When it comes to exercise for osteoporosis, vibration therapy is better than weight lifting,” says Dr. David Williams.
The main treatments for osteoporosis involve placing some stress on bones in order to promote growth and re-mineralization. In the past, the conventional therapy was progressive resistance training and exercise — often lifting weights on a set schedule and very slowly increasing the weight level used.
Advanced cases of osteoporosis often left people unable to lift weights, so this therapy was difficult and potentially harmful. Dr. Williams says vibration therapy has proven to be a blessing for these sufferers, especially when using a vibration platform machine.
He writes that people using vibration therapy three times a week were able to increase their muscle strength by 20% to 30% more than what was achievable through conventional strength training. This allows people to make vibration therapy the start of their therapy session — and continue it on a regular basis — later including strength training as they recover.
Using a whole-body vibration exercise can make osteoporosis manageable and prevent it from becoming a debilitating condition throughout much of someone’s life.
Improvements When You Can’t Exercise
Vibration plate exercises have shown repeated improvements in people who cannot otherwise exercise. When looking at broad sets of research, experts say those who can’t exercise see stronger muscles and enhancements to their speed-of-movement when using a product like the VibePlate.
Belgian researchers also noted that a routine of 30 minutes, three times a week can improve well-being. Their work with women found a 1% increase in hip bone density and “a measurable increase” in muscle strength when they kept up with the workout schedule for six months.
Perhaps most important takeaway in the Belgian research was improvements to hip bone density were only present in the group using whole-body vibration therapy. The study’s control group of women who used resistance training had no changes in hip bone density.