A new video is up on YouTube – entitled “Vibration Training -The Truth”
It explains how Real Vibration Training works in a very simple to understand way. Covers the contruction of the platforms and how to create a true eccentric contraction.
It is presented by Lloyd Shaw, the developer of the first proper Vibration Training platform.
Watch it here:
An online auction for a Vibration Machine reads: “DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY GOING TO VIBRATION CLINICS when you can now do it at in the comfort of your own home…you can trust you are about to get a GREAT MACHINE with service to match . ONE OF MOST SOLD VIBRATION TRAINERS IN THE WORLD SITREK Vibration trainer” (It’s a Crazyfit machine repackaged with a new label)
It goes on to say “Just 10 minutes on the SFT can equal up to 1 hour of exercise… Reduces unwanted fat on the hips, waist and abdomen… Improves muscle tone and flexibility” and more
Other sellers suggest that their machine is equal to the ones in Vibration Studios and they quote academic study results from larger, higher force machines, often ones that have a completely different mode of action; studies from lineal (upright vibration) machines are frequently attached to low cost, low energy pivotal (see-saw action) machines.
Specifications are very often incorrectly stated, copied from the manufacturer’s papers which are in poorly translated English and confusing, but that, in my opinion, is no excuse for stating obviously incorrect figures. Online retailers frequently state that a small, home model pivotal Vibration Therapy machine runs at 50Hz, that it vibrates 50 times a second or that it has 50 speed levels. This is blatently incorrect and if they thought about it for even a minute they would realise that the 50Hz relates to the power supply to the machine which in New Zealand is at 50Hz. Some even state alongside the 50 speed levels that it vibrates at 5-20Hz or similar. I’m left wondering how they can state two conflicting figures alongside each other.
Then there’s one online New Zealand retailer that adds a disclaimer to his TradeMe auctions: IMPORTANT – we do not accept returns if you have simply changed your mind on this item or the item does not meet your expectation of what you orginally thought.
Retail Stores, such as fitness equipment stores, often advertise using the same incorrect specs and wording. I’ve gone to stores and asked questions about machines and got responses telling me how amazing the (very low force and quality) machines are and how I will get fit, lose weight, gain muscle and become almost super-human in no time at all if I buy this machine.
I’ve written previously about T.V. advertorials – the same misinformation is presented, along with testimonials; sometimes from people we recognise and thought we could trust.
It’s very much a matter of: Buyer Beware!
I often look at the auctions for Vibration Machines for sale on TradeMe, New Zealand’s popular auction site for new and re-sale items – It’s similar to Ebay.
There’s a question/comment field and at times I use this to educate and correct sellers on the specifications and uses of the machine they are trying to sell as there’s so much misinformation. 
Cheap, low energy pivotal (teeter-totter/see-saw) machines are frequently listed as “amazing workout, builds muscle, lose weight. The same machines as in studios, just smaller”. This is, of course, not true and those machines are Vibration Therapy machines useful for helping increase blood circulation and helping free up movement, depending on the actual machine – some are only useful to use the arms as a clothes hanger, not really much use at all.
Then there are mini lineal/upright Vibration Machines. These can be quite useful especially for warm up and cool down before sports or going for a walk. They can even be a good start into exercise and fitness, again it depends on the actual quality and type of machine. You can’t generally trust the brand name of the machine as these change each week; huge runs of machines come off the production line in China and the same machines get stamped with many different names.
I have little sympathy for people who get duped and buy a home Vibration Machine for a few hundred dollars believing it will be just as good as the heavy, steel platformed, high energy lineal/upright Vibration Machines that are in Vibra-Train Studios.
Even the medium energy PowerPlate machines and FitVibe, Fit-X , and some BodyGreem machines that are found in studios, gyms, and beauty clinics are absolutely superior to the low price home models that are available on auction sites.
There are some workout quality home machines available – they cost more along with other differences and it’s essential that people do some “homework” and learn about the varying types of machines before they buy a home machine, carefully matching their needs and what results they want with the machine they choose to buy.
Expecting a $300 machine from TradeMe that is advertised with the same wording of advantages and results that accompany $20,000 Studio machines, to truely deliver those same results is a little crazy in my opinion.
