Some people have the impression that a WBR machine takes all the work out of exercise. Actually, you have to still do some exercises, a WBR machine will just increase the efficiency of the exercises. In addition, it will also improve other health aspects that normal exercise doesn’t do as well. First, let’s review what we want to accomplish and how WBR helps us.
Weight Loss, Toning & Athletic Ability
To firstly understand how Vibration Training works, it is important to understand how normal exercise is done. A voluntary stretch reflex is when you voluntarily move a limb or muscle by thinking about it (walking, running, pushup’s, etc..). This is done by sending a small electrical impulse from the brain via the central nervous system towards the muscle causing the fibers to twitch, and hence you have movement.
An involuntary stretch reflex is when an outside force exerts itself on the central nervous system (CNS) also causing the muscle to spasm (myotatic reflex). A classic example of this is when you are struck just below the knee cap and your leg kicks up by itself. This same rule applies to Vibration Training.
By vibrating your C.N.S you can cause every muscle to twitch at whatever hertz rating (vibrations per seconds) the vibrations are set at. So if the vibrations are set at 20 Hz then your muscles will move 20 times a second. This rapid movement causes the body to burn large amounts of energy (Kj/Cal) hence emptying the fat cells of their stored carbohydrates. For example, you can burn far more calories than you could during a normal gym session.
The reason for the large amount of energy burnt is because up to 100% of your muscle fibers are recruited in vibration training. This is unlike normal exercise that only uses up to 70% of them. Also, during the 50 Hz training session your muscles move 3000 times per minute, Just in case you are wondering, yes it does feel like exercise. Sorry no getting out of that one. But at least you don’t have to put in much effort yourself, right?
Lymphatic Drainage
This is something that is not talked about enough, but is very important in helping the human body to run properly. We all know about the lymph nodes in our upper legs and our armpits because they swell and get sore when we are sick. But there are a lot more embedded in our muscles that we never feel. During a muscle contraction these tiny balloons of fluid are squeezed and force the fluid to move a little bit.
This is very important for moving fluid out of the skin so it can carry built up toxins away. Also, it is all part of your immune system so you can see how moving your muscles 50 times per second can help this process. As a bonus, this treatment will also help you look better as poor lymphatic drainage is one of the reasons behind getting cellulite.
Bone Density
Part of the aging process is losing more cells in a 24 hour period than we create. Unfortunately this means that our bones get weaker as we grow older. Hormones play a big part in how fast or slow this happens. However, things can be done to help – other than using drugs!
To help understand this we need to go back to when you were a child, playing and more than likely falling over. When you hurt yourself the pain sensors in your bones sent a small electrical signal to your brain. This told your body to send collagen and calcium into the localised bone area that was hurt. Only the localized area is sent the appropriate minerals etc.
This process can happen our entire lives, but as we get older in today’s society (get jobs, no time for sport, kids etc.) this system of repair is used less and less. This decreasing the amount of signals being sent to the brain. A big problem! With the drop in hormone production, we contribute to the problem by slowing down, becoming less and less active.
So how does Vibration Training help? Vibrating your bones you get those sensors sending signals again. This helps your body to maintain its bone density and even help weaker bones get stronger. Ten minutes in contact with the plate will send approximately 30,000 separate electrical signals to the brain.
Balancing Your Hormones Naturally
This is a complicated chain of events so here we will give you the basics. As mentioned before, when a bone receives a shock a small signal is sent to the brain where that piece of information is stored. The same thing happens to everything your body goes through in a 24 hour period. Now there are two parts to your sleeping pattern, R.E.M (Rapid Eye Movement) and deep sleep. Think of R.E.M as your healing sleep and deep sleep as your battery recharge.
R.E.M sleep is what we want to know about, as this is when all the important stuff happens. In the brain we have the Hypothalamus and the Pituitary gland. Think of these as your control centers. They help record the information you send to the brain and activate when you are asleep. Only in R.E.M can these glands do their job properly, with whatever information you have sent to them.
Exercise tells your brain to produce relevant hormones to repair and strengthen your body. If you become less active during the day, your hormone levels can drop and cause all kinds of problems (lack of energy, bad sleep, no new cells to replace old ones). Obviously Vibration Training gives the brain a lot to think about, hence it does more.
WBR Exercise Guidelines
The basic squat is the best position to learn about the theory of vibration training and its opposing rules to normal voluntary exercise. If you learn to master the first pose, passing on the same high standards to the other poses should become second nature.
- Always check your position before starting. If you do find yourself out of position, correct immediately. There are no gray areas on these issues. You are either in the correct position or don’t get on the machine at all.
- Use the machine for therapy or working out 3 times a week, with a 48 hour rest period between sessions. As a general rule – the safe time limit for the WBV sessions is about 10-15 minutes per 48 hours. If the aim of the WBV session is resistance training then the time lag can be 72 hours between sessions.
*(Overuse, over a long period (2+ months), have been known to create health disorders ranging from hyperthyroidism and other hormonal disorders to potential internal organ failure.)
- WBV workouts exercise the neuromuscular system. The WBV effect on muscle issue is similar or identical as resistance training as far as inducing the catabolic and anabolic responses in the body. That is why the absolute need to give the body at least a 48 hour rest period between sessions. More may result in muscle tissue breakdown and negative influence on the thyroid gland.
- Correct bodily positioning on the equipment is very important as an improper position would multiply the stress-strain factor many times over per second. (Please remember 40 correct movements a second can easily turn into 40 incorrect movements a second by not following the rules.)
- Generally safe amplitude for warm-up, therapy and basic training protocol is 3-5 mm for warm-up and therapy, increasing to 5 mm as tolerance increases.
- Resistance training can be done immediately or very soon after the WBV warm-up or holding the static poses on the machines. Cardiovascular exercises can be done during the days intervening between WBV sessions, or the same day.
(There are some opinions that vibrations below 20 hz are not healthful for the spine and internal organs in lineal machines.)
Exercises
Most exercise guidelines are nothing more than repetitive forms of squats and pushups. This is a much more balanced exercise guide that covers more muscle groups than others.
There are 2 exercise motions with each exercise. This helps develop balance. If you have trouble balancing while doing two exercises at a time, just do 1 exercise at a time.
These can be performed with normal movement or just in a still isometric form.
Either – do up and down squats,
or – hold a squat at about a 30 degree angle (so your head does not vibrate much).
Either – lift the curls up and down,
or – hold the weights at a 45 degree angle.
Do 1 or 2 sets, keeping to a 15 minute workout. Only mild weight amounts are needed for the vibration to work in a tense muscle. (Add more weight only if desired.)
- Squats & Curl Squat(s), while curling weights.
- Squats & Press Squat(s), pressing weights straight up.
- Calves & Pecs Lift with calves, squeeze your hands
together against the bar.
- Squats & Blades – spread Squat, bend 90 degrees and lift arms
with weights out sideways.
- Push-up & Abs Spread hands wide, do light push-ups
while tightening abs.
- Squats & Shoulders Squat(s), lifting arms with weights
up sideways.
- Squat & Blades – elbow Squat, Bend over 90 degrees and raise
weights with elbows tight to body.
- Lats & Abs Backward squat with hands on front of
platform, spread hands and hold
shoulders down.
(Repeat set if desired.)