Neuromuscular responses to acute whole body vibration in healthy young men

Creators Hiroshige Keiichi

Creators Harada Noriaki

Creators Mahbub MH

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of whole body vibration stimulus on neuromuscular performances in healthy male students. Twenty healthy students (mean age 19.7 ± 0.5 years) were recruited for this study. They were randomly divided into two groups of 10 subjects: whole body vibration (WBV) group and control group. The intervention consisted of standing on a vibrating (for the WBV group) or non-vibrating (for the control group) platform in a semi-squat posture for 3 minutes. Vibration was produced at a frequency of 20 Hz, peak amplitude of 3 mm and frequency-weighted acceleration of 21.3 m/s^2 rms. Statistical analysis with two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the reaction time decreased significantly in both groups (P < 0.05) and the absolute angular error value at 30 degree knee flexion decreased significantly only in the WBV group (P < 0.05). The findings indicate that the acute WBV stimulus used in this study is not adequate to induce any significant improvement in neuromuscular responses among young healthy men. To reveal the training effects of WBV, future research works should be conducted among both young and elderly subjects with long-term or chronic exposure to WBV within a safe exposure limit.

[ISSN]0513-1812

[NCID]AA00594272