There are four main types of exercise that are recommended for seniors:

Endurance activities – Activities like walking, swimming, or riding a bike build stamina and improve the health of the heart and circulatory system.  Studies have prompted the American Heart Association to also recommend resistance training as a way to reduce risk of heart disease and as therapy for patients in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Strengthening exercises –Activities to build muscle tissue and reduce age-related muscle loss.  Strengthening exercises increase the strength of your muscles, maintain and build bones, improves your balance, coordination and mobility. The health benefits far outweigh the risk of injury, a concern that prevents many elderly people from adding more physical activity to their lives.  Strength training can also have a great effect on reducing falls, the number one cause of death in the elderly.

Stretching exercises - Activities to keep the body flexible.   Muscles trained through vibration exercise not only get stronger but also improve flexibility and mobility. When you stretch, the muscle tissues warm up and increase blood circulation and flexibility. When your muscles receive highly oxygenated blood, the time required to obtain a certain level of flexibility is dramatically decreased.

Balance exercises- Activities to reduce the chances of a fall.  As people age, poor balance and flexibility contribute to falls and broken bones. Resistance exercises increase flexibility and balance, which decrease the likelihood and severity of falls.

Performing these exercises on a Whole Body Vibration platform can increase these results and help you achieve them in less time.  Any exercise that can be done on the floor can be done on a vibration platform.  Whole Body Vibration aids in faster muscle growth, better flexibility, better blood circulation, reduction of sore muscles, improved balance, even healing injuries.

How does whole body vibration help with this?  Whole body vibration can help with limbering and loosening tight tissues. 

The vibration impulses stimulate the Golgi tendon apparatus in muscles that have become tight and constricted.  This activates a high measure of muscular relaxation.  WBV also helps to strengthen tissues.  Vibration stimulates muscle spindle activation by increasing the load on the tissue.  This activation is very similar to the “knee jerk reflex”.  This is an extra advantage as muscles are lengthened in a functional and active position, while not decreasing explosive muscle strength. 

The body responds to WBV by activating involuntary postural muscles and increasing proprioceptive input to the brain.  Your balance is stimulated and challenged.  Blood flow to the ligaments and tendons are increased along with the stretch reflex.

By performing Range of Movement and spinal neuromuscular reeducation exercises while on a vibration platform it serves the function of increasing spinal stabilization by improving postural and spatial awareness.

Other studies have reported significant increases in power following vibration stimulus during bilateral biceps curls in elite and amateur athletes. Each subject performed two separate series of three sets of bilateral biceps exercises. In the second set of one series, a vibration stimulus was delivered to the subjects by means of vibrating cables. Both elite and amateur athletes showed improvement in maximal power following vibration exposure.

The above findings indicate that Whole body vibration can elicit immediate improvements in muscle function and hormone production. 

Whole body vibration is a fast, effective alternative to resistance training that enhances muscular strength and power in both sedentary and athletic populations. The low impact nature of the exercise and the relatively low exertion required make whole body vibration an attractive exercise choice when working with obese and elderly.  Additionally, it can be a good cross-training option for athletes wishing to minimize the amount of repetitive joint loading on their bodies.

Strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination are all key aspects to athletic performance. WBV can be used to stimulate an athlete’s adaptive response to performance‐driven activities. WBV training routines can be as challenging as you make them and the versatility of the vibrating platform allows you to target any part of the body. Athletes who train with WBV are faster, more explosive, less prone to injury, and ultimately more competitive.

WBV training contracts virtually 100% of the muscle fibers of any particular muscle, whereas weight resistance training only fires about 40%. WBV fires not one muscle group after the other, as typical weight training does, but the whole body neuromusculoskeletal system is being stimulated at once. That is why with WBV your training time is significantly reduced.

The science behind how and why WBV works is actually quite simple. Imagine, with WBV you are standing (or sitting) or a platform that is rapidly moving up to 50 times a second. Naturally, your body must react to the external stimulus of the rapidly moving platform. Since the vibrating platform is constantly moving, all the muscles in your body must also constantly compensate for the movement.

Your muscles are rapidly stretching and contracting as a result of the vibrations. This is why your body fatigues much faster when doing workouts on WBV equipment as opposed to conventional workouts.

WBV stimulates your brain and helps improve balance and stability because the rapidly moving platform forces your mind to react to the new variable you’ve given it. Just standing on the vibrating platform will force all of your stabilizer muscles to react and fatigue from keeping you in one position.

WBV requires very little exertion compared with traditional forms of exercise.  Some studies comparing this training method to traditional strength training have found similar gains in strength and gains in explosive power.

Almost any position from a yoga or fitness class can be performed on a whole body vibration platform, and Yoga postures are usually held for a minute or two to allow time to focus on alignment.
For the Feet & Legs
- Feet evenly spaced, hip width apart with the outer edges parallel to the edge of the platform
- Even weight distribution through the ball of the foot and the heel
- Lifting the inner arches of the feet, while maintaining an evenness through the ankles
- Lifting the thighs above the kneecap
- Pushing out through the back of the legs
For the Lower Back
- Lifting out of the sacrum, lengthening the lower back
- Maintaining an even lumbar; stabilize by not over arching
- Tuck the tailbone under with navel to spine
For the Back, Neck & Shoulders
-Keep the shoulders down, away from your ears
-Evenness through the collarbones
-Lift the chest without throwing the ribcage forward

When all the muscle groups in the body are able to receive necessary stimulus, the effects of stress may be reduced. When using a vibration platform, endorphins can be released into the blood stream which may promote a sense of well being, enhancing the perceived quality of life. Vibration training may yield an increase in key hormones like serotonin that counter mental lethargy and show true enhancement in overall mood while sharpening the ability to focus and concentrate. Some people have reported an increase in a feeling of optimism, which has lead to the conclusion that the stimulating effects of the vibration machine may help counteract certain types of depression and loss of motivation.

