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Looking lean and muscular, you'd think Lloyd Shaw was a regular gym goer. But to our astonishment he hasn't pumped any iron for years! Infact Lloyd has been undergoing a 5 year experiment that many gym junkies would run from in fear of loosing muscle mass. But Lloyd, who's one of the pioneers of vibration training, wanted to set out to find out what are the long term effects of vibration training as there has been no real long term research done on the area. He wanted to know what effects just vibration training had on muscle mass, strength, bodyfat and cardio fitness. Was he going to become a 60kg weakling? |
| In 2006, Lloyd was looking bulky and weighing 85kg with 18%. He gave up conventional weight training and began Vibration training 3 times a week. In January 2011, Lloyd now weighs around 79kg and 10% but he will once again get tested in April 2011 for his bodyfat, muscle mass and VO2 max to see precisely what Vibration training has done to his mass and fitness. Although we have featured vibration training on this site, we haven't exactly delved into the workings of vibration training so we thought who better to ask than the person who's a leader in the area. So here is our Q&A with Lloyd about Vibration Training and the effects of the experiment on his body so far: |
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1. You're one of the pioneers of Vibration Training, what made you come up with the idea for your platform and who was your intended market? I am a mortician by trade, specializing in obesity cases. I simply got sick of hearing nothing could be done for people over a certain weight. After doing some research into vibration therapy I decided to build the first Vibration Training machine that worked effectively over 80kg. My goals was simple at the time, get people who didn't want to move, to move. Kind of a form of forced exercise. I initially didn't want to set up a whole company, I was forced to because no-one else would. I would have preferred a more advisory role but it didn't work out that way. " If you want some thing done properly etc etc ...... " |
The only thing new that has been found, was that the muscles can perform these contractions very quickly and repetitively. And you use more muscle cells to land than you do to jump.
With real Vibration Training, you are just doing a reverse drop. You go into a "landing position" and the ground comes up to meet you at a given force.
Light vibration = Low height ( some machines are so weak they probably only replicate a few mm drop, these do hardly anything ) It is called vibration therapy/ Physio
Heavier vibration = higher height ( the smallest platform I use replicates a 1.2 meter drop , they go up to 2 meters ) Not many people are strong enough to use the larger heavier platforms. And even though I designed them I do not sell them to the public for this reason.
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3. How do you think bodybuilders and weight trainers could benefit from Vibration training? For people doing weight training already, I see Vibration Training as the perfect finishing off tool for whatever muscle group you happen to be working on. It is very similar in principle to someone helping you on your last few positives so you can concentrate on the negatives to get that last bit out of your muscles. In the future I see them being used on the gym floor right next to the weights. |
| above: Llloyd with figure competitor Teneka Hyndman who achieved great results incorporating vibration training as part of her contest plan. | |
| 4. You're undergoing a 5year experiment on yourself where you only do vibration training? Why such a long experiment time? What do you want to find out about your experiment
Well from a scientific point of view I always try to split things into two simple categories. What does something do and what doesn't it do. I designed and built better machines based on what previous machines didn't do, where as the rest of the industry was believing their own marketing. |
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My experiment... I started with a theory but then needed to prove it. So only doing Vibration Training for 5 years will give me a good idea of the real results that can be expected from this form of training. It also will more importantly show me what it doesn't do, what are its limitations. If we understand that, it can be better matched up to other forms of exercise, because any trainer worth their weight in protein powder will tell you " NO EXERCISE IS AN ISLAND " It is being done over a 5 year period, because by then any trainer will tell you my existing muscle should have all atrophied away. If Vibration Training "did nothing" like some critics suggested at 43 when I finish, I wont look like I work out. I am just putting my money where my mouth is. |
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5. How often do you workout each week and how long is your workout. What are the exercises you do?
My workout is 8 mins long, and I do it every second day ( all poses are static and relaxed ) http://www.youtube.com/user/VibraTrain#p/a/u/0/PikfQv7uwwo .... |
| (1) Basic squat 60 sec (2) Push-Up 60sec (3) Wide Stance Squat 60 sec (4) Hanging Triceps dip 60 sec (5) Pelvic Stability ( the plank ) 60 sec (6) Super Squat 2 mins (7) Pull- Up 60 sec It doesn't look like much but is quite tough. I sometimes double up on the triceps dips, as it puts the arms and chest under the same pressure as your squat. I love the complete fatigue under a heavy load feeling. 6. Have you been careful with your diet so that you don't put excess weight on during the experiment? No just carried on my eating habits as per usual. Never really got into the whole eating healthy or eating 6 meals a day thing. I just eat whatever is going when I am hungry and just don't over eat. The whole point of the experiment is to see what just Vibration Training and a "normal" lifestyle can do. From there we can assume any results would be enhanced if I did anything extra. |
| Lloyd's Progression | ||
 06 - First day of starting his regime. |
 08 - 18 months into experiment. |
 Jan 11. Almost 5 years. |
| 7. What changes have you noticed during the experiment? Have you gained weight, loss muscle from not doing traditional weight and cardio regime? My weight has stayed about the same and so has my actual muscle mass ( measured using an INBody BCA machine ) . The biggest change was the way my muscles felt and looked and my strength gains. |
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| My muscles went rock hard and I started to handle heavier bodies in my mortuary work without needing help. In there you are truly dealing with dead weight, so it seems to have some real world applications in strength. My overall look has changed to far more symmetrical shape, as weight training had kind of made some muscles bigger than others. Eg... I finally got growth in my hamstrings, calves and upper chest. |
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Mainly weight training and sprinting. Never been a big cardio fan and preferred hard out 8 hr tramps to work up a sweat. Do I miss it. HELL YES. I went through about a year where I thought I might go stir crazy from not being able to do anything. I used to love going to the track ( Mt Smart ) on a sunny day so its been very frustrating at times. What I don't miss is the small injuries I used to get from pushing big weights. Nothing major but started to get a bit worrying as I got older ( I am 42 now ). Got plenty of mates I used to work out with that cant really do weights anymore because of shoulder pain, shot knees etc.... |
| 11. There are many forms of ‘vibration training' equipment out there, what are the key features to look out for to ensure you're getting the workout you need from vibration training.
A lot of marketers or salespeople like to go on about Frequency and amplitude ( how fast and how much a plate moves in mm ). But the fact is that's just to confuse everyone and stopping people from asking the question " why does your machine feel like a big foot massager " Vibration Therapy equipment have been around for years, we know they don't do much, simply because the vibration was too light. |
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| The best way to tell if its a training machine is try it and listen to your body, not the salesperson. Use perceived exertion as your yardstick. You already know what a hard workout feels like, so just judge it based on that.
Some things to think about..... (a) If they start making you jump around on the machine, essentially making you do all the work. Then what exactly is the machine lacking ? (b) If any simple vibration gave you a workout, all truck drivers would be skinny.12. Can you do too much vibration training and what are the long term affects does it have on the joints and muscles? Overtraining is possible with any form of exercise. In Vibration Training, because you can push yourself in such an extreme way, and much further than you would voluntarily, you can basically give you chronic fatigue. It wont damage the joints or anything but you can definitely burn out. To avoid this, most responsible studios or trainers will advise you to do "day on day off." |
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13. What do you see in the future for Vibration Training?
I honestly believe it is going to be used very effectively to help fight obesity, and by proxy give the rest of us another way to look after ourselves. From top athletes all the way through to serious Physio work. The fitness industry is only just starting to get its head around Vibration Training, when it does it will be bigger than big. |
For more information on Vibration Training and Vibra Train click here:
17 January 11
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