Whole-body vibration (WBV) training is often considered more effective or efficient than conventional exercise in certain contexts because it introduces an additional stimulus—mechanical vibrations—that can enhance muscle activation, circulation, and other physiological responses. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it replaces conventional exercise, but rather that it can augment or accelerate certain benefits:
1. Increased Muscle Activation
- Vibration triggers reflexive muscle contractions: The rapid oscillations from a WBV platform stimulate muscle spindles, leading to involuntary, reflex-based contractions.
- This means more muscle fibers are activated, especially fast-twitch fibers, which are crucial for strength and power.
2. Time Efficiency
- WBV training sessions are usually short (10–20 minutes) but can offer comparable benefits to longer traditional workouts in terms of strength, balance, or flexibility in some populations.
- This can make WBV ideal for people with limited time or lower physical capacity.
3. Enhanced Circulation and Lymphatic Flow
- Vibration can improve blood flow and lymphatic drainage, which may help with:
- Muscle recovery
- Reduction of swelling or inflammation
- Improved nutrient delivery
4. Improved Balance and Coordination
- Because it challenges the neuromuscular system, WBV may help mprove body awareness, balance, and coordination, especially in older adults.
5. Lower Impact on Joints
- WBV can be easier on joints than high-impact traditional exercises. Users should always consult their doctor before use if they have a particular condition.
It is important to stress that WBV doesn't provide
cardiovascular conditioning like aerobic exercise. Also, as with many forms of exercise, improper use or veruse can lead to joint or muscle issues.
In conjunction with conventional exercise you can tone, firm up, shape, strengthen, improve fitness, perform active stretches etc. For many exercises you will be performing the same or similar exercise only you will be doing it on the plate.
If you want to target a particular part of the body
or muscle group you can choose or adapt an exercise to achieve this.
The benefits can be enhanced by incorporating resistance bands or weights.
Combining use of your plate with conventional training can enhance training outcomes over a shorter period of time.
While accelerated gains can be made, you will notice
that as you get fitter, more toned etc, more workout time will be required if you wish to continue to see the
results.
In additional to the tradional benefits of exercise ie improved general health, positivity, elevated
energy levels, feelings of wellbeing, greater strength, better muscle tone, improved bone density (resistance training) etc, vibration trainers can be used in conjunction with your workout programme to boost your training and goals.
While vibration training has be widely researched the results should be viewed in the context of the specific study. However, many studies do provide evidence for vibration plates being a useful additional training aid for many users. Some of these interesting studies are summarised here:
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Vibration training can be as effective as traditional resistance training but faster. As a result, calorie burn is greater for the same exercise done on a vibration plate.
Exercise helps to strengthen and tone muscle groups by stimulating the repeated contraction and relaxation of muscles, in response to an increased load either working against your own body weight or in response to an additional force e.g. lifting weights. By conducting the same exercises on a vibrating plate, the muscles have to work harder to continuously maintain the body’s stability meaning that the effect of any resistance training is intensified and thus the same results can be achieved in a shorter time.
This is borne out by a number of well-controlled clinical studies which have compared the effects of resistance training alone versus resistance training in conjunction with a vibrating plate or no training. In a review of these studies conducted in 2005 the authors concluded that ‘vibration training can induce enhancements in strength and power.’
Futher studies supporting the these benefits include:
A 12 month study iin 2007 with 97 older men (60-80 years) comparing regular 40 minute training sessions on a vibration plate versus regular 1.5 hour exercise
programmes without a vibration plate or no training at all. Both the vibration plate plus training group and the exercise only group showed significant improvements in isometric strength and jump performance when compared to the no training group. The improvements in both exercise groups were comparable but those using the vibration plate had exercised for approximately 50 minutes less per session.
