dynamic balance (Romberg test and gait analysis) were assessed before, immediately after, and three months after the therapy program. Although both types of vibration appeared to have beneficial effects with respect to the control group, the training was more effective with the rotational than with vertical platform in some parameters, such as vibration thresholds (p < 0.001), motor function tasks (p < 0.001), mediolateral sway (p < 0.001), and gait speed (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, improvements disappeared in the follow-up in both types of vibration. Our study points out greater benefits with the use of rotational rather than vertical whole body vibration. The use of the rotational modality is recommended in the standard therapy program for patients with fibromyalgia. Due to the fact that the positive effects of both types of vibration disappeared during the follow-up, continuous or intermittent use is recommended.

Individualized Whole-Body Vibration: Neuromuscular, Biochemical, Muscle Damage and Inflammatory Acute Responses

Objective. We aimed to investigate the acute residual hormonal, biochemical, and neuromuscular responses to a single session of individualized whole-body vibration (WBV) while maintaining a half-squat position. Methods. Twenty male sport science students voluntarily participated in the present study and were randomly assigned to an individualized WBV group (with the acceleration load determined for each participant) or an isometric group (ISOM). A double-blind, controlled parallel study design with repeated measures was employed. Results. Testosterone and growth hormone increased significantly over time in the WBV group (P < .05 and P < .01, respectively; effect size [ES] ranged from 1.00 to 1.23), whereas cortisol increased over time in both groups (P < .01; ES ranged from 1.04 and 1.36). Interleukin-6 and creatine kinase increased significantly over time only in the WBV group (P < .05; ES = 1.07). The maximal voluntary contraction decreased significantly over time in the ISOM group (P = .019; ES = 0.42), whereas in the WBV group, the decrease did not reach a significant level (P = .05). The ratio of electromyographic activity and power decreased significantly over time in the WBV group (P < .01; ES ranged from 0.57 to 0.72). Conclusion. Individualized WBV increased serum hormonal concentrations, muscle damage, and inflammation to levels similar to those induced by resistance training and hypertrophy exercises.

Modulating Effects of Whole-body Vibration on Cortical Activity and Gait Function in Chronic Stroke Patients

Whole-body vibration exercise (WBVe) can provide proper somatosensory stimulation and improve muscle strength in stroke patients. This study investigated the effects of WBVe on gait function and cortical activity in patients with chronic stroke. Thirty stroke patients were randomly assigned to either the WBVe or the control group. The WBVe group received the vibration in a half-squat position for 5 minutes at an intensity of 20 Hz. The control group kept the same posture but did not receive the vibration. Cortical activity was investigated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Gait function was assessed by a 10-m walk test (10MWT), a timed up and go (TUG) test, a Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and a Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (TPOMA). In group analysis of the fNIRS data, oxygenated hemoglobin concentration was significantly increased in the ipsilesional supplementary motor area, bilateral sensorimotor cortex, and contralesional prefrontal cortex in the WBVe group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Functional assessment demonstrated a significant interaction between time and group for the 10MWT and TUG test, suggesting that the WBVe group demonstrated meaningful improvement after intervention (p < 0.05). These results suggested that WBVe modulated the cerebral cortical activities and resulted in improvement of gait function in chronic stroke patients.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03375346.