The Recovery Benefit on Skin Blood Flow Using Vibrating Foam Rollers for Postexercise Muscle Fatigue in Runners

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the effect of vibrating rollers on skin blood flow after running for recovery from muscle fatigue. Method: 23 healthy runners, aged between 20 to 45 years, participated in a crossover trial. Muscle fatigue was induced by running, and recovery using a vibrating roller was determined before and after the intervention. Each subject was measured at three time points (prerun, postrun, and postroller) to compare skin blood flow perfusion and blood flow oscillation at the midpoint of the dominant gastrocnemius muscle. The results show that blood perfusion is greater when a vibrating roller is used than a foam roller, but there is no statistical difference. The analysis of blood flow oscillation shows that vibrating rollers induce 30% greater endothelial activation than a foam roller. Vibrating rollers significantly stimulate the characteristic frequency for myogenic activation (p < 0.05); however, the effect size is conservative.

Does Vibration Foam Roller Influence Performance and Recovery? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…The main characteristics of the 10 studies included in this systematic review are shown in Table 1 . Jointly, they evaluated a total of 236 subjects (74.1% male) through a crossover design ( n = 7) [ 9 , 13 , 14 , 19 , 29 – 31 ] or a randomized trial ( n = 3) [ 10 , 15 , 18 ]. Seven investigations [ 9 , 10 , 13 – 15 , 29 , 31 ] compared the use of VFR with FR and other studies analyzed the effects of VFR in comparison with static ( n = 4) [ 14 , 19 , 27 , 28 ] or dynamic stretching ( n = 3) [ 15 , 19 , 27 ].…”

“…Recently, vibration has been added to the FR devices with the aim of increasing their benefits [ 8 ]. Specifically, this vibration was expected to produce an in-depth stimulation of the tissues rolled, especially the mechanoreceptors of the joints and blood vessels [ 9 , 10 ]. Moreover, a greater contribution of the mechanoreceptors has been reported with vibration foam roller (VFR), suggesting that the vibration could influence deeper into the tissue through mechanisms of the neuromuscular system but also at a central level [ 8 , 11 – 13 ].…”

“…Moreover, a greater contribution of the mechanoreceptors has been reported with vibration foam roller (VFR), suggesting that the vibration could influence deeper into the tissue through mechanisms of the neuromuscular system but also at a central level [ 8 , 11 – 13 ]. In this regard, VFR appears to have higher benefits than FR in ROM [ 14 – 17 ], performance [ 7 , 18 , 19 ] and recovery [ 9 , 10 , 20 ], but more evidence is needed to support these results since several studies also reported detrimental effects in jump and strength performance [ 15 , 21 ]. FR and VFR are easy to use and their benefits could be achieved with short-time interventions [ 7 , 21 ].…”

“…FR and VFR are easy to use and their benefits could be achieved with short-time interventions [ 7 , 21 ]. For these reasons, the use of these tools has been included in several sport practices, both in the warm-up and after exercise to cool down or decrease the effects of exercise-induced fatigue [ 9 – 11 ]. Nevertheless, VFR has been less studied, and it is considerably more expensive than FR, so its value is still unclear.…”

Effect of vibration foam rolling on the range of motion in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Most of the referenced studies had included results that were based on whole-body vibration and not local vibration. Other previous studies compared the effects of VFRs and FRs in improving blood flow to the skin and reported that although they were more effective, there was no statistically significant difference ( Lai et al, 2020 ). We consider that the pressure of the FR along with vibration worked synergistically to improve the blood flow.…”