Acute Effect of Vibration Roller With and Without Rolling on Various Parts of the Plantar Flexor Muscle.

Masatoshi Nakamura,Shigeru Sato,Riku Yoshida,Yuta Murakami,Andreas Konrad,Ryosuke Kiyono,Kaoru Yahata,Koki Yasaka

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.716668

Masatoshi Nakamura, Shigeru Sato + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.716668

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Abstract

A single use of a vibration foam roller likely increases the range of motion (ROM) without decreasing muscle strength and athletic performance. However, to date, no study compared the effects of a vibration roller with and without rolling on various parts of the plantar flexor muscle. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of the vibration foam roller with rolling or without rolling at the muscle-tendon junction (MTJ) or the muscle belly on dorsiflexion (DF) ROM, passive torque at DF ROM, shear elastic modulus, muscle strength, and jump performance. Fifteen healthy young males performed the following three conditions: (1) vibration rolling over the whole muscle-tendon unit, (2) static vibration on muscle belly, and (3) static vibration on MTJ for three-set 60-s vibration in random order. In this study, DF ROM, passive torque, shear elastic modulus, muscle strength, and single-leg drop jump were measured before and immediately after the interventions. The DF ROM and passive torque at DF ROM were increased after all three conditions, whereas the shear elastic modulus was decreased after vibration rolling and static vibration on the muscle belly, but not following static vibration of the MTJ. In addition, there were no significant changes in muscle strength and jump performance in any group. Our results showed that vibration with rolling or static vibration on muscle belly could be effective to improve ROM and muscle stiffness without adverse effects of muscle strength and athletic performance.

Highlights

In sports and rehabilitation settings, various approaches are performed to increase joint flexibility [i.e., range of motion (ROM)] and decrease passive muscular stiffness
No consensus exists on the superior effect of vibration foam rolling (FR) intervention to FR without vibration (GarcíaGutiérrez et al, 2018; Lee et al, 2018); a meta-analysis has speculated that vibration FR interventions could induce a greater increase in ROM than FR intervention alone based on less evidence (Wilke et al, 2020)
Our results showed that vibration with and without rolling, i.e., static compression of the muscle belly or muscle-tendon junction (MTJ) could increase ROM, whereas vibration with rolling and static compression of the muscle belly could decrease muscle stiffness, but not after static compression of MTJ

Summary

Introduction

In sports and rehabilitation settings, various approaches are performed to increase joint flexibility [i.e., range of motion (ROM)] and decrease passive muscular stiffness. A meta-analysis study indicated foam rolling (FR) intervention as effective as static stretching to increase ROM (Wilke et al, 2020) without decreasing muscle strength or athletic performance (Sullivan et al, 2013; Lee et al, 2018; Wiewelhove et al, 2019; Phillips et al, 2021). As reported in many previous studies, certain duration static stretching intervention could decrease the muscle strength, the so-called stretch-induced. A possible superior effect of vibration FR intervention over FR intervention alone could be attributed to greater changes in mechanoreceptors due to vibration (Behm and Wilke, 2019)

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