The application of an acute bout of whole-body vibration (WBV), whereby athletes stand on a vibrating platform prior to exercise, has been shown to increase short-term anaerobic leg power (Cardinale & Lim, 2003; Cochrane & Stannard, 2005; Torvinen et al., 2002). The use of WBV has not, for the majority of cases, been applied to a sport specific event. The purpose of this study was to determine if WBV, included as part of a warm-up, will increase peak power output during standing sprint cycling. Methods: Ten experienced cyclists performed two separate performance tests comprising of a ten second standing sprint on a cycle ergometer. Preceding both performances participants performed a ten minute cycling warm-up. In one of the two warm-ups participants were also exposed to a two minute bout of WBV after the cycle specific warm-up. Results: No significant difference was found for peak power (p = 0.17), time to peak power (p = 0.47), peak cadence (p = 0.46) and time to peak cadence (p = 0.18) between trials. Discussion: The main finding from this study is that the use of WBV prior to maximal sprint cycling does not increase peak power output. The repeated eccentric - concentric action that skeletal muscle undergoes during WBV may not be an appropriate intervention for the predominant concentric only activity of cycling (Cochrane et al., 2008). Previous successful intervention studies have utilised exercises that incorporate the stretch-shortening cycle during eccentric - concentric activity such as a countermovement jump (Cardinale and Lim, 2003; Cochrane and Stannard, 2005; Cormie et al., 2006; Torvinen et al., 2002). The results suggest that WBV does not affect the concentric only action of cycling.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Veröffentlicht von Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.