Is the Whole-Body Vibration Exercise Important to a Variety of Professional Sports?

Whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise has been used as a modality of physical exercise. It is generated in an individual who is exposed to mechanical vibrations produced in a vibrating platform. WBV exercise is also considered as a clinical intervention used in the management of individuals with different clinical conditions. Moreover, it has been utilized to improve the performance of healthy trained and untrained individuals. It is reported that WBV exercise can promote various physiological effects, such as an increase in muscle strength and power, speed, and flexibility. These effects can contribute to improving the performance of these individuals. As a consequence, it is expected that WBV exercise might provide an important alternative for professionals of various sports. The aim of this study was to identify modalities of sports that use WBV exercise to improve factors related to performance. Searches were performed in PubMed and Scopus with the keywords “whole body vibration” and "sport" on January 15, 2021. In PubMed, 564 publications were identified, and in the SCOPUS, 200. Fifty-eight publications were selected when a modality sport was clearly defined in the title. Professionals of different ages were included in the studies, and the presence of males and females was also found. Thirty-six types of sports were found in the publications. Sports performed (i) for a single individual, as well as (ii) collective sports, on the land and in water, and (iii) sports using the feet or hands, were found among the publications. The most cited sports were soccer, basketball, and swimming. Besides the relevance of WBV exercise in clinical application, the analysis of these findings indicates the importance of this modality of physical activity to professionals of a variety of sports. This is probably due to the known physiological response of the body to the mechanical vibration generated in the vibrating platform that is transmitted to the body of the athletes.