Exercise is a great, natural medicine. It produces benefits for every system in the body from the head on down.
Getting a consistent dose of daily exercise improves your brain power, supports your cardiovascular system, lowers your risk for chronic disease, strengthens your bones and muscles, and maintains your independence to carry on with daily life.
But even though exercise does the body and mind so much good, many people don’t like exercising and must force themselves to do it if they do it at all.
It begs the question, is it possible to get any of the benefits of exercise without actually exercising?
Let’s look at what a new study says…
For years, doctors have said “Use it or lose it” as they encouraged patients everywhere to get on their feet and get moving. But now some researchers believe there’s a simpler alternative that produces health benefits similar to what exercise yields.
Although this alternative still requires some of your time, you can do it at home with very little effort.
Good vibrations for better health
I’m talking about “whole body vibration.” It merely consists of standing on a vibrating platform that sends vibrations through your entire body.
Growing research demonstrates that these vibrations yield significant health benefits.
How does it work?
When your body vibrates on one of these platforms, the energy of the vibrations moves through your tissues and causes your muscles to contract and then relax multiple times per second. As this occurs, people on the platform can feel that they are exerting themselves.
According to many studies, the health benefits are measurable and powerful.
For instance, lab tests at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University show that a daily session of whole-body vibration can have similar health-supporting effects as time spent on a treadmill.
In this study, participants who spent twenty minutes a day for three months on either a treadmill or the vibrating platform reduced body fat, lowered insulin resistance, and improved bone strength.1
It also makes body fat less inflammatory (and dangerous to health) by reducing fat deposits in the stomach area – where it can compromise heart health and cause other problems. Plus, it shrank fat in the liver which can also lead to serious health complications.
In addition, being vibrated increases the amount of the bone-strengthening protein osteocalcin (which is also good for the brain) circulating in the bloodstream – just as exercise does.
Among its many activities, increased osteocalcin leads to increased production of insulin by the pancreas – which helps the body burn more blood sugar for fuel and keeps blood sugar levels down.
A whole lot of health-boosting shaking going on
Whole body vibrations can also:
· Help you recover from a stroke: Research at the University of Miami demonstrates that these vibrations accelerate cognitive recovery after a stroke, can reduce brain inflammation, and increase blood levels of irisin, a hormone secreted by the muscles that can improve brain metabolism.2
· Relieve lower back pain: Research in the Middle East found that using a whole-body vibrating platform is effective for easing back pain, increasing core muscle strength, and improving the ability to do physical labor.3
· Support better health in people who are extremely overweight: A study in Asia that involved 40 obese women demonstrates that a 12-week program of using a vibrating plate five times a week for 30 minutes at a time improved heart health and made body fat less inflammatory – and therefore less of a threat to health.4
· Reduce the risk of falls and bone fractures in older women: An investigation in Belgium shows that an eight-month vibration program increases muscle and bone strength in post-menopausal women. It also improved the women’s sense of balance and lowered their chances of experiencing a life-threatening fall.5
My takeaway
The news is exciting, especially for people who may suffer from limited mobility. I wouldn’t give up exercise in exchange for a whole-body vibrating platform. I do, however, think that using whole-body vibration would be a good addition to your regular exercise program. In particular, for those who are suffering from illness or chronic inflammatory diseases.
If you decide to try using a vibrating platform, you can find a dependable model online for about $200. But if you want to spend more on a fancy machine, more expensive units are available.