Why is it becoming a popular way to exercise? Many professional athletes and celebrities are using Advanced Vibration Training (AVT) to enhance their exercise programs. Is this another fade? Maybe like the belt that jiggled the fat away or the rollers that pounded the fat off, or the electrical stimulation that reduced fat while we relaxed by the pool? What exactly is it?

AVT was first used in the early 70’s by Russia’s space program to aid cosmonauts gain and retain lean body mass (muscle) and bone density. So what made a group of scientist think a vibrating platform would help a human build and retain muscle and bone density? The absence of gravity causes the loss of muscle and bone density. These scientists were simply trying to duplicate the effect of gravity so Cosmonauts could stay in space longer with less muscle and bone loss. It worked! The principle then carried over into sport training, ballet dancers, power weight lifters, gymnast and other athletes then began using it improve performance and to rehabilitate injuries. Again it worked! Then finally a Dutch Olympic trainer in 1998 developed a machine that could be used by the general public. The rest is history; the concept has evolved into a multi- million dollar business that provides health benefits to thousands of people world wide.

So how does it work? In order to increase your body’s strength the body must adapt to a greater force (gravity). A simple formula for this is Mass times Acceleration = Force of gravity. (M X A = Fg) or the mass of a person plus external resistance (added weight) times speed and change of direction (vibration). The goal is to increase Fg; therefore M or A must be increased. Conventional resistance training increases mass (M), AVT simply increases acceleration (A).

In conventional training the way to get stronger is to increase mass, this is done by adding weight which compresses your joints and strains your ligaments, plus other negative side effects. It has been done this way because the acceleration of gravity is fixed. In contrast, using AVT the acceleration of gravity is increased by a vibrating platform. This shift in the basic formula has led to the discovery of a wide range of positive effects along with strength gains that exceed the conventional process of adding weight.

One of the more significant advantages caused by AVT is the way muscle fiber responds to the increase in acceleration rather than mass. With an increase in (M) muscle action is a voluntary contraction resulting in approximately 40-50% muscle fiber recruitment, (the amount of muscle fiber in the muscle actually doing any work). AVT recruits 95-97% of the muscle fiber because the muscle action is involuntary. Because of these involuntary muscle contractions plus the increase of acceleration the workout is much more intense, so intense that 10 minutes of training with AVT is equivalent to 60 minutes of conventional training.

Similar results are achieved with both methods of training; however the savings of time, elimination of negative side effects, the addition of positive side effects make AVT a better training method for most potential users. AVT can also be used as a valuable addition for users that still need to use traditional training for sport specific purposes. AVT is not a new fad; it is a paradigm shift that is changing the way people will exercise in the future. Other recent changes in training methods talk about functional or core training. For more information on this concept and how AVT can be applied check out the discussion on functional training included on this website.

View the research on AVT here!