3 Health Concerns About Vibration Training
Note: Vibration Therapy/Training has been used successfully and safely for almost 100 years - with no problems recorded. It is only recently that marketers have jumped into this technology with no background knowledge and only sales in mind. Trust me I worked for them and their concern for your health is ZERO. Anything that may divert a sale will not be approached let alone researched. The programs I originally developed for Power-Plate where rejected due to complaints from their marketing department. Follow these and you will get all the benefits with none of the safety concerns.
Unsupervised Use
The unrestricted/unsupervised use of Vibration Training equipment has been a concern of mine since I first started writing original material in 2003. As Product Manager of Power-Plate I saw the potential for abuse of the units in several ways. Their refusal to acknowledge my concerns was one of the reasons for my departure.
Some of them being:
- Overuse
- Incorrect poses
- Incorrect Fq
I will list the reasons for these concerns and why I believe the sooner the “real” industry starts talking to each other and laying down some restrictions , the better.
Overuse
Possible symptoms include:
Chronic Fatigue
This can cause everything from just plain tiredness to a massive drop in your immune system (leading to other health disorders). This one is simple - you ask your body to do too much and it can’t keep up.Think about this; in an average Vibration Training session you may do approx. 30,000 separate movements. This is like running a marathon for most people, and because it is actually do-able for most people, it is primed for abuse. But your body simply can’t expend that amount of energy and keep going for long. You will get sick eventually.- Hyperthyroidism
This is a state where your regulatory glands are over-activated causing a large fluctuation in your hormone levels. This can lead to fluid retention, problems with hormone sensitive organs such as the ovaries (for women). At the exteme end this condition can cause multiple organ failure. Note: I have had one case reported to me so far from South Africa where a lady was using a plate for over 40 minutes a day (and she was following her instructors advice). So this theory was not a fanciful idea as was put to me when I first aired my concerns. Unfortunately I expect to hear about more such cases before anything concrete is done. - Tissue Breakdown
This is when the healing cycle is not allowed to complete itself. Your body breaks down more cells than it can rebuild before you re-damage the area. Long distance runners have always had this problem with their knees.
Incorrect Poses
This one sounds self-explanatory but it is obviously not, from what I have seen on many a Vibration Training poster sold with machines and on-line.
Our joints are only designed to work at high use at precise angles. Moving away from these angles can cause unnecessary wear and tear. It can also cause neck injuries. That is where a good instructor is very important - they will re-correct you during your time on the units so no problems occur.
Incorrect Fq
This is a tricky one as so may of the units available go to the lower Fq, hence people believe it must be safe. The fact is lower Fq should only be used for limited physiotherapy programs due to the unsafe nature of what they call resonance Fq.
This is where waves bounce off each other causing a disturbance in an area. In this case your internal organs give off their own resonance and matching these is not a good idea. They range from 5Hz-20Hz. Again misuse could cause disturbance to organ function. Keeping away from these Fq by a factor of 10Hz should allow safe use of units over a lifetime.
Note: Some cheaply built units are NOT doing the Hz setting showed on the display. Some are slowing down with only a load of 20-80kg. One major brand was tested - unloaded - and it was still slower by 13hz than its advertised specs. And that was with no-one on it.
Safety First
This article was not written to scare anyone off Vibration Training, just to show how serious we are about putting up this type of training for scrutiny . We will never create a safe industry by burying potential problems as is the normal procedure for marketers and corporates .
Written by Lloyd Shaw on May 30th, 2007
190 Comments
- Harvey
May 31st, 2007Lloyd/Anyone
Is there any research out there looking at tissue damage due to resonance frequencies? I know that the degree to which vibrations travel through the body is an individual thing, but is there any research giving ball-park guidlines?
- Harvey
May 31st, 2007http://www.go-gethealthy.co.uk/power-plate.php
Check out the body response on the video! never seen anyone vibrate like that !
