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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Okay, 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.

• 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.

What 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?

What 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.

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

People with Type-2 Diabetes are encouraged to exercise yet many don’t even try.  One of the reasons is that they are often overweight and get painful knees, hips, or back if they try to run or even walk for more than a short distance. Gyms can seem very daunting despite their advertising and often very sucessful transformation/weightloss programs.  And really, many people are just lazy – they don’t want to exercise, especially if it means they have to make any sort of effort beyond pressing the buttons on the TV remote and lifting the glass of Coke to their lips.

Training on high force vibration machines is safe and effective for Type-2 diabetics. At the Vibra-Train brand studios there are machines with side handlebars to hold onto; the person’s knees and hips are well supported. Vibration Training causes a rapid drop in blood glucose levels and so can be used to manage glycemic control.  It’s highly effective strength and fitness training and by raising the metabolism and building muscle strength body fat is decreased.

It also helps with muscle uptake and storage of glucose and can sometimes mean the difference between “medicinal” or “lifestyle” control of type 2 diabetes and, very importantly, it helps those with impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes).  My own experience has been exactly this. My blood sugar at fasting or spot checks is now absolutely normal.

Some Vibra-Train customers are Type-1 diabetics. This requires different management. These customers always eat before training (it’s the Number One on the “Rules @ Vibra-Train” list for everyone anyway). They test their blood sugar before and after and tell me just 10-12 minutes of training using the Vibra-Train Safety Program really eats through their blood glucose.  We ask these customers to make sure they bring a snack with them and whatever other supplies they might need. Some vibration training companies list Type-1 Diabetes as a contra-indication to training but I can’t see any problem with it as long as the person has some stability and control over their condition. Obviously their doctor will advise them if exercise is not suitable for them at any time.

I have a current customer who has fairly recently been diagnosed with sudden onset, adult, Type-1 diabetes. This is less common but it happens. She told me that she was incorrectly diagnosed as Type-2 at first and now that’s been corrected she’s setting into the correct regime of injectable insulin to manage it.  She’s enjoying coming in to Vibra-Train’s Auckland City Studio – it’s fast, effective excercise she can do and I’m really interested to watch her progress.

Vibration Training is an excellent addition to lifestyle modification for people with Diabetes.

Please remember to inform your instructor. They will then be more aware of subtle signs that show if you’re feeling dizzy; if your blood sugar drops too suddenly. Also that in the very unlikely event that you do faint, they know to call for medical assistance immediately.

A medical study: Efficiency of vibration exercise for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients

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.

A new event this year was a Kids Marathon. It was set up as an 8, 10, or 12 week training program in schools for 7-13 year olds culminating in the 2.195km Kids Marathon race at the Auckland Marathon event. Each child finisher received a medal and a downloadable certificate. Every finisher was a winner.

The kids event was set up to help kids develop life-long fitness skills and and it will help prevent obesity as they grow.  We’ve all seen the figures – childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in developed countries and figures show that 70% of obese adolescents become obese adults.  Anything that can be done to halt those frightening statistics gets my vote.

What about the kids who are already quite overweight or already obese?  To say they are unlikey to enjoy a running program is understating the reality!

Some will, of course, do okay. They’ll plod along, literally, and if their diet has some controls they might even lose some fat and gain some fitness and, over a period of time, come to enjoy the running program.  Okay, I can almost hear some people laughing because most overweight and certainly all obese kids are not going to take to running – many will hate it!  We’ve all found ways to skip school on days there’s a class or event we really dislike so I’m imagining this happening on “running class” days for some kids.

Maybe kids running training classes will be optional but being presented as a life changing program I’m doubting that and pretty sure it will be inflicted on all kids regardless of shape, size, and the ability to even run from one lamppost to the next.

It’s good for them, it will help them, they need to do it – Really?  isn’t there another way?

I”m really against instilling into young minds that any particular form of exercise is the only way to achieve results . Running isn’t suitable for everyone and can even induce injuries in unfit, overweight people. Diet and metabolism play a part in how much muscle and fat a person has and must be a part of any real fitness program.

There definitely is an alternative form of exercise for overweight kids – it’s called  Vibration Training.

Cardio exercise like running isn’t the only way to build fitness and help with fat-loss.  Vibration Platforms are being used under the guidance of Dr Robbie Parker at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, N.S.W., Australia for children and adolsecents who are overweight or obese and have insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.

I believe we will see an increase in the use of Vibration Training for overweight children. It’s fun and very effective.  There’s no denying that it’s hard work but the kids like that and I’d put the parents on the machines to show them how hard it is – and anyway, they should be training alongside their kids. I don’t know of any schools with Vibration Machines; they’d need to be high quality, commercial machines that cost lots of money so for now overweight kids get forced to run, like it or not. I hope they wont be needing knee surgery from all that pounding with their heavy weight.

Overweight and obese adolescents and children are welcome to come into Vibra-Train studios. They do have to be able to hold a perfect pose, like a squat, on the machine and have to follow instructions exactly.  And we’ll look after your knees.  Who knows; you might become so strong you will want to join the running program next year.