This seems to me to be a very obvious research study which should yield incontrovertible results of the effects of WBV for diabetics/pre-diabetics and folks attempting intermittent fasting/keto programs. 

Kids of all ages love WBV - just watch the laughter and smiles unfold as they step on a vibrating plate! 

Many kids as young as 3 or 4 will burst into grins with a little vibration. But younger than this it is best to at least start by holding them in your arms while you stand on the plate. This way they will get a much smaller dose of vibration and will feel safe.

Always go with your gut feelings and instincts with your children - you know them best! If they are fearful and don't want to get on the plate, there is no need to push them. They will get to it when they are ready. Watching you and others enjoy it will help them get comfortable and curious....

The proper type of WBV (single motor, relatively gentle, vertical vibration - see WBV machine forum posts, my books, and my website pages for info about different machines) is safe for healthy children. It can help strengthen their muscles and bones, and stimulate their brains and nervous systems, just as it does for older people. 

There have been some studies on using WBV with children with disabilities. Improvements in movement, gait, and balance have been seen with children with cerebral palsy. There is also a lot of interest currently in using WBV with kids with autism where anecdotal evidence and theory indicates WBV may help. Stay tuned here for medical research studies results. I will also be writing a book at some point on WBV For Children where I will cover using WBV with children with disabilities.

But do supervise kids using WBV - don't let them do too much too soon. Like with adults, they should start slow with just a minute or two at a low frequency and build up to a maximum of 10-20 minutes  a day.

Please let us know your experiences using WBV with your kids! We can learn from each other! 

Now, more than ever, it is critical to take excellent care of yourself. WBV is a powerful way to invigorate your body and mind, strengthening every part of you—boosting your mood and immune system in the process—all in the safety and comfort of your own home. Coronavirus times are challenging, but having a WBV machine in your own home is a big step in the right direction. 

WBV can raise your spirits, reduce stress, and improve your immune system, as well as give you exercise - all things we could all use these days. 

Immune System Boosting: There is a wealth of evidence linking your emotional state and your immune system. Being depressed or anxious is linked to catching more infections and experiencing the symptoms more strongly. On the other hand, social contact and laughter has been shown to reduce stress hormones, which are linked to your immune system.

 While the latest devastating pathogen to make its way around the world (COVID-19) is still being studied, like most infectious agents, it is clear that your level of health has an important impact on the outcome of infection.

WBV invigorates and stimulates your body in numerous ways; with ten minutes exercising on the vibrating plate you feel like you have run a mile. Your blood zings through every blood vessel, your brain lights up, hormones increase, energy and mood rise—all of which boosts your immune system. WBV makes you feel alive—ten minutes, and your body will be tingling head to toe. It is common sense, especially for people who are sedentary and getting very little stimulation, that WBV is good for your health.

There have been some studies directly showing an increase in immune-system infection-fighting cells with WBV (1, 2). In addition, inflammation levels, which are mediated in part by your immune system, can decrease with WBV (3, 4). This is indirect evidence that WBV is affecting your immune system.

WBV is an antidepressant - serotonin increases with WBV. Serotonin is a critical antidepressant neurotransmitter that contributes to sounder sleep and feelings of mastery, pleasure, and relaxation - the same neurotransmitter that is targeted by prescription antidepressant drugs such as Prozac and Wellbutrin, as well as many illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and Ecstasy. 

WBV gives you energy - to do the things in life you want to do, but also to help your body take care of itself, including fight off infections.  Norepinephrine is both a neurotransmitter and a hormone, and low levels of this essential molecule have been linked to depression and low energy. Norepinephrine, along with epinephrine (also known as adrenalin), underlies the fight-or-flight response, giving the body sudden energy in times of stress; it increases the heart rate, triggers the release of glucose from energy stores, increases blood flow to skeletal muscles and oxygen supply to the brain, and it can suppress nerve inflammation. While short term stress can stimulate the immune system, prolonged stress can have profound negative effects on the immune system. It is essential to have a way to calm down and destress.

Testosterone also increases - which is important for both men and women, giving us energy and a zest for life, as well as increased libido.

Your emotions have a direct effect on stress hormones also, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which have wide-ranging effects on the nervous and immune systems. When stress is prolonged, the effects can be damaging, leading to profound changes in the immune system and making you more susceptible to viruses, bacteria, and other infections. WBV has been show to lower cortisol,² your major stress hormone.

What's your experience been? Does WBV improve your mood? Have you seen fewer colds, flues, and other infections since beginning WBV? Do you feel healthier? How so...? Please share and tell us about your experiences... we can learn from each other.