- Harvey
May 31st, 2007Whole Body Vibration (WBV) seen in the industrial setting:
What is it?
Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is caused from Vibrations passing through the body via machinery. Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is a widespread recognised industrial problem affecting many workers, in many industries, but particularly in construction, agriculture, forestry and transport, where vibration exposure from use of vehicles or plant in these industries is, is regular, prolonged and frequent. It is a disorder which can affect the lower back, spine and possibly the neck and shoulders. WBV has been associated with these disorders, but may not be the whole cause of such disorders, as the symptoms can be due to other causes associated with posture, and manual handling.Effects
The most commonly reported injury relating to Whole Body Vibration is back pain. Exposure to Whole Body Vibration can cause a complex distribution of oscillatory motions and forces within the body, causing unpleasant sensations which can amount in discomfort and aggravation. The longer the exposure time the greater the chance you will suffer back injury.
Whole Body Vibration can be caused by:
• The movement of the wheels or tracks of a vehicle or mobile machine crossing an uneven or rough surface. If the driver experiences shocks or jolts, or is thrown around in the cab by such terrain, this will contribute significantly to the levels of WBV.
• Using mobile machines to excavate holes or trenches in the ground.
• Using mobile machines to load materials (e.g. sand) into Lorries.
• The rotation of helicopter rotor blades causing high WBV levels to be transmitted though the airframe into the seats.
• Boats travelling fast across rough seas.
• Railway vehicles (especially old rolling stock).
• The operation of large static compaction, hammering or punching machines, such as hammer drills and mobile crushers.Lower back pain may be caused by prolonged exposure to WBV from the above sources, but there can be other possible contributing factors, such as:
• Poor posture whilst driving or operating plant.
• Sitting for long periods without being able to change position.
• Poorly placed controls which require the driver/ operator to stretch or twist to operate them, or driving over rough ground whilst checking over the shoulder on the operation of attached equipment.
• Manual lifting and carrying of heavy objects, especially if this is combined with the effects of WBV from driving or operating vehicles or plant.
• Repeatedly climbing into or jumping out of high or difficult access vehicle cabs.All above factors (including WBV) can separately cause back pain. The risk will be increased, however, where a person is exposed to two or more factors together.
Who is at risk?
Some Vehicles and plant are likely to cause or aggravate back problems and involve exposure to high levels of Whole Body Vibration are:
• Forklift Trucks
• Off Road vehicles
• Tractors and Farm Vehicles and machinery
• Heavy construction/Maintenance vehicles and plant
• Excavators, loading shovels, road rollers
• Quarrying vehicles and plant
• Helicopters
• Fast Boats
• Railway vehicles
• Large Static machines, used in compaction, hammering or punchingThis is list is by no means comprehensive and where people regularly work where vehicles and plant such as these for prolonged periods, there is likely to be a risk of exposure to high levels of Whole Body Vibration (WBV). It is safest to regard regular prolonged use of any high vibration vehicle or plant as suspect, particularly if such devices produce (or are subject to) frequent shocks and/or jolts.
To successfully protect your workforce from the effects of Whole Body Vibration it is vital that you the employer has in place effective Whole Body Vibration Management Systems.
The following actions are suggested to help reduce the risk of WBV injury: Inform: Drivers can control their exposure to WBV when they know the risks and the steps they can take to reduce their exposure.
How we can help
If your business uses plant, machinery or vehicles that give you any cause for concern, we are able to undertake a complete assessment and test of all your vehicles within actual working conditions. We can also supply a range of Rebound products designed and proven to effectively reduce Whole Body Vibrations associated with vehicles and sit in machinery.
Useful Fact
As of July 2005 new regulations came into force implementing the physical agents (Vibration) Directive 2002/44/EC. These regulations introduced amongst other things, an exposure limit value, which placed an upper limit on the amount of Whole Body Vibration a worker may be exposed to.