One point that is made in almost all of the re-sale machines for online auction is that the seller hasn’t used the machine at all or used it only a handful of times. Why, if it gives great results, don’t they use it? They even tell you sometimes – “I don’t have time to use it”. This, I find laughable. Programs for Home Vibration machines take 10 minutes or even up to 30 minutes three times a week. For the pivotal (think Crazyfit brand or the currently advertised Gymform Vibromax) machines they tell you to stand on the machine for just 10 minutes every day.
(A little info here: make sure you are using the right program and frequency for the machine type you buy for home use)
So, the sellers of machines can’t find 10 minutes three times a week or, for pivotal machines, 10 minutes each day to use their machines so they are trying to sell them to you, telling you of all the supposed, amazing benefits you will get?
I’m going to suggest they are either
There are, of course, genuine sales; people moving overseas or long distance, those who really did use their machines and now have some other activity involvement, those who cannot contine for true medical reasons or pregnancy. I hope those sellers honestly state the specifications, uses and benefits of the machine they are selling, sadly many exagerate.
A year ago I wrote an article which was published firstly on blogcritics website and later on www.vibration-training-advice.com. It was titled “An Elite Athlete Discovers Vibration Training” and followed the sucesses of Teneka, a New Zealand personal trainer who added “high energy, lineal Vibration Training” to her already extensive workout program and went on to win Body Sculpting titles. She stated that it was the x-factor, her training at Vibra-Train that gave her the edge in strength and body shape, over her competitors.
Teneka recently took part in an video advertorial that’s showing quite often on morning television. She states how much Vibration Training has done for her and credits it to the advertorial machine – the Gymform Vibromax (a lowspeed pivotal machine, much like the VibraSlim, see: www.vibration-training-advice.com/machine-reviews).
We all know that advertisements contain hyperbole and infomercials are rarely to be believed but I’ve been told that this advertorial looks credible; being promoted by an obviously fit, slim, competition winning, personal trainer. In fact the whole advert is deceptive and it’s format lacks any integrity. It is aimed at people who need to lose weight and gain fitness and says this is possible by simply standing upright on the machine while watching television.
That is not true; It isn’t going to happen and it’s important to set the record straight.
Read my full article here: www.vibration-training-advice.com/you-just-can-t-trust-anyone
I’ve previously written about this study and how excited I was at the results. Now it’s been reported in “Obesity Facts – The European Journal of Obesity Vol 3 – issue in progress”
There’s a short abstract plus a link to the full (purchase) version of the study. I haven’t got the full version yet but the results are mind boggling – in a very good way!
Vibration Training on high force lineal or, as in the study, on medium force lineal Vibration Machines is very effective in achieving fat loss. Dietary help was also given to participants in the study and I’m sure everyone agrees, what we eat greatly affects our health and weight. We need the right nutrients to build muscle and to assist in burning fat during and after exercise.
What’s even more exciting than the statement “Vibration Training reduces Fat” is that visceral (or belly) fat reduced the most in the Vibration Training plus Diet group compared with the Fitness plus Diet group.
I wrote an article about this study in May, 2009 when the first press release was out:
Public release, 8th May, 2009, by the European Association for the Study of Obesity, an association established in 1986 and now with 2500 health professionals from 29 member countries, on the results of a controlled study performed at the Artesis University College and the University of Antwerp in Belgium states: 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.
Checking the statistics for my website this is the term most searched for. So I could simply answer, YES, it really does work but that doesn’t really answer the question does it?
I’m so passionate about Vibration Training and what I see on a daily basis as an Instructor that I’m inclined to say YES, YES, whatever missing word you insert, Vibration Training works BUT, in reality, I’m not so naiive. I’ve even heard a lady ask if doing Vibration Training will cure her body of cancer. She seemed to think that the vibrations might re-set her body onto a healing path. Alas, no, while her theory sounds good there are some things that Vibration Training cannot do or if it does we are not willing to take the risks involved to find out. Vibration Training is not recommended for people with active cancer as it improves blood circulation throughout the whole body and while that carries nutrients it also possibly increases the risk of spread of disease.
