5 Ways Whole Body Vibration Supports Your Active Lifestyle

Whether you’ve been active your whole life, or you’re just beginning to incorporate exercise into your routine, there’s nothing like living an active life.

The CDC lists many benefits of regular physical activity on its website, including:

• Weight control
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome
• Reduced risk for some cancers
• Stronger bones and muscles
• Better mental health and mood
• Better functional fitness and fall prevention
• Increased longevity

To this list, we would add increased energy, and an improved outlook on life even when things are difficult. Given these benefits, it’s easy to see that being active is worth the effort it takes to fit activity into your busy life.

But what if there was a tool that could help support your life on the go? One that could not only fit neatly into your routine but also boost your performance and protect you from sustaining an injury while you do the things you love?

A quality whole body vibration machine can be that tool.

Here are five ways using a whole body vibration platform can support your active lifestyle.

It warms you up.

Warming up is an essential part of any activity. It gets your body ready for the activity and helps prevent injury. But when you’re trying to fit a workout into your packed schedule, a warm-up can take precious time away from what you really want to do. This leads many people to rush their warm-up or skip it altogether.

With a whole body vibration machine you’ll never be tempted to skip the warm up. The repetitive upward movement of the WBV platform sends pulses of kinetic energy up through your body. This causes rhythmic muscle contractions, which warm and mobilize the joints and muscles, easing movement, lubricating joints, and preparing the body for optimal work in a very short amount of time.

It makes you jump higher/run farther/go faster.

Whatever your chosen activity, whole body vibration can help you do it better.

Studies have shown that working out with whole body vibration increases speed, agility, and explosive power—all things you want working in your favor when you’re on the court, crossing the field, or running the race.

For example, a recent study by the University of Girona shows that a 15-week whole body vibration training program improves explosive strength and postural stability in adolescent female basketball players. (1) Another study shows that short-term WBV training can enhance running economy and leg strength and power in competitive athletes. (2)

It’s quick.

Say your passion is rock climbing, but you work all week and you only get to go climbing on the weekends. You know cross-training would improve your climbing but you don’t have time for lengthy gym workouts during the week. How can you train for bigger and better climbs when you’re chained to a desk from Monday through Friday? No matter your activity of choice, finding time to train can be a problem.

img: backcountry.com

The answer to this problem lies with whole body vibration. The same energy-pulsing technology that provides a quick pre-workout warm-up makes for a fast, yet safe and effective, training method.

On a quality machine, performing at sufficient acceleration, WBV users gain muscle strength and power and improve flexibility and balance.

Your core gets stronger, allowing you to power through every movement of every activity with ease and grace. And unlike traditional exercise, which may give you similar results through hours of gym time, WBV gives you results with just 10 minutes a day.

It keeps you running smoothly.

Full-time athlete or weekend warrior, no one wants to be sidelined by a break or a sprain. Good thing you know about whole body vibration.

Many of the benefits of training with a whole body vibration platform–

• better balance,
• stronger muscles,
• warmed-up and lubricated joints,
• increased flexibility

–also prevent against injury.

Another way to stay on the active list is to take care of the muscles that work so hard to propel you through the things you love. At low settings, a whole body vibration platform can be used to massage and relax tight muscles, reducing soreness and ensuring you always feel up for the next adventure.

41 whole body vibration machines were tested.. Find out the results of the independent study.

Resources:

(1) Fort A, Romero D, Bagur C, Guerra M. Effects of whole-body vibration training
on explosive strength and postural control in young female athletes. J Strength
Cond Res. 2012 Apr;26(4):926-36. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31822e02a5. PubMed PMID: 22446665.

(2) Cheng CF, Cheng KH, Lee YM, Huang HW, Kuo YH, Lee HJ. Improvement in running
economy after 8 weeks of whole-body vibration training. J Strength Cond Res. 2012
Dec;26(12):3349-57. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31824e0eb1. PubMed PMID: 22344045.