General Information
Suspensions:
Some vehicles have cab or chassis suspension, in addition to or in place of seat suspension that will reduce exposure to Whole Body Vibration. Check with supplier that the suspension(s) fitted will reduce WBV in the intended application(s) - suspensions can amplify vibration if used in the wrong circumstances!Suspended seats need to be properly adjusted to the middle of the suspension range for the drivers weight-some seats are self adjusting. The vehicle should not be driven so fast that the suspensions reach the end of their travel and hit end stops, causing jolts that may injure the user.
Job rotation:
In some circumstances it may be appropriate to share driving activities among the workforce but beware of increasing the numbers exposed to risk.Symptom Reporting:
Encourage workers to report back injuries and any back pain so that you can take action to stop it getting worse. - Harvey
May 31st, 2007The previous blog taken from an industrial testing sight attached above
- Di
May 31st, 2007Harvey
That Video is scarey! *laughs* It looks like high fq yet ona pivotal machine..wobble off your fat! and in the process get a severe lower back injury
I have been researching how vibrations travel through the human body for 3 years now. I first started with creating a Rayleigh’s wave formula ( usually used for earthquake equations ) for the human body. Going into P & S waves was the next step.
Being carefull to only create “constructive interference” at the exact points I wanted.
Once I understood what made up a Kenetic Wave I could then design a unit to mimic what I wanted and map where it goes and what it does.Takes the guess work out of building a machine that suits a specific task. And gives me a good safety margin of error.
I have so far completed 25 full Cause/Effect equations but only built 6 in machine form. Others I will have to develop new technology for to produce the exact Vibration I want for certain enviroments.
Fun times ahead folks.
Hello to evrybody,
I’m very pleased to see a vibration training discusion going on.
Please consider also the following information:
NEMES™ is the acronym of NEuro-muscular MEchanical Stimulation, a method invented by professor Carmelo Bosco in order to maximise the stimulation of the neuromuscular system and the bones. It consists in the exposure of the body to a specific vibrational stimulation, carefully dosed for each individual.
[EDIT: Promotional material removed]
Andreas….
You have not earned any respect here with your blatent marketing. In fact I am going to ask it to be removed.
The NEMES studio in N.Z. only lasted 6 months , and the lack of complete knowledge of Vibration Training combined with their arrogance I found unsafe.
Note….
I do however respect Dr Bosco’s work. But he was not finished , so for you to claim completion of a perfect machine and system does not ring true.
At the risk of sounding arrogant myself….
I will answer a question publically that was sent to me via e-mail from another company regarding my work 3 posts back.
No, I am not worried about giving away information like that. No you cant buy it. If anyone reading it didn’t completely understand it already , trust me they are so far behind they will never catch up.
The work on the Rayliegh’s wave formula for the human body alone has taken me years. I know for a fact most researchers don’t even know of it’s existance let alone importance in the design of a unit.
If they want to fake the knowledge , let them I say. The holes in their work will be too wide to resist pulling apart anyway .
I will need a hobby after Power-Plate falls over.
- david
June 1st, 2007was wondering whether anyone has thoughts on whether vibration training can worsen cervical disk hernias or whether it has any beneficial characteristics?
- Andreas Linardatos
June 2nd, 2007Dear Shaw,
As we all can see here you are in the position to judge scientific work (such as C. Bosco’s) and come to usefull conclusions for all of us..! Ofcourse you know everything about vibration training since you are now the worlds number #1 expert!
Thank you!
P.S.
No offense, you can delete this post as well. - Andreas Linardatos
June 2nd, 2007But still very nice to see articles and news on the vibration training industry concerning health (first) and training topics.
Here is one I found very interesting:
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):470-5.
Influence of vibration training on energy expenditure in active men.
(Da Silva ME, Fernandez JM, Castillo E, Nunez VM, Vaamonde DM, Poblador MS, Lancho JL.)
Influence of vibration training on energy expenditure in active men.
