Effects of Vibration Exercise on Muscle Performance and Mobility in an Older Population
Click name to view affiliation
Search for other papers by Sven Rees in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Aron Murphy in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Mark Watsford in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This study was designed to investigate the effects of vibration on muscle performance and mobility in a healthy, untrained, older population. Forty-three participants (23 men, 20 women, 66–85 y old) performed tests of sit-to-stand (STS), 5- and 10-m fast walk, timed up-and-go test, stair mobility, and strength. Participants were randomly assigned to a vibration group, an exercise-without-vibration group, or a control group. Training consisted of 3 sessions/wk for 2 mo. After training, the vibration and exercise groups showed improved STS (12.4%, 10.2%), 5-m fast walk (3.0%, 3.7%), and knee-extension strength (8.1%, 7.2%) compared with the control (p < 0.05). Even though vibration training improved lower limb strength, it did not appear to have a facilitatory effect on functional-performance tasks compared with the exercise-without-vibration group. Comparable mobility and performance changes between the experimental groups suggest that improvements are linked with greater knee-extension strength and largely attributed to the unloaded squats performed by both exercise groups.
The authors are with the School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, University of Technology, Sydney, Lindfiled NSW, 2070 Australia.
© 2023 Human Kinetics