Vibration Training – Success Stories

December 31st, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

Well it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m sitting at work writing this blog.  That’s not too sad as it’s only 6pm, plenty of time left to celebrate after I finish work at 7pm.

My regular readers will have wondered why I’ve become so lax at getting up articles onto this site – have I lost interest? Absolutely Not!  Have I been on holiday or unwell?  No, no long holiday and I’m fine; in fact I’ve been so busy training people I simply haven’t had the time available to write up articles.

Someone said, “be careful what you wish for!” – it’s true; Vibra-Train used a promotions company to run a 48 hour deal (similar to GrabOne and Groupon) and the response has been huge. We have been so very busy with newbies and then with repeat sales as we did an in-studio special a month later when the promo cards expired. The concession cards give customers 11 sessions over a 3- 4 week period. We explain to people how important it is for their results that they come in at least twice a week, preferably three times (with a clear day between for recovery and growth) and so we’ve had hundreds of new customers, over and over, in a very short space of time.  Of course we have all our regular people as well and the studio has been positively “buzzing”.  The Vibra-Train studio model has been proven once again to be fast and effective for customers and simple and efficient for managers and instructors with just one instructor on the floor most of the time and two over the busy lunch and evening zones, managing around 11 or 12 people, all at different positions of the IVTRB Safety Program.

Customers range from carded athletes through to people with quite severe disabilities and health issues. Some know the program fully and are able to get on with it with barely a glace from an instructor, while others (both new people and some regulars) need constant supervision. All are getting amazing results and they are so common place I can barely list the individual results. All get very much stronger and I hear so many comments about how well people are feeling. Regular exercise does that but for many people it’s just a little more than that.

One young lady (early 20′s) was so unused to exercise that she moaned and groaned about how hard the program was, on every visit. I could see she really was struggling and not just a complainer but I still wondered how someone so well presented in every other way could be so unfit. I’ve encouraged her and watched her slowly grow stronger. She’s not a quitter even though somedays she says, she has no idea why she ever bought the promotion card in the first place as she hates exercise. We are winning! She’s feeling great and she’s getting just a little excited about continuing on and getting even further results.

Another lady (late 30′s)  has a condition where any exertion sends her into a spiral of severe fatigue and exhaustion, frequently resulting in viral conditions like colds and “flu. She has been unable to exercise at all and so had become quite stiff in her joints and had some aches. She does not have depression in any way but of course she does worry about how any new form of exercise is gloing to affect her. We took it all very slowly and her body has responded really well so that she now does the full, standard program and she’s been able to go for walks and do other outdoor activites that she’d avoided in the past few years and she’s had no severe fatigue or other problems.

A number of ladies come together at lunchtime. They work at a business near the studio. Training them has been so much fun as they push each other to hold the positions correctly and they’ve all seen super results in strength and also in toning their bodies, helping them achieve their best.

I love training guys. I push them very hard and they respond with extreme determination. This year I’ve trained guys with muscular dystrophy, morbid obesity, parkinsons disease and each has gained strength and even life ssaving benefits.  I’ve also trained lots of young athletes, our sponsored high jumper and all his mates. They present quite a challenge as they just want to go “hard” with little regard for holding the positions correctly. The Vibra-Train machines are way too hard-core to allow these young guys to mess around so I’m constantly correcting and growling even, sometimes turning the machines off midway through a position if they will not adjust or have moved too far from the correct pose – to these guys when I ask them to stand with feet perfectly, train track straight and go down into a deep, flat footed squat, well; they start out okay but as it gets to be hard work, holding the squat for 60 or 120 seconds, they move out of position and find easier ways to complete the time.  They learnt very quickly that I had “eyes in the back of my head” and would pounce very quickly even if I was busy with other customers.

I’m missing one of my favourite guy customers.  He came in for around four or five months early in the year and with some pushing from me he worked hard and achieved huge results.  He lost his rather large, fat stomach and he gained strong muscle strength in arms and legs.  His job kept him away on some days and his wife would tell me that he wanted to come and train and was jealous of her.  He made it priority twice a week and she came three times. This man had to work very hard to get his results. He already had some muscle strength and was a big guy so he would feel quite a lot of “hard work” pain when he trained. He struggled to get through the program most times but then as he saw results he gave it all he had… Now, he’s too busy – yes too busy. Well that’s his excuse for now. His wife still trains regularly and I’m expecting to see him back in the studio early in 2012 after overeating his way through Christmas and New Year and holiday picnics and barbeque’s through summer… watch this space, he’ll be back and he knows I’ll be here just a little more demanding than before.

Vibration Training is for all your Life – its a training method that needs to be continued, not treated at a get fit quick scheme (more about this in a further article).

I wish all the readers of this blog and all my Vibra-Train customers, A Very Happy New Year – Keep on Training Hard.  To those on holiday enjoy your summer break and in New Zealand I hope the rain soon clears and we see some sunshine.  I’m looking forward to 2012 with a lot of excitement.

