Vibration therapy is a method of recovery that acutely increases blood flow and motor neuron activity pre and post exercise. The effects vibration has on recovery and performance within rest intervals of repeated resistance exercise are unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vibration foam rolling and vibration plate therapy within the inter-set rest period on repetition performance, changes in range of motion (ROM) and session rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Twelve trained (3.1 ± 1.5 years’ experience) males (21.1 ± 1.7 years, 82.5 ± 12.5 kg) participated in this study. Participants underwent a 15-repetition maximum (15RM) seated leg extension assessment. Three protocols were adopted in a counterbalanced randomised crossover design: Passive rest – four sets to repetition failure using 15RM load of leg extension with three-minute passive rest intervals between sets; Vibration foam rolling – 30 seconds of rolling each hamstring and quadricep at 40 Hz within a three minute rest interval between each set; Vibration plate therapy – two-minutes of static quarter squat on vibration plate at 40 Hz during three-minute rest intervals between each set. Pre and post each protocol, ROM assessment scores were collected along with session RPE. No significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed for ROM and RPE scores among the three recovery methods. A significant (p = 0.001) increase in number of repetitions was observed for vibration plate therapy compared to vibration foam rolling within the fourth set. However, no significant (p > 0.004) differences were observed compared to passive rest among all sets. The results of this study suggest vibration therapy between sets of resistance exercise has no significant effects on ROM, session RPE and the number of repetitions performed, compared to passive rest. Vibration plate therapy proved to significantly produce more repetitions than vibration foam rolling in the final set.
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