Acute effects of loaded whole body vibration training on performance

The application of whole body vibration (WBV) as a warm-up scheme has been receiving an increasing interest among practitioners.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of loaded and unloaded WBV on countermovement jump, speed and agility.

Twenty-one healthy male college football players (age: 20.14 ± 1.65 years; body height: 179.9 ± 8.34 cm; body mass: 74.4 ± 13.0 kg; % body fat: 9.45 ± 4.8) underwent randomized controlled trials that involved standing in a half squat position (ST), ST with 30% of bodyweight (ST + 30%), whole body vibration at f = 50 Hz, A = 4 mm (WBV), and WBV with 30% bodyweight (WBV + 30% BW) after a standardized warm-up. Post measures of countermovement jump, 15-m sprint, and modified t-test were utilized for analyses.

One way repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant difference in the countermovement jump performance, F (3, 60 = 9.06, η2 = 2.21, P = 0.000. Post-hoc showed that WBV + 30% BW posted significant difference compared to (P = 0.008), ST + 30% BW (P = 0.000) and WBV (P = 0.000). There was also a significant difference in the sprint times among interventions, F (3, 60) = 23.0, η2 = 0.865, P = 0.000. Post hoc showed that WBV + 30% BW displayed significantly lower time values than ST (P = 0.000), ST + 30% BW (P = 0.000) and WBV (P = 0.000). Lastly, there was a significant difference in the agility performance across experimental conditions at F(2.01, 40.1) = 21.0, η2 = 0.954, P = 0.000. Post hoc demonstrated that WBV have lower times than ST (P = 0.013). Also, WBV + 30% BW posted lower times compared to ST (P = 0.000), ST + 30% (P = 0.000) and WBV (P = 0.003).

Additional external load of 30% bodyweight under WBV posted superior gains in countermovement jump, speed and agility compared to unloaded WBV, loaded non-WBV and unloaded non-WBV interventions.