title: Whole-Body Vibration Exercise Therapy Improves Cardiac Autonomic Function and Blood Pressure in Obese Pre- and Stage 1 Hypertensive Postmenopausal Women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Whole-body vibration (WBV) is an unconventional exercise therapy that appears to provide the same benefits of resistance training in postmenopausal women while being more safe and gentle on the joints. This study evaluated the effect of an 8-week WBV exercise regimen on heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure (BP) in obese postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled study with two parallel groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five (age 50-65 years) obese (body-mass index >30 and <40 kg/m2) postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were randomly assigned to a WBV training group or nonexercising control group. Participants in the WBV group completed the supervised training 3 times a week. WBV training consisted of four static and four dynamic leg exercises (normal, high, and wide-stance squats and calf-raises) with vertical vibration (25-40 Hz and low-high amplitude) progressed throughout the 8 weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brachial systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) and HRV: sympathovagal balance (natural logarithm of low frequency [LnLF]/natural logarithm of high frequency [LnHF]; normalized low frequency [nLF]/normalized high frequency [nHF]), parasympathetic tone (LnHF, nHF, natural logarithm of root mean square of successive differences [LnRMSSD]), sympathetic tone (LnLF, nLF), natural logarithm of total power, and heart rate (HR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant group × time interactions (p < 0.05) for brachial SBP, DBP, LnLF/LnHF, and nLF/nHF that significantly decreased (p < 0.01) after WBV, compared with no changes after control. There was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in nHF and decrease in nLF in the WBV group compared with baseline, yet the changes were not different than those in the control group. No significant changes were observed in LnTP, LnLF, LnHF, LnRMSSD, or HR after 8 weeks in either group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WBV training for 8 weeks is an adequate unconventional exercise intervention for improving sympathovagal balance and BP in previously sedentary obese postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Health and Human Performance, Marymount University , Arlington, VA.
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, The Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Alvarado
authors.affiliation: 3 Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, AL.
authors.forename: Amber W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Kinsey
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, The Florida State University , Tallahassee, FL.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Figueroa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D017698:Postmenopause; D014732:Vibration / Q000627:therapeutic use*
keywords: alternative therapy; exercise; heart rate variability; menopause