Health Benefits of Whole-body Vibration

The overall goals of this pilot investigation are to determine 1) the feasibility of conducting home based WBV studies, and 2) to determine if sub-acute home based WBV can improve a) exercise capacity, b) conduit- and micro- vascular function, and c) skeletal muscle function.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the world and many comorbid conditions (i.e. diabetes, obesity) can affect overall CVD risk. There is increasing interest into the role that skeletal muscle health plays in mediating CVD risk, particularly in metabolic disease states (ie. obesity and diabetes). Whole body vibration (WBV) has emerged as an exercise mimetic that may be more tolerable than traditional modes of exercise, such as treadmill walking/running or cycling. Similar to traditional exercise modalities, WBV can elicit beneficial metabolic effects. In fact, a single bout of WBV increases circulating concentrations of IL-6, which correspond with the normalization of glucose and insulin in obese individuals. The proposed pilot investigation will provide the foundation to begin understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms of how sub-acute WBV can improve overall CVD risk. We hypothesize that home based WBV will decrease CVD risk by improving skeletal muscle and vascular function via a decrease in systemic inflammation.