Stochastic Resonance Whole Body Vibration (SR-WBV) Does Not Affect the Body Composition of Healthy Young Women: A Preliminary Controlled Before–After (CBA) Study

Abstract

According to the WHO, overweight and obesity, defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, are a major risk factor for many diseases. The bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a commonly used method of assessing body composition in clinical practice and medical research. When the BIA reveals abnormalities, the recommended therapeutic procedure is to modify the diet and implement physical activity. One method that can reinforce or support physical activity is whole-body vibration (WBV). Vibrating devices with stochastic resonance (SR) generate vibrations of variable amplitude and frequency. For people with unhealthy body composition who cannot undertake physical activity for various reasons, procedures with stochastic resonance seems to be a good solution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of stochastic resonance whole-body vibration (SR-WBV) on the body composition of women. Measured BC parameters included fat mass (FM, kg), percent body fat (PBF, %), visceral fat area (VFA, cm2), soft lean mass (SLM, kg), fat-free mass (FFM, kg), skeletal muscle mass (SMM, kg), body cell mass (BCM, kg), protein (kg), minerals (kg), bone mineral contents (BMC, kg), intracellular water (IW, l), extracellular water (EW, l), total body water (TBW, l), extracellular water/total body water (EW/TBW). The study involved 240 healthy young women with normal body composition (BC) and low or moderate physical activity levels. Two groups were randomly formed from among all participants: the V group included 134 women participating in 12 SR-WBV procedure sessions over 6 weeks; the C group included 106 women not participating in SR-WBV procedure sessions over 6 weeks. The stochastic procedure consisted of 12 sessions over 6 weeks. One session lasted 15 min, consisting of nine active series of vibrations lasting 45 s each with 40 s breaks between series. The vibration frequency was 2–8 Hz and the amplitude ranged 0.5–3.5 mm. While observing the effect of SR-WBV vibrations on body composition in the group of women, no statistically significant changes were found. Hence, we conclude that the stochastic resonance vibration procedure cannot be recommended as a way to modify body composition in healthy young women characterized by normal body composition and low or moderate physical activity levels.