History

Whole body vibration (WBV) technology was developed and refined by the Russian and American space programs to meet the exercise needs of astronauts. Living in zero gravity gives bones and muscles the message that they are not needed. They have nothing to push against. The result is a loss of muscle mass and bone density during space flights. Space researchers created various exercise contraptions attempting to imitate gravity, and found that whole body vibration technology does mimic gravity. Low frequency vibrations with low magnitude force provide enough gravity resistance to protect and build muscle and bone strength.

Space scientists shared their results with medical scientists, and research began a new to explore
other successful applications of whole body
vibration technology.

The fundamental principle

Whole Body Vibration training is to create a response from the mechanical movement of a vibrating platform. The platform creates vibration by pivoting from a centre tilting axis. When a user places their weight on the platform, their own body weight acts as resistance to the forces caused by the vibrating platform. Once a vibration threshold is reached, this action induces a reflex which causes involuntary muscle contractions. These contractions target not only our primary muscles, but also involuntary muscles such as the pelvic floor and deep core muscles. The involuntary contractions induced when training on a vibrating platform, fire the muscle much more efficiently than voluntary muscle contractions that occur via conventional weight training. Not only does vibration training fire the muscle more efficiently, but it can cause contractions at a very rapid rate. When we train in the gym using conventional weight training, we do this by contracting our muscles and relaxing them over and over again with some sort of load for resistance. That load can be created with weights, hydraulic machines or by simply using your own body weight to create a load e.g. press up's. It could take one hour to get a full body workout, using the method. When using the HyperVibe vibrating platform you can induce muscle contractions up to 28 times per second, sending your muscles to fatigue much sooner.

Of course, HyperVibe machines are not only designed for working out, but also have numerous therapeutic uses too. At low speeds, the rocking action of the platform improves your balance and stability. Rather than induce involuntary muscle reflexes, at lower speeds a user is forced to use their muscles voluntarily to counter act the rocking action of the platform. At speeds slightly higher, the soothing vibrations can be excellent for massage, circulation and injury rehabilitation.