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I Have Seen the Future of Workouts – and they Vibrate

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May 25, 2010
	Dr. Tim McCrossen : Head Fitness Ego

In a continuation of my series on whole body vibration, I have written on its effects on bone mineral density and a possible alternative for strengthening bones in the fight against osteoporosis. The reason I initially bought a vibration platform was for sports performance training. I will get into some of the study results on this in the following paragraphs, but first I will try to explain how the body reacts to vibration.

When you stand on a vibration platform, the body’s reaction is that muscle fibers involuntarily contract 30 to 60 times per second. In other words the body reacts to vibration is a reflex type of action by contracting muscles without you knowing it. So if you stand on a vibration platform your muscles potentially are having 3600 contractions in a minute’s time! Pretty amazing!

Added Power and Strength
High end sports trainers started using vibration for their athletes as they found it to be a great tool for their power and strength training. Since all these muscles are involuntarily contracting while exposed to vibration, the thought process is, “Why not add resistance (ie weight training) to the body while this is going on?”

The theory goes like this. When you are performing an exercise, let’s say for example a standard squat, only about 40 or 50% of the leg’s muscle fibers are firing during this movement. Now go ahead and perform a squat on a vibration platform, the theory is that the body’s muscles will recruit almost 95% of the muscle fibers to perform this movement.  This will in turn provide a fuller, stronger muscle contraction and work the muscle to its full capacity. 

There are several studies that have shown that training with WBV increases explosive muscle strength, increases knee extensor strength, as well as increased vertical jump; therefore a great tool for those athletes that use quick explosive movements in their sport.

For Warm-Up
I have found the vibration plate is also very useful in a warm-up prior to working out. With the muscle involuntarily contracting at such a rapid rate, the blood flow to the muscle is increased therefore making the muscle more prepared to take on work. Many professional teams now have WBV in their weight rooms and like I said I have been using it in my workouts and Robin has been using it with her clients at Robins Ultimate FitCamp. I believe we were one of the first in the Cincinnati area to start utilizing vibration.

Lower Body Fat, Lower Lipid Levels
There is other research out there suggesting that a program of WBV will help to decrease body fat as well as lipid levels in the blood. Some of the studies on this topic with women and bone mass density found as a “side effect” of repeated use of vibration that their body fat composition went down.

 A study a few years ago on immature mice showed that compared to a control group, the mice that were exposed to 6 months of vibration ten minutes a day had 20% less fat cells, weighed less, and had more lean muscle mass. More research needs to be done on this and several articles are coming out monthly on the topic. I feel there could be promising effects for those who are severely obese and can’t immediately get into a workout program in that they could start by using vibration.

Caution
The concept of vibration is still unique and not fully understood, but the research coming out on its effects of sports performance is promising. Not everyone should get on a vibration platform. There are some contraindications for getting on one so please check with the manufacturer.  To list a few contraindications:  cataracts, IUD implanted, resent surgery or fractures, and others.

Buyer Beware
Be careful of some of the “too good to be true” claims that you may see on the internet from some vibration platform manufacturers or people trying to sell them. Not all platforms are the same and the old adage “you get what you pay for” applies here. These are not cheap pieces of equipment and commercial models are in the ten thousand dollar range. I would personally be wary of a model you can buy on the internet for 250 dollars.

For more information contact Dr. Tim McCrossen, Head Fitness Ego at drmccrossen@healthyalterego.com