Comparing effects of local vibration and sit-up exercise on abdominal local fat thickness in young healthy women

 Introduction: Obesity is one of the health problems. Obesity, especially abdominal obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Strengthening exercises are usually used to reduce localized fat. Many studies have investigated the effect of whole body vibration on body fat, while there is no study to evaluate the application of local vibration on local fat thickness. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of local vibration and sit-up exercise on abdominal local fat thickness in the young healthy women. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was carried out on 54 healthy young women who were obese or overweight. They were randomly assigned in one of the following three experimental groups: local vibration, sit-up exercise, (3times a week for 12 weeks) and control group (no intervention). The local thickness of abdominal fat and the waist circumference were measured before and after intervention. Results: Mean and standard deviation of local fat thickness before and after intervention showed that abdominal local fat thickness significantly decreased in the vibration (p< 0.05) and Sit-up exercise (p< 0.05) groups. In the vibration group, mean changes of local thickness of abdominal fat was significantly higher than the sit up exercise group (p< 0.05). The mean changes of waist circumference did not show significantly difference between three groups (p=0.155). Conclusion: This study showed that local vibration can reduce abdominal local fat thickness in young healthy women. The results also indicated that local vibration is more effective than exercise alone on the abdominal fat reduction.