Acute Effects Of Vibration Foam Rolling On Lower Limb Performance In College Basketball Players

: Basketball is a sport heavily reliant on lower limb explosive power, and nearly all basketball actions require optimal lower limb strength. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance lower limb strength and explosive power. In recent years, vibration foam rolling has been widely used in warm-ups or post-exercise recovery. Previous research has primarily focused on the impact of vibration foam rolling on flexibility and muscle hardness, with limited exploration concerning its effects on lower limb explosive performance in basketball players. PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the acute effects of using vibration foam rolling as a warm-up exercise on lower limb explosive power in college basketball players. METHODS: Eight college basketball players participated in this study. Each participant underwent measurements of leg length, weight, height at 90 degrees, followed by the pre-test assessments, intervention, and post-test assessments. Pre- and post-test assessments included measuring jump heights (counter-movement jump [CMJ], squat jump [SJ], and drop jump [DJ]) and count time (CT) using the My Jump 2 app. The eccentric utilization ratio (EUR) and reactive strength index (RSI) were calculated based on these measurements. Vibration foam rolling intervention was applied to five lower limb muscle groups at 48 Hz for 30 s per muscle group, totaling 5 min. Paired sample t-tests were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 29 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) to analyze differences between pre- and post-test data. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed in CMJ height (from 35.56 to 37.86 cm, P < .05), SJ height (from 34.11 to 36.30 cm, P < .05), DJ height (from 36.29 to 38.51 cm, P < .05), and CT (from 0.442 to 0.422 s, P < .05) between pre- and post-tests. However, there is no significant differences on the performance between pre- and post-test on EUR (from 1.04575 to 1.0455, P > .05) and significant differences on RSI (from 0.837 to 0.933, P < .05). CONCLUSION: Using vibration foam rolling as a warm-up exercise demonstrated significant enhancements in jumping ability and landing reaction capacity in college basketball players. In the future, comparing the effects of vibrating foam rolling and dynamic warm-ups on the lower limb performance of collegiate basketball players could help determine the effective approach.