Martn76, I’ve experienced incredible results with my athletes. We use it for warm-up before we exercise or sprint. It makes sure all blood vessels are pumping. Secondly, you already mentioned, that iso-metric holds after workouts provide even more benefits. We use a styrofoam roller on the vibration upon completion every workout or practice and have experienced a decrease in hamstring injuries. (not sure…perhaps it regulates tone in the muslces) According to the athletes, they have experienced better sleep after a hard workout when utilizing the vibration platform as a warm down.
The body does adapt to WBV just like plyos or ems, so with the exception of warmup and warmdown, we may take 3 or 4 weeks off before starting up again. I asked you a lot of questions at the start of this forum and I appreciate your input. As for the doubters, I don’t really care. Prices are coming down. I paid 5 grand for mine and it was well worth it.
Thats interesting, I found that the effects of the WBV are such that sprints are not as effective if done prior to the actual work out. The deep sleep induced by the treatment sounds very very familiar. I agree with the suggestion that WBV may regulate muscle tone. I found that amplitude makes the biggest difference. A high amplitude 25 Hz treatment is not the same as a low amplitude 25 Hz treatment the high amplitude causes heavy legs a more profound feeling of fatigue. I agree with the 3-4 week breaks before other treatments are started. I have often thought about how it fits in with the CF vertical intergration system. I would use it sparingly in the GPP then align it with EMS training. I found that short treatments of 30-45 secs rather than the recommended 1 minute holds are more effective. The recoveries should be anything from 1 minute to 2 minutes… about 6 “reps” max seem to be effective.
What do you think? How would you use it in the CF system or your own system even?
We start out with reps of 20 seconds for beginners and hardly ever go beyond 45-50 seconds. I don’t use a strict CF system, more of a modified DB Hammer/CF program. During GPP, we will also do iso holds with loads, lunge squats, DL iso’s…depending on the stimulation and intensity we are going after. I think the Vibration platforms complement the EMS treatments. When we are off of EMS 3-4 weeks, we are on WBV and visa versa. We start and stay at 30hz. We stay at the high amplitude. This summer, I will do some more experimenting with some control subjects. During the school track season, I had a lot of kids come over and just use the platform to roll out their hams, calf and quad muscles. I know one of the top high school sprint coaches in IL, takes his machine to all of their track meets…wires it to his truck so that all of the kids can warm up on it…plus roll out between heats. His team is always near the top. I am not suggesting WBV is all you need, but the results we’ve experienced since we started using it has been nothing short of incredible. (perhaps a coincidence but we’ll see what happens next season!)
While reading this topic I was wondering what the effect of extreme isos would be in conjunction with vibration… I can’t test this but it might be an interesting idea.
In supertraining Siff gives holding times and recommendations for isos. What gets me about isos is that I have never come across exercises that anyone has recommended to be beneficial to track and field. Also iso holds are specific to the angle that they are applied.
You are correct, the angles are not the same but if you buy into the DB Hammer theory, (and experience the success of it) when doing ISO’s at the least advantageous position, also called Critical Joint Configuration (CJC). Theoretically if you can build up your tolerance and strength at those positions, (which for a lunge, would be front leg parallel or in a bench, arms parallel to the floor), you become stronger in the more advantageous positions…another words, you are attacking your weakest link. Secondly, when it comes to ISO’s, if you are in the correct iso position, it prepares you for altitude drops as well, lunge or squat position…you are able to absorb and contract suddenly in the iso positions upon ground contact. Will this help an experienced sprinter? Probably not as much as beginners and intermediates. Most kids I come across do not activate their glutes enough and they have bad feet. The vibration platform in the iso lunge position also helps strenthen the feet if they are in a plantar flexion position…(Heel high up). I see a lot of kids who can squat a ton of weight but can’t absorb an 18" drop in a 2/3 squat position. Why is that?
We had training PBs (sprints and jumps) with the preceeding use of the Nemes.
I recently (although using the machine for the last 2 years) developed my own stretching protocol (lasting 5’) which gives muscle flexibility/joint mobility that I can only compare to a long session of stretching+myofascial release.
Sounds too good to be true, but it’s definately my experience.
Protocols are usually kept secret because they are so different from what is normally recommended, so everybody thinks he’s into something.
Simply that if the suggested protocols worked as well as those that people who actually work with the Nemes on the field discover, there would be no reason to keep them secret.
People find better protocols by trial and error and are not prone to let other know about them.
squating and absorbing force are two different physiological traits. how the cns recruits motor units is different and if you do the math the forces experienced from landing from a height can be far far far far greater than anyone can squat for example when a person lands from a height ot 3.2m the must absorb over 20 times their own bodyweight. now this is an extreme example but it gives you an idea of why they cant absorb the force and why if prepared for it depth drops can serve as an excellent stimuli, in some ways superior to traditonal means (max squating) as these same high forces are experienced in all dynamic athletics.
i dont think this thing exists in british columbia canada. Hell i have a hard time