#7 - Knotted Physio - Whole Body Vibration
Welcome to the seventh post of the Knotted Physio Blog! Thank you for reading and being faithful supporters of this community.
We’ve spent a great deal of time on learning about the four stages of launching a boat and how each stage has it’s own limitations. Today, I wanted to turn to a different topic and talk about something that is growing in popularity across the nation. In my area, I have seen a trend with the aging population and with fitness goers as well, in the use of whole body vibration.
Have you heard of this? Is it in your city yet? There are a few businesses near me that have these devices in their gyms. They have a price point to fit all budgets.
How I discovered this newest work out adjunct was with a previous patient of mine. This was an older gentleman who was suffering from balance loss. He was coming in regularly for physical therapy and was making steady improvements. As with most of us, he wanted faster results. One of his friends had told him about a newer business called Osteo-Strong. Now, I have no affiliation with this business, but it seems that it is a franchise that offers monthly fitness memberships and personal training. My patient was highly impressed by their knowledge and decided to give it a try. He reported back and felt that the combination of PT and the vibration seemed to make a difference.
About a year had transpired and I joined Planet Fitness, another monthly gym membership in the area, and one that I have no affiliation with. One of their locations has a whole body vibration unit in it- so I tried it out. Now, I can’t give any report of any specific changes that it made for me- but I did feel more relaxed and had less pain in my back overall. Was this due to relaxing, working out, vibration? I don’t know. But I am definitely a fan and will most likely keep using it if I maintain my membership and resume going to the gym now that life is returning to normal again post COVID-19.
For those of you who want more in depth information- (like me!) I did a little researching on the topic. I do like to know if there is any evidence to support the use of the next big thing or if it is just subjective improvement. There is evidence to support the use of whole body vibration for reducing non-specific low back pain, reducing bone loss, improving balance and increasing strength of the spinal muscles of the back.
I have not found any evidence that points to direct weight loss from whole body vibration; for this, I would recommend proper diet and exercise.
Something else that I did come across was for athletic performance, including a regimen of whole body vibration over 8 weeks, improved vertical jump height of the participants- That alone is pretty awesome! This study was conducted on non athletic females. And, another study showed a reduction in cortisol which is a stress hormone. Which may explain why I felt more relaxed afterwards.
If you are interested in reading further about whole body vibration, an excellent article written by a fellow colleague and fellow in training is located at https://osteopractor.wordpress.com/2019/10/01/whole-body-vibration-an-evidence-based-intervention-for-athletic-performance-fall-prevention-bone-loss-and-low-back-pain/
I hope you found this information useful. Any topics that you have interest in, be sure to make suggestions in the Knotted Physio facebook group or drop an email at jenny@salpt.com.
As always, check out and read the next blog post and Go enjoy the outdoors!
All the best<
Jenny Resmondo
Founder of the Knotted Physio