Effect of Whole Body Vibration Conditions on Lower Limb Muscles during Sling Exercise

Hyun-Ji Woo,Tae-Kyu Kwon,Mi Yu

doi:10.3390/app12031299

Abstract

Exercising in an unstable environment, such as with the use of a sling, improves neuromuscular adaptation by providing effective training stimuli. Moreover, whole body vibration has been used to restore the physical function of patients with nervous system and musculoskeletal disorders. However, there have been few studies on the most appropriate exercise method of combining unstable surface and WBV. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a sling and sonic vibration stimulation on muscle activation while performing a Bulgarian split squat (BSS). Twenty male subjects (age 25.95 ± 2.42 years old, height: 172.59 ± 5.56 cm, weight: 77.74 ± 10.82 kg) participated in the study. The participants randomly performed five types of BS using a sling and sonic vibration (BSS–0 Hz, BSS–4 Hz, BSS–8 Hz, BSS–12 Hz, BSS–20 Hz, and BSS–30 Hz). Each condition was repeated five times. A 60-s break was given for each condition to minimize muscle fatigue. We measured the muscular activities in the gluteus medius, biceps femoris, rectus femoris, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis. It was observed that muscle activation increased during exercise conditions that provided a sling and sonic vibration in all muscles. In particular, the highest activation appeared in the condition wherein a vibration of 30 Hz was provided. Our results show that the sling exercise combined with a sonic vibration of 30 Hz during the BSS has positive effects on lower limb muscle activity.

Highlights

This study aims to investigate the impact of vibration and an unstable environment, such as that with a swing, on the activation of lower limb muscles during the performance of a Bulgarian split squat (BSS)
This result agrees with a previous study by Krause et al [2], Gluteus medius plays the most important role when fixing the lower limb, straightening the which reported an increase in gluteus medius activation during lunge exercise
whole body vibration (WBV), stimulation input from the vibration platform stimulates the Ia afferent fiber located in the muscle spindle and activates the muscles connected by the α-motor neuron

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. For enhancing the training effect in sports and rehabilitation exercises, various intervention methods have been implemented, such as providing an unstable environment, whole body vibration, progressive resistance exercise, and task-oriented training [1]. Among the intervention methods, exercising in an unstable environment stimulates the neuromuscular system to induce joint contraction of muscles, and improves mobility and stability through co-contraction of agonistic and antagonistic muscles, maximizing the exercise effect. Through the exercise, neuromuscular control training and sensorimotor integration for a single joint can be obtained; muscle activation increases [2,3]. Exercising in an unstable environment improves neuromuscular adaptation by providing effective training stimuli

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Conclusion