Lloyd Shaw - Vibra-Train - February 2012

For about five years I’ve watched Lloyd Shaw follow the IVTRB Safety Program on Vibra-Train brand vibration machines – three times a week, every week. Well not quite, there’s been a few times he’s taken a break, just a week off, usually just one or two sessions. A short amount of time off any exercise training program is good, it allows the body to completely rest and still growth and gain continues.

I’ve posted a few pics of Lloyd in previous articles, Click here to see them .

Lloyd’s been following the Safety program for six years now. If you clicked through to the older pics you”ll see that Lloyd has lost size  – he no longer carries the bulk he had a year ago. This is an interesting change, he still eats burgers but I think he’s been a little more careful with food quality lately. I rarely see the pizza delivery man at the studio now. Nothing else has changed; Lloyd still eats when he’s hungry – and that’s an important point, he doesn’t overeat. He also doesn’t take supplements or steroids (never has). His protein intake is increased by a serving of pure pasteurized eggwhite (Eggcel) most days along with a few Vitamin C tablets and some Magnesium. He maintains a healthy gut and elimination with a spoonful of a fibre mix.

And this is the result, a slimmer, healthy body, with excellent muscle definition. Body Composition Analysis Machine test results put Lloyd in the highest category for muscle quality. His body fat level absolutely normal, right on the line.

When I think of the owners and marketers of many of the well known vibration machine brands I sometimes wonder what sort of results they are personally getting – from vibration training alone (its the only exercise Lloyd Shaw does).

I could name many who are young to mid aged guys. My challenge is – show us what you’ve got, show us a picture and tell us your program.

Lloyd Shaw’s program – click through to YouTube

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.

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.

To 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.

Lloyd Shaw at the start of the Vibra-Train test

Picture 1: shows Lloyd Shaw in 2004. Back then he loved his gym workouts – 1 and 1/2 hour sessions six days a week.  Add in cardio sessions three times a week also, sprints and swimming.

He looks good but decidedly chubby. His muscle definition was better than the average gym goer but there’s no way he would take off his shirt and pose back then. And look at his arms; there’s muscle there but they have a covering of fat.

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Lloyd Shaw Vibra-Train

Picture 2: Two years into a self test, using only Vibra-Train brand machines and the Vibra-Train Safety Program for workouts; this picture shows a very cut look. It was taken on impulse and looked so good the background was added for use as a poster. Lloyd’s only gym visits were once every few months to check out his strength which was increasing.

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Picture 3: Fast forward to 2011. The picture below of Lloyd Shaw taken April 7th, 2011 – a slimmer profile showing amazing abs and a completely balanced look.

Lloyd Shaw Vibration Training Muscles April 2011

The picture is completely unedited and was taken on a whim. I thought it was so good I had to publish it.

It’s now 5 years since Lloyd Shaw began his “Vibra-Train as only exercise” test using himself as the test subject. This look was achieved solely using Vibra-Train brand Vibration Machines. I know Lloyd well and can attest that his diet isn’t always great (too much fastfood) although he has cleaned it up somewhat this year.

Individual results vary of course; some people are badly hampered by hormonal or overweight/fat issues, stress or injury.  Some people respond very quickly to this form of exercise while for others their body goes through other changes first but for everyone results begin to show after just a few weeks and are ongoing.

Here’s Lloyd Shaw’s  personal Vibration Training Workout: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PikfQv7uwwo

and the Vibra-Train Safety Program:

Vibration Training Safety Program for Lineal Machines

Vibra-Train exists to help these people before it’s too late.

Of course all other people benefit from Vibration Training too but if we can save lives by providing a very safe and effective means of exercising for people who are too large to even walk to the letterbox and those just mildly obese (catch them before they become morbidly obese) then Lloyd Shaw the designer of the machines has suceeded in his purpose – that people stop dying unnecessarily.

Here’s the video clip:

NZ\’s expanding waistline poses challenges for health service

and for those who can’t access video clips in New Zealand, here’s a text version:

NZ’s expanding waistline poses challenges for health service – text

Many New Year Resolutions are broken by the end of New Years Day or the end of the first week of the year but achieving better health and fitness isn’t so easily set aside as we all know how important it is. Vibration Training is an excellent way to get into a fitness habit and I’m seeing that many people have realised this as there’s newbies in the studio every day.  There’s still a habit to establish but that’s quite easy as Vibra-Train can be rather addictive – it’s person versus machine, maintaining perfect position and getting through that whole minute while the machine seems to kick back harder each time.

So who are these new customers? It sounds like hard work, doesn’t it? And, Yes, it is hard work – we have a saying that the sign over the door says Vibra – TRAIN  not Vibra – MASSAGE.  All exercise is hard work, there’s no short cuts to looking good and feeling great no matter what some advertising might tell you.

This years new customers have been all types of people. Early morning I’m getting fitness instructors and gym trainers, people who are already strong and are adding Vibration Training to their program because it gives them that “edge”, that little bit of extra muscle firmness especially for those who are heading into competitions, boxing, wrestling, body building, even running and endurance events.

