Short communicationEffects of a short-term whole body vibration intervention on physical fitness in elderly people
Introduction
Human ageing involves many changes, such as a decrease in physical fitness. Extensive research during the past decades indicates that physical fitness and changes on their components are causally related to long term health. Specifically, it has been shown that low levels of physical fitness are associated with increased risk of several diseases, disabilities and also higher risk of mortality [1]. Population ageing is a phenomenon that occurs worldwide, especially in developed countries, thus, it seems necessary to find out which interventions may affect these physical-fitness related changes in order to guarantee a higher functional capacity, autonomy and health among elderly people.
Whole body vibration (WBV) is a type of exercise that uses high-frequency mechanical stimuli, which are generated by a vibrating platform and transmitted through the body. Up to now, most of the short-term WBV interventions have focus on the effects in balance and muscle strength [2], both of high relevance in terms of health in this specific population; however, the effects of this type of training on other health-related physical fitness components such as endurance or flexibility, among others, have not been tested yet.
Therefore, the aim of this research was to clarify whether a short-term WBV training has a beneficial effect on a wide set of physical fitness components using a common and well-standardized method of measurement in non-institutionalized elderly men and women.
Section snippets
Methods
A total of 49 non-institutionalized elderly (20 men and 29 women; aged 75.0 ± 4.7 years), members of the cohort of the “Multi-center EXERNET Study” volunteered to participate in the intervention [3]. Subjects who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to one of the study groups (WBV or control [CON]) (Fig. 1). A total of 24 elderly trained on a vibration platform (Pro5 Power plate, London, UK) 3 times per week for 11 weeks. Each session was supervised and included 10 repetitions on
Results
Adherence to training averaged 90.15 ± 10.73%, ranged from 61 to 100 per cent. No withdrawals from the CON or WBV groups occurred. There were no adverse effects and no health problems in the subjects of both groups over the 11-week period.
As no sex by training interactions were found (data not shown) analyses were performed including men and women as a whole.
Mean and SD values of the eight physical fitness test at pre- and post-training moments are reported in Table 1. CON and WBV groups showed
Discussion
The main finding of this study is that an 11-week intervention program based on high-frequency WBV improves physical fitness in elderly men and women. Specifically, the improvements were observed in lower- and upper-body strength, lower-body flexibility, agility, walking speed and endurance.
To our knowledge, this study is the first randomized controlled trial testing the effects of a high-frequency short-term WBV training program in non-institutionalized elderly men and women which include a
Contributors
AGC participated in the data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, drafting manuscript, revising manuscript content and that the author have seen and approved the final version data collection.
AGA participated in the data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, revising manuscript content and that the author have seen and approved the final version.
IA participated in the study design, data interpretation, revising manuscript content and that the author have seen and approved
Competing interest
The authors have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The elderly EXERNET multi-centre study has been supported by Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales – IMSERSO (104/07), University of Zaragoza (UZ 2008-BIO-01) and Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad – IMSERSO (147/11). AGC has received a PhD grant from Gobierno de Aragón (B059/09). The authors are also grateful to all the volunteers and to the Community Center for Seniors Pedro Laín Entralgo (Zaragoza), whose cooperation and dedication made this study possible.
References (5)
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Physical fitness levels among independent non-institutionalized Spanish elderly: the elderly EXERNET multi-center study
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The effect of whole body vibration on balance, mobility and falls in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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2019, Research in Veterinary ScienceCitation Excerpt :WBV spread from the skeleton to the postural muscles; therefore, as muscles are capable of detecting vibrations, it could affect muscle vascularization, even at low frequencies (Murfee et al., 2005; Ritzmann et al., 2014). Mechanical stimuli are transferred through the body and can improve muscle strength and increase blood flow (Prisby et al., 2008; Herrero et al., 2011; Gómez-Cabello et al., 2013). Cardiovascular improvement increase of muscle force and power of the leg (Cardinale and Wakeling, 2005; Prisby et al., 2008; Marín et al., 2009; Russo et al., 2003), and body balance have also been reported in human patients (Torvinen et al., 2002; Prisby et al., 2008).
Effects of whole-body vibration on postural control in elderly: An update of a systematic review and meta-analysis
2017, Archives of Gerontology and GeriatricsCitation Excerpt :The intervention period was one year in one study, (Bogaerts et al., 2007) 30 weeks in five studies (Beck & Norling, 2011; Bogaerts et al., 2007; Gusi et al., 2006; Leung et al., 2014; Stolzenberg et al., 2013). In nine studies (Beaudart et al., 2013; Bogaerts et al., 2011; Buckinx et al., 2014; Cheung et al., 2007; Corrie et al., 2015; Gomez-Cabello et al., 2013; Mikhael et al., 2010; Sievanen et al., 2014; Verschueren et al., 2004) intervention duration ranged from ten to 30 weeks. The other studies (Alvarez-Barbosa et al., 2014; Bautmans et al., 2005; Bruyere et al., 2005; Furness & Maschette, 2009; Furness et al., 2010; Johnson et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2013; Marin et al., 2011; Rees et al., 2007, 2009; Rogan, Radlinger, Hilfiker et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2014) had an intervention period of less than ten weeks.