Whole Body Vibration... the next tech for perfected workouts ?

Lounge
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Was wondering if anyone has actually used one of the whole body exercice platforms, Vibraflex or a related design ?

Welcome to VIBRAFLEX.COM

The enthusiasts think this is the most important exercise enhancement to ever come along, claiming gains in bone density, muscle mass, endocrine chemistry with none of the drawbacks of chemical enhancement…

Too good to be true ?

Others say this is false and nothing more than opportunists climbing on board the latest fad that got momentum when Madonna involved herself.

These units, mostly platforms, range from the fairly cheap, and predictably junky, to the professional use-health club expensive, $11,000 -$13,000 for a good one. The makers of the expensive models defend their work by claiming that only the designs found in the expensive ones can produce these exceptional results…

Here’s another one that is supposed to be the only scientifically verified, EU approved design, which I can’t vouch for:

Juvent, Inc.

“The space program demonstrated the damaging physical effects of weightlessness on the human body. Among these are muscle wasting, impaired balance and loss of bone mineral density. These effects occur rapidly in space but mimic what occurs gradually as a result of the aging process.”

The Juvent product is somewhat more reasonably priced at $2,500, relatively speaking…

The the Vibraflex people have marketed a “state of the art” dumbell like arm and upper body device for what seems like an exorbitant amount, around $6000… I think the idea is that health clubs buy these then sell workout sessions…

The parent company, Orthometrix, seems to be on the up and up as a real medical diagnostics research and development business:

ORTHOMETRIX.NET : About

So maybe this is the real deal…

I’m hearing about serious athletes doing their free weight routines WHILE standing on these platforms, even people adjusting themselves to perfom abdominal crunches, with supposed outstanding gains in muscle density and definition…

Anybody here tried one or know anyone who has ?

Our Friend tacitus - RIP 12/2010 - A compilation of brilliant and exhilarating posts
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Sounds like complete foolishness, but check this out!
Wired 15.03: Be More Than You Can Be

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bwahahaha… be afraid… very afraid…

Vacu-Step: The alternative to liposuction

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did any of y’all see pictures of those machines fromt he health craze of the 1920’s i think, where they had fat people, with a gigantic vibrating belt wrapped around their midsections trying to jiggle the fat off?

it’s all so Wellsville.

Yes - zero gravity does cause loss of bone density. However, a well thought strength training program will do more wonders than a vibrating platform imo. I can see some benefits in maintaining balance, but then again, strong legs and core will help even more.

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What they’re saying is that there is a specific frequency and amplitude, in combination, that causes a muscle fiber twitch and release pattern…again, in theory, that this is like doing thousands of mini-reps… there’s so much happening with this att the moment, I’d like to hear from someone who has personal experience with it…

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hmm…which link talks about Muscle Twitch?

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here’s a quickie:

“An important fact to keep in mind is that the soleus muscle normally fires (or contracts) in the same frequency range of 32-37 Hz that the Juvent 1000 Platform delivers. It is believed that the signal from the platform acts to stimulate the diminished soleus muscle firing in the aging population.”

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Ahahaha! Those were the best!

xoxo
jp

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the soleus is that wee muscle tucked behing your calf muscle (gastrocnemius) that attaches to your ankle (if i recall correctly).

stimulating that one muscle at it’s preferred frequency (which is a bit of a stretch, pardont he pun) because all muscles contain two types of fiber, slow-twitch and fast twitch) seems like an awfully small step towards maintaining balance in the aging population.

walking would do more good, as oyu actively using the muscle. As well, balance isn’t 100% percent muscle based - equlibrium (brain and middle-ear based), depth perception (visual), blood pressure are all involved too.

I’m sorry if i sound totally skeptical, maybe this product will prove me wrong, i just tend to be wary of all the soft options we’re supplied to ease our health and fitness woes.

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Balance in the elderly has been showed to be improved by vibrating shoe soles. It ramps up the nerve stimulus so it overrides the impulse noise. The theory being that as we age the normal stimulus gets drowned out in signal noise along the nerves that we take our cues on to give us balance and by increasing the stimulus it will proportionally override out the noise.