Some other new customers have been people who have moved into new buildings near the Vibra-Train studio. Most have relocated but some are new not only to Vibration Training but also have new jobs this year and what better time is there to get into shape and feel better. These people are all different ages, shapes and sizes and I’m really enjoying working with each one to help them make vibration training a fitness habit that they keep on with all year and then more.

All they have to give now is a little time to make the habit and in a few weeks time when they start seeing the results I’m sure they keep on with it. Vibration Training is one New Year Resolution that gives excellent results.

I work mornings mostly starting at 6.30am and other staff take over for the afternnons and evenings until close at 10pm. Then we also do Saturday and Sundays from 9am to 6pm so there’s never an excuse for people to say they want to come but the hours don’t suit.  I’ve had new customers every day which has been both hard work and lots of fun and rewarding. These “newbies” have been all different ages and body types and most have had no previous exercise experience. It seems that Fitness has been a New Years Resolution for many and I’m taking it very seriously to see that these people get the first experience and the ongoing results that turn their fleeting good idea into a full lifestyle change.

In the wider Vibration Training Industry I’m involved in many areas, from discussions and debates about “how things work” to having to refute a lot of misinformation.  Also I get emails and online contacts from people all over the world asking for help on various questions, from which home machine would be best for their needs to finding a studio or gym with training vibration machines that will enhance their fitness program. I write articles for various places, make videos for our YouTube Channel and am active in online social media.

People sometimes ask if I have a life outside of Vibration Machines. Yes, I do – I’m just not so sure where I left it right now.

What has this meant for me?  Have I been able to vibra train? What about my fitness?  What about my weight, has it zoomed upward?

After any big operation there’s  a recovery time during which exercise is generally limited to short walks and no lifting or stretching.  I had no choice with that but after a few weeks I was eager to regain my strength so I visited my workplace and was allowed to sit on a chair in front of the Vibration Machine with my feet resting just on the edge of a rubber mat on the platform, my legs bent at about 110 degree angle at the knees.  The machine was turned on for three minutes.

This position requires zero effort and gently increases blood circulation so you feel quite awake.  It can even stimulate some small amount of muscle contraction in the legs and buttocks.  Obviously that’s all good for healing but a lot of care is needed even with this minimal effort position and one person will respond differently to another. It’s unusual but I found It gave me a discomfort in the pelvic region where I’d had surgery and I had to wait a few more weeks.

By then I was wanting to get back onto the machines and do some real training – Again I had to be guided by my healing progress.  Using 3 layers of rubber mat on the machine platform I was able to do the special “ski the slopes” position.  It was great for me as by using the side vibrating handlebars (only on Vibra-Train brand machines) I was able to get an upper body workout while gently working out my lower body; cutting the amount of vibration by using the mats on the platform and by using arm pressure, pushing down on the handlebars with my hands, to take pressure off my legs and pelvic area.

I continued doing only the “ski the slopes” position for 60 seconds, firstly just once, then three times, then up to six times using the lowest force machine in the Vibra-Train studio. Three times a week, just like regular training, I continued this regime for a month and then added in a few other poses.  I lessened the mats under my feet from three down to two and over the next weeks progressed to the full Safety Program.

The process seemed slow and as I’m a Vibration Training Instructor I wanted to get back onto the machines very quickly BUT my healing and safety comes first.

It’s taken over three months to get back to strength and full healing and now I am fit it’s a bit sad that I have to face the process all over again but “cest la vie”.

I feel very fortunate to be working with the world’s best Vibration Training Machines here at Vibra-Train, Auckland City.

This site isn’t primarily to promote  Vibra-Train ^TM brand Studios, it’s about all aspects of Vibration Training and Vibration Machines but as its asked so often I’ll answer with a link to the list of Vibra-Train Studios and Vibra-Train Machine Lease Locations.  These locations are in New Zealand, Australia, and U.K. and I’m confident they’ll soon be in many other parts of the world as all it takes is for someone to become passionate about this form of fitness training and they can apply to set up a licenced area.

All the info is at:  www.vibra-train.com/openstudio.html

and the locations where you can go now to train:  www.vibra-train.com/contact.html

We’ve had many first-timers at the Vibra-Train studio where I work. I’m wondering if people are looking forward to summer and know that now is the time to improve their fitness and strength; and look great.

Last week’s customers all had questions about Vibration Training or they had specific desires, several wanting to only work out their upper body, telling me that they did a lot of running and that was all they thought they needed for their legs.

These customers are “the best” – they haven’t just come along because they’ve seen an TV advert for Vibration Training or an article in a magazine and come to try us out for a few visits, kind of like trying the latest flavour of icecream and then off to try some other fitness facility – they’ve come because they’ve already done some research or talked to a friend who’s getting great results – these are serious, long-term, new customers and they want their questions answered.

Those who are regularly walking or running need to understand how different Vibration Training is; how training on high-force, lineal machines builds muscle and is considered a form of resistance training whereas running is for cardio fitness. They soon realise that despite frequent running they must follow the full Safety Program to get the results.  If they vibration train regularly two or three times a week they soon be telling me how much easier their running is becoming because they’ll have increased their overall fitness; those who sprint get faster and those who walk or run longer distances find they have more stamina and don’t tire so soon.  An advantage runners and regular walkers have over other “newbies” is that their leg muscles are strong so they manage the squat positions very well.