Vibration Training is also not recommended for people with pacemakers. This is in line with keeping away from electro-magnetic currents. I know the machines I work with at Vibra-Train have sheilded motors, nevertheless this is an industry safeguard so we simply don’t these people to use the machines. And we don’t allow women who are pregnant to use the machines, not that we have any evidence that it’s dangerous but we simply don’t know.
So, leaving aside these known contra-indications and all the short-term reasons not to train (like influenza, recent surgery, recent broken bones) I can confidently say, Vibration Training is great, it works!
But again, it works for what?
Firstly what do you want to achieve? Is it gentle stimulation of a previously injured body part? Is it muscle strength and power? Is it speed or endurance to help with your next sports event? Is it general fitness and feeling good? Do you want to bulk up yet strip off fat? Are you a busy mother wanting to simply lose a few pounds of weight and increase your sense of well being?
Your results are determined by various factors - including the type and quality of the machines you use and the program of positions you use on the machines. I recommend the Vibra-Train Safety Program for use with lineal (upright) machines in studios and at home. It can be difficult to do some of the poses if you are using a small, low to the ground home model but as far as possible you can follow the program and I am happy to help with any questions. An essential accessory for home (and studio) machines is a rubber mat to place onto the machine platform to protect hands, elbows, and sometimes even the feet from the rough or bubbly surface that machines have and to assist with grip and placement. To choose the right machine type or brand and when deciding to buy a home machine or to use a specific vibration studio or possibly a machine in your local gym or health studio I advise people to get all the information they can get before committing your money. Read the relevant articles on my website and others and ask lots of questions of salespeople, then check their answers against what you already know and as trite as it sounds, use common sense. If the claims are beyond belief, they are most likely, untrue.
Then it’s up to you – Follow the safety program three times a week or maybe twice if you already have an intensive weights program that you use. Eat sensibly without going into excesses of dieting or supplementation. Your results will be exciting, make sure you track them by a diary entry or a short note in a notebook.
Yes, Vibration Training works – It works very well. Making it work is up to you, the reader, by choosing the right equipment for your needs, following an excellent whole body vibration training program, and being dedicated to your workout sessions. You can even get away with pizza for dinner occaisionally.
Links: Vibra-Train Safety Program, Vibration-Training-Advice
My life has been very busy. I took a few days off work to accompany my son, Brad, to Sydney, Australia where he’ll attend University of New South Wales this year (for 3 years actually) studying and working on a research project of Artificial Intelligence and Robots. His first week included seeing miniture fully programmable robots playing football.
Sydney has had two weeks of very heavy rain (in the middle of summer) which has caused flash flooding and made Brad’s initial days in a new city a lttle less fun than he’d expected. The redeeming factor, if there has been one, is that the city has an excellent rail transport network, which along with the buses and harbour ferries make getting around very fast, inexpensive, and easy.
Auckland, by contrast, has had balmy summer days basked by sunshine with just a little rain, very humid at times. I’m happy that I work in an airconditioned, 17 degrees C, studio. Customers comment on how pleasant it is to come in the door into the cool temperature and to be able to do their workout comfortably.
The Vibra-Train studio is busy most mornings with the first customers arriving around 6.20am (our weekday hours are 6.30am – 10pm) and if I’m rushing to work arriving at 6.25am it’s possible to miss my first few clients so I have to ensure I’m “up with the birds” at around 5.20am. We have an open studio where customers can walk in without appointment as we have 9 machines of varying force and instructors to fully supervise all. This system works very well and prevents the back-up of waiting customers as can happen when sessions are booked and someone arrives a little late. We can also run classes, if wanted, where customers arrive at a set time.
Already this year we are seeing great results. This morning’s clients included a young triathlete who at first could not hold position on the level 2 machines and was particularly poor at the upper body poses ( tricep dip and push-up) but has grown in strength and holds perfect position for the whole 60-120 seconds and is now able to hold his body weight in a 60 second pull-up using the vibrating handlebars of the Vibra -Train machine.
A reminder to all users of Vibration Machines - Being in Perfect Position on the machines for the whole time period is ESSENTIAL to achieving great results.
In fact you could be wasting both your time and your money if you settle for anything less. The very people who grumble that “it’s too hard to keep in position” are the same ones also grumble when they don’t see the results they are expecting.
