Health Benfits of Vibration Exercise

“Some but not all of the studies in this review reported similar improvements in muscle performance, balance, and functional mobility with WBV as compared to traditional exercise programs. Bone studies consistently showed that WBV improved bone density in the hip and tibia...”
 

“Evidence suggests that acute vibration exercise seems to elicit a specific warm-up effect, and that vibration training seems to improve muscle power, although the potential benefits over traditional forms of resistive exercise are still unclear. Vibration training also seems to improve balance in sub-populations prone to fall, such as frail elderly people. Moreover, literature suggests that vibration is beneficial to reduce chronic lower back pain and other types of pain. Other future indications are perceivable.”
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“It is concluded that the increased metabolic power observed in association with VbX is due to muscular activity. It is likely that this muscular activity is easier to control between individuals than is simple squatting.”
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“A strength training program that includes WBV appears to have additive effects in young skiers compared with an equivalent program that does not include WBV. Therefore, our findings support the hypothesis that WBV training may be a beneficial supplementary training technique in strength programs for young athletes.”
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“The analysis of EMGrms recorded before the treatment and during the treatment itself showed an enormous increase in neural activity during vibration up to more than twice the baseline values. This would indicate that this type of treatment is able to stimulate the neuromuscular system more than other treatments used to improve neuromuscular properties.”
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“WBV, and the reflexive muscle contraction it provokes, has the potential to induce strength gain in knee extensors of previously untrained females to the same extent as resistance training at moderate intensity. It was clearly shown that strength increases after WBV training are not attributable to a placebo effect.”
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“The present findings indicate that metabolic power in whole-body VbX can be parametrically controlled by frequency and amplitude, and by application of additional loads. These results further substantiate the view that VbX enhances muscular metabolic power, and thus muscle activity.”  read more ...

“The analysis of EMGrms recorded before the treatment and during the treatment itself showed an enormous increase in neural activity during vibration up to more than twice the baseline values. This would indicate that this type of treatment is able to stimulate the neuromuscular system more than other treatments used to improve neuromuscular properties.”
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“In conclusion, it is suggested that Whole Body Vibration influences proprioceptive feedback mechanisms and specific neural components, leading to an improvement of neuromuscular performance.”
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“Power Doppler indices indicative of muscular blood circulation in the calf and thigh significantly increased after exercise. The mean blood flow velocity in the popliteal artery increased from 6.5 to 13.0 cm x s(-1) and its resistive index was significantly reduced.”
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“The study findings suggest that short duration vibration alone significantly increases Skin Blood Flow; doubling mean SBF for a minimum of 10 minutes following intervention. The emerging therapeutic modality of WBV as a passive intervention appears to increase SBF in individuals with healthy microcirculation.”
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“The results suggest that plantar vibration serves to significantly enhance peripheral and systemic blood flow, peripheral lymphatic flow, and venous drainage, which may account for the apparent ability of such stimuli to influence bone mass.”
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“These findings suggest that Whole Body Vibration training may be a feasible and effective way to modify well-recognized risk factors for falls and fractures in older women and support the need for further human studies.”
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Acute WBV causes neural potentiation of the stretch reflex loop as shown by the improved ACMVJ and flexibility performance. Additionally, muscle groups less proportionally exposed to vibration do not exhibit physiological changes that potentiate muscular performance.” read more ...

“This non-pharmacologic approach represents a physiologically based means of inhibiting the decline in BMD that follows menopause, perhaps most effectively in the spine of lighter women who are in the greatest need of intervention.”
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Human skeletal muscle structure and function preserved by vibration muscle exercise following 55 days of bed rest read more ...

“In nursing home residents with limited functional dependency, six weeks static WBV exercise is feasible, and is beneficial for balance and mobility.” read more ...