Stay strong, be safe, and vibrate :)))!!

Love to you all, Becky

1. Tossige-Gomes, N. C. Avelar, A. P. Simão, et al., “Whole-Body Vibration Decreases the Proliferative Response of TCD4+ Cells in Elderly Individuals with Knee Osteoarthritis,” Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 45, no. 12 (December 2012): 1262–1268, doi:10.1590/S0100-879X2012007500139

2. J. C. Yu, V. L. Hale, H. Khodadadi, and B. Baban, “Whole Body Vibration-Induced Omental Macrophage Polarization and Fecal Microbiome Modification in a Murine Model,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, no. 13 (June 26, 2019): e3125, doi:10.3390/ijms20133125.

3. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, K. H. Wenger, S. Misra, et al., “Whole-Body Vibration Mimics the Metabolic Effects of Exercise in Male Leptin Receptor-Deficient Mice,” Endocrinology 158, no. 5 (2017):1160–1171, doi:10.1210/en.2016-1250.

4. H. Yin, H. O. Berdel, D. Moore, et al., Whole Body Vibration Therapy: A Novel Potential Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus,” SpringerPlus 4 (October 6, 2015):578, doi:10.1186/s40064-015-1373-0.

Getting Started

Increasing the frequency intensifies the experience more rapidly than just increasing the length of time you are on the machine. A good way to start is with one minute at the lowest speed, increasing only one minute per day (or less) until you get an idea of how your body responds to vibration. Watch how you are feeling for the next 24 hours, as detox overload signs can show up hours later (see chapter 7). As long as you are feeling the same or better that day and the next morning, you can keep increasing. Gradually build up to ten to twenty minutes staying at the lowest speed setting. Then increase the frequency by one setting, but drop the time back to just a few minutes and slowly work your way up again as before.

There is a huge range of how people respond to vibration. If you find that you are not having any problems and you just feel great, you can increase your time and speed at a faster pace. A healthy young person might be able to do ten minutes on a powerful machine and feel great the first time he or she ever uses one. Other people, especially those with health issues, may need months just to get to ten minutes on a lower power machine.

For improving the general health and well-being for people with chronic health issues, the goal is to gradually increase the time of vibration to at least ten minutes per day at a mid-range frequency. This amount of WBV supply a big dose of the many benefits every day. If you are having problems of any sort, stop vibrating altogether, and see if you get better. If so, try less vibration.

 Goals with recommended machines (see above)

• Minimum recommended usage (but work up to this slowly): five to ten minutes of vibration at mid-level frequency (30-35hz) each day. Don’t worry if you miss some days, this is not a problem. It is great if you can work up to doing twenty minutes per day
• Maximum recommended usage: twenty to thirty minutes of vibration per day.

Keep in mind that any vibration can have dramatic positive effects, so start slowly. Increase at your own pace, and enjoy!

Some people with severe health issues and weak constitutions may not be able to tolerate any vibration at all. These people should use other natural health remedies, such as nutritional supplements, acupuncture, and chiropractic to build up their strength before incorporating WBV. The sooner you start a natural health regimen the better! It is always easier to address a health issue before it becomes serious; prevention is easier than repair!

There is a huge range of ability to tolerating vibration. For example, I had a sixty-year-old client with chronic fatigue and depression who experienced a dramatic improvement in energy and mood after his first one-minute session at the lowest frequency on a gentle machine. He bought the machine and was able to increase to ten minutes at the highest frequency (50 Hz) within two months.

At the other end of the spectrum is myself. It took me almost nine years to get to the highest setting on my gentle machine, while also taking an impressive number of nutritional products and using other types of natural health therapies.

The sooner you start a natural health regimen the better!

A relatively gentle and very smooth vibration, similar to that of a cat purring. Standing on this type of plate will send a relaxing, calming message into your body and mind but still give you a great workout. As long as the vibration is produced with only one motor, this will also be a completely synchronized movement and message. This motion is also the most stabilizing for your structural system.With a smaller amplitude of movement but greater speed these machines delivers a high intensity workout and all around experience, with the least stress to the body. 

Vibrant Health Power 1000 - $999

Vibrant Health Gentle 500 - $499

Vibe Plates - 7 models ranging in price from $1,195 - $4,495 

Bulletproof 
Maximum amplitude: 4 mm
Frequency: 30 Hz (no variability)
Cost: $1,495

VT003F - This company claims that this machine has an max amplitude of 3mm, but I think this machine is a cheap knock off of the VH Power 1000 that does not actually have the power to effectively increase bone density and muscle strength. I have been on this machine and it feels like a much lower amplitude vibration. See Understanding Vibration Machines topic post in this forum for more on how some companies are deceptively claiming higher amplitudes than is true.   

