Local vibration improves recovery from prolonged exercise in overweight and obese women

Abstract

One of the primary forms of obesity management is dietary intervention and the introduction of regular physical activity. The main limitation is the acceptability of the proposed form of exercise, which will be hindered by symptoms associated with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Therefore, the aim of this project was to confirm the hypothesis that post-exercise restitution is accelerated by vibration therapy treatments. Twenty non-exercising women with abnormally high BMI values were recruited for the project. The women were subjected to an exercise intervention in the form of interval exercise at individually adjusted intensities. After exercise, they were subjected to 60 minutes of vibrotherapy (study group) or rested passively on placebo mattresses (control group). Myoglobin (Mb) and creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities were examined at three time points: immediately after exercise (0); after an hour of recovery (vibration or placebo) (I); and 24 hours after exercise (II). Significantly higher results of the tested markers in measurement I were indicated, which pointed out that exercise caused the release into the bloodstream of a number of factors indicative of myocyte damage. For each of the markers tested, measurements showed lower values in the vibrotherapy group. After 24 hours, LDH activity in the treatment group returned to baseline. The results of Mb and CK in measurements I and II were significantly higher than baseline, and for each of them, favorable lower values were observed in the vibration-treated group. In overweight and obese women, vibration therapy as a form of post-workout recovery intervention appears to be effective.