Whole body vibration may be effective exercise

For anyone who doesn’t feel like hitting the gym or working out the traditional way, whole-body vibration (WBV) may be an effective alternative.

WBV involves inducing muscle contraction and relaxation several times per second by standing on a vibrating platform, and could be the key to combatting America’s obesity epidemic.

In a study published in Endocrinology, scientists focused on the effects of WBV on bone health and discovered that WBV helped mice maintain bone health the same way more strenuous exercise did.

In the study researchers from Augusta University in Georgia regularly weighed and compared three groups of male mice over a 12-week period. The first group of mice underwent 20 minutes of WBV at 32 Hz with 0.5g acceleration every day; the second group walked on a treadmill with a slight incline for 45 minutes every day, and the third group did not exercise.

At the conclusion of the study obese and diabetic mice in the WBV and treadmill groups experienced similar benefits — they exhibited increased muscle mass and sensitivity to insulin.

The beneficial effects of WBV were less pronounced in healthy mice, however.

Researchers also noted that this method did not combat bone deficiencies in obese mice as effectively as more traditional forms of exercise such as running.

However, WBV still led to an increase in bone formation, which would lead to a decrease in bone loss over time. For obese animals the issue of bone loss is especially pertinent: With more mass to support, their bones experience larger amounts of stress than animals that maintain a healthier weight.

As a result they face a higher risk of bone fractures and bone weakness over time.

Another study conducted in 2004 and published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine found that WBV did not significantly decrease the amount of fat subjects lost in a 24-week study.

In this study, a team of researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium compared the effects of WBV and a standard cardiovascular training program that included dynamic and static exercises in 48 previously untrained women.

Interestingly, women that underwent WBV exhibited significantly increased muscle strength but still experienced less of an increase than women who performed static and dynamic exercises during the study.

These studies suggest that while WBV is not a complete substitute for regular exercise, it can potentially supplement a regimen of healthy diet and exercise for increased weight loss.

In the long run WBV could even help combat the United States’ current high prevalence of obesity and diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of adults in the United States are currently obese.

The Augusta University research team stated in a March 15 press release that they hope to conduct more rigorous tests on people to see if WBV could lead to improved health and weight loss.

The News-Letter also interviewed Hopkins students to survey their thoughts on whole-body vibration as exercise.

“I think it’s a good idea since when you shiver, you generate heat. It makes sense that vibrating would help people lose weight by burning energy,” freshman Lucy Wu said.

Although Meghan E. McGee-Lawrence, a researcher from the Augusta University research team, described the mouse study results as “encouraging” in a press release, it seems that there is still no adequate substitute for hitting the gym.