The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of whole-body vibration on energy expenditure, as well as on exercise intensity, during and immediately after a typical set of exercises for muscle hypertrophy in physically active subjects. Seventeen male university students (mean age 18.3 +/- 0.24 years) volunteered to perform 2 different training exercises: half squat (HS), and half squat with vibration (HSV). Both exercises were performed by all subjects on the vibration platform (with vibration only for HSV), the sequence order being assigned randomly. Energy expenditure (EE), respiratory exchange ratio, perceived exertion (PE), and heart rate were recorded for baseline, exercise, and short-recovery conditions. Training consisted of 5 sets of 10 repetitions of HS and HSV, with a 2-minute recovery interval between sets. Analysis of variance with repeated measurements and Bonferroni correction, as well as effect size were used for statistical calculations. Results indicated that EE and PE were significantly higher in the HSV group, during both exercise and recovery. Heart rate did not differ significantly between groups. Thus, it would appear that HS strength training could be rendered more energy-efficient through the addition of vibration.
Moreover, it would be feasible to introduce vibration exercises into regular training programs, particularly those whose key objective is muscle hypertrophy along with fat reduction.
David…
Your approch to a disc hernias is simple. Indirect Stimulation only ( no pressure ) to the effected area .
This should be done by using a units designed for such problems , failing this sitting in front of a standard unit on a chair ( Do not let the person stand on the machine), should allow excess fluid to drain and enough stimulation to speed up new growth of cells in the disc.
Andreas….
I have not got all the answers . Thats the point. At least I know this.
I put my original work up for all to see and judge , in a manner that is understandable for everyones level of education. If people trust my work they will follow it. It’s that simple.
I do have one question for your company though.
“Push-ups or any upper body work should never be done on machines”
No research or relevant theory was ever given for this statement. No mention of absorbing mats being used to cushion joints or other safety features that is employed by responsable companies. It would seem to have been just scare tactics used to market your hand-held vibrators.
Is this still your stance on this issue.
“Never satisfied with the level of knowledge, always convinced that there was something more to understand, some unexplored area to discover, never he accepted to sit on his laurels”
This is from NEMES’s own website.
It would seem marketers are sitting on Dr. Bosco’s laurels
- Nalin
June 2nd, 2007Here is a study “to determine the effects of short-duration, high-intensity, isometric weight bearing exercise (vibration exercise [VE]) and vibration only on skin blood flow (SBF)”. Their unexpected results seem to imply that static held poses (’isometric’ of the study?) with WBV is no different than exercise-only control, while WBV alone is of great benefit in microcirculation of blood in the body leading to enhanced healing of tissues.
Does this not seem quite contrary to what we have been the experiences of this forum’s contributors?
- Peter
June 3rd, 2007On the subject of inaccurate or arbitrary frequency settings, I tested my vibration plate using my laptop, a real time spectrum analyser [OscilloMeter] and microphone placed near the plate, since it was clear that the frequency changed with loading and there is no control feedback loop or realtime display on the unit.
Cheers,
Peter.
And Peter……
What were the results ?
- Di
June 4th, 2007Lloyd or anyone, Can you pls tell me where to find a fuller version of the study linked above. That small extract doesn’t give much information at all.
and Peter ???? what type of vibration plate and what results?
- Nick Morris
June 4th, 2007Hi Di, here’s some more for you
1: Savelberg HH, Keizer HA, Meijer K. Related Articles
Abstract Whole-Body Vibration Induced Adaptation in Knee Extensors; Consequences of Initial Strength, Vibration Frequency, and Joint Angle.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May 1;21(2):589-593.
PMID: 17530984 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]2: Garatachea N, Jimenez A, Bresciani G, Marino NA, Gonzalez-Gallego J, de Paz JA. Related Articles
Abstract The Effects of Movement Velocity During Squatting on Energy Expenditure and Substrate Utilization in Whole-Body Vibration.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May 1;21(2):594-598.
