Whole Body Vibration: The Effect of Position and Frequency on Perceived Exertion in Healthy, Active Adults

Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is a new exercise trend in fitness and performance enhancement. WBV platforms oscillate over a range of frequencies and amplitudes; however no study to date has examined the experience of perceived exertion with differences in vibration frequency and static or dynamic body position, nor examined the difference between sexes based on position and frequency during WBV. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of position and frequency on perceived exertion during WBV in healthy, active adults. A convenience sample of 39 healthy young adults who participated in moderated exercise was blinded and randomly allocated to six WBV conditions composed of different frequency and position combinations. The participants received instruction, provided informed consent, participated in a warm-up session, and then reported rating of perceived exertion for each WBV condition. A 2×3 within-subjects multivariate approach ANOVA was conducted against an alpha of 0.05. A statistically significant main effect of position (p = 0.004) and significant main effect of frequency (p = 0.025) were found. Significant marginal means were found between the frequencies of 0 Hz and 50 Hz (p = 0.007). Statistically significant differences were found between sexes for all combinations.