Key Practical Points from Effects on Local Vibration
- Pre-exercise local vibration reduces functional signs and chemical markers of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and may improve performance in subsequent frequent workouts.
- Local vibration is effective for reducing acute muscle pain (and can be added to a home program via the devices like the Hypervolt by Hyperice® or similar devices).
- Local vibration alone may be sufficient to increase strength in deconditioned muscles/individuals.
- Current research implies that adding vibration to self-administered release techniques (SMR) (e.g. foam rolling) enhances benefits for DOMS, pain pressure sensitivity, and increasing proprioception. Further research is needed to refine protocols and determine whether adding vibration to SMR enhances benefits for increasing range of motion and improving power performance when used as a warm-up.
Protocol for Using Percussion Massage Device
- Start with a higher setting and superficially (with gentle pressure) trace the entire surface of the muscle.
- Setting 3 is likely appropriate for the lower body.
- Take a mental note of dense or sensitive points. Manual therapists may use the opposite hand to palpate for taut bands and nodules (trigger points).
- Stay away from areas where the bone is superficial. Using percussion massage devices over bone may be uncomfortable, painful, and/or cause bruising. Placing a finger or thumb over bony protuberances will prevent accidental contact.
- Using a piece with a smaller surface area and lower setting (setting 1), return to the dense/sensitive points using deeper compression.
- It may be helpful to add tension or slack by shortening or lengthening the target tissue
- The Brookbush Institute recommends 30 seconds to 2 minutes per muscle group, and 5 minutes as an upper limit even in the case of multiple trigger points.
Best Body Position:
Bony Areas: (Block with a thumb or finger when approaching these areas)
- Lateral and medial condyles of the femur
Muscles:
- Biceps femoris - The long head and the short head are superficial, tube-shaped muscles on the lateral aspect of the posterior thigh. Resisted tibial external rotation can be used to differentiate between the biceps femoris and semimembranosus/semitendinosus . The lateral border of the biceps femoris abuts the vastus lateralis , a knee extensor, again knee flexion can be used to differentiate between these two muscles.
- Common trigger points - The long and short heads of the biceps femoris are in the middle of the muscle bellies. The middle of the short head of the biceps femoris is roughly halfway between the mid-point of the femur and the knee, and the middle of the long head of the biceps femoris is roughly the mid-point of the length of the thigh.
