Effects of vibration therapy on muscle soreness and athletic performance in wheelchair basketball players

Introduction

Vibration therapy (VT) has been widely used to increase performance and rehabilitate injuries in athletes. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), caused by excessive overload after training and competitions, leads to loss of performance.

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of wearable local VT on muscle soreness and athletic performance in wheelchair basketball (WCB) players.

Method

A non-randomized crossover design was used in this study in which thirteen elite WCB athletes (31.84 ± 12.59 years) participated. A two-week washout period was applied between the measurements of the control and the vibration groups. Muscle soreness, range of motion (ROM), joint position sense, 20-m sprint speed, and shooting percentage were evaluated for all participants pre-exercise, 30 min and 24 h post-exercise for both arms. After eccentric exercise, immediately local wearable VT was applied to both triceps brachii muscles for 10 min in the vibration group.

Results

Compared to baseline, there was a significant increase in muscle soreness and a significant decrease in joint position sense, ROM, sprint speed and shooting percentage in both groups 24 h post-exercise (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the groups for muscle soreness and 20-m sprint speed (p > 0.05). However, there were significant improvements in elbow ROM, elbow joint position sense, and shooting percentage in the VT group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The local VT may help improve the elbow ROM, elbow joint position sense, and shooting performance but can't contribute to reducing muscle soreness and sprint performance in recovery from exercise.