PMID: 17530981 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]3: Da Silva ME, Fernandez JM, Castillo E, Nunez VM, Vaamonde DM, Poblador MS, Lancho JL. Related Articles
Abstract Influence of Vibration Training on Energy Expenditure in Active Men.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May 1;21(2):470-475.
PMID: 17530948 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]4: Cochrane DJ, Hawke EJ. Related Articles
Abstract Effects of Acute Upper-Body Vibration on Strength and Power Variables in Climbers.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May 1;21(2):527-531.
PMID: 17530943 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]5: Hazell TJ, Jakobi JM, Kenno KA. Related Articles
No abstract Skeletal Muscle EMG Changes during Whole Body Vibration: The Influence of Frequency and Amplitude: 2362: Board #41 June 1 3:30 PM -5:00 PM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S435. No abstract available.
PMID: 17528635 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]6: Skidmore E, Stoutenberg M, Webb V, Serravite D, Signorile J. Related Articles
No abstract Acute Effects of Whole Body Vibration on Vertical Jump Performance and Related Muscle Activity: 1802: Board #90 May 31 9:00 AM 10:30 AM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S300. No abstract available.
PMID: 17528013 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]7: Terra B, Teixeira RT, Leite BM, R Pereira MI, C Gomes PS. Related Articles
No abstract Effect of Whole Body Vibration on Three Maximum Repetition Sets of Push-ups - Pilot Study: 1790: Board #78 May 31 9:00 AM 10:30 AM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S297. No abstract available.
PMID: 17527991 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]8: Lamont HS, Bemben MG, Bemben DA, Cramer JT, Shehab RL, Anderson MA. Related Articles
No abstract The Effects of six weeks Periodized Resistance Training with or without Whole Body Vibration: 1787: Board #75 May 31 9:00 AM 10:30 AM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S296. No abstract available.
PMID: 17527986 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]9: Gonzalez JC, Fernandez-Rio J, Fernandez-Garcia B, Nicolas T. Related Articles
No abstract Whole Body Vibration Training Applied To Female Basketball Players: Long-term Effects On Strength Development: 1455: Board #218 May 30 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S216. No abstract available.
PMID: 17527620 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]10: Guggenheimer JD, Tveden R, Reyes GF, Silvers WM, Dolny DG. Related Articles
No abstract Effects of Whole-Body Vibration Exposure on 40-Meter Sprint Times: 1424: Board #187 May 30 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S209. No abstract available.
PMID: 17527599 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]11: Mathe EF, Cramer JT, Bemben DA, Bemben MG. Related Articles
No abstract Effects of Whole Body Vibration on Force Production in Young, Middle-aged, and Older Men: 962: June 2 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S102. No abstract available.
PMID: 17527152 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Nick what are you doing…
Flooding a consumer site with Medical reports.
Please remove Admin.
- Harvey
June 5th, 2007In reply to the study by Lohman EB, Petrofsky JS, Maloney-Hinds C, Betts-Schwab H, Thorpe D. - entered by Nalin
Do the authors of this study not understand the redistribution of blood flow during exercise? particularly in short term exposure to exercise? The blood has much more important places to be than the skin! particularly if we are getting nearly 100% contraction during WBV.
Or has human physiology changed since i last studied it?
Harvey…
Have you any idea what idiots are being let loose on these machines. Most of the tests are pointless and they have so little information at their disposal about how the human body actually works , I am surpised some of them turn up with their pants on the right way around.
I am not being mean or joking. I have been truly shocked at every encounter I have had to date with Academics looking at doing research on my units.
- Harvey
June 5th, 2007Lloyd
yes I am very aware of the state of some of the research (and researchers) out there in the world of academia, having studied and lectured/researched in many myself!
I once sat through a presentation for a ground breaking piece of research that stated you were more likely to be a professional cricketer in the UK if you were born between October and March! must be something in the stars (or their water!?)
- Di
June 5th, 2007Exactly the reason I asked for the full report; that particular report. I’m reasonably new to understanding exercise physiology but their conclusion seems odd so I wanted to read the full report. I have seen some of the others listed..