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Posted in Benefits, Experiences, Vibration Training, Women, health

The Rugby is over – Back to Vibration Training

October 31st, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

New Zealand is recovering from “Rugby Fever”. We hosted the Rugby World Cup and there were matches every weekend for over a month and some during the week also.  And we won!

New Zealanders and our many visitors from all over the world have been glued to their seats at match venues around the country or at their homes or local bar and eatery, rising only to star jump in adoration at a try or to yell at their team, pleading with them to win.  Its funny watching our men screaming at their TV sets almost believing the players can hear them and respond by beating their opposition.

And then there’s drinks time – we celebrate with drinks, frequently alcoholic  – and food, or we commiserate if we lose; that’s done with drinks and food also.

True exercise time over the rugby weekends has been minimal for most people. Sure, some took taken the fan trail to their match venue, a  4km long walk and a very good way to avoid the push and shove of crowds scrambling to get aboard the trains but ambling along with a drink in hand does not count as exercise.


NOW, it’s time to get back to real life and real exercise!


The past week has been very busy – customers I haven’t seen for weeks have come back in, many complaining of how much weight they’ve put on or how unfit they are feeling.  The weather has turned warmer; we are all thinking that Summer has arrived at last, and so it really is “exercise time”

Customers have been asking me how they can optimise their sessions to get fast results. The real answer is they shouldn’t have stopped coming – consistancy is the best way to maintain and improve fitness but okay, so you’ve slacked off, what to do now -

Firstly, make sure a trainer watches you as you get back into the program. If you are using a machine at home get someone to check your positions are perfect and work through the full IVTRB Safety Program carefully – following the step by step instructions.

Perfect Positions held for the full time (60 seconds for most poses) = The Best Results

Secondly, make your sessions a priority in your week. Write them into your calendar if you need to and try not to miss a session.  Buy a monthly concession, pay for your sessions up front. Whatever you need to do to ensure you turn up for the sessions – Do It! Making sure you train every second day/ 3 times a week ensures your body responds well.

Eat well, don’t skip meals. We don’t recommend any special diet plans, just sensible eating – that means going easy on the chocolate muffins and having them only as a special treat. It is important to eat before you train – a banana is good, it elevates your blood sugar and provides the energy you need.  Ensure you have had enough to drink, especially if your session is later in the day. And after training its good to drink water and to have some additional protein at your next meal.

Within a few sessions you’ll be back on track with good results again very quickly.

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Posted in Benefits, Programs, Safety Program, Vibra-Train, Vibration Training

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Never be afraid to question or complain

September 5th, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

This blog little different to my regular ones – its not specifically about Vibration Training and Vibration Machines -

Its a simple, gentle encouragement to everyone to ask questions and even complain, if a product or service you have paid for does not meet your expectations or is faulty in some way.

Those who are a little older, especially women, can have a tendancy to stay quiet, get all riled up internally (not good for you), but not often verbalise what is annoying or upsetting them. Younger people, like my 20′s kids, do sometimes question poor quality or bad service but equally, they just overlook it, buy something else; get someone new to fix the service problem.

Marketers and sales people can get away with false claims and downright lies in their advertising and promotion of goods and services (if consumers don’t question or complain) – well they can in some industries; not so in the Vibration Training industry where I work as we hold the brands and companies to their claims 100%, but anyway;

The point of this post is a gentle encouragement to say No, to return faulty goods, to question if not completely satisfied with items purchased, or with a service or repair (to your car, your refrigerator, your home, your clothing alteration, even).

I learnt long ago to return lukewarm coffee and stale buns but when I buy items of much higher value I’m usually slow to complain. A recent experience taught me how silly that is and how simple it can be to put things right -

It started when I admired a large, black, leather handbag in a shoes and bag shop. The price tag of $160NZ ($135US) was just too high but I vowed to buy it when the sales came around, at which time it might be half price. Sales time came and the bag wasn’t available but a similar style was, price tag $99. I had to have it – I like top quality shoes and bags, clothes I don’t mind buying less expensive. So I happily bought my new bag, the largest I’d had for some time, big enough to carry; well, everything!

Arriving home I admired my new bag then transfered all my bits and bobs; wallet, bus card, makeup, tissues and the many pieces of paper and coupons, tiny torch (you never know when you might need it), hair brush, and so much more, consigning my older bag to the top shelf in the wardrobe. That’s when it hit me, the new bag smelt funny; it smelt “fishy”, just like it had been next to dead fish. I’m serious, it was a very fish like smell. This was on one side of the bag only and as it had been on display with a spotlight shining onto it (sales stock so it didn’t come bagged from the back of the store), well I thought the smell might have been from the lighting and would disipate if I hung it up to “air”. Nope, that didn’t work, my bag still smelt bad the next day and so I changed back to my old bag, the new one unused.

