Effect of a Specific Vibration Program and Exercise Training on Bone Mineral Density in Osteoporotic and Healthy Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine and compare the effects of a specific vibration program with exercise-training on bone mass density (BMD) and body composition, for a period of eight months, in healthy and osteoporotic postmenopausal women. Forty seven, postmenopausal women were divided into five groups: exercise group of healthy women (n=10), vibration group of healthy women (n=13), control group of healthy women (n=9), exercise group of osteoporotic women (n=7) and vibration group of osteoporotic women (n=8). The exercise groups participated in a) a supervised combined aerobic and resistance exercise program b) a vibration exercise training on a vertical whole body vibration platform (35-40Hz, 1.5mm).At the end of the study, an increase in the BMD of lumbar spine L2-L4 was observed in the healthy exercise group (+1.23%, p<.05), as well as a positive trend in the osteoporotic exercise group, maintenance in the vibration groups, and decrease in the control group (-1.59%, p<.05). The sum of skin folds of the exercise groups decreased significantly after the intervention (healthy exercise group p<.01 and osteoporotic healthy group p<.05), but there were no significant differences in vibration groups. The above results indicated that conventional training contributed to the prevention of osteoporosis, reduced the sum of skin folds, while the vibration program helped to maintain BMD in healthy and osteoporotic postmenopausal women.