However, the amount of mechanical vibrations we are exposed to has increased enormously over the last few centuries. Truck drivers, forklift drivers, construction workers and helicopter pilots absorb a lot of vibration on a daily basis. The complaints they suffer, mainly in joints and spine, cause tremendous problems. 

There are some fundamental differences between vibration exposures in the work place compared to vibration from the Whole Body Vibration (WBV) platform. While training on the platform you are actively using the vibrations, which are being absorbed in the muscles instead of the joints. The duration is also much less. The total amount of time of a training session is not even close to the time that people are exposed to vibrations in a working environment.

 A WBV platform complies with the I.S.O. standards for industrial use, provided that training does not exceed 2 hours a day. For that matter, it is useless to train longer than 20 minutes or more often than 3 or 4 times a week. If you use the WBV machine according to the instructions and under certified supervision, vibration training is many times safer than any other sports or training activity.

The vibration creates instability, which forces the body to make rapid muscle contractions 25 to 50 times per second.  Whole Body Vibration stimulates all cells in the body to function at a higher rate, which in turn increases the metabolism causing more fuel to be burnt which helps to accelerate weight loss.  Since the muscles are working at almost 100% when using WBV, they are burning more glucose and oxygen, therefore pushing the heart to pump harder and get more oxygen to the muscles.  

Whole Body Vibration platforms offer many health benefits, including improved bone density, circulation, flexibility and balance – all in very little time.

By adding Whole Body Vibration you get even more benefits.  Just stand on the vibrating platform and do your compound exercises.  The body automatically reacts to the vibrations, making your workout more effective.  It produces a stretch reflex, the tonic vibratory reflex, which, depending on the selected frequency, results in muscles gently contracting 6 to 50 times per second.  Vibration training is low impact and gentle, enabling anyone, regardless of their age or fitness levels to use it.  You can get the benefits of exercise without putting strain on joints or bones in a much shorter amount of time.

Compared with traditional training methods, WBV achieves the same physiologic results of exercise, just at a faster and more efficient rate!

Whole Body Vibration training has been proven to be as effective as resistance training at a gym, it is also a safe and effective way to stimulate and strengthen your muscles. WBV also allows an easy and convenient way to cool down after even the most extreme exertion, greatly improving oxygenation and circulation, targeting those body parts that need it most. You can be confident that a WBV exercise or therapy regime will compliment any kind of exercise, weight training or cardio work you are already doing.  A vibration machine basically consists of a vibrating platform over which a person performs static or dynamic movements such as standing, sitting, kneeling or other exercises. Besides this, various exercises such as crunches, lunges, squats, and push-ups can be done on this machine. You can also passively sit on the machine or rest your feet over it comfortably to relax and massage.

 Here are just a few of the healthy benefits of combining workouts with WBV:

Compliments conventional training.  One 10 minute whole vibration workout delivers the equivalent of 1 hour of weight training.

Speeds recovery from fatigue.  Increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles, improving muscle health.  

Improves explosive strength.  Whole body vibration builds muscle mass 1 ½ to 2 times faster than conventional weight workouts.  Conventional exercise engages around 45% of muscle fibers where as whole body vibration engages approximately 97% of muscle fibers.

Increases flexibility as you get strong.  Improves your flexibility, range of motion, balance, and mobility. The vibration forces your muscles to maintain balance, strengthening and lengthening muscles while increasing flexibility in muscles, joints, and ligaments.

Burns Fat.  Supports lean muscle mass: The rapid vibrations help maintain and build lean muscle mass. In any weight loss program, there is a risk of losing valuable lean muscle mass. Boosting lean muscle mass means your body burns more calories throughout the entire day, not just during the workout. The more calories you burn, the higher the potential is for dramatic weight loss.
From the inside out gentle vibrations move into and through our body and all bodily systems as an efficient, effective and safe way to stimulate muscles and bone cells, burn fat (to lose weight), plus restore neuromuscular balance.  Whole Body Vibration is a great addition to your workout at any Health Club or Gym.  Look for it, and ask for it!

By nature, the function of ligaments is to provide stability to the joints. This stability allows the primary movers of joints, muscles, to carry out their functions efficiently. Surrounding all muscles and ligaments, and connecting everything together, is fascia. Within the ligaments, muscles, and fascial tissue are “reporting stations” (i.e. joint receptors) whose vital function is to relay the information relating to these specific tissues to the brain. This communication system is called Proprioception. This crucial information traveling to the brain determines the nature of the information going away from the brain. It is a two way street of dependency and includes not only messages to and from the connective tissue, but to and from other vital body functions. This information also dictates the release of nutrients and neuropeptides. Neuropeptides control our mood, energy levels, pain and pleasure reception, body weight, and ability to solve problems. They also form memories and regulate our immune system.