No, it’s not “too hard”, but it is “hard” and that hard work pays off with excellent results. I don’t know of anyone who can’t do the Vibra-Train Safety Program correctly (we are able to assist those with disabilities of course).
Trainers need to take note: It is not cruel or mean to insist that your clients do the workout program exactly. They are paying to work-out hard and to get great results! In Vibra-Train studios we remind customers that the sign over the door says Vibra-Train not Vibra-Massage.
It’s just not working anymore! This is what a regular customer told me last week when she came in for her vibration training session.
Starting six months ago, soon after I began working for Vibra-Train, this customer initially had exciting results. She had a specific goal; fat-loss and toning, with increased overall strength and she found that vibration training, specifically using Vibra-Train lineal machines, really worked for her. I looked forward to her studio visits and helping her train hard.
We’d chat about nutrition somedays and I often had to encourage her to eat more, not less, and help her understand that weightloss would not occur in a starvation situation, there being a huge difference in how the human body copes with calorie deficit compared with real calorie deficiency which was what she was doing and so causing her body to protect itself by laying down fat stores rather than releasing fat to be used as part of her workout energy source. All too often her energy “batteries” were empty. But as we progressed this customer, who I’ll call Sue, gained strength, lost fat and a few dress sizes. She told me how she was wearing designer jeans that she’d kept due to their cost but hadn’t been able to fit for three years.
A vacation with lots of eating-out and the long, hard winter in New Zealand bumped up Sue’s weight a little and she was expecting vibration training, which she’d kept on with three times a week except during her vacation time, to deal with it and get her back on-track and slimmed down for summer. She wanted a body that would look amazing on the beach and she’d was working well toward it, restricting her calorie intake and occaisionally taking a walk.
So what was going wrong ???
Sue had progressed so well in her ability to do the program that she did it alone while I instructed less able or newer customers. She was supervised though, as are all our customers, and I corrected her positions occaisionally. I also noticed that she’d dropped down to the level 2 machines whereas
It’s been an interesting morning here at the Vibra-Train studio where I work. I started the day excited in anticipation of the many early morning customers I expected but alas, it’s raining and the “before work”, 7am rush didn’t quite happen. Instead customers have come in steadily throughout the morning and the studio has been full and happily busy.
Regular customers become “addicted” to the sessions; the rain doesn’t stop them. One of the best points about our fast, effective, 10-15 minute workout; it can be easily fitted into a busy routine. Newer people sometimes take extra days off but then come back saying they missed their workout and felt sluggish through the day and, of course, rain sees more cars on the road, slows the traffic and people find themselves short on time before work.
This morning has been a little difficult for me as an instructor. I’ve been very strict on one customer ensuring he gets into and remains in perfect position on the machines. A discussion with another customer to clarify aspects of her special-needs program left her annoyed and feeling that I was being unhelpful. She will talk with my boss and I have his full backing.
Good pre-workout food
A customer came in at 8am for her second session and I asked if she’d had breakfast. She told me no but she’d had lots of water and taken tablets to enhance fat metabolism. There’s a strict rule here -” no food = no workout” – and there’s good reason for this. The short, sharp, 60-second positions on the machine uses up blood sugars very quickly with no time for the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose and send it into the blood. I explained to her again the reasons she must eat before her workout then with rain pouring down and knowing she’d made the effort to come in I let her do just the first few positions and the anti-cellulite massage but not the whole program. We have a cafe a few shops away but this customer needed to get to work whereas some people are very happy at my suggestion they go off for a coffee and muffin and then return for their workout session.
Add in regular instruction of customers and supervising those who know the program well; many phone calls with questions from people who want to come in for their first, free, trial visit, explaining to them that they MUST eat before their session; ensuring customers of neighbouring businesses don’t use our carparks (on a wet day customers need them rather than having to walk up from roadway parking spaces) and all the regular tasks that make up my job.
This is the sort of work day I enjoy; not the small difficulties although I have learnt to be very strict as customers are paying for a quality program and it’s my place to ensure they get it, but the happy busy-ness of a full studio and seeing customers getting amazing results.
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