Vibration exercise is much more effective than conventional exercises. Workout times can be drastically shortened – you can accomplish the same results in 10 minutes what would take you 60 minutes with conventional exercise. This is true because WBV requires your body to constantly respond to the rapidly moving platform beneath you.

Recently, a study showed that vibration therapy may improve the balance in Fibromyalgia patients.  It was also found vibration therapy has potential benefits to reduce bone mass loss and improve the strength and speed which are important for reacting and preventing stumbles and falls.

Women with fibromyalgia were recruited and involved in the study between the ages of 41 – 65 and were randomly assigned to vibration therapy.   Other groups used usual therapy with no physical therapy.

During the 12 week study, participants had 3 sessions of low frequency vibration therapy.  It was found that their dynamic balance index improved by 36%. 

Rapid low level vibration has been shown to provide a fast, safe and effective method for easing fibromyalgia pain and helping with balance.  Vibration therapy relief of chronic fibromyalgia pain can last for many hours and in some instances for days.

Whole body vibration machines move in different planes and depending upon which plane the vibration plate or user moves in, determines the type of effects on the body. There are three planes that whole body vibration machines move in. The first is strictly up and down (also called lineal or vertical movement), the second is called pivotal (see-saw or teeter-totter), and the third way of movement is called elliptical (more horizontal and less vertical motion).

Vibration platforms are scientifically calibrated to produce precise vibrations at a set amplitude (vertical displacement) and frequency (platform speed). When the user stands on the platform, the vibration energy is transferred to the entire body. These vibrations generate involuntary contractions in the muscle fibers several times per second. By adjusting either of the two variables (amplitude or frequency) you can affect the number of times per second your muscles contract, the amount of G force exerted on your body, the degree of difficulty for stabilization, the detoxification effect, etc.  Different frequencies will have different effects on the body. Depending on what you want to accomplish with WBV, will determine what frequency you should set your machine at.

As a result of the vibration exercise, the body will respond with several healthful benefits.

These include:

• Increased bone mineral density
•  Increased overall strength
•  Increased flexibility
•  Increased core strength
•  Improved blood and lymph drainage (detoxification effect)
•  Improved balance, stability and coordination
•  Burn fat-weight loss
•  Muscle relaxation Rehabilitation of injuries
•  Joint mobilization
•  Scar tissue healing
•  Hormonal changes
•  Neurological stimulation
•  Increased mobility
•  Decreased lower back pain
•  Improved muscle tone.

Most whole body vibration exercise sessions are designed for use in short sets.  Therefore, an entire workout can consist of only 10-15 minutes actually spent on the platform. Performing these exercises three to five times per week will yield incredible health and fitness benefits for users of all age groups.

The medical community has also embraced whole body vibration exercise as a safe therapeutic modality. Professional athletes are adding WBV exercises to their training regimens while gyms, spas and wellness clinics and even assisted living facilities have incorporated this technology into their programming and business models.

It is common knowledge that the benefits of exercise are multifold. The amazing part of WBV is that it produces the same effects of exercise, just in a much shortened time frame. These claims are very well documented and scientifically proven.

Increased circulation, lymphatic drainage, metabolic increase, enhanced oxygen uptake, improved HGH, etc are just some of the well documented physiologic benefits of WBV. Therefore it becomes an easy and logical adjunct to the chiropractic practice.

WBV can be used in rehabilitation and strengthening of injured ligament or muscular tissues without taking the injured area through ranges of motion, making it the perfect choice of modality for any rehab facility.  Exercise is able to be started at a much earlier stage of improvement.

But rehabilitation, flexibility and strength training are just some of the applications that are enhanced by WBV.  Many chiropractic offices see a patient on multiple visits per week. Having a patient warm up and work out on a Whole Body Vibration machine just prior to an office visit is a very sensible recommendation. They can get their exercise, warm up for the adjustment, be physically and mentally more relaxed when they see the doctor and therefore enhance the effects of the treatment!

Whole body vibration, or WBV, involves standing on a platform that sends mild vibratory impulses through the feet and into the rest of the body. The vibrations activate muscle fibers more efficiently than the contraction of muscles during regular exercise.

Some studies have found that WBV increases bone density in the hip, and inhibit bone loss in the spine and hip areas.  WBV training has also been shown to improve and maintain bone mineral density in postmenopausal women and is being studied for its therapeutic potential.  For example:  increasing older women’s bone mass.  This seems to be a much better alternative than the dangerous osteoporosis drugs currently on the market.

WBV training has shown significant gains in most measures of muscle performance in sedentary and elderly individuals.  One study, performed by the University of Liege in Belgium, investigated the effects of whole body vibration exercises on overall health in elderly patients and found that after 6 weeks (performing 4 one-minute sessions, 3 times a week), the participants experienced:

* 143 percent improvement in physical function
* 77 percent improvement in equilibrium
* 60 percent improvement in vitality
* 57 percent improvement in the quality of walking
* 41 percent reduction in pain
* 23 percent improvement in general health

These are pretty amazing results, and in a very short amount of time.  Plus, since it’s accomplished with little stress to your joints, tendons and ligaments, it can be a very good therapy option if you’ve suffered injuries, are elderly, or have conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia or multiple sclerosis, which would normally limit your fitness program.