Skip to main content
Presentation
The Acute Effects of Whole Body Vibration on Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Performance
CESSCE Coaches College
  • W. Guy Hornsby, West Virginia University
  • Mark A. South, East Tennessee State University
  • Ashley Kavanaugh
  • Andrew S. Layne, Tennessee State University
  • G. Gregory Haff, Edith Cowan University
  • William A. Sands
  • Marco Cardinale
  • Michael W. Ramsey, East Tennessee State University
  • Michael H. Stone, East Tennessee State University
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
12-1-2009
Description

Acute exposure to vibration has been suggested to produce transient increases in muscular strength (1,2,8), vertical jump displacement (4,8), and power output (2,6,7) recorded while performing various tasks. It has been hypothesized that the reported acute vibration induced increases in performance occur as a result of alterations in neuromuscular stimulation (1,3,4). Specifically, most studies have ascribed the observed improvements to the likeliness of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) in producing a “tonic vibration reflex” (TVR) in which the primary nerve endings of the Ia afferents of the muscle spindle are activated. This is thought to result in the excitation of the alpha-motor neurons and activation of the extrafusal fibers (4) which likely leads to a greater synchronization of motor units as a result of homonymous motor unit contraction. However, not all investigations report improvements in muscular strength (4), vertical jump (7), and power production in response to acute vibration (4). While the current body of scientific knowledge offers conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of WBV in augmenting neuromuscular performance it is possible that WBV may result in alterations to specific aspects of the force-time curve during the performance of a maximal isometric contraction. Therefore, the primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of WBV performed using 30 Hz frequency and 2-4 mm amplitude on the force-time curves of an isometric mid-thigh pull.

Location
Johnson City, TN
Copyright Statement

Copyright The Authors.

Citation Information
W. Guy Hornsby, Mark A. South, Ashley Kavanaugh, Andrew S. Layne, et al.. "The Acute Effects of Whole Body Vibration on Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Performance" CESSCE Coaches College (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark-south/5/