Whole-Body Vibration and the Prevention and Treatment of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness

Context: Numerous recovery strategies have been used in an attempt to minimize the symptoms of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Whole-body vibration (WBV) has been suggested as a viable warm-up for athletes. However, scientific evidence to support the protective effects of WBV training (WBVT) on muscle damage is lacking. Objective: To investigate the acute effect of WBVT applied before eccentric exercise in the prevention of DOMS. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: University laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 32 healthy, untrained volunteers were randomly assigned to either the WBVT (n 5 15) or control (n 5 17) group. Intervention(s): Volunteers performed 6 sets of 10 maximal isokinetic (606/s) eccentric contractions of the dominant-limb knee extensors on a dynamometer. In the WBVT group, the training was applied using a vibratory platform (35 Hz, 5 mm peak to peak) with 1006 of knee flexion for 60 seconds before eccentric exercise. No vibration was applied in the control group. Main Outcome Measure(s): Muscle soreness, thigh circumference, and pressure pain threshold were recorded at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days postexercise. Maximal voluntary isometric and isokinetic knee extensor strength were assessed at baseline, immediately after exercise, and at 1, 2, 7, and 14 days postexercise. Serum creatine kinase was measured at baseline and at 1, 2, and 7 days postexercise. Results: The WBVT group showed a reduction in DOMS symptoms in the form of less maximal isometric and isokinetic voluntary strength loss, lower creatine kinase levels, and less pressure pain threshold and muscle soreness (P , .05) compared with the control group. However, no effect on thigh circumference was evident (P , .05). Conclusions: Administered before eccentric exercise, WBVT may reduce DOMS via muscle function improvement. Further investigation should be undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of WBVT in attenuating DOMS in athletes. Key Words: eccentric exercise, muscle strength, creatine kinase Key Points N After a bout of eccentric exercise, a whole-body vibration training session was associated with reduced symptoms of delayed-onset muscle soreness when compared with no vibration training. N Maximal isometric and isokinetic voluntary strength loss, plasma creatine kinase level, pressure point threshold, and muscle soreness were less than in the control group. N No effect on thigh circumference was seen

Asymmetric resting scapular posture in healthy overhead athletes

Context: Observation of the scapular posture is one of the most important components of the physical examination in overhead athletes. Postural asymmetry is typically considered to be associated with injuries. However, asymmetry in the overhead athlete's scapula may be normal due to the dominant use of the limb. Objective: To quantify the differences in resting scapular posture between the dominant and nondominant sides in 3 groups of healthy overhead athletes (baseball pitchers, volleyball players, and tennis players) using an electromagnetic tracking device. Design: Cross-sectional design. Setting: University-based biomechanics laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 43 players participated, including 15 baseball pitchers, 15 volleyball players, and 13 tennis players. All participants were healthy college-aged men. Intervention(s): Bilateral 3-dimensional scapular kinematics with the arm at rest were measured using an electromagnetic tracking device. Main Outcome Measure(s): Bilateral scapular position and orientation were measured. Between-groups and between-sides differences in each variable were analyzed using separate analyses of variance. Results: In tennis players, the scapula was more protracted on the dominant side than on the nondominant side (P , .05). In all overhead athletes, the dominant-side scapula was more internally rotated (P 5 .001) and anteriorly tilted (P 5 .001) than the nondominant-side scapula was. Conclusions: The dominant-side scapula of the overhead athletes was more internally rotated and anteriorly tilted than the nondominant-side scapula. The dominant-side scapula of the tennis players was more protracted than that on the nondominant side. Clinicians evaluating overhead athletes need to recognize that scapular posture asymmetry in unilateral overhead athletes may be normal. Our results emphasize the importance of the baseline evaluation in this population in order to accurately assess pathologic change in bilateral scapular positions and orientations after injury

Has the Historian’s craft gone digital? Some observations from France

Since the end of the 1980s the historiographical context has changed considerably. Over the course of the last ten years, we have reached the “digital age” and computers as well as resources available via the Internet have become indispensable tools for all researchers. Be it for the stage of documentation or for actual writing, we are now living and working in a context where historians can no longer completely refuse all IT tools. As long as there are no solid, durable, large-scale training efforts to equip all historians with the skills to use the new and old IT tools, their potential is necessarily limited. While there have been studies on “researchers” in general and also on political scientists in particular, there has, to our knowledge, been no scientific study which would allow us to reach conclusions on the use of IT tools and digital resources by French historians. It is thus difficult to reach conclusions on a larger scale and we have decided to base our analysis on our own experience in order to consider what could be the transformations of the historian’s craft in the digital age. We will thus proceed first to a series of conclusions based on our activities in mediation (teaching and blogging), before proposing a typology of the principal evolutions. We will conclude with a certain number of propositions as far as training of historians is concerned