The effect of four different vibratory stimuli on dynamic range of motion of the hamstrings

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of four different segmental vibratory stimulation (VS) loads on dynamic range of motion (ROM) of the hamstrings.DesignThis study used a randomised cross-over design.ParticipantsTen male club level athletes (age 22.7±3.6 yr, height 181.2±6.51 cm, mass 84.9±12.3 kg) volunteered to participate.Outcome measuresA two factor repeated measures ANOVA (intervention × time) with post hoc comparisons was used to determine whether any vibration setting produced a significantly greater ROM change (p⩽0.05).ResultsA significant increase in dynamic ROM was found for three out of the four vibration loads (1.6–2.1%). VS using load parameters of 5 mm amplitude, 44 Hz, 49.4 m s−2 resulted in the greatest mean ROM improvement, however, this was not significantly different to the increases observed for the other loading parameters. The VS treatment effects (effect sizes ∼1.2 and greater) in these studies were for the most part larger than the treatment effects found in research using more traditional stretching methods.ConclusionsSegmental vibration in combination with various stretching techniques may offer interesting options in terms of improving ROM in the short and long term.