The Influence of Externally Applied Vibration and Compression on Muscular Performance and Recovery

The impact between heel and ground during walking and running generates a shock wave that travels through the body and induces vibrations to the skeleton and soft tissues. Such vibrations may also be generated by devices such as vibrating tools or whole-body vibration platforms. The implications of vibrations on soft tissues have been studied for many decades, and the effects of vibrations range from induced damage to nerves, muscles and vascular tissue to positive effects such as reduced lower back pain, improved muscular performance and increased bone mechanical properties. The effects of soft tissue vibrations on muscle performance during naturally occurring and artificially induced vibrations are, however, poorly understood. This is indicated by the ongoing debate about the role of soft tissue vibrations during running and the missing guidelines for safe and effective whole-body vibration training. This thesis, therefore, aimed to quantify vibration characteristics during running and whole-body vibration training. In addition, the effects of vibrations on maximal elbow extension torque and the effect of vibration damping by means of compression apparel and the resulting effects on running economy were tested. The results showed that (a) vibrations become more intense and potentially longer during prolonged running, (b) elbow extension torque was reduced during vibration exposure, (c) the local, muscular, oxidative metabolic demand increased with increasing vibration frequency on a vibration platform, (d) the accelerations on soft tissues during vibration training exceeded levels related to tissue injury for short periods of time, and (e) compression apparel did not improve running speeds at the aerobic or anaerobic thresholds and did not improve blood lactate recovery times. Vibrations were shown to affect muscle metabolism and motor performance, while compression apparel may not contribute to running performance. However, small changes in vibration application site, vibration amplitude and frequency, and changes in body position have a large impact on the observed effects and future research is needed to exploit the great potential of safe vibrations and vibration treatment.