Is it really beneficial?
Vibration has actually been around since the ancient Greeks, they used it for injury rehabilitation. In the past few years, some Elite Athletes have been using the Whole Body Vibration training (WBV) for either as a recovery or injury rehabilitation tool.
WBV works on the activation of the body's reflexes. Using it in different ways and frequencies causes the central nervous system to stimulate activity along the whole kinetic chain.
According to all the research and testing it helps with the following list:
- Increase Strength and Power
- Helps improve Flexibility
- Reduces Pain Sensation
- Helps increase Bone Density
- Improves Postural Control
- Improves Circulation and Lymphatic Drainage
- Improves Proprioception
Every research paper I have read regarding this form of training has shown success in every objective...
research after research, test after test supports the benefits of WBV training... but... my question's of it are these...
Is it available to everyone?
Is it Viable for everyone?
How much can we do on it?
Who can/should use it?
Is it functional for an athlete?
The list of questions could go on, though, I will give you my thoughts as a trainer, and you can make your own decisions on it's values if you so wished to study it...
I have searched for the different forms of training/exercises you can do on a WBV machine and yes, there are a bunch of them, as you can see on this link to youtube WBV.
I would agree that it is a form of exercising that could very well be beneficial to the elderly. This because by just standing on it, an elderly person would find that their central nervous reaction would force muscle contraction, to try and keep them stable. Doing this over a period of time would help with the longevity of their stabilisation and strength.
As you will see from the youtube movies, there are many different forms of exercise you can perform on the WBV machine, so, as for the average person, it can give you a form of variation to your weekly training routine. You wouldn't use it every day but as to say doing exercises or a class on it twice a week could be good for a change, and it would keep it's effectiveness.
Now as for the athlete, again, I can see the benefits of such a machine. Although, my thoughts are regarding the versatility of the exercises to use it for an Athlete... The cost effectiveness to an Athlete... The accessibility to an Athlete...
When you are talking of the strength and power needs for an athlete, putting the into movements to assist them on their sporting field, just from what I've viewed, I struggle to see the benefits of spending several thousands of $$ on such a machine to assist you with your training.
Again, I say this coming from someone who has only viewed the machine and read the literature, when you read reports like the one from the Australian Sports Commission then you can quite easily argue that they are beneficial.
I'm not saying they aren't beneficial, I'm just asking whether the cost is essential for the small benefit that is recieved from it?
There are a heap of studies out there regarding it and the decision is yours as to whether you need to put it in your program... The first thing to do though is, find somewhere that has the machines, make sure you are well instructed on how to use them and don't go and buy a cheap replicar! It is well documented by the main bodies that are using and educating us with this type of training that the good machines cost big $$ and the also rans are costly cause they generally brake down and aren't good enough...
