A new scientific study presented at the European Congress on Obesity, found that overweight or obese people who regularly used vibrating equipment with a calorie restricted diet were much more successful at long term weight-loss and losing the fat around their abdomen compared to those who combined dieting with a more conventional fitness routine.

"These machines are increasingly found in gyms across the industrialized world and have gathered a devoted following in many places, but there has not been any studies proving that they help people lose weight. Our study, the first to investigate the effects of vibration in obese people, indicates it's a very promising approach. It looks like these machines could be a useful addition to a weight control package," said the study's leader, Dirk Vissers, a physiotherapist at the Artesis University College and the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

The researchers divided the study group into four groups.

DIET GROUP: One group was prescribed an individually calculated calorie restricted diet. Dietician visits were scheduled every 2 weeks for the first 90 days and every 30 days for the second 90 days. The dieters were instructed not to undertake any exercise for the duration of the 6 month........

A new study by Oregon State University researchers shows that Whole Body Vibration slows the acquisition of fat, and may also positively impact bone density.

The publication can be found in the latest issue of the International Journal of Obesity. August 25, 2009

Researcher Gianni Maddalozzo with OSU’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science looked at the effects of whole body vibration on 7-month-old rats that were placed on vibration platforms at OSU’s Bone Research Laboratory. Both groups were fed the same diet and kept in a sedentary environment. One group was put on the vibration platform for 30 minutes a day, five days a week for 12 weeks. The other group was not put on the platform.

“After 12 weeks, the whole-body vibration group weighed less, showed no changes in lean muscle mass, and had a lower overall percentage of body fat than the age-matched non-vibration group,” Maddalozzo said. “Over the course of the study the vibrated rats were healthy, tolerated the vibration well and exhibited no obvious signs of distress following adaptation to vibration.”

Maddalozzo said prevention is often the key to preventing obesity in society. More than 50 percent of adults in the United States do not get enough physical activity. Recent studies suggest that whole-body vibration has been proposed as a potential alternative, or adjuvant, to exercise. Whole-body vibration has been reported to increase energy metabolism through an increased oxygen uptake to values comparable to moderate walking.
“Vibration increases energy expenditure,” Maddalozzo said. “It’s equivalent to walking at moderate intensity.”

While not a magic bullet solution to weight gain, Maddalozzo said that whole body vibration has promise as another tool that can be used to help keep weight off. And past studies at research institutions such as the Societa Stampa Sportiva in Rome and at Stony Brook University in New York have already shown that vibration platform regimes have a significant effect on bone formation and muscle strength. Building on that research, Maddalozzo is involved in a human study with older adults who have had hip replacement surgery. He plans to publish his results in 2009.

“Vibration Training has been shown to improve strength and balance in older women,” he said. “Vibration training can give you the same results as a moderate-intensity workout.”

Provided by OSU

If Used Properly, Vibration Plates May Trim Belly Fat and Spur Weight Loss, Study Says

By Jennifer Warner - Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
WebMD Health News

May 11, 2009 -- If used properly, Vibration Plate machines may help overweight or obese people trim their belly fat and achieve long-term weight loss.

A new study shows that obese women who followed a weight loss diet and regularly used the vibration plate machines were more successful at long-term weight loss and losing hard-to-trim belly fat than those who combined dieting with a more conventional exercise routine.

“These are very encouraging results, but it doesn’t mean people trying to lose weight can ditch aerobic exercise and jump on the vibration plate instead. They still need a healthy diet and aerobic exercise, but this could be a viable alternative to weightlifting,” researcher Dirk Vissers, a physiotherapist at the Artesis University College and the University of Antwerp in Belgium, says in a news release.

Researchers say the machines are becoming increasingly common in gyms and have gained a devoted following, but until now there has not been any evidence that they help with weight loss.
Vibrating Fights Fat

In the study, researchers looked at the effects of using vibration plate machines in combination with a calorie-reduced diet in achieving weight loss in 61 obese or overweight adults, mostly women.

The participants were divided into four groups: diet alone, diet plus vibration plate exercise program, diet plus conventional exercise program of cycling, swimming,running, and other activities, and a control group that did nothing.

The vibration plate training consisted of physical therapist-supervised exercises performed on the machines, such as squats, lunges, calf raises, push-ups, and abdominal crunches. The duration of the exercises gradually intensified from 30 seconds for each of 10 exercises to 60 seconds for each of 22 exercises.

Each group followed its program for six months and was then asked to continue on its own with diet and exercise for another six months. Besides monitoring participants' weight, deep belly fat was measured by abdominal CT scans during the study period.

“Over the year, only the conventional fitness and vibration groups managed to maintain a 5% weight loss, which is what is considered enough to improve health,” Vissers says.

Overall, the vibration plate group lost the highest percentage of weight with an average loss of 11% of their body weight in the first six months and maintained a 10.5% loss after a year compared to a 7% initial body weight loss in the diet and conventional exercise group, which maintained a 6.9% loss.

In addition, the vibration plate group lost the most belly fat and kept it off for the entire year compared to the other three groups.

“People say vibration machines are fitness for lazy people. It may feel like a short cut, but if it’s easy, you are not doing it properly,” Vissers says. “Supervision in the beginning is imperative and the longer the better. What we see in gyms very often -- people just standing on the machine holding the handles -- is not going to do anything.”

The results were presented at ECO 2009 -- The 17th European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Whole Body Vibration Machine may be the best news you’ll ever hear about. This is a totally new exercise technology that could potentially turn your life around (so you can feel young again).

As a person starts aging, various changes start to take place in the body as well. It is natural for aging people to find that their stamina and strength continues to diminish over time. Consequently people often find themselves frustrated that they aren’t able to perform as well as their younger counterparts.

Since older people lack stamina and the capacity to perform day-to-day functions with equal ease then it becomes all the more important for them to get active in an exercise routine and to try to retain some strength and stamina as well as keep their body fit.

After all, what’s the alternative? No one really wants to stomach the idea of eventually wasting away in a retirement home battling various health problems. Exercise is a tested and proven remedy that keeps the body young and vigorous.

This is the reason why it is a superb idea for people to invest in a Vibration Machine exerciser. The vibration Exerciser Machine is a great way to indulge in a work out session without straining the body. Seniors, especially, do not prefer to go out for long walks or jogging because they fear that they would run out of breath or would suffer from joint pains.

However, the Vibration Machine is a specialized exercise machine that does not even require the user to move much. As such it can help seniors get a healthy dose of exercise that’ll leave them feeling energized.

As surprising as it sounds, all you have to do is stand on the Vibration Machine for a minimum duration of ten minutes.

Take into consideration that there are many seniors who have trouble walking or even moving. Again, the Vibration Machine is a blessing for them too because all you have to do is stand for ten minutes while watching your favorite TV show to get a thorough and safe workout.

The Vibration Machine works like a charm because it’s based on the space age science of whole body Vibration Exercise wherein muscles are contracted 7 to 25 times per second. Exercise has never been easier.