Later that day I asked others in my family if they thought my new bag had a funny smell and my husband and daughter both said, yes, it smells like dead fish. Oh dear, what was I to do? - they had confirmed by worst fears, that my nice new bag would be too embarrasing to actually use. I had decided the smell would go away in a few days if I  used the bag but now I couldn’t, I just could bring myself to use it – a horrible, “people will thing I am unwashed” feeling spread over me. So the bag sat or rather hung on a hook all week and each night I smelt it – a video of this would be very funny!

At work, in the Vibra-Train studio, I encourage customers to ask questions and to tell me if they aren’t happy in any way. There are some poses on the machines that some people find very difficult and we can check that their positioning is totally correct; we can use a machine with side handlebars if they need added support. We can use small variations to the positions to make the workout harder for those who ask for more. Communication is essential in every part of our lives yet I was hesitant to complain about my ” fishy” smelling bag, which is something most women will relate to, I wondered what the shop assiatants would think and would they even take me seriously or if they might laugh. I wondered if they’d think I had damaged the bag and jso wanted to return it.

A week went by and all I could do was admire my new bag, I was not going to use it so I plucked up courage to take it back. In the store I explained to the sales assistant and while she seemed not to take me very seriously she said she would get the shop manager. After just a minutes wait the lady manager came to talk with me. She apologised profusely, saying that some stock had been damaged in a sea shipment some months earlier and, yes, the bags definitely smelt fishy. She thought all the damaged stock had been returned; it seemed by bag has missed that recall.  She went on to explain that the damaged crate was deck cargo and had seawater damage during a storm. The bags themsleves are individually wrapped in plastic bags but some got wet.

What a relief I felt! I could never have guessed the cause and would not have known if I had not gone back to the store and complained. There were no bags the same but one could be got in from another store. I couldn’t face this though, I would have bad thoughts of my fishy smelling bag so I chose another, quite a glitzy one with extra buckles and bling. I went home very happy. I’ve since cut the eight, extra metal buckles and sparkly bits off my bag as they added weight and poked into my thigh as I walked but I’ve kept the extra straps and glitzy look and I’m happy.

Lesson learnt – it really is okay to question or complain, even if you think you might be laughed at or misunderstood!

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Posted in Experiences, Other Articles, Vibration Training, Women

Vibration Machines – watching you wobble yourself slim?

September 2nd, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

Have you ever watched an advertorial or a youtube video showing a woman on a pivotal vibration machine and laughed as you watched their butt and legs wobble about from the side to side motion of the machine?

Crazy Fit Massage Machine

Low Speed Pivotal Massage Machine

I have three pivotal machines in the  studio where I work.  Two are used for therapy poses to increase blood circulation, help with relaxation, and improve proprioception in customers who because of medical or physical disability are not yet able to use the lineal Vibra-Train machines.

high speed pivotal

Premium Speed Pivotal Workout Machine

One machine is larger and is a true workout model. It’s used mainly for physio/therapy use also but can be used for full workouts. We find out customers here, when given the choice, prefer the lineal Vibra-Train platforms.

There’s also the embarrasment factor of the pivotal machines when used in a semi or deeper squat poses – the action of the side to side motion causes the user’s butt and thighs to wobble noticeably; also in some people their hips show  movement also. This is all totally normal when using this type of machine but, oh boy, does it look funny. You might have seen it in internet videos and on television where it looks amusing when the model on the machines is a tiny size 6 or 8 (N.Z. size) but can you imagine the look when a 250lb (120kg) women uses the machine? I’m asuming of course that the machine copes with this larger sized person – many pivotal machines degrade in performance well below that weight.  Even a regular sized woman, say 140lbs, doesn’t look good wobbling away on the pivotal machines. But, of course, the advertisers use attractive, tiny models to promote their products.

Jumping to their defense – vibration training isn’t about looking good in the studio while doing your work-out, it simply doesn’t matter, but the wobble is not a good look!

Another defense of the “wobble”, though completely wrong this one – I’ve had people say, “oh look at their butts wobble. They MUST be losing lots of weight!” Others come into the studio and ask if our machines are like the ones they’ve seen on TV, the ones where you wobble and get slim and fit.

Is it true – can you lightly wobble your way to a new slender you? Technically any movement burns more calories than sitting still so the person on the pivotal machine is getting some benefit from it. Many “weight-loss” books tell us to move about a lot, move legs about when sitting at the office desk and fidgit with your hands. By doing this you burn a few more calories each day and a small, measurable amount in a year. Okay, its better than being sedentary but it does very little toward the goal of  fat reduction and fitness. I’m amazed by the number of people who are confused by this.

To demonstrate the difference in machine types I put the questioning customer onto the large pivotal machine for a one minute semi-squat at low speed. Then they do the same position at a higher speed, again for a minute or two. You can see their thighs wobble and they feel this as a gentle activation. Those who want to can do the squat pose at high speed; 22hz is about the top before the users feet begin to slip on the (non-slip) plate. I then invite them to rest and then repeat the squat once or twice on a lineal machine, using the basic level 2 beginners unit. This machine gives a strong muscle contraction in the quads (front upper leg) when the person does a simple, deep (110 degree) squat for just 60 seconds.  That’s all it takes to show the very major difference in the machine types. Watching the person on the lineal machine they appear not to be moving at all, there’s none of the “wobble” but, in their own words, they tell me how much harder it is and how much deeper they feel the muscle contraction.

