Cardiometabolic Responses of Body-Weight Exercises with and without Vibration

Abstract

This investigation examined the interactive effect of body-weight (BW) exercises and vibration on cardiometabolic responses.  Fourteen subjects performed a BW exercise protocol with (BW+V) and without (BW‒V) vibration in a randomized order.  The BW exercise protocol consisted of three circuits of eight calisthenics-based exercises including prisoner squat, push-up, isometric squat, reverse dip, lunge, flutter kicks, isometric lunge, and T push-up.  Vibratory frequency and amplitude were set at 40 Hz and 4 mm, respectively.  Oxygen uptake (VO₂), heart rate (HR), expired ventilation (V_E), and blood lactate ([La] were determined during the protocol and 30 min recovery.  The mean VO₂ reached 48% and 50% of VO₂max and the mean HR reached 80% and 83% of HRmax in BW‒V and BW+V, respectively.  During the protocol, while the mean V_E was greater (p=0.031) in BW+V than BW-V, no differences were seen for VO₂ and HR between the two conditions.  During recovery, while mean VO₂ was greater (p=0.002) in BW+V than BW-V, no differences were seen for V_E and HR between the two conditions.  [La] were significantly elevated, but remain similar between the two conditions.  Exercise-specific VO₂ was higher during prisoner squat (p=0.003) and isometric squat (p=0.042) in BW+V than BW‒V, while no differences in VO₂ were observed for all other exercises.  Performing three circuits of eight BW exercises in a rapid-and-intense manner produced a sufficient increase in cardiometabolic responses.  Metabolic potentiation associated with combining vibration with BW exercises seemed to be influenced by how the exercises were carried out on a vibration platform.