Abstract
BackgroundWhole body vibration was an effective training for improving muscle performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of 12-week whole-body vibration training program on voluntary activation of quadriceps muscles of older people with age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia).MethodsTwelve community dwelling seniors with age-related muscle loss were randomly allocated into whole body vibration training group and control group. The training lasted for 12 weeks. Twitch interpolation were conducted to examine the voluntary activation of quadriceps at pre- and post-intervention.ResultsAlthough there was no significant difference between whole body vibration training group and control group on the absolute values of the interpolated twitch ratio after 12 weeks of training. The changed values of ratio (Post minus Pre) were significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.044).ConclusionsThe voluntary activation of quadriceps muscles of older people with age-related muscle loss was facilitated after 12 weeks of WBV training with 40 Hz × 4 mm × 360 s. Considering the small sample size of this study, it may only provide a piece of evidence that WBV is effective for facilitating the central motor drive in seniors with age-related muscle loss. More subjects are needed to confirm the present finding.Trial registrationISRCTN63583948, registered on 16th January 2017, retrospectively registered.
Highlights
Whole body vibration was an effective training for improving muscle performance
The age-related muscle loss is accompanied by decreased muscle strength, which would lead to the disability and failure in physical performance in daily life
In this study, the interpolated twitch ratio increased from 71.92 to 73.0% in the subjects with a 12-week whole body vibration (WBV) training program, while those in the control group showed a decrease by 1.72%
Summary
Whole body vibration was an effective training for improving muscle performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of 12-week whole-body vibration training program on voluntary activation of quadriceps muscles of older people with age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia). The age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) is accompanied by decreased muscle strength, which would lead to the disability and failure in physical performance in daily life. Many studies had reported that the increase in muscle strength was not in line with the changes in muscle mass [7,8,9]. Some previous studies confirmed that the voluntary activation of muscles was facilitated after long-term physical training [10, 11]. Knight and Kamen reported the voluntary activation of knee extensors increased in both young and old subjects after 6 weeks of resistance training [11]
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