Sonic Vibration Machines: SonicLife: These are not "single motor," per say - but they produce the same type of movement using sound waves.  There are four models of Sonix vibration machines.
Frequency ranges: 4–30 Hz for the least expensive model; 3–70 Hz for the most expensive model
Cost: ranges from $2,995 to $9,995

Gravitational (g) Force, Amplitude, and Frequency:
The power of a machine (g-force) is determined by the amplitude (the distance the plate moves), the frequency (the rate or speed of vibration), and the weight of the person on the plate. The greater the amplitude, the frequency, and the weight, the greater the g-force. Imagine putting your hand on a purring cat versus holding a jackhammer—these are very different experiences because of the different amplitudes and weights involved, even though the frequencies of vibration are similar.

G-force is a popular and handy way to compare machines, though it is not an exact method, as the weight of different people varies significantly, and this is also a factor in determining g-force. Changing the amplitude dramatically changes the g-force; with a low amplitude vibration feeling like the purring cat versus high amplitude machines that can rattle your body with their more jackhammer-type vibration. To change the amplitude, one usually needs to change machines.

G-force and amplitude have become a hot topic, with many consumers searching for high numbers. This market pressure has led to some companies artificially inflating g-force and amplitude numbers. It is like women’s dress sizes—we get bigger, but dress sizes stay the same or go down . . . because that is what we want!

Buyers Beware: The latest confusing issue going on with vibration machines and the marketplace is companies using different methods to calculate the Amplitude specs for their vibration plates. In response to people thinking they need high amplitude, high g-force vibration machine and making buying decisions based on this factor, some companies now use a peak-to-peak measurement of amplitude versus the more standard center-line-to-peak amplitude measurement. Using the peak-to-peak-measurement method produces amplitudes suddenly twice as big as the center-line method, without actually changing the true vibration. Other companies deal with this issue by not posting amplitude information online at all. When amplitude information is posted online, there is no explanation or consensus as to which measurement is being referenced, so it is very difficult to know what you are getting with different machines.

Single Motor vs. Dual Motor:

A critical difference between machines is the number of motors producing the vibration.

Vibration machines were first developed (and are still best known) for their ability to create an intense workout. Many WBV-machine companies have the football mindset that the more power the better. Thus, many of the best-selling machines, and most of the machines you will find in health clubs and sports centers, are big, powerful, double-motor machines - a type of machine I do not recommend.

Most of us are not young, highly trained athletes - using these powerful machines with the average person, can be like a bull in a china shop. Ours is a football culture where more is better, but most of us are not football players. Just as you wouldn’t start a football training program at age sixty, or if you were young but had a neurological or skeletal muscular problem, you shouldn’t use these double motor machines, either.

Two motors producing vibration can also cause detrimental effects on brain and body synchronization, especially over time. Two motors can never be properly synchronized, as a result, if you stand on a two motor system, you and your brain can become desynchronized over time. This can lead to a host of negative side effects, such as, fatigue, muscle weakness, sleep disturbances and even immune system imbalance. A one motor system always delivers a 100% synchronized vibration and message to your brain and body, helping your system to be in its optimal functioning state.

High amplitudes and g-forces are not typically achieved using a single motor system, but all the beneficial effects of Whole Body Vibration can still be obtained, including increasing bone density and a fit, toned body. High amplitude and g-force is not the most important objective for WBV, even though some manufacturers promote this aspect of their machines.

Brain synchronization is the simultaneous, in-phase firing of brain cells across regions of the brain. These combined signals generate electromagnetic brain waves, which can be measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Because two motors can send a desynchronizing message into the nervous system, this can cause brain desynchronization.

There are also machines that have two motors operating two different types of motion, usually with the option of operating only one at a time. If you do use one of these machines be sure to only use one motor and motion at a time.

Becky's experience with a double motor WBV machine: When I first started WBV 20 years ago I was using a double motor vibration machine. After I had been using it about 6 months, during which time I did get stronger because vibration is an intense workout, I suddenly developed extreme muscle weakness, bone pain, multiple infections, and a return of my allergies, chemical sensitivities, digestive and nervous- system problems, among other issues. After a long period of trial and error, it became clear that the vibration was the cause of my sudden drastic downturn. It took me years to recover.

