J Appl Physiol., 2010; 109(6): 1801-11, PMID: 20864564
Countermeasures against lumbar spine deconditioning in prolonged bed rest: resistive exercise with and without whole body vibration
Year: 2010
Belavý DL, Armbrecht G, Gast U, Richardson CA, Hides JA, Felsenberg D
Centre for Muscle and Bone Research, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. belavy@gmail.com
Abstract
To evaluate the effect of short-duration, high-load resistive exercise, with and without whole body vibration on lumbar muscle size, intervertebral disk and spinal morphology changes, and low back pain (LBP) incidence during prolonged bed rest, 24 subjects underwent 60 days of head-down tilt bed rest and performed either resistive vibration exercise (n = 7), resistive exercise only (n = 8), or no exercise (n = 9; 2nd Berlin Bed-Rest Study). Discal and spinal shape was measured from sagittal plane magnetic resonance images. Cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of the multifidus, erector spinae, quadratus lumborum, and psoas were measured on para-axial magnetic resonance images. LBP incidence was assessed with questionnaires at regular intervals. The countermeasures reduced CSA loss in the multifidus, lumbar erector spinae and quadratus lumborum muscles, with greater increases in psoas muscle CSA seen in the countermeasure groups (PGID: 2509; Last update: 13.01.2011