It’s not possible to wobble yourself slim using a pivotal vibration machine. It might be a way to start out but its not going to work for long. Wobbling fat – wobbles fat, it might give some benefit as it will mobilise fluid and improve lymphatic drainage but real toning comes from real training – and that’s impossible on almost all pivotal machines.

I’m reminded of the slogan we use when customers complain that the training program is hard work; we tell them the sign over the door says “Vibra-TRAIN” not “Vibra-MASSAGE”

Even worse than believing that by using a low speed pivotal vibration machine, you can lose weight, tone, get fit and look like the model on the advertorial on TV or internet is the promotion of simply standing upright on the machine while you watch TV.  I read an advert this week, an auction on New Zealand’s TradeMe site, where a low speed pivotal machine was being sold with the instruction to simply stand or sit on the machine and watch the pounds slip away.
IF ONLY IT WAS THAT EASY! Only the lasiest of consumers would believe that – and as I’ve written before, they seem destined to be ripped off but that sort of marketing does a lot of harm to the whole vibration training industry.

Glossary:

Lineal
A solid platform that moves straight up and down, all across the surface at the same time.

Pivotal
A Platform that tilts from side to side , so one foot goes up , while the other goes down.

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Posted in Benefits, Experiences, Lineal, Marketing, Pivotal, Vibration Training, Women

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Vibra-Train — It makes you feel better!

August 25th, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

This comment from a customer who has just completed her session

When she arrived at the Vibra-Train, Auckland City studio mid-afternoon I asked her, “How are you?” She replied, “I’m alive!” Now I know that this really means, “leave me alone, I’ve had a stressful day” and as she knows the program well I did just that; I left her alone watching from a distance, as is my job, making sure she maintained each position correctly.

After the first position, she complained aloud that she disliked any exercise but knew how necessary it was, and so she came in regularly to train.

Fast forward to position number 3 – that’s just three 60 second poses on the machine and a minute or two of rest between – and she commented how alive she felt. I was still across the room but quietly smiling as that’s exactly how I feel when I do my own session.

I still left her alone; she doesn’t need hands-on training as she’s been a customer for a long time but everyone is supervised (watched over).  Forward again to position 7, the anti-cellulite massage. As she was sitting on the machine Vibra-Train’s owner, Lloyd Shaw, walked into the room and spoke to the customer asking “how are you today?”, just making polite conversation.

Her reply – “I feel great! I’m really energised and I’m thinking what to cook for dinner tonight for my family”.

I couldn’t resist making comment on how different her response was from what she had said when she arrived 10 minutes earlier. Despite being short, sharp, hard work Vibra-Train really does make you feel better!

Trainer helps girls on vibration machine Super Squat

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Vibration Training – Obesity and Morbid Obesity – THE RESULTS

August 7th, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

Back in May 2009, I read a press release reporting amazing results of a scientific study completed by the European Association for the Study of Obesity. This controlled study was performed at the Artesis University College and the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

They stated: “vibration exercise machines may help you lose weight and trim the particularly harmful belly fat from the organs. Participants of the study who were part of the vibration training group lost 11% of their body weight and retained their loss at 10.5% after 12 months. They lost an amazing 47 square centimeters of visceral fat maintaining that loss at the final follow up”.

I was very excited because the study results were verification of what we were seeing on a daily basis at Vibra-Train. We already confidently told new clients they would start to see a decrease in their waist and belly size after just three weeks of training (9-10 sessions). We warned them that initially their weight might increase due to increases in muscle mass but that they’d see small discernable change in their shape; and then it would just get better and better. And they told us we were right – it really worked!

Then along came the detractors – they reminded me that the press release was an early report and the study had not yet been peer reviewed. They said I should wait for all the information before I jumped up and down with glee. They were sure it wouldn’t all add up, when you consider that gyms have been running “weight-loss challenges” for what seems like forever. They told me the gym based group must have performed better than vibration training group; their trainers were the ones with all the experience of working with obese clients and, besides, these naysayers, thought vibration training was a fad, just like a fashion that’s popular for a short period of time and then fades away.

There were some outspoken, highly respected fitness trainers, who had never tried a vibration machine session and refused to, when it was offered, yet they held very strong views on why it couldn’t work – they couldn’t understand it, they didn’t want to even try it, yet they argued about it. They told me the study would be flawed, because it didn’t validate their training methods (gym and outdoor exercise) above using a ‘wobble machine’ (to even call a vibration platform a wobble machine showed how little they really understood).

