Comparison of whole-body vibration exercise and plyometric exercise to improve isokinetic muscular strength, jumping performance and balance of female volleyball players.
Yong-Youn Kim, Si-Eun Park
PMID 27942136WHAT IT FOUND
After 8 weeks, whole-body vibration improved lumbar and knee strength and balance but not jump height; plyometric exercise improved jump height and knee extension strength but not balance.
Key findings
01Whole-body vibration showed significant increases in muscle strength measured with a fixed-speed dynamometer and in eyes-closed balance test scores, but not in vertical jump.
02Plyometric exercise showed a significant increase in vertical jump and knee extension strength, but not in lumbar flexion or extension, knee flexion, or eyes-closed balance test scores.
03Two of thirty randomly assigned players dropped out due to injuries, leaving 28 analysed.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 28 players were analysed after 30 were randomly assigned, and the two excluded players dropped out due to injuries. The supplied text does not say whether participants, trainers or assessors were blinded, so expectation or measurement effects cannot be excluded. The paper lists strength, jump and balance outcomes and does not identify one primary outcome, so the mixed results should not be collapsed into one overall effect. The participants were female professional volleyball players, so the findings may not apply to other athletes, patients or recreational players. The paper reports outcomes only after the 8-week programme, so longer-term effects are not shown.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that either exercise improves all three outcomes. Whole-body vibration did not show a significant increase in vertical jump, and plyometric exercise did not show a significant increase in Romberg balance scores.