The effects of whole-body vibration on muscle strength and power: a meta-analysis.

Exercise with whole-body vibration (WBV) is becoming popular as an alternative to conventional training or as supplementary training. However, despite increasing research efforts in this field, additive effects of WBV on muscle performance remain unclarified. In this review, we investigated the additive effects of long-term WBV on muscle strength and power. This meta-analysis was restricted to randomized controlled trials lasting for at least 5 weeks comparing exercise with and without WBV, or comparing only WBV exposure and control. Data from a total of 314 participants in 10 studies on knee extension muscle strength, and 249 participants in 7 studies on countermovement jump height were pooled using random-effect models. Meta-analysis showed significant additional effects of WBV on muscle strength (standardized mean difference [SMD]=0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.21-1.32; p=0.007) and countermovement jump (SMD=0.87, 95% CI=0.29-1.46; p=0.003). Based on these findings, we concluded that the use of WBV would lead to greater improvements in both knee extension muscle strength and countermovement jump than under identical conditions without WBV.
PMID: 23989260