Whole Body Vibration Training

This evidence-based review summarises information on the effectiveness and safety Whole Body Vibration across a range of populations for varying purposes. It is not intended to replace clinical judgement or to be used as a clinical protocol. A reasonable attempt has been made to find and review papers relevant to the focus of this report. It does not claim to be exhaustive. This document has been prepared by staff of the ACC Evidence Based Healthcare Advisory Group. The content does not necessarily represent the official view of ACC or represent ACC policy. This report is based upon information supplied up to the end of May 2008. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Gill Hall (EBH Team Leader) and Peter Larking (Acting EBH Team Leader) from Research Services, ACC, who provided advice and comment internally, and Christine Powell and Helen Brodie of ACC Information Services, who obtained hard copies of the studies included in the review. Background Athletes and their trainers', geriatricians and patients would all like simple methods to improve musculoskeletal performance and recover more speedily from injury. Resistance training is a common way to improve muscle performance across many populations; it involves lifting weights such as dumbbells or even bags of flour and also embraces lifting your own body weight as in push-ups and squats. However, for the elderly that type of training is often unachievable or may be unattractive. Scientists have sought ways to enhance muscular performance in other ways and one strategy that has been developed to do this is to administer low frequency mechanical vibrating stimulus to parts or all of the body. Whole body vibration (WBV) involves the person standing or sitting on a platform whilst vertical vibrations are applied to the body. The vibrations are transmitted through the rest of the body through the feet or buttocks. It is claimed that when WBV is used alone, i.e. without resistance training, it improves muscle power and/or strength parameters in the lower limbs, improves balance control and enhances recovery from injury. More recent studies have assessed the efficacy of WBV in diseases or conditions of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems (e.g. cerebral palsy and following knee ligament repair) and with the elderly with a view to improving balance. With the proportion of elderly in the population increasing, morbidity arising from declining musculoskeletal function is an increasingly important public health issue and evidence of efficacy could …