In 2003 a study looked at 67 young adult females
previously not participating in regular exercise or resistance training participated in a 12-week program in one of four test groups (whole body vibration or placebo vibration or resistance training or control group). The results of the study demonstrated that isometric and isokinetic strength (as demonstrated by gain in knee-extensor strength) significantly improved after vibration plate training. The magnitude of the strength increase in isometric and dynamic strength of the quadriceps, 16.6% and 9.0%, respectively, is
comparable to the increase that was realised by an equal number of resistance training sessions, 14.4% and 7.0%, respectively. The control groups showed no
such increase. Additionally, counter-movement jump height, a measure of explosive strength after stretch shortening of the muscles, increased by 7.6% in the vibration plate training group but not in the other test groups.
The effects of a 7-week slow velocity resistance training program with and without whole body
vibration were examined in 33 untrained, healthy adults (22-49 years). All participants performed a series of 8 exercises, once during the first week and
twice during the remaining 6 weeks, targeting the lower extremities and trunk muscles. Measurements of muscle strength, power and endurance were made before and after the training program. On completion, the magnitude of increase in maximal isometric and concentric knee extension, isometric lumbar extension
contractions and countermovement jump height were 36.8%, 38.4%, 26.4% and 8.3%,
respectively in the resistance training plus whole body vibration group compared to 16.5%, 12.8%, 14.3% and 4.7%, respectively in the resistance training only group. The authors concluded that ‘significant additional increases in maximal isometric and concentric knee extension and lumbar extension strength, and countermovement jump height can be achieved by incorporating whole-body vibration into a slow-velocity resistance training program during the initial stage of a regular resistance training in untrained healthy adults’ .
Vibration Training as an aid to reducing body fat
An 8-month study in 55 postmenopausal women (60-75 years) looked at the effects on body composition of resistance training alone versus resistance training in conjunction with whole-body vibration versus a control group who did not perform any resistance exercise. The women in the two resistance training groups trained 3 times a week for 8 months
with each session lasting approximately 1 hour. Those undertaking the additional vibration training did so during these training sessions. The primary finding from this study was that ‘the addition of whole-body vibration stimulus to high intensity resistance training
resulted in greater improvement in percent body fat compared to resistance training alone in oestrogen-deficient postmenopausal women’ which ‘was accomplished by increasing the lean soft tissue component of the body’ .
A comparative 6-month study in 2010 of 61 overweight or obese adults examined the effect of whole body vibration combined with caloric restriction on, amongst other factors, body composition. At 6 months, visceral adipose tissue (as measured by bioimpedance analysis) changed most in the whole
body vibration plus caloric restriction group compared to the other three groups (caloric restriction plus fitness training, caloric restriction only and control). This led the authors to conclude that ‘whole body vibration training may have the potential to reduce visceral adipose tissue more than aerobic exercise in obese adults’ .
Vibration Training improves balance and core strength
The act of performing exercises and standing on the vibration plate requires the core body muscles to work to maintain stability and balance. Over time core strength and balance improves which is a benefit to users.
A randomised study undertaken in 16 young, healthy volunteers (24-33 years) investigated the effect of a single 4-minute vibration training session on muscular performance and body balance when compared to a sham-vibration session. A postural sway platform was used to assess body balance and the transient net benefit of the vibration training was found to be 15.7% versus the sham-vibration training results at 2
minutes post-training.
To establish if age was a limiting fact a seperate study investigated the effects of whole body vibration training plus physical therapy versus physical therapy alone (control group) in 42 elderly nursing home residents (63-98 years). All volunteers received physical therapy consisting of a standard exercise program for 10 minutes, 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Additionally, those volunteers also receiving vibration training 3 times a week, stood on the vibrating platform for four series of 1 minute sessions
alternating with 90 seconds of rest. After 6 weeks’ treatment, the body balance score (using a graded assessment of gait and balance) improved by 3.5 ± 2.1
points in the vibration group compared to a 0.3 ± 1.2-point decline in the physical therapy only group. Improvement in gait quality was also noted in the treatment group (2.4 ± 2.3) compared with no change in the physical therapy only group.