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Holy Throbbing Orgasmotron, I tried one !

this was too good… walking across 57th street in Manhattan I spot what, a Brookstone store, chock full of dubious electro stuff like dildos disguised as therapeutic massage accessories and other indespensible articles… and right there in the middle of the store is a Vibraplate… alright, I’m game… they wisely keep the unit unplugged unless you ask them to activate it… so I have it set to maximum everything and press the Start button… PHUCKKING LOUISE!!! What the hell ??? I feel like a flea atop one of the personal vibrators sitting so coyly on the softly lit shelf… I mean to say, Lawdy !!! Like, every speck of your human physical body is dynamically shrabbled into tremulous zlotz… not, I tried one of those ass shaker belts on a whim and this is not, repeat not by a mile, an ass shaker belt… I was laughing, gasping, freaking out, hanging on to the handles for dear life… felt like my ass cheeks were going to drop off and roll around like grapefruit halves… DAYUMMMM !!! Rich guy ought to buy these for his stoner kids… can’t imagine what a vibraplate enhanced with cannabis would feel like… physically hallucinatory ? :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

Arrrrrgh… the modern world requires modern toys… so, dearie, was it good for you ? Yeah, walking around afterwards, my legs, especially my calf muscles, felt stronger, better coordinated, and more stable, defintiely more youthful across several parameters…

Downside ? Can vibration THAT intense damage something ? I’ve heard about inner ear balance injuries from the little crystals in the vestibular system breaking from shock waves, industrial vibrations, etc… and other suff, like does is wreck your joints or anything ?

Upside… well, assuming that the people making this know their occupational health and all and have engineered it so it doesn’t have collateral damage we haven’t been told about… I’d say it would be one amazing exercise enhancer, especially for a pre workout warmup or a post workout flushout… this hairy bastid makes the average sports massage feel downright tame by comparison…

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lmao!

that was funny tacitus. thanks for taking one for the team.

so it really did make your feet feel good? or was it the absence of intense vibration making normal feel quite pleasant?

as for collateral damage - maybe you could chip soem teeth or bruise your brain or something. i dunno. think it’s good for 80-year olds to try?

btw - where did you find an ass-shaker belt to try?

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Oh, God… this is so embarrassing… my mom had a fat ass and was too lazy to diet or exercise and she had one in the alcove next to the kitchen… stupidest piece of crap, she couldn’t motivate herself to use THAT… I’d try it when bored… awfully bored… and my butt would tingle… got zilch out of it other than butt tingle… not good butt tingle either, itchy butt tingle.

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you’ve got me cracking up today.

thanks for that. I totally want to try the igallop after reading your post in that other thread.

actually that reminds me - i’m gonna go post over there now. :stuck_out_tongue:

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positive results a couple of hours later… walking around my feet and calves are clearly stronger, they have the impulsive strength of maybe when I was 20 years younger ? Even the upper body feel more lively, enregized, like I’ve had bodywork… question is, what’s the downside ?

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you might have to keep trying it and find out for the rest of us.

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not sure what was the efficient cause of this was… seems like the vibraplate had a contribution.. late last night I had a spontaneous spinal adjustment, like those spinal manipulations you pay a chiropractror to inflict, a core level SCRUUUUNNNNNCH of about 6 thoractic vertebra, followed by the distinctive nerve root pleasant not quite painful stimulation of an intentional spinal crack, this afterbuzz lasted for hours, so I assume I’d been walking around for months ? with a somewhat out of line back that popped itself back into position… more than a coincidence that this occurs about 8 hours post vibration ? I’m walking and standing differently now, as my vertical plumb line has been reset by 3-4 degrees… wild experience… maybe chiropractic and osteopathic offices should use these to facilitate spinal adjustments ?

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hmm…my chiro uses these muscle stim things before each adjustment. they basically vibrate the heck out of my shoulder blades, and then he adjusts after that. I should ask him about this.

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German stem its called what it does it shocks the muscles with electrical impulses to relax and loosen up the muscles. almost like Trigger point or accupuncture. it can accualy help burn fat cause the muscles are twitching and making then think your working it out.

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yeah… there is a whole pallette of stim patterns from Russian (feels pretty rough) for direct muscle growth, to low frequency biphasics that feel like “blorps” that run through your muscle and shake itself loose…