The Effect of Whole Body Vibration Exercise and Mental Practice on Balance of Elderly Men

Background The present research aimed to study the effects of whole body vibration, mental practice and combined vibration and mental practice on static and dynamic balance of elderly men. Methods & Materials This was a semi-experimental research. The participants included 42 healthy, elderly men aged 60-80 years from Mashhad who was randomly categorized into 4 groups: vibration (n=12), mental practice (n=10), combined practice (n=10) and control (n=10). The experimental groups practiced their specific protocols for 8 weeks, 3 sessions a week. The vibration group practiced 6 body positions based on the overload principle with intensity 30-35 HZ and 5 mm amplitude. The mental group practiced for the same duration of time as the vibration group meanwhile the control group was just engaged in their daily life routine. Static and dynamic balances were assessed using stability tests on Biodex and TUG tests, respectively. One-way ANOVA with Gabriel post Hoc was applied in order to analyze the data. The significance level was set at alpha <= 0/05. Results Our results showed a significant difference between the control group and mental practice (P=0.005), and combined training group (P=0.026) regarding their static balance. However no difference was observed between the control group and vibration group (P=0.422) or between the two experimental groups. Results of the dynamic balance showed significant difference between groups (P=0.001) and in comparison control group there was significant difference with vibration group (P=0.001), mental group (P=0.004), and combined training group (P=0.001). Conclusion It seems that 8 weeks of mental, vibration and combined vibration and mental practice could improve dynamic balance of the participants and mental practice, and combined vibration and mental practice could improve their static balance.