Single muscle fibre contractile properties differ between body-builders, power athletes and control subjects.

What is the central question of this study? Do the contractile properties of single muscle fibres differ between body-builders, power athletes and control subjects? What is the main finding and its importance? Peak power normalized for muscle fibre volume in power athletes is higher than in control subjects. Compared with control subjects, maximal isometric tension (normalized for muscle fibre cross-sectional area) is lower in body-builders. Although this difference may be caused in part by an apparent negative effect of hypertrophy, these results indicate that the training history of power athletes may increase muscle fibre quality, whereas body-building may be detrimental.

Microcirculation of skeletal muscle adapts differently to a resistive exercise intervention with and without superimposed whole-body vibrations.

Whole-body vibration (WBV) training is commonly practiced and may enhance peripheral blood flow. Here, we investigated muscle morphology and acute microcirculatory responses before and after a 6-week resistive exercise training intervention without (RE) or with (RVE) simultaneous whole-body vibrations (20 Hz, 6 mm peak-to-peak amplitude) in 26 healthy men in a randomized, controlled parallel-design study. Total haemoglobin (tHb) and tissue oxygenation index (TOI) were measured in gastrocnemius muscle (GM) with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Whole-body vibrations do not elevate the angiogenic stimulus when applied during resistance exercise.

Knowledge about biological factors involved in exercise-induced angiogenesis is to date still scanty. The present study aimed to investigate the angiogenic stimulus of resistance exercise with and without superimposed whole-body vibrations. Responses to the exercise regimen before and after a 6-week training intervention were investigated in twenty-six healthy male subjects.

Randomized controlled study on resistive vibration exercise (EVE study): protocol, implementation and feasibility.

Objectives: A training intervention comparing resistance exercise with or without whole-body vibration (WBV) was conducted to compare acute and chronic effects on functional and molecular parameters.

Methods: A six-week training intervention was performed including 26 healthy males (26 years, SD=4). Two groups were analyzed in a parallel design performing either resistive exercise (RE, n=13) or resistive vibration exercise (RVE, n=13) training with weekly increasing vibration frequencies (20-40Hz).