Hormonal and Neuromuscular Responses to Mechanical Vibration Applied to Upper Extremity Muscles

Objective: To investigate the acute residual hormonal and neuromuscular responses exhibited following a single session of mechanical vibration applied to the upper extremities among different acceleration loads. Methods: Thirty male students were randomly assigned to a high vibration group (HVG), a low vibration group (LVG), or a control group (CG). A randomized double-blind, controlled-parallel study design was employed. The measurements and interventions were performed at the Laboratory of Biomechanics of the University of L’Aquila. The HVG and LVG participants were exposed to a series of 20 trials610 s of synchronous whole-body vibration (WBV) with a 10-s pause between each trial and a 4-min pause after the first 10 trials. The CG participants assumed an isometric push-up position without WBV. The outcome measures were growth hormone (GH), testosterone, maximal voluntary isometric contraction during bench-press, maximal voluntary isometric contraction during handgrip, and electromyography root-mean-square (EMGrms) muscle activity (pectoralis major [PM], triceps brachii [TB], anterior deltoid [DE], and flexor carpi radialis [FCR]). Results: The GH increased significantly over time only in the HVG (P=0.003). Additionally, the testosterone levels changed significantly over time in the LVG (P=0.011) and the HVG (P=0.001). MVC during bench press decreased significantly in the LVG (P=0.001) and the HVG (P=0.002). In the HVG, the EMGrms decreased significantly in the TB (P=0.006) muscle. In the LVG, the EMGrms decreased significantly in the DE (P=0.009) and FCR (P=0.006) muscles. Conclusion: Synchronous WBV acutely increased GH and testosterone serum concentrations and decreased the MVC and their respective maximal EMGrms activities, which indicated a possible central fatigue effect. Interestingly, only the GH response was dependent on the acceleration with respect to the subjects’ responsiveness.