Shake Your Way to Fitness

Whole Body Vibration (WBV) has shaken its way into the fitness community. For decades, it has been on the fringe but not understood by the mainstream fitness community. It is rumored that Eastern European Olympic athletes have been using whole-body vibration since the 1980s. In the United States, vibration has just started to hit physical therapy clinics and health clubs but has been popular in training studios and chiropractors’ offices for years. Vibration still has its skeptics, but many experts have validated this technology. Most professional football, baseball, hockey, and basketball teams use vibration. It took a few of Hollywood’s A-list stars led by Madonna to start the home craze. Home vibration products start in the $200 price range and go to the $12,000 price range. Like all fitness products, you tend to get what you pay for.

Using a whole-body vibration plate causes the muscles to fire from the inside out. Most vibration training is a series of static poses held while the plate vibrates at up to 50 Hz. Your body senses the instability and fires the muscles as a reflex.

Published studies about WBV show increased bone density, muscular strength, weight loss, flexibility, and sports performance. WBV benefits people with Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis by slowing the disease’s progress and even reversing some of the muscle loss. Athletes use vibration for increased flexibility, strength, power, and quicker recovery from workouts.

WBV hits the smaller peripheral muscles better than traditional training making it a good addition to any workout program.