Although vibration training has been around for 40 years, the potential benefits for sportsmen and women have only recently begun to be properly researched.
The Russians also performed experiments with vibration training for the benefit of their space program. RSI, the Russian Space Institute as well as ESA, the European Space Agency are experimenting with various types of Vibration Training Systems in order to get the ultimate benefits from the vibration stimulus. Due to the lack of gravity in space, cosmonauts exhibited muscle atrophy (muscle impairment) and a decrease in bone mineral density, which forced them to return to earth rather quickly. In order to solve this problem the Russian scientists had their cosmonauts train on vibration machines.
Once the Iron Curtain had been dismantled, the West could finally profit from the information and experience that had been gathered in the previous years, and from the nineties the possibilities and applications of WBV were researched all over the world. There were also several countries where scientists and experts continued to develop its techniques.
Vibration training requires the use of specially designed machines that vibrate at specific frequencies (normally between 30 and 50Hz). The most popular type of vibration machines are ‘platform-based’, which allow the user to perform a variety of exercises while standing, or placing their hands on the vibrating plate to perform upper body exercises, such as triceps dips. Other items of vibration equipment include dumbbells and breathing devices.
Vibration training can recruit nearly 100% of a muscle’s fibres. This contrasts with the 40%-60% recruitment normally associated with other resistance training activities. Vibration training achieves these high recruitment levels by creating an almost continuous stretch/reflex in muscles. This is known as a tonic stretch/reflex and means that while undergoing vibration training, muscles are contracting at incredibly high frequencies, which also subjects them to considerable forces. These vibrational forces are believed to be highly advantageous for the enhancement of fast-twitch muscle fibre.
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