Eventually, I found vibration that sent a gentle and fully synchronized signal into my brain. With the aid of this type of vibration I eventually fully recovered. I have been using this type of vibration for fifteen years now, and I only get better—mentally and physically! The greater workout is not worth the risk. Do not use a double-motor machine.

Direction of Movement: There are two major types of motion for vibration plates: Vertical (or linear) and Oscillation.

Vertical, or linear vibration: These machines vibrate mostly up and down. This is the type of machine that I recommend for most people. As long as the vibration is produced with only one motor, this will provide a completely synchronized movement and message to your system, and this motion is the most stabilizing for your structural system. Confusingly, many variations of this first basic type of motion are produced by different motor configurations.  Some types confer small amounts of horizontal motion and circular movement to the plate, along with a predominantly vertical motion.

To seem different (and better), companies come up with different names, such as three-dimensional, horizontal, spiral, circular, tri-planar, triangular, tri-phasic, multidimensional, omniflex, and piston. All these terms are describing basically the same type of motion. There is, however, a great variation in amplitudes, g-force, durability, and cost with these machines. (There are usually a range of frequency settings on any given vertical vibration machine, but these frequency ranges are generally similar between machines of this type).

The intensity of your vibration workout depends on the power, or gravitational force (g-force), of the vibration—a factor that takes into account the amplitude and frequency of the machine, and weight (your own weight) that your muscles must hold against the vibration. As amplitudes, frequency, and your weight all can vary greatly, there is great flexibility in the intensity of your workout. To get a sense of the effect of g-force, imagine putting your hand on a purring cat versus holding a jackhammer—these are very different experiences because of the different amplitudes and weights. A jackhammer’s amplitude of vibration, and its weight, are much greater than those of a hand resting on a purring cat, so even though the frequencies of these vibrations are similar, the total g-force, and therefore effect, is greater for the jackhammer.

Oscillation vibration: A second major type of vibration machine utilizes oscillation across a fulcrum in the middle of the plate, so that the plate rises and falls on either side like a child’s seesaw. This motion is called oscillation, pivotal, or teeter-totter (in scientific research papers, this motion is also sometimes called sinusoidal). These machines usually have greater maximum amplitudes but lower frequencies. They can provide a good workout and high g-forces for less cost. But the wild motion caused by essentially having a foot on each end of a rapidly moving seesaw can be destabilizing for your musculoskeletal system and stressful for your brain.

For ease of use and total health, I recommend a single-motor vertical-vibration machine with its perfect synchronization and smooth motion. While I believe that people of any age should avoid machines that create stress and/or destabilization, I feel it is extra important for the elderly and anyone whose health, including brain health, is more vulnerable.

I believe that a major reason for the consistently good results for cerebral palsy patients is that the subjects are primarily children (cerebral palsy is a brain disorder that develops before, during, or shortly after birth), and children respond very well to WBV because of greater neuroplasticity and higher energy. These qualities give children the ability to react positively to neurological interventions and a greater tolerance for stress. That children have the energy to rebound from stress more easily means that you can use more WBV with them and still have a positive outcome.

In the case of seniors, especially if they are also ill, you must use a gentler approach and the vibration should be very smooth and synchronized to foster a calm, meditative, and synchronized brain wave state. Much research has show these brain states to be linked to healing, creativity, and memory. On the other hand, the opposite state, a chaotic, fight or flight, desynchronized brain wave state has been linked to negative brain states, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and others.

I feel the conflicting results of the impact of WBV on Parkinson’s and MS patients may have more to do with the kinds of machines and the amount of WBV that was used in research studies. I have several patients with Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, or dementia who have reported significant improvements using my machines, which are designed to be very smooth and synchronized. Much of the medical research has been done with more powerful double motor machines (which I do not recommend because of their desynchronizing effect on the nervous system), or oscillating machines which create a wild chaotic movement, and too much vibration is used. 

What do you think? What has your experience been? Questions?

Fischer M, et al., “Long-Term Effects of Whole-Body
Vibration on Human Gait: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Frontiers in
Neurology 10 (June 19, 2019): 627, doi:0.3389/fneur.2019.00627.

In Vibrant Health’s 2019 WBV survey, 50 percent of those who wanted to lose weight reported that they did indeed lose weight. This is a high success rate in an area where success rates are usually low. 

What do you think? Questions? What's your experience been like?

Zago M, Capodaglio P, Ferrario C, et al., “Whole-Body Vibration Training in
Obese Subjects: A Systematic Review,” PLoS One 13, no. 9 (September 2018):
e0202866, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202866.