Cardiovascular responses in sedentary adult men, following a 12- week whole-body vibration training

Abstract

Whole-body vibration training has become increasingly popular as a training modality in fitness and health centres hence some evidence also indicates that it can produce salutogenic outcomes in patients suffering metabolic such as blood pressure and other defects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of a 12-week whole-body vibration training intervention on cardiovascular performance of apparently healthy, but sedentary male adults. Fifty (50) adult males (age 18 – 40 years) were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups to participate in a 12-week intervention study. During baseline testing, the following parameters were determines namely; heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and double product (SBPxHR). Cardiac ultrasound recordings were used to determine end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume and ejection fraction. The intervention group (IG) followed a 12-week progressive whole-body vibration training (WBVT) regimen, while the control group (CG) continued with their normal daily activities. Following the 12-week WBVT, 23 and 17 participants in the IG and CG respectively were re-assessed. Results showed a statistically significant changes after 12 weeks of WBVT in the following cardiovascular parameters: systolic (132 mmHg vs. 116 mmHg) and diastolic (85 mmHg vs. 78 mmHg) blood pressure, double product (9176 vs. 8446) and end-diastolic volume (312 ml vs. 437 ml) in the IG, while in the CG, a significantly lower ejection fraction occurred in the post-intervention assessment. During pre-intervention assessment significant differences were observed between the IG and CG in the variables, viz. systolic blood pressure (132 mmHg v. 124 mmHg), double product (9196 vs. 8902), enddiastolic volume (312 ml vs. 363 ml) and end-systolic volume (141 ml vs. 101 ml). In the posttest assessment all differences in the pre-test assessment were statistically corrected for. The results in this study therefore indicate that WBVT could be used as an  ffective training modality to improve cardiovascular function in adult males. As such, WBVT is recommended for use in sedentary adults given its benefits.

Keywords: Whole-body vibration training, heart rate, blood pressure, cardiovascular responses.