Effect of Whole Body Vibration on Parameters of Muscle Damage Following the Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness: A Systematic Review

Many kinds of daily living activities and sports require a combination of eccentric and concentric contractions. Mechanical stress caused by the contraction, especially eccentric contraction, can increase congestion and muscle fiber damage. Thus, reducing muscle soreness may decrease the risk of damage to the tissues and help the individual start activities soon. A variety of methods may be used in order to prevent the damage. One of these methods is using the Whole Body Vibration (WBV). The purpose of the present study was evaluateing the effect of WBV on muscle damage indicators.
Articles published between 2000-2016 in GoogleScholar, PubMed, Elsevier, IRANDOC, SID, and Research gate databases were searched using “Whole Body Vibration”, “Muscle Injury”, and “Delay Onset Muscle Soreness” keywords. A total of 19 articles relevant to the topic were selected and studied according to inclusion criteria. The study was conducted using the evidence-based Duffy method.
According to the literature review, delayed muscle soreness causes pain and decreased muscle strength and range of motion. There are many interventions that reduce delayed muscle soreness. Also, the review of the literature showed that time, frequency, athletic or non-athlete, type of activity performed (type of contractions and their duration), frequency of exercise, rest time between therapy, and WBV individually or concurrently with other treatments are the effective factors demonstrating the effectiveness of WBV on muscle injury indices in healthy persons.
The results of the study demonstrated that WBV increases the blood flow and range of motion, improves strength, reduces pain, and can be an effective method to decrease delayed muscle soreness considering the effective factors. This is while, more research in this area can lead to better understanding of the effects of WBV on parameters of muscle damage following the delayed-onset muscle soreness.