Vibration Machines, Treadmills or Both?
As a fitness enthusiast I'm always interested I trying new exercises or mixing workouts in order to create a more challenging and more demanding fitness routine. It's very usual to incorporate both cardio and strength exercises in your workout, but what about cardio and vibration machine exercises?
Vibration machines are known to contribute to stronger muscles, to improve one's flexibility, balance and coordination, so why not take advantage of these tools?
An interesting study published some years ago showed that combining whole body vibration training with treadmill exercises can improve the speed, agility and power of high school athletes, helping them run faster, jump higher and perform better in athletic competitions.
The study involved a group of 21 high school athletes, both females and males, who participated in an 8 week strength and conditioning program. Their training routine consisted of linear speed, lateral speed and agility, strength training and treadmill training. The control group performed only these routines, while the experimental group also performed whole body vibration training on vibration machines.
Treadmill training involved running at an elevation between 0 and 25% and speeds between 3 mph and 18 mph. Both groups, including those who exercised on a vibration machines, performed sprint drills, high knees, leg cycles, butt kicks, sprints of varying distances, towing drills and other such exercises for improving their speed.
At the end of the study, athletes who used both WBV and treadmill training showed more significant improvements in all the tested parameters. The experimental group (treadmill + vibration machine) achieved an average improvement of 0.27 second in the 40 yard dash, compared to 0.15 seconds in the control group.
Also, those who incorporated vibration machines in their workouts saw significant improvements in the vertical jump test, jumping on average 4 inches higher than athletes who performed only treadmill and regular strength exercises. In the 20 yard shuttle test, athletes in the experimental group run on average 0.3 seconds faster than those in the control group.
These results prove, once again, that whole body vibration training and vibration platforms are more than rehabilitation tools for elders or people with weak muscles and bones. A vibration machine can successfully replace classical fitness equipment for strength training, but the key in maximizing the efficiency of WBV workouts is to actually do some exercises while on the platform, and not just to stand on it.
Unfortunately, lots of people think that a vibration machine can make them slimmer and stronger without any effort required from the user. While it's true that muscles in the core and lower body can be strengthened by simply standing or sitting on the platform, in order to reshape your body and train all the important muscle groups you have to perform exercises that are similar to those done at the gym.
Front squats, lunges, planks, ab crunches, lateral squats, push-ups and other such exercises can be done on a vibration machine, the workouts being more demanding than the classical exercises. Thus, if you want to take your fitness training to the next level, try to do your regular strength exercises on a WBV platform, and mix this workout with a treadmill session.
Vibration machines are known to contribute to stronger muscles, to improve one's flexibility, balance and coordination, so why not take advantage of these tools?
An interesting study published some years ago showed that combining whole body vibration training with treadmill exercises can improve the speed, agility and power of high school athletes, helping them run faster, jump higher and perform better in athletic competitions.
The study involved a group of 21 high school athletes, both females and males, who participated in an 8 week strength and conditioning program. Their training routine consisted of linear speed, lateral speed and agility, strength training and treadmill training. The control group performed only these routines, while the experimental group also performed whole body vibration training on vibration machines.
Treadmill training involved running at an elevation between 0 and 25% and speeds between 3 mph and 18 mph. Both groups, including those who exercised on a vibration machines, performed sprint drills, high knees, leg cycles, butt kicks, sprints of varying distances, towing drills and other such exercises for improving their speed.
At the end of the study, athletes who used both WBV and treadmill training showed more significant improvements in all the tested parameters. The experimental group (treadmill + vibration machine) achieved an average improvement of 0.27 second in the 40 yard dash, compared to 0.15 seconds in the control group.
Also, those who incorporated vibration machines in their workouts saw significant improvements in the vertical jump test, jumping on average 4 inches higher than athletes who performed only treadmill and regular strength exercises. In the 20 yard shuttle test, athletes in the experimental group run on average 0.3 seconds faster than those in the control group.
These results prove, once again, that whole body vibration training and vibration platforms are more than rehabilitation tools for elders or people with weak muscles and bones. A vibration machine can successfully replace classical fitness equipment for strength training, but the key in maximizing the efficiency of WBV workouts is to actually do some exercises while on the platform, and not just to stand on it.
Unfortunately, lots of people think that a vibration machine can make them slimmer and stronger without any effort required from the user. While it's true that muscles in the core and lower body can be strengthened by simply standing or sitting on the platform, in order to reshape your body and train all the important muscle groups you have to perform exercises that are similar to those done at the gym.
Front squats, lunges, planks, ab crunches, lateral squats, push-ups and other such exercises can be done on a vibration machine, the workouts being more demanding than the classical exercises. Thus, if you want to take your fitness training to the next level, try to do your regular strength exercises on a WBV platform, and mix this workout with a treadmill session.
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