Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the modern world, markedly in postmenopausal women. Increased arterial stiffness, measured as increased pulse wave velocity (PWV), and endothelial dysfunction are large contributors to the development of CVD during aging. Skeletal muscle mass has an inverse association with arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction which may illustrate increased risk for CVD in sedentary normal-weight women. However, age-related loss of strength (dynapenia) greatly exceeds loss of mass (sarcopenia) and while not related to increased PWV, it is associated with increased risk for CVD, disability, and all-cause mortality. High intensity resistance exercise training (RET) is the most effective exercise modality for prevention and treatment of sarcopenia and dynapenia. However, previous research has shown detrimental effects to the vascular system. Low-intensity RET (LIRET) is an effective form of exercise to increase muscle mass and strength, however with no effect in vascular or endothelial function in sedentary populations. Whole-body vibration training (WBVT) uses a vibrating platform to increase muscle activity during exercise and has a proposed thixotropic effect to increase blood flow to the working muscle. Additionally, WBVT reduces blood pressure and arterial stiffness with concurrent increases in muscle mass and strength similar to traditional moderate- and high-intensity RET. However, conventional WBVT uses the body weight as the only workload. Thus, to perform an exercise at a similar intensity as LIRET, an additional external weight may be needed during WBVT. PURPOSE: The aim of this study were; 1) to evaluate the effects of 12 weeks of WBVT and LIRET on hemodynamics and arterial stiffness; 2) to evaluate the effects of WBVT and LIRET on muscle strength as well as physical performance (6-minute walk test); and 3) to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of WBVT and LIRET on endothelial function and vasodilatory response to exercise. METHODS: Thirty-one postmenopausal women were stratified by age, body mass index (BMI), and maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) (age, 65 ± 4 years; BMI, 23.2 ± 2.6 kg/m2; MVC, 17.3 ± 2.7 kg) and randomized into 2 experimental intervention groups, WBVT and LIRET, or a control group for 12 weeks. WBVT and LIRET consisted of 3 supervised exercise sessions per week (4 leg exercises). The following parameters were measured before and after 12 weeks of the assigned intervention: brachial and aortic systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP), heart rate, augmented pressure (AP), augmentation index (AIx), AIx adjusted to 75 beats per minute (AIx@75), carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV), brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), femoral-ankle PWV (faPWV), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), brachial and popliteal diameter, mean blood velocity (MBV), blood flow, vascular conductance, active and reactive hyperemia, 6-minute walk test time (6MWT), and leg strength including leg press (LP), flexion (LFlex), and extension (LExt). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between groups for any variables except for HR and 6MWT distance, which were lower and higher, respectively, in the WBVT compared to the other two groups at baseline. There were no significant changes in peripheral or central pressures over the 12-week intervention period. The WBVT group had significant reductions in AIx (-4.2 ± 1.5%, P = 0.016), AIx@75 (-4.2 ± 1.7 %, P = 0.033), and cfPWV (-.42 ± .18 m/s, P = 0.041) over the 12-week training protocol. There were significant group-by-time interactions for reductions in AP and AIx (with AIx@75 trending P = 0.051) in the WBVT, but not in LIRET or control groups (P < 0.05). Although resting brachial and popliteal characteristics (i.e. diameter and flow) were similar at rest between groups, WBVT and LIRET induced greater vasodilatory responses to flow-mediated dilation compared to control (P < 0.01), illustrating increased endothelial function. Additionally, WBVT elicited a greater vasodilatory response immediately post-exercise in the popliteal artery (4.9 ± 1.4 %, P = 0.007) compared to no change in control. Both, WBVT and LIRET elicited significant increases in LP, LFlex, and LExt over time (P < 0.01). These increases were significantly greater than no change in the control group. Additionally, WBVT induced a greater increase (19.2 ± 3.7%) in LExt strength compared to the increase (8.4 ± 2.6%) observed in the LIRET group (P = 0.007). The increase in LExt strength in the WBVT group was strongly associated with decreased AP (r= -.586, P = 0.045) and AIx (r=-.713, P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: We show that WBVT significantly reduced AIx and increased leg extension strength following 12 weeks of training compared to LIRET and control. The present study demonstrates that WBVT decreases central pressure wave reflection, an effect that was not accomplished by LIRET, despite similar increases in LP and LFlex strength. Interestingly, both WBVT and LIRET increased endothelial function as measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (systemic effect). WBVT increasing exercise-induced vasodilation in the popliteal artery (local effect) following a 6MWT with no changes in LIRET or control. While WBVT and LIRET induced similar changes in leg strength and systemic endothelial function, only WBVT reduced known indices of left ventricle afterload that are associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Therefore, while LIRET may be a feasible modality to attenuate dynapenia, it is not effective in addressing the cardiovascular risk associated with reduced muscle mass and strength in apparently healthy postmenopausal women. WBVT may be the most efficacious modality to address these concerns.