“Whole body vibration training was associated with reduced falls frequency on a moving platform when vision was disturbed and improvements in the response to toes down rotations at the ankle induced by the moving platform... Thus, whole body vibration training may improve some aspects of postural control in community dwelling older individuals.”
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“The current data indicate that poor lumbar muscle force probably is not the exclusive cause of chronic lower back pain. Different types of exercise therapy tend to yield comparable results. Interestingly, well-controlled vibration may be the cure rather than the cause of lower back pain.”
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“Controlled whole body vibration can improve elements of fall risk and HRQOL in elderly patients.”
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“This study showed that vibration can be a promising means of increasing range of motion beyond that obtained with static stretching in highly trained male gymnasts.”
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“The 8-month course of vibratory exercise using a reciprocating plate is feasible and is more effective than walking to improve two major determinants of bone fractures: hip BMD and balance.”
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“After the 2-month exercise program, the walking speed, step length, and the maximum standing time on one leg were significantly improved in the WBV exercise plus routine exercises group, while no significant changes in these parameters were observed in the routine exercises alone group. zThus, the present study showed the beneficial effect of WBV exercise in addition to muscle strengthening, balance, and walking exercises in improving the walking ability in the elderly. WBV exercise was safe and well tolerated in the elderly.” read more ...

“The results of this study suggest that articular cartilage thickness is sensitive to unloading and that vibration training may be a potent countermeasure against these effects. The sensitivity of cartilage to physical training is of high relevance for training methods in space flight, elite and sport and rehabilitation after illness or injury.”  read more ...

“The purpose of this study was to progressively overload vibration platform frequency to describe sea-saw whole body vibration influence on neuromuscular performance of community-dwelling older adults. It was concluded that progressively overloaded frequency was effective in improving quantifiable measures of neuromuscular performance in the sample and that practitioners may confidently prescribe 3 whole body vibration sessions per week with more precise knowledge of the effects of whole body vibration on neuromuscular performance and health-related quality-of-life effects.”  read more ...

“Age-related changes in body composition are well-documented with a decrease in lean body mass and a redistribution of body fat generally observed. CONCLUSION: In older women, resistance training alone and with whole-body vibration resulted in positive body composition changes by increasing lean tissue. However, only the combination of resistance training and whole-body vibration was effective for decreasing percent body fat.” read more ...

“Ten weeks of lower limb WBV training in older women produces a significant increase in muscle strength induced by thigh muscle hypertrophy, with no change in muscle power. The adaptations to WBV found in the present study may be of use in counteracting the loss of muscle strength and mobility associated with age-induced sarcopenia.” read more ...

“After the 2-month exercise program, the walking speed, step length, and the maximum standing time on one leg were significantly improved in the WBV exercise plus routine exercises group, while no significant changes in these parameters were observed in the routine exercises alone group. zThus, the present study showed the beneficial effect of WBV exercise in addition to muscle strengthening, balance, and walking exercises in improving the walking ability in the elderly. WBV exercise was safe and well tolerated in the elderly.” read more ...

“The analysis of EMGrms recorded before the treatment and during the treatment itself showed an enormous increase in neural activity during vibration up to more than twice the baseline values. This would indicate that this type of treatment is able to stimulate the neuromuscular system more than other treatments used to improve neuromuscular properties.”  read more ...

“Vibration causes an increase in the g-forces acting on the muscles, increasing the loading parameters of any exercise”
 

“NB: US Olympic Skiers and Snowboarders using WBV for warm-ups on hill before events Exposure to whole-body vibration has also resulted in a significant improvement in power output in the post-vibratory period and has been demonstrated to induce significant changes in the resting hormonal profiles of men. In addition to the potential training effects of vibration, the improvement in power output that is observed in the post-vibratory period may also lead to better warm-up protocols for athletes competing in sporting events that require high amounts of power output.”
 

“Bone mineral density (BMD) loss is a medical concern for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Concerns related to osteoporosis have lead researchers to use various interventions to address BMD loss within this population. Whole body vibration (WBV) has been reported to improve BMD for postmenopausal women and suggested for SCI. The purpose of this case study was to identify the effects of WBV on BMD for an individual with SCI. There were three progressive phases (standing only, partial standing, and combined stand with vibration), each lasting 10 weeks. Using the least significant change calculation, significant positive changes in BMD were reported at the trunk (0.46 g/cm(2)) and spine (.093 g/cm(2)) for phase 3 only. Increases in leg lean tissue mass and reduction in total body fat were noted in all three phases.”