Not only will your energy levels increase, your mental focus will be enriched and enhanced, and you will sleep better. The secondary effects generated will be increased blood flow and increased involuntary neuromuscular stretch reflex, which in turn will boost your hormonal system response, generating more Endorphins (happy hormone), more Collagen (better skin), more HGH (more muscle mass and less fat), and lower your Cortisol level (stress and fat accumulation hormone).
Growth Hormone: stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans. High production of HGH also leads to more rapid healing of fatigued or injured cells and allows for faster recovery.
Testosterone: plays a key role in health and well-being as well as in sexual functioning. Examples include energy, increased production of red blood cells and protection against osteoporosis.
Cortisol: usually referred to as the "stress hormone" as it is involved in response to stress. It increases blood pressure and blood sugar, and reduces immune responses.
Basically the Whole Body Vibration platform recreates the muscle stretch reflex according to the following process:
- Stimulus: a tap on tendon causes a muscle stretch reflex
- Receptor: the receptors in muscles and joints note this shift in length
- Spinal cord: they pass the information on to the spinal cord
- Brains: the response to this sensory stimulus via the spinal column is a direct contraction of the stretched muscle. The brain is not directly involved in this process.
Additional benefits of WBV include:
- 100% of the muscle fibers are trained as opposed to 40% with regular training
- Increased blood flow and oxygenation in all skeletal tissues
- Increased bone density
- Increased flexibility
- Increase range of motion
- Increase muscle strength and performance
- Increase collagen for smoother skin
- Reduce lower back pain
- Accelerate weight loss
- Lymphatic drainage
- Improves general condition of elderly people
- Fights the effects of Osteoporosis
- Improves condition of patients affected by Parkinson's
Many studies have demonstrated that a 10-minute exercise on a WBV machine is equivalent and even better than an hour workout with conventional fitness equipment. The impact of WBV is significant in the medical field as positive results have been observed with Parkinson’s disease patients and patients suffering from other degenerative diseases. For women and elderly people, studies have shown that WBV substantially slowed down the progression of osteoporosis and helped rebuild bone density.
Immediate and short term effects
Because more muscle fibers (also known as motor units) are activated under the influence of vibration than in normal, conscious muscle contractions the muscles are incited more efficiently. The immediate effect of WBV is therefore that the muscles can be used quickly and efficiently, allowing them to produce more force.
Another immediate effect of WBV is an improvement of blood circulation. The rapid contraction and relaxation of the muscles at 20 to 50 times per second basically works as a pump on the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, increasing the speed of the blood flow through the body. Subjects often experience this as a tingling, prickling, warm sensation in the skin.
Long term effects
In order to have any effect on the body in the long term it is vital that the body systems experience fatigue or some sort of light stress. As in other kinds of training, when the body is overloaded repeatedly and regularly, the principle of super compensation will occur. This principle is the cause of the body adapting to loading. In other words: performance will increase.
This effect has been proven several times in scientific research for both young and elderly subjects. Studies have shown that using WBV leads to a significant increase in strength. This is a clear indication that the vibrations actually do have added value when performing static exercises Better results may even be achieved with WBV in the area of explosive power.
Another important difference between conventional training methods and WBV is that there is only a minimum of loading. No additional weights are necessary, which ensures that there is very little loading to the passive structures such as bones, ligaments and joints. That is why WBV is extremely suited to people that are difficult to train due to old age, disease, disorders, weight or injury. On the other hand, it is also very suitable for professional athletes who want to stimulate and strengthen their muscles without overloading joints and the rest of the physical system.
Other than its influence on the muscles, WBV can also have a positive effect on bone mineral density. The vibrations cause compression and remodeling of the bone tissue Mechanostat, activating the osteoblasts (bone building cells), while reducing the activity of the osteoclasts (cells that break bone down). Repeated stimulation of this system, combined with the increased pull on the bones by the muscles, will increase bone mineral density over time. It is also likely that the improved circulation and the related bone perfusion due to a better supply of nutrients, which are also more able to penetrate the bone tissue, are contributing factors.
