Whole Body Vibration

Whole body vibration involves standing, sitting, or lying on a machine with a vibrating platform. As the machine vibrates, it transmits energy to your body, forcing your muscles to contract and relax dozens of times each second. This process is believed to enhance muscle strength, balance, and coordination. The science behind WBV is rooted in the idea that these rapid muscle contractions can stimulate the neuromuscular system more effectively than voluntary contractions alone.

Research has shown that WBV can be particularly beneficial for those who may find traditional exercise challenging, such as individuals with mobility issues or severe obesity. It can also aid in recovery for athletes and improve strength and mobility in older adults. The vibrations can stimulate muscle fibers more effectively than voluntary contractions, enhancing muscle strength and endurance. Studies suggest that WBV can increase bone mineral density, which is crucial for preventing osteoporosis, particularly in postmenopausal women.

Moreover, whole body vibration therapy has roots in space research. It was initially developed to help astronauts maintain muscle mass and bone density in zero-gravity environments. This innovative approach has now found its way into various health and wellness practices worldwide. The application of WBV in space research underscores its potential to counteract the muscle and bone loss experienced by astronauts in microgravity, highlighting its effectiveness in maintaining musculoskeletal health.

I first researched whole-body vibration as a health intervention back in the early 90s. The first experimentation was done in England, and the results appeared to be quite impressive. Unfortunately, back then, there were no vibration plates available to buy. The research was being done with lab-made devices. Back then, there was no Amazon where you could find everything you wanted. A few years later, a Korean manufacturer produced a version of the vibration plate, and I was able to purchase one through a local Korean market. Personally, I have been using whole-body vibration ever since. I have an early version of this technology in my office right now if you are interested in trying it out.

The basic idea is that you stand on a flat plate that vibrates or wiggles. As your body tries to maintain its balance, it has to activate all its stability muscles. It is this muscle activation that benefits your bone density. The strength of your bones is determined by the amount of force they have to resist in order for you to stand upright against gravity. Normally, your body has to resist just normal gravity. But if something suddenly pushed you up from your feet, then the strength of gravity against your body increases. On average, vibration plates increase the pull of gravity 400% for a fraction of a second. This signals the cells in your bones that they need to be stronger to stand up to this force. The vibration plate pushes you up many times each second, generally 10 to 60 times each second. This gives your body the message to build stronger bones.

The recent research I was looking at reviewed dozens of smaller studies testing dozens of vibration plates. The amount of force each plate produced varied between manufacturers as well as the rate of vibration. Some plates only moved up and down a few millimeters, while others rocked back and forth, and still others wiggled side to side. Summarizing all the data showed that there was little difference in the results between the different forces and configurations. This was quite surprising. We would naturally expect that a machine that exerted ten times the force of another would have a stronger effect, but this was not the case. This was a really wonderful finding because it means that very low-amplitude, gentle machines that could be used with frail patients would still be quite effective. The prime finding that this study review found was that patients that had significant muscle loss did not benefit from vibration plate therapy. I guess that you can’t really work muscles that you don’t have.

Twenty years ago, vibration plate machines started coming to the market in a bigger way. This was still a very niche market, but there were several brands available. The price was fairly high. A good machine would run you $1500 to $3000. Since that time, cheap knock-offs have been flooding the marketplace. You can find vibration machines for as little as $100. And if you are fairly healthy, I would expect that most of these machines will work for you. If, however, you are older and have issues with known osteoporosis, balance troubles, and physical weakness, then one of the more expensive low-amplitude vertical movement machines might be better for you. Since these types don’t rock or wiggle, they are more stable and safer.

Is this necessary for building bone? No, but some sort of compressive shock to your bones is necessary, and this is an easy way to get that. You could do weight lifting, which I recommend you do anyway for a number of reasons. You could run. You could use a trampoline. You could wear a weight vest for several hours a day. All these things increase the compressive load on your bones, which stimulates them to grow stronger. It is not just about exercise. For instance, swimming, cycling, aerobics, yoga, rowing, and similar activities do almost nothing to help bones get stronger. Walking does very little but has a slight benefit to your bones. On the flip side, sitting or lying down actually makes your bones get weaker. Bones have to be stressed to stay strong. They need enough weight to slightly bend the bones to form the electrical signal to the bone-forming cells telling them to kick into action.

The big upside to a vibration plate is that all you have to 

do is step onto it and just stand there for 10 minutes. No exercise you are aware of is needed. That takes away a huge obstacle to engaging in this activity every day. I get on my vibration plate every morning before I go to work. I have been doing this for years. I installed grab bars on the wall behind the vibration plate so that Ellen can get up onto the plate by herself to support her bone health. Even folks that have no leg strength at all can simply sit on a vibration plate to help the bones of their spine stay strong. Most anyone can use vibration therapy.

When would you not want to use vibration therapy? Obvious reasons would include broken bones. Bones that are trying to heal from a fracture need to be held steady for 6 to 8 weeks while the bone grows to fill in the broken spaces. Vibration therapy is very much an exercise for the stabilizer muscles in your body. So if your body is out of balance to the point that you are manifesting sciatic pain down your leg, vibration will likely make things get worse. If you have a muscle-wasting disease, then vibration will not help your muscles until the underlying cause is resolved. Bone tumors could weaken bones to the point that vibration would be contraindicated. That being said, my 95-year-old mother gets on her vibration plate every day. She uses her walker to make her way over to the plate and steps up onto the platform for a 10-minute workout.

A vibration plate is not the ultimate solution to osteoporosis, but it is a very useful tool to help strengthen your bones. There is still the whole nutrition component that has to be taken care of, both in what to add to your diet and what to leave out of it. I have written several articles addressing this issue. The bottom line is bones are just like everything in your body – use it or lose it. As you get older and everything hurts a bit more, the motivation to go out and get the exercise you need every day starts to diminish. So having something you can do that takes very little motivation yet still has big rewards is a real win.

Here is a link to the vibration plate that I use each morning. 

Take care,

David

 

Ellen

Part of our daily health routine is standing on our Wigglebug, our name for our Whole Body Vibration plate. Here you can see Ellen using the stability bars I installed to keep herself steady while on the plate.

 

 

 

 

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