The impact of vibrating foam rollers on the heart rate and fitness of older women

To increase the mobility of the joints in a warm-up before exercise and during regeneration after exercise, foam rollers are often used. The use of foam rollers with a built-in vibrator also seems to be an interesting solution. Vibrations can additionally stimulate muscular spindles and Golgi tendon organs, affecting proprioception. As some studies show, vibration foam rolling (VR) can improve flexibility and sports performance. However, it is not known whether VR is more beneficial than using non-vibrating rollers. In addition, VR has the potential to improve the physical condition of seniors. Therefore, the main goal of Taiwanese scientists was to analyze the acute impact of a single VR on blood pressure, heart rate and senior fitness test (SFT) results.

• VR does not change the blood pressure of older women.
• VR may improve flexibility, muscle strength, cardiovascular performance and dynamic balance.
• Under the physiotherapist supervision, VR can be used by older people in home conditions.

Prepared on the basis of:

Acute Effects of Vibration Foam Rolling with Light and Moderate Pressure on Blood Pressure and Senior Fitness Test in Older Women. Yang WC, Chen CH, Chu LP et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 25;18(21):11186.

Study population

The study included 15 elderly: healthy women aged 72.9 ± 4.3 years.

Test procedure

The examined women underwent 3 different warm-up protocols in random order. Each one consisted of a general warm-up: walking (5 min) + static stretching. In the first protocol, no additional procedures were used, while in the second one – VR with light compression (VRL), and in the third – VR with moderate compression (VRM).

Blood pressure, heart rate, as well as SFT results were analyzed before and after each warm-up protocol. More specifically, after the first warm-up element, after walking, pre-intervention measurements were taken, and after the entire warm-up protocol – post-intervention measurements.

Use of vibration in the study

The VRL protocol uses passive rolling of selected muscles with a Vyper 2.0 foam vibrating roller (Hyperice, USA), operating with a vibration frequency set at 48 Hz. Pressure was applied at the level of 2-3 mm on a 10 mm pain analog visual scale (VAS).

The VRM was made the same as the VRL, except that a pressure level of 4-5mm VAS was implemented.

Results

Systolic blood pressure increased significantly after all three warm-up protocols (p <0.05).

Both VRL and VRM protocols improved SFT (including back scratching, 30s chair standing, 30s arm curls, and 8 feet up and go) compared to the control group (p <0.05). In addition, VRM showed greater improvement in the 2-minute step test compared to the VRL.

Comment

The presented results show that the inclusion of VR in the warm-up protocol before exercising in healthy seniors may be more effective in increasing physical performance than general warm-up. The authors conclude that VR has an immediate positive effect on flexibility, muscle strength, cardiovascular performance, and dynamic balance in older women. They also suggest that healthy older adults may consider VR as a home exercise, albeit with proper supervision.

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