Whole-body vibration as a potential countermeasure for dynapenia and arterial stiffness

Age-related decreases in muscle mass and strength are associated with decreased mobility, quality of life, and increased cardiovascular risk. Coupled with the prevalence of obesity, the risk of death becomes substantially greater. Resistance training (RT) has a well-documented beneficial impact on muscle mass and strength in young and older adults, although the high-intensity needed to elicit these adaptations may have a detrimental or negligible impact on vascular function, specifically on arterial stiffness. Increased arterial stiffness is associated with systolic hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, and myocardial ischemia. Therefore, improvements of muscle strength and arterial function are important in older adults. Recently, whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise, a novel modality of strength training, has shown to exhibit similar results on muscle strength as RT in a wide-variety of populations, with the greatest impact in elderly individuals with limited muscle function. Additionally, WBV training has been shown to have beneficial effects on vascular function by reducing arterial stiffness. This article reviews relevant publications reporting the effects of WBV on muscle strength and/or arterial stiffness. Findings from current studies suggest the use of WBV training as an alternative modality to traditional RT to countermeasure the age-related detriments in muscle strength and arterial stiffness in older adults.