Acute effects of unilateral whole body vibration training on single leg vertical jump height and symmetry in healthy men

[Purpose] The aim of the present study was to investigate the acute effects of unilateralwhole body vibration training on height and symmetry of the single leg vertical jump inhealthy men. [Subjects] Thirty males with no history of lower limb dysfunctionparticipated in this study. [Methods] The participants were randomly allocated to one ofthree groups: the unilateral vibratory stimulation group (n=10), bilateral vibratorystimulation group (n=10), and, no vibratory stimulation group (n=10). The subjects in theunilateral and bilateral stimulation groups participated in one session of whole bodyvibration training at 26 Hz for 3 min. The no vibratory stimulation group subjectsunderwent the same training for 3 min without whole body vibration. All participantsperformed the single leg vertical jump for each lower limb, to account for the strong andweak sides. The single leg vertical jump height and symmetry were measured before andafter the intervention. [Results] The single leg vertical jump height of the weak lowerlimb significantly improved in the unilateral vibratory stimulation group, but not in theother groups. The single leg vertical jump height of the strong lower limb significantlyimproved in the bilateral vibratory stimulation group, but not in the other groups. Thesingle leg vertical jump symmetry significantly improved in the unilateral vibratorystimulation group, but not in the other groups. [Conclusion] Therefore, the present studyfound that the effects of whole body vibration training were different depending on thetype of application. To improve the single leg vertical jump height in the weak lowerlimbs as well as limb symmetry, unilateral vibratory stimulation might be moredesirable.Key words: Single leg vertical jump, Symmetry, Whole body vibration