Then a year later, April 2010, the fully reviewed study was released

It was published in ‘Obesity Facts – The European Journal of Obesity Vol 3’.

No one could argue against the full study – the results were in; visceral (belly) fat reduced the most in the Vibration Training plus Diet group compared with the Fitness plus Diet group.

For the study they used PowerPlate brand, medium energy lineal vibration machines. These machines are lower force than the Vibra-Train brand I work with and this made the results even more exciting.

Here was the proof of the claims we were making and the results we were seeing every week; the academic world vindicated us. Vibration Training on high energy lineal or, as in the study, on medium energy lineal, Vibration Machines was proven to be very effective in achieving fat loss.

Another year ahead, now July 2011

Currently I am training three very obese clients. The first is a guy who has muscular dystrophy. He uses the Vibra-Train machine that has side, vibrating handlebars. He was totally unused to regular exercise although he told me he has been a referee for cricket games in the past and his aim was to lose enough weight to do this job again. That’s his motivation; it’s what is driving him to come into the studio regularly, three times a week.

In just two months he has progressed from managing just one special, 60-second, side handlebar assisted squat position to now completing nine of these special, “ski the slopes” assisted squats. On Monday he moves onto the regular program.

Vibra-Train Vibra MachineTo help understand how hard repeating the “ski the slopes” squat position is; I can only do seven of these back-to-back before my quads and my arm muscles feel such a burn that I have to stop for a long rest before completing the final two of the set.  We use this progression, going from just one minute of this simple, aptly named “Ski the Slopes” position moving up to nine of the same, and then the person moves onto the full IVTRB Safety Program, using the side, vibrating handlebars to assist in holding all squat positions.

The facts and figures of my client’s progress: Over the eight week period he’s been doing the therapy program of assisted squats he has progressed from one squat position to nine of the same; he’s gained 2kg of muscle (this is generally thought to be impossible for people with muscular dystrophy); he has lost 2kg of fat; and has 2% less body fat overall (measurements taken by Body Composition Analyser (BCA Machine) at first session and after 8 weeks of therapy). He can now move on from therapy, onto the full fitness training program.

The second client I am working with is a morbidly obese woman. She started on a therapy program about six weeks ago. Her program started at the most basic – she sat in a chair with her feet on the edge of the machine, with a mat on the machine to prevent her feet slipping. The angle of her knees/legs was the same as the basic squat position, around 110 degrees. Three times a week she did a total of 9 minutes therapy, just simply sitting with her feet on the machine. This provides sufficient stimulation to the legs and buttocks to move fluid accumulation and improve blood circulation. This is all about saving the client’s life! After a month this lady told me how much difference this had made. She said she was able to walk easier, with less of a stoop; she felt very much “better” and so had become more active. She was better able to participate in her family life and as she had a large extended family this was really important. In a very real sense she has been given her life back.

After just one week away due to a family bereavement this client came back for her regular session and told me she was again starting to experience difficulty walking – just one week – that’s all it took for her to lose some of the gains she’d made. She does travel often to visit family so she is hoping not to have too many breaks from her therapy sessions.

Last week she progressed to using the machine for one 60-second side handlebar assisted squat after her seated session. That’s the next step; she’s moving on!

My third client is a guy who is very morbidly obese. He is, by far, the biggest of the three and his sessions are absolutely about getting his legs moving again. He has fluid pooled in his legs and probably in other parts of his body also. If it pools around his heart he will die unless there is some solid medical intervention and as things are now he is already in a serious way for other medical problems, suddenly, at any time. He’s told us several of his relatives have died from obesity related conditions. So, he’s very motivated.

It’s nonsensical telling someone as big as this man to go for a walk or a run – they can’t, yet that’s the advice the fitness industry often gives. By contrast, Vibration Therapy and Training (at specialised studios such as Vibra-Train) offers a safe, effective way to mobilise these people, in some cases to truly save their lives. It’s up to them, really – the method is there and it’s been proven effective both subjectively and in the controlled study (noted above). What they have to do is simply turn up, three times a week, and do the sessions. Then later, when able, move onto the harder, regular training program and keep doing it.

Here in Auckland, New Zealand there are studios offering free or sponsored sessions for morbidly obese people, there really is no excuse!

It’s not too hard – it starts off too easy; later it does become very hard but that’s the price we all have to accept for fitness and health.

This very obese client has also progressed from sitting in a chair in front of the machine for 3x 3 minutes (9 minutes total) to the side vibrating handlebar assisted “ski the slopes” squat position. Last time he was in I saw him do three of these. In total that was around 7,500 rapid movements. This amount of pressure into his leg, trunk and arm muscles will bring a rapid improvement to his overall condition.

In fact this degree of improvement has been so appreciated by the people in one situation where Vibra-Train has a machine available for use by obese and immobile people that the nurse supervising their sessions has been forced to lock the door to the room the vibration machine is in. Sessions are held every second day (three times a week) with a day for rest and recovery inbetween but these people not realising how important that recovery day is, were trying to use the machine every day – they were so amazed at the results and totally happy to put in the effort to get more.

