A preliminary study on whole-body vibration and resistance training on bone remodeling and exercise metabolism in young women

Introduction: Preliminary vibration training studies have indicated the benefits of whole-body vibration training on stimulating bone formation in animal models, reducing bone loss in postmenopausal women and enhancing bone and muscle gains in young adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of graded whole-body vibration training or whole-body vibration plus resistance training on bone mineral density (BMD), haematological measures for bone remodeling and exercise metabolism in young adult women. Twenty-seven active adult women (mean [SD]) age 21.88 [3.52] years; height 166.24 [6.74] cm; body mass 67.48 [9.82]) kg, participated in a university based whole-body vibration training intervention. Methodology: Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: whole-body vibration (WBV); whole-body vibration training plus resistance training (WBV+RT); or control (CONT); for the duration of a 16 week training program. The vibration trained participants performed twice weekly sessions of graded whole body vibration interspersed with one minute rest intervals (WBV) or with incremental resistance training (WBV+RT). Vibration was set at 50 Hz at an amplitude of 4-6 mm. Participants were measured for vertebral L2-L4, femoral neck, wards triangle and trochanter BMD. Blood samples were also collected and measured for serum calcium, serum bone ALP, osteopontin (OPN), interlukin-1 (IL-1β), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and adiponectin. Results: An alpha level of p < 0.05 was used for all statistical comparisons. A repeated measure ANOVA found no significant group differences in BMD at the completion of 16 weeks of training. However, a significant within group change was apparent for the WBV (2.7% femoral neck) and WBV+RT (femoral neck 1.9%; vertebra 0.98%) groups as BMD increased above baseline testing after training. The WBV group experienced significant (p < 0.05) 60% increase in adiponectin, 48% in TGF-β1 and 17% in NO with an accompanying 50% decrease in OPN, 19% in IL-1β and 38% in TNF-α. Likewise the WBV + RT group experienced a significant (p < 0.05) 58% increase in adiponectin, 30% in TGF-β1 and 34% in NO with an accompanying 36% decreases in OPN, 34% in IL-1β and 39% in TNF-α. Conclusions: The results indicate that short bouts of whole-body vibration training was effective in improving BMD in the weight bearing skeleton of young adult women. Vibration may also provide an efficient stratagem for young women to achieve peak bone mass and help stave off osteoporosis later in life and provide a novel form of physical training.