New study says vibration may be as effective as exercise

A US study has found sitting or standing on a vibration machine for just 20 minutes mimics the muscle and bone health benefits of a 45 minute walk, well at least for mice.

The mouse study is published in the Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology. “Our study is the first to show that whole-body vibration may be just as effective as exercise at combating some of the negative consequences of obesity and diabetes,” said the study’s senior author, Meghan McGee-Lawrence of Augusta University.

While WBV did not fully address the defects in bone mass of the obese mice, it did increase global bone formation.

Ms McGee-Lawrence says this suggests longer-term WBV treatments could hold “promise” for preventing bone loss.

WBV consists of a person sitting, standing or lying on a machine with a vibrating platform. When the machine vibrates, it transmits energy to the body, and muscles contract and relax multiple times during each second. Researchers at Augusta University.examined the efficacy of WBV in two groups of five-week-old male mice.

One group consisted of normal mice, while the other group was genetically unresponsive to the hormone leptin, which promotes feelings of fullness after eating.

Mice from each group were assigned to sedentary, WBV or treadmill exercise for 12 weeks.

The genetically obese and diabetic mice showed similar metabolic benefits from both WBV and exercising on the treadmill.

Obese mice gained less weight after exercise or WBV than obese mice in the sedentary group, although they remained heavier than normal mice. Exercise and WBV also enhanced muscle mass and insulin sensitivity in the genetically obese mice.

The findings suggest that WBV may be a useful supplemental therapy to combat metabolic dysfunction in individuals with morbid obesity, said the authors. “These results are encouraging,” McGee-Lawrence said.

“However, because our study was conducted in mice, this idea needs to be rigorously tested in humans to see if the results would be applicable to people,” she added.