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Posted in Benefits, Experiences, Programs, Safety Program, Studio, Vibra-Train, Vibration Training, Women, health

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Vibration Training and Type 2 Diabetes

July 11th, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

Almost every day we read newspaper articles telling us how adversely our modern lifestyle is affecting our health.  Obesity and along with it, type 2 diabetes is a serious problem and it affects us all. Even if you have kept normal weight, are healthy, eat good foods, and exercise regularly there will be people in your family, work or friends network that are affected – it’s like an epidemic or a virus that’s spreading out of control through the world, almost unchecked or so it seems when looking at the increasing numbers.

Are you affected or at risk? What can be done to help reverse this trend? Does exercise help and if it does what type of exercise is safe and won’t mean having to spend hours at the gym or running round and round the path at the park?

Of course most readers will know I’m going to say Vibration Training is one of the best answers but is it really okay; what about people who already have health problems?  Maybe you or the person you know has aches in their knees or hips and they’ve tried other forms of exercise but had to stop as it made the problems worse.  Maybe they are quite overweight and unable to walk to the letterbox without puffing and becoming short of breath.

Maybe they’ve tried a gym, even worked with a personal trainer but couldn’t find the motivation to keep it up. They could have done a 6 week BootCamp and despite it being very hard and getting some injuries or painful areas, they pushed on and completed the course. They got good results but then thought, “who wants to keep on with BootCamp two or three times a week for the rest of their lives?” Is that even safe? And I’m talking about the people who kept going, many simply drop out. They suffer the embarrassment of being last up the hill or letting their team down by being unable to carry that heavy log while clambering up the sand dunes, in mid winter.

We all need a form of exercise that we are happy to keep doing and can safely do for a long time, for the rest of our life actually – I’ve found that Vibration Training fits these criteria and many thousands of people agree.

Are there any special precautions people with diabetes need to take when doing Vibration Training?

When using a studio with supervised instruction the type 2 diabetic customer needs to make sure the instructor knows and they need to speak up if they want to take a break between positions on the machine.  There’s absolutely no problem with taking a break, walking around the room, and drinking some water.  Short rests can make it easier to hold the next position correctly.

Customers need to eat a meal around an hour before their session or have a banana or similar high sugar/carbohydrate snack immediately before the session – this is the same for everyone, it’s because vibration training on high energy machines is hard work and depletes blood sugars rapidly.  People who haven’t eaten for some time can become dizzy and disorientated or simply find the session very much harder and find it impossible to maintain perfect position. It could even be dangerous to drive after the session. Our number 1 rule at Vibra-Train is “Always eat before arrival”.

blood sugar test dreamstimefree_1044509We advise diabetic customers to take a blood sugar reading before training to ensure it is adequate and to take another reading within 30 minutes of the end of their session. This shows if they need to eat again or (unlikely), if they need insulin (that’s if they use injectable). Those who don’t normally test their blood sugar but take tablets daily will be aware of how they are feeling and will know if they need extra food soon after their workout. Its good for everyone to eat some protein based foods within an hour or so after their workout.

So, will I lose lots of weight and get off my tablets or injections?

The short answer is, “all of that is possible”, but remember its taken years to become badly overweight and so it’s going to take some time to get long term improvement.  The good news is we see shape change (waist indents etc) starting in just 3 or 4 weeks and it just keeps getting better!

No-one should ever stop their medication or adjust it without their doctor’s advice.  Never listen to any trainer (any sport, gym, or studio) who tells you to change or stop your medication; this is a matter for you and your medical advisors.  Sometimes trainers will give you a few diet ideas, usually only if you ask or you are already talking about these things, remember that it is advice only and the decisions are yours, and if you are on medication never go onto a special or popular diet without your doctor or other medical advisors knowing.

Exercise is extremely beneficial for people who are obese, even clinically obese, and for people with type 2 diabetes. The hardest part is actually getting started!

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Vibration Training Or Death – your choice

June 29th, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

Okay, the first thing readers are going to tell me is that my title is very serious – it’s meant to be!

Will you die if you don’t do vibration training? Maybe you won’t but there’s a very high risk of premature death for certain groups of people who refuse to partake in strength producing exercise; and vibration training is the safest and most effective form of fitness training I know of. In fact there are only a few conditions where vibration training isn’t recommended.

Who are the people who would benefit so much and what happens if they refuse or, the much more common scenario, they start training (or therapy using the machines if that’s their starting point) and then they stop – for all sorts of reasons with laziness (just can’t be bothered) being the prime one.

slim shaped girl jumpingOkay, you don’t fit into this category if you are young, active, fit, of healthy weight, and maybe also if you are middle aged and go to a gym regularly (though vibration training on top of a gym session is the extreme that gives amazing results).  It’s not for you also if you are pregnant (as a precaution at this stage, we don’t allow it), if you have a pacemaker (but we haven’t forgotten you; there are small vibrating foot platforms available), or if you have an active cancer (even this contra-indication is being debated).