- Di
June 5th, 2007Without having more info on air temperature, duration and intensity, a possible rationale for the findings of that study could be: Vibration only - blood flow to skin to help evaporative cooling. (the muscles not needing any increase as the effort is simple and anaerobic). Weight bearing vibration and weight bearing non vibration - muscles needed the blood flow more than the lower extremity skin. Yes/No?
The muscles always win when there is a struggle for blood flow. I am taking a trial 3 session workout at a new WBV shop does anybody know if this really works for weight/size reduction before I waste my money?
Stephanie…
Need to know make/model of machine they use.
Some machines work well for weight/size reduction , others are cheaper therapy models being passed off as workout units.
To Stephanie,
In WBV, the same principle of conventional exercises applies. If someone can lose weight by conventional workout, one can obtain the same result with WBV but less exertion and shorter exercising time.
However, the result depends on many factors. Firstly, as Lloyd said, is the device a good quality one? WBV relies on a good device which can accelerate sufficient gravity load to train your body. And then other factors include dietary and genetic …. It is the fact that there are some obese people fail to lose weight by heavy workouts. These people need other kind of medical measures to deal with their obesity.
By theory, yes, it is possible to lose weight with WBV. However, there is no guarantee that it works for EVERYONE.
I think it is fair to take at least 12 sessions (2~3 sessions per week) in order to observe the change of your body and to evaluate if you should continue WBV as your weight lost program.
If you decide to go for WBV, come back here regularly to share your experience.
TC
Lloyd, I’m very interested about your use of Rayleigh’s method. Are you able to take into account the dampening effect caused by the suspensions of the platform and by the muscles, feet and shoe?
Yes , but shore hardness of materials need to be known first. I get my materials made for me with the exact properties I want for each type of unit.
Muscles are alot harder to calculate as the wave response varys within the equation depending on where in the cycle it is due to the contraction in the reflex.
The shoes and feet aspect I work on averages.
- Harvey
June 11th, 2007The following forms an interesting argument:
Weight Loss and Resting Metabolic Rate
One of the arguments put foward by people who believe vibration exercise to be a high calorie burning exercise regime is that it has a significant impact on participants Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).RMR is an estimate of how many calories you would burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. It represents the minimum amount of energy you require to keep the body functioning. RMR accounts for 60-75% of calories burned during the day so logically if vibration exercise could significantly increase your RMR then it could have a significant impact on calories consumed by your body and hence result in accelerated weight loss by increasing your calorie deficit.
So what does research tell us? There are two basic proposed effects of exercise on RMR:
The first is the immediate (or acute) effect from aerobic exercise. Several studies have shown that aerobic exercise can lead to an increased RMR for up to 24 hours after the exercise. To significantly boost the RMR and energy expenditure, the activity needs to be very intense (over 70% VO2 Max) and prolonged (over 90 minutes). Rittweger’s study in Clinical Phyiology (2000) on the ‘Acute effects of exhaustive vibration exercise’ demonstrated that, even if performed to exhaustion, the cardiovascular effects of vibration exercise are mild. Subjects reached 50% of VO2 max. Its therefore likely that the immediate after effects of vibration exercise would be similar to other light exercise leading to an additional 5-10 calories being burned after exercise. (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption - magnitude, mechanisms and practical implications, Bahr et al, Acta Physiol Scand).
The second argument is that as a form of strength training, vibration exercise can deliver sustained increases in RMR. This is based on the idea that muscle tissue burns more energy than fatty tissue. So increasing your muscle:fat ratio would be expected to give you a higher RMR. There is plenty of debate on whether this is actually true (see Fitness Management Magazine for an excellant discussion). If one takes the positive view (that increased muscle mass burns more calories) then current estimates are that strength-trained muscle may use approximately 1.5 more calories per pound per day than untrained muscle. So returning to Roelants study over 24 weeks, the group of females added on average 2.2 pounds of muscle. This would in theory increase the calories burned by 3.3 calories per day.
