Vibration Exercise Machine

Whole-body vibration training uses a machine with a vibrating platform, which, according to a "Time" magazine, causes 30 to 50 muscular contractions per second. Whole-body vibration machines are supposed to enhance weight loss and improve flexibility, muscular power and bone density.

Early Inspiration

The whole-body vibration exercise machine may seem like a high-tech, 21st century invention, but personal trainer Dan Fivey says the ancient Greeks originated the concept. They wrapped a sheet of fabric around an athlete's injured body part and attached the other end to a flexible saw, which provided what they believed were healing vibrations. Later, in the 19th century, John Harvey Kellogg, of cereal fame, used a vibration machine at the Battle Creek Sanitarium to treat patients suffering from constipation, headaches and back pain. Kellogg, according to Gear Trends, believed that sitting in the vibrating chairs increased total-body oxygenation.

Evolution

In 1960, Professor. W. Biermann of the former East German Republic developed a concept called cyclical vibration, which he believed could improve human joint condition. The Soviet Union took over this method and used it in its space program as a means of counteracting zero gravity's atrophying effects on the muscles and joints. The Soviets eventually adapted the method for their athletic teams and dance companies. Whole-body vibration technology reached other countries after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, according to Body Vibe.

How it Works

Vibration exercise machines stimulate the same type of stretch reflex that occurs when a doctor hits your knee with a hammer, says University of New Mexico exercise physiologist Chantal A. Vella, who described the stretch reflex process in "IDEA Fitness Journal" in 2005. Quickly stretched muscles react by contracting. Vibration machines continually stimulate the muscles, causing constant contract-relax cycles until the vibrations stop. Newton's second law of motion, which states that force equals mass times acceleration, explains how vibration machines may enhance muscular power, says Jessica Matthews of the American Council on Exercise.

Research

The results of a 2010 study published in the "Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly" indicate that vibration training may benefit people with bone mineral density losses due to spinal cord injury. Lead author David M. Bazett-Jones found significant positive changes in spinal bone mineral density, as well as an increase in lean muscle tissue and a reduction in body fat in the legs. A 2006 study in "Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise" showed that vibration training may improve flexibility in trained male gymnasts. When comparing vibration machine exercise with free weights, researchers at the Department of Health and Human Performance, College of Charleston found that both the free weight and the vibration training groups experienced similar improvements in upper-body strength. The "International Journal of Exercise Science" published the study in 2009.