This leaves a huge population that CAN use a vibration machine and if they aren’t active in some other fitness method, they will benefit greatly if they do.

That’s the nice message – the harder more serious one is this

People who have a disability and can’t easily do other forms of exercise; people who are morbidly obese (considered to be around 40% BMI) and can’t even walk to the letterbox without pain in their knees or hips, or gasping for breath, those who have muscular dystrophy or M.S. and even older people who are sedate – these people benefit so much from Vibration Training or Vibration Therapy.  And I almost forgot to add; those who have diabetes or pre-diabetes which goes hand-in-hand with obesity and has become the Number 1 health problem in New Zealand.  These are the people my hard hitting title really applies to – Do it or Die!

The Joys and the Problems

At Vibra-Train we allow some people to be sponsored and do their sessions free. These are people with true life threatening conditions (very extreme obesity is one) or a major disability they are never going to recover from.  Coming in for free isn’t automatic – it’s done after discussion and generally with the support of their medical helpers (doctors etc). It’s certainly not given to everyone who thinks they’re a little overweight. Some of the people who are given this sponsorship have been in a severe health situation for a long time and don’t have the finances to pay for sessions so this is a wonderful gift that Vibra-Train gives them – and more so as the sponsors are the directors and staff; there’s no outside organisation that pays for this in New Zealand.

These people (the morbidly obese, those with M.S., in wheelchairs, and similar) work hard, some starting out with just a single handlebar assisted squat position. This can mean driving or being driven across the city to do just one single, 60 second position on the machine.  Those who are not able to do even that sit in front of the machine with their feet placed on the platform edge for 3 minutes, repeated once or twice.  Starting with just that one squat, or sitting in front of the machine with feet on edge, the client graduates slowly  into more squats and when they are able we add in a few more positions building up to the full program for some; others do what they can.

The results are truly amazing – they are life saving! I see people who can only walk with a cane or stoop and shuffle begin to stand upright and walk with confidence knowing their legs are stronger and will support them.  Within three or four weeks I’ve seen hugely obese clients gain strength and then start to slim down. It’s a slow change and no one becomes slim overnight despite what advertising for various pills and plans tells us but it is real and its forever if the person keeps training. Their whole demeanour changes, they tell me how much they look forward to coming in for their sessions. It’s very hard work doing the vibration training but that part is no different than it is for other clients – all real training is hard work.

The great thing about using the Vibra-Train brand of machines is that the sessions are fully supervised and the machines are very powerful but designed specifically for use by people who cannot squat unaided what we call “worst case scenario”.

I work with some of the sponsored clients and enjoy encouraging and pushing them as hard as they are able, and some more above that. We get real results from real training in a safe controlled environment.

What happens next is very sad

Sometimes it’s frustration because there’s no instant fix or miracle, sometimes its family pressure, sometimes laziness but there are some clients, some sponsored even, who stop coming after a few months. It happens at any time, even after we’ve marvelled at their results.  They know Vibration Training is working for them yet they stop coming. We usually don’t know why people have stopped – we wonder if they are unwell or moved to another city.  Then they come back – many months later, always so much worse in their condition, and they expect us to fix them.  Ask where they’ve been and they’ve been “too busy” or gone off to try a “magic cure” or just stopped for no real reason.  After the effort the trainers here put in and the effort they used to make, they stopped coming and think they come back and recover, get back on track again. This might be possible but often it isn’t!   Debilitating conditions get worse over time so we’re starting over at a huge disadvantage since their previous time.  We’ve had people come back in a wheelchair where before they could walk in. There are times we simply can’t help anymore!

Title of this article; “Vibration Training or Death?” The choice is serious so choose well.

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Vibration Training – for the rest of your life!

June 23rd, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

The title of this article answers the questions:

  • How long do I keep doing this?
  • Can I stop once I’ve achieved my goal?
  • It’s too hard to get to a studio and I’ve lost weight now, so I can stop, right?

It’s something we tell customers when they do their first session; this is training you need to do for the rest of your life.

Why?

It’s the benefits – fitness and strength, circulation improvement, toning and weight control, bone density, hormonal balance, and so much more.

Question MarkWhat other way can we achieve these benefits, safely and effectively, in our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and into our 60’s, 70’s and 80’s also.  The oldest customer at the studio I work at is in his mid 80’s and he does exactly the same program as everyone else; in fact he does more. His age and his medical conditions do not in any way stop him.

Some customers come in regularly for many months, even for a few years, and then they stop coming. When asked they give terrible reasons for this; it’s not boredom (they enjoy their sessions), it’s not that they are not challenged enough as they know we always have ways to make the program harder if they really have mastered it, it’s not even the cost.  Sometimes people just decide to do something else (another fitness method) but more often they’ve become lazy and stopped all exercise and come up with excuses like, “I’m too busy now”. I heard this just yesterday, from a 40’s aged woman who works for a corporate just across the road from the studio.  I asked her, what about coming at lunchtime or even in a bathroom break as the basic, (results based) safety program can be completed in just 15 minutes.  She still replied that she really didn’t have time.

