The effect of long-term whole-body vibration on muscular performance

Abstract

Introduction: The whole-body vibration (WBV) approachis considered to be a unique training method for physicalrehabilitation, injury preventions, and improving physicalperformance in athlete. The scientific literature about WBV iswell documented and presents different vibration protocols,different measurements and, as a consequence - differentresults. Objectives: To explore the effect of a strengtheningprogram with WBV on several muscular strength variablesamong physical education students in comparison to a controlpassive group of students. Methods: Thirty-eight healthymale physical education students were randomly allocatedinto Vibration Group (VG, n=13) - who underwent strengtheningprogram with WBV and external load, and Control Group(CG, n=25), that received no treatment. The study includedpre-test assessments, 4-week intervention phase and post-testassessments. During the intervention phase VG performedthree training sessions per week that included six sets of 30sec squats with external loads on a WBV platform. Assessmentsincluded maximal muscle strength, power, reactivestrength and endurance. Results: Significant improvementswere shown in all components among the VG from pre topost-tests (p<0.001), with no significant change among theCG. Conclusions: A 4-week strengthening program with WBVand medium external load improves different components ofstrength among healthy physical education students.