Given these small effects it is not surprising that the females in Reolants study did not lose any body fat. This is also not surpising given research that indicates that cardiovascular training and resistance training has a rather limited impact on body fat if it is not combined with caloric restriction (Effects of endurance and resistance training on total daily energy expenditure in young women J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2002).
In fact, if you are losing weight when vibration training (in other words your calorie intake is less than your calorie expenditure) its actually more likely that your RMR has dropped, not increased. As people lose weight RMR actually decreases despite the maintenace of muscle mass from weight training (see the Fitness Management Magazine article for an explanation).
So in conclusion, as discussed previously, Vibration Exercise alone is not a high calorie burning exercise and on its own is very unlikely to lead to weight loss. However, if like strength training, it is combined with cardio vascular exercise and an appropriate diet it can form an effective part of a weight loss programme. In particular, increased strength from vibration exercise may facilitate the adoption of a more active lifestyle in sedentary overweight and obese individuals, thus leading to health benefits that may include weight loss and prevention of weight regain.
- Di
June 12th, 2007Ah yes, I read that some time ago. Experience proves this wrong.
Yes, the greater the proportion of muscle to fat, the faster the metabolic rate, and the more work that muscles have to do, the more energy/ calories they burn. This effect continues for some hours after exercise. Exercise increases appetite yet this does not cancel the effect of the exercise as we know the thermic effect of food digestion expends energy..We also know that weight training increases the thermic effect of food by some 73%, yet weight training only involves up to say 70% of muscle fibre recruitment. WBV on a good quality platform involves 100% of muscle fibres, contracting against the stretch caused by the vertical vibrations at up to 3000 times a minute.. sure sounds like energy expending work plus an ongoing effect,to me!
I believe that WBV on a quality platform! is a high calorie burning exercise.. now that might not lead to weight loss but it can do - Extra water is advised before and after WBV to flush toxins released by WBV which in turn improves how the body operates. It all adds up to good news for me. I haven’t changed my aerobic exercise (except to decrease it slightly as I’ve been very busy), haven’t been careful with diet which includes eating out or takeouts almost 50% of the time yet I’m slowly consistently losing weight.
Just one other point - Vibration Training doesn’t have to be exhaustive to be effective.
Harvey, June 11th,
Thank you for the well organized summary of results on VBW. I looked up the Rittweger study that you mentioned, and I found it was done on a tilting platform: 26 Hz, 10 mm amplitude.I believe that a vertical-vibration platform would yield very different results. The load on the legs, in a vertical vibration platform is much higher. The whole body tends to move in sync with the legs. In a tilting platform, the legs alternate their up and down movement, and there is no movement of the rest of the body.
- Leone
June 12th, 2007I tried three free sessions locally and the front of my legs (right along the shin bone) have turned quite red, no pain or itch though. It looks almost like I may have broken blood vessels yet the sessions were pain free. I am going to check with my Dr. but anyone else experience this?
- Di
June 12th, 2007Leone, Can you pls give more information. What country are you in and what type of Vibration machine did you use? Did you have an instructor with you each of the 3 sessions guiding you into the positions before the machine was turned on? Did you do any positions where you placed just one leg (knee to foot) flat on the machine? It’s sounding like the vibrations were not targeted to the muscle fibres. Did you have a full day’s rest between each session? I know Lloyd will be able to advise you, when he sees your question.
It could also be a form of shin-splints. Did you go onto your toes at any time during the program ?
- Di
June 13th, 2007similar effect I have when I run downhill except that I have pain at some point on the shin bone. You could run your fingers lightly down the shin bones and see if any part hurts. (I did think of shin splints but with no pain?)
May 30th, 2007
Note:
All the units I have desogned have the full range of 0.5 mm -> 7mm amplitude.
And 1hz -> 60hz.
I limit their funtional use for a reason.