Some of the customers who have stopped coming in are personal trainers and fitness instructors who work at the gym up the road and others who have their own small fitness centres close to the Vibra-Train studio.  Some of these even brought in their own clients last year as they realised how much benefit they got from adding vibration training to their prescribed gym programs and in the case of clients with injuries or disabilities they’d learnt that vibration therapy really helps.  Now, they also, tell me they just don’t have time, they are very busy with clients!

I even make that same excuse some days as I do my own training after I finish my shift (which can stretch out many hours longer than my set hours) and after I’ve caught up with personal and business communications and more.  I sometimes feel too tired to train. But I’ve learnt that except the rare times I am truly fatigued it’s very easy to eat a banana (bananas are like secret weapons due to the way they rapidly enter the blood stream, raising sugar levels and energy alike) and Just Do It!

At the supermarket and on the street I sometimes see people who have stopped coming. Very often they don’t look “good”; 30’s – 50’s aged women tend to put on fat, it’s like that last muffin went straight to the hips. Even the fitness people, the trainers look fatter, less toned.  I know they might spend hours lifting weights and running or swimming but I can truthfully say, they looked better when they added in vibration training – for these people it’s the “icing on the cake”, the little extra that piles on additional benefits.

Guys are no exception to this “not looking so good” situation. Some of the guys who start vibration training do so because they’ve given up whatever sport or youth activity they used to be involved in and so they’ve lost muscle strength and gained fat. They spend months getting fit again and then stop – it doesn’t make sense does it because they rapidly de-train and end up looking flabbier than ever.

So, what about this idea – Vibration Training for the rest of your life – is it attainable?

Older Man on Vibration MachineWhat about increasing age and maybe illness? Well if you exercise regularly, you generally get less age related illnesses and you keep your strength and maintain your mobility so yes, you can still train.  If for whatever reason you do become less able there are vibration machines available that allow for this, you would then do vibration therapy which keeps your circulation efficient and maintains bone density and more.

Its personal choice really; go to a vibration studio and train under the supervision of an instructor or you can buy a high quality home machine and use it regularly,

Or you can, as so many do, use vibration training to get fit and strong, then go into “cruise mode” and stop attending sessions, or if you have a home machine sell it on so someone else can benefit. You can pretend you are so strong that you don’t need to exercise anymore but the truth will catch up with you quite quickly –

You need to keep training for the rest of your life!

If you really don’t like using a vibration machine then find a fitness method that you enjoy and that works for you; something you are happy to keep doing every week of your life.

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Buying a cheap Vibration Machine almost guarantees you a move overseas

June 21st, 2011 by Di Heap No comments »

plane travelling awayI’m joking of course but here’s the serious part – each day I check out the vibration machine auctions on New Zealand’s TradeMe website and I see a trend emerging; many sellers of cheaper machines like the low speed pivotal ones (Crazyfit, Skydancer, SiTrek etc) and the small lineal DKN are selling their machines because they are moving overseas.  I check out their other listings to see if they are selling anything I might be interested in but, to my surprise, their only auction is the vibration machine.

Other sellers list their low quality machine with glowing reference to how much weight they’ve lost or how amazing their fitness is now, after using their machine for the past three months. In fact they are now so fit now they are selling it on so that you can get these same incredible results – they don’t need it anymore. I wonder what happens two to four weeks after they stop using the machine. Don’t they realise fitness training must be continued every week, every year, to keep the benefits and not become deconditioned?

These claims are, in my opinion, totally fictitious and could be laughable except for the real truth – that truth is that many of the sellers were ripped off and bought a cheap, or not so cheap in the case of Gymform VibroMax, low quality machine (usually based on claims of health, fitness and even beauty) and now they are fobbing it off onto you, the potential buyer.

I don’t think the sellers on TradeMe deliberately set out to lie about their home machine, well not the everyday people just selling a machine they no longer use, they just advertise it with the same sort of wording that attracted them when they first bought the machine.  They want it gone, fast and for as much money as possible especially if it cost them quite a lot. Also, home vibration machines are the size of an armchair so they can be really taking up space; annoyingly if they aren’t being used.

Buyer Beware! Before you buy a secondhand machine ask the seller the real reason why they are selling it.  And even more importantly do some research into the varying brands and types of machines available.  Vibration Machines are very effective for fitness and strength, for fat-loss, and for helping the body to relax and repair in the case of those with injuries or conditions that require simple blood circulation improvement and gentle muscle stimulation.  Make sure what you are buying is the right product for your needs.

A visit to a vibration training studio can be really helpful also. You will learn how to use a machine safely and correctly and maybe you’ll decide a studio with supervised training is a better option, if there’s one you can get to of course.

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