When these systems, as a result of hypermobility and the resulting movement dysfunction, become inefficient, the information systems become altered. This leaves us, with a reversal of roles (tight muscles and fascia around loose joints), and both an alteration in the transmission of the nutrients and neuropeptides as well as detrimental changes in circulation and oxygen supply. For the muscles fortunate enough to maintain their normal function, they inevitably compensate, become overworked, and develop internal dysfunction.  Finally, to complete the downward spiral, the end result is unavoidable stress to the joints and their internal structure.

To effectively treat BJHS you must selectively harness the mechanical energy of the platform to create proper restorative changes to “the system”. This can be accomplished in several ways:

• Increasing Local Circulation – Utilizing the muscle spindle (a reporting station) and the stretch reflexes it creates, we can rapidly restore local blood flow. In BJHS, this is crucial for restoring oxygen supply to the muscles so that trigger point (aka “knots’) reduction can occur. With reduced internal muscle tension, the muscle’s efficiency is restored, and there is improved permeability of the tissue to nutrients and fluids, including water. Water, a vital component of fascia further allows for improved connective tissue mobility. With better circulation and improved tissue mobility, tissue healing occurs more rapidly and restricted areas where nerves perforate the connective tissue are released. This all contributes to the mechanism by which we experience pain relief.
• Improving Muscular Stability – Through excessive stimulation of the muscle spindle, we can increase the tone (resting tension level) of the muscle. Normally known for aesthetic benefits only, in BJHS, this assists in creating muscular stability for a joint that is unsupported by its ligaments. Being that excessive mobility is where this syndrome originates, this benefit gets to the “root” of the problem and is the most crucial component of restoring normal function and eliminating pain.
• Improving Muscle Flexibility – For those muscles that have become shortened in an attempt to stabilize the joints, we can now utilize selective stretching positions on the platform to normalize their length. In this case, we utilize vibration and the overwhelming sensory feedback that it provides to “hush” the muscle spindle so that a rapid increase in length of the muscle is achieved. This must be done slowly and carefully to avoid harming the tissue.
• Improving Lymphatic Mobility – Although this is not specific to BJHS, the rapid amount of muscle contractions created by the vibration platform assists lymphatic system mobility. By stimulating the millions of one-way valves in this system, Vibration Therapy further improves the diffusion and movement of fluid between the cells. Better fluid movement means better cell health and improved tissue repair rate.
• Restoring Normal Communication – Finally, through stimulation of the proprioceptive system and its reporting stations that have been discussed in length already, we are able to improve body communication; this includes the speed, accuracy, and appropriateness of the information that is transferred between the body and the Central Nervous System. This restoration process, deserving of its own 100 page article, is the final step in maximizing the therapeutic applications of Vibration Therapy for BJHS.

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The purpose of the show is to provide a place where retailers and fitness facilities can see new product and find vendors to supply goods.  Much of the time is spent explaining your products and what differentiates you from the competition.

We met all types of business owners and soon will have a larger reach into the specialty fitness industry.  Also we were offered a spot on The Price Is Right for the upcoming December/January air time.  Be on the look out for PowerVibe on CBS as we get ready to go nationwide with this great exposure.

Also a lady from Shop NBC came by our booth to discuss the opportunity to carry our product in her online and television stores.  This is another great opportunity for us to gain national exposure and reach a market we have not had the chance to thus far.

The WAVE and PowerVibe had a good chance to catch up since first meeting at the Parker Show back in January of this year.  They are a great group of guys and we will most likely be pursuing some industry initiatives in the near future.  The WAVE makes great WBV equipment and because they target a different demographic than we do, it seems they would be a excellent partner.

Look for the HFB Expo next year to most likely be in Las Vegas, that is if President Obama gives the ok to have trade shows there again.

The most popular is vertical, meaning the platform moves in a uniform motion vertically straight up and down.  There are other names that some companies have developed such as tri-dimensional or cWBV (controlled WBV) but they all boil down to the same type of movement.  The reason this type of equipment is most popular is because it is the one that is best for accelerated training and it has gained the most media in recent years.  Usually vertical machines run anywhere from $5000-$15000.  This equipment is usually very good quality, however more often than not it is made for a gym setting where an athlete will be using it.  Most of the time the vibrations are very strong and in some cases can be uncomfortable for unconditioned users.

The second most popular is oscillating which means the platform moves back in forth, left to right, in a seesaw type movement.  This was the type of technology the Russians originally invented what we know as Whole Body Vibration with.  Oscillating machines are a little less popular due to under exposure but are a great way to get more of an exercise feeling.  Because they lift one leg and then the other it is almost like running in place, just with extremely high repetition.  This type of exercise is best for weight loss because it helps to break up visceral fat and strengthen core muscles.  As we all know the promotion of lean muscle mass helps to burn fat, paired with a high intensity workout like oscillating vibration is a recipe for success.

Finally, the least know type of Whole Body Vibration is called elliptical.  The platform moves in an elliptical motion along the horizontal plane.  Almost like a wobble board but much more challenging to the neuromuscular senses.  These machines are usually the most inexpensive as they are very easy to construct and do not need to be very powerful.  They are best suited for rehabilitating a lower extremity injury along with improving balance especially in elderly.  You will not feel much of the vibration above your waist due to the type of vibration that the machine creates.

Now you should have a better understanding of the main types of Whole Body Vibration and what they are best used for.  This should help in your decision making as you can pair a proper modality with your desired results.

Eventually people started to realize that this would work for all people suffering from low bone mineral density (osteoporosis) and also help build muscle.

The concept is simple.The machine move your body tissue up as your body weight forces things back down.  Basically a rapid acceleration and deceleration of the body and muscle tissues occur.  This is very similar to conventional exercise, the musle tissue is accelerated on the positive motion and decelerated on the negative motion.  The major difference is that with Whole Body Vibration this acceleration/deceleration occurs anywhere from 6 to 50 times a second.  In addition, WBV exercise also recruits 100% of the muscle tissue as apposed to 40% in conventional exercise.

The result is more stimulation in less time, therefor decreasing workouts from 60 minutes to only 10 because the high repetitions fatigue the muscles more quickly.

Whole Body Vibration is gaining more and more popularity as people become aware of the benefits.  Who wouldn’t want to get rid of an hour or two of time used up everyday for exercising in exchange for 10 minutes.  Not only that but now with high quality affordable units on the market from companies like PowerVibe (www.powervibeusa.com) you can now afford to exercise from the comfort of your own home.

In just 1o minutes a day you can get a full body workout.  Most people are at home reading or watching television anyways so why not hop on a WBV machine for 10 minutes and get some exercise.  You will look and feel better and chances are you will also sleep better at night.

Some of the most popular uses for WBV are exercise, muscle toning, weight loss, fighting osteoporosis, and improving lymph drainiage.  Other benefits include improved circulation, reduced stress, increased hormone release including seratonin, and just overall well being.

Think of this as an investment in your life and health.  How much is that worth to you?  Most people spend hoards of money on material things that do not do anything for their health or life.  Why not spend money on your well being and start planning for the future?

To give the quick answer no.

The long answer would be an in depth explanation of the different technologies (the major types being vertical, oscillating, and elliptical) and the best use for each.

Many people ask this question and are actually misguided by much of the advertising done by most of the WBV companies.

The truth is that there are 3 main types and even though they are all considered WBV, each technology has a specific use.  You will see similar results with any type of WBV, however certain equipment will get better results in key areas.  That is a topic which is very detailed on its own and one that I will write about in the future.

To get back to the root of the original question, not all machines are the same.  Many of the expensive machines are made to commercial standards for use in large exercise facilities like Bally’s or 24 Hour Fitness.  While many of the cheaper machines are exactly that, cheap and low quality, many of which come with only a 3-6 month warranty.  The mid range equipment is best for home use and will actually stand up to light commercial use.

The most important criteria to consider when purchasing a Whole Body Vibration machine is to determine what you will be using it for.  Are you planning to have an incredible high volume of traffic such as a gym or workout facility, or do you just want something that is good quality and will stand up to regular use?  If you need a machine for high end usage go with a more expensive model that is made for that type of use, if not, consider something in the mid price range like PowerVibe (www.powervibeusa.com).  PowerVibe manufacturers extremely exception machines at very affordable prices, all under $2000.

Be sure to do some thinking and figure out what you want out of your equipment.  Just like when buying a car you must consider what you need it for.  If you need to haul truckloads of good then a semi is a good choice, however if you need a daily driver that is dependable and reliable then a Toyota Camry is probably your best bet.  You wouldn’t buy a semi for a daily driver to commute to work and back just like you wouldn’t buy Camry if you need to haul large amounts of goods.  This same principle applies when considering a WBV machine.

This should help many of you who are currently looking for a solution to exercising with limited time (as WBV only takes 10 minutes a day) or if you are a Chiropractor looking to enhance your practice.

The answer is multi-fold and is a little difficult to say for sure.  Many people believe that it is a great alternative to exercise because of the physical stimulus that occurs in the body.  This is backed up by hundreds of research reports which show that WBV is a great way for inactive people to become active.

Because your muscles are forced to contract anywhere from 6 to 50 times every second (depedning on the type of vibration) it is definitively proven that this stuff works.  However many people side with the opinion that it is not necessarily an alternative but more like an adjunct.  Whole Body Vibration works well on its own, however when combined with conventional exercise such as weight lifting or running, it is extremely effective.  The results shown in individuals who use WBV in addition to current workout routines is remarkable.  In every case study done, the focus group that does a combination of conventional exercise and WBV show the greatest results.

There is an interesting article posted on Mayoclinic.com in which Dr. Edward R. Laskowski, M.D. shares his personal views on this subject.  I agree with most of what Dr. Laskowski says about the benefits, take a read here.

Any type of physical activity is good for you. Whether it be walking, running, or lifting weights the important thing is that you do something to burn calories and reduce stress.  The major benefit of using Whole Body Vibration is that you only need 10 minutes a day and it can be done from the comfort of your own home.  Consider this the next time you feel it absolutely necessary to work out for 60 minutes in order to gain the benefits of exercising.