Energy Expenditure During Whole Body Vibration Training

Abstract

Whole body vibration (WBV) has been suggested as an effective, alternative approach to moderate intensity exercise. Vibration causes instability throughout the body which stimulates stabilization muscles to contract, thus increasing energy expenditure (EE). PURPOSE: To evaluate EE while standing and while exercising on a WBV platform. METHODS: Fourteen healthy subjects (6 male/8 female) consented to participate in this IRB-approved study (18-29y; 71.8 ± 8.6 kg; 169.0 ± 7.6 cm). Participants completed four conditions in four-minute stages on the WBV platform separated by four minutes of rest. Condition 1: standing, no vibration; Condition 2: standing, with vibration; Condition 3: standing, wearing a vest loaded with 20% body weight, with vibration; Condition 4: wearing a vest loaded at 20% body weight while performing half-squats (15 squats in 30 sec, 30 sec rest), with vibration. Shoes were worn at all times. Oxygen consumption was measured using a wireless, wearable metabolic system which measured breath-by-breath VO2. EE (kcal/min) was averaged for the last minute of each condition and rest period and analyzed for differences over time using a one-way ANOVA with repeated measures at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Energy expenditure was significantly different between all WBV conditions (p < 0.05; 1.78 ± 0.35 kcal/min; 2.02 ± 0.42 kcal/min; 2.32 ± 0.50 kcal/min; 5.51 ± 1.12 kcal/min, for conditions 1-4, respectively). EE values returned to baseline between each condition, with the exception of the values between Conditions 2 and 3 (p < 0.05) (1.86 ± 0.40 kcal/min; 2.07 ± 0.54 kcal/min; 1.94 ± 0.53 kcal/min, for rest 1-3, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Results show a significant difference in EE between all conditions, but simply standing on the WBV platform with vibration does not produce EE similar to moderate intensity exercise. In fact, standing on the WBV platform is similar to a slow walk at 2.2 mph. By comparison, performing weighted half-squats on the vibrating platform is similar to running at 6.5 mph. Our study confirms previous research showing that WBV does increase EE but in order to reach a level consistent with “moderate” exercise, one must actually perform moderate exercise on the platform. WBV training may confer other benefits to flexibility and circulation that warrant further study.