OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if vibration therapy is more effective than the standard treatment of stretching and massage for improving recovery of muscle strength and reducing muscle soreness after muscle damage induced by eccentric exercise. DESIGN: A randomized, single-blinded parallel intervention trial design was used. SETTING: Research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty untrained men aged 18 to 30 years completed the study. INTERVENTIONS: Participants performed 100 maximal eccentric muscle actions (ECCmax) of the right knee extensor muscles. For the next 7 days, 25 participants applied cycloidal vibration therapy to the knee extensors twice daily and 25 participants performed stretching and sports massage (SSM) twice daily. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in markers of muscle damage (peak isometric torque (PIT), serum creatine kinase (CK), and serum myoglobin (Mb)), muscle soreness (visual analog scale), and inflammation (serum c-reactive protein (CRP)) were assessed. RESULTS: After ECCmax, there was no difference in recovery of PIT and muscle soreness or serum CK, Mb, and CRP levels between vibration and SSM groups (p > 0.28). CONCLUSIONS: Cycloidal vibration therapy is no more effective than the standard practice of stretching and massage to promote muscle recovery after the performance of muscle-damaging exercise. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Prescription of vibration therapy after maximal exercise involving eccentric muscle damage did not alleviate signs and symptoms of muscle damage faster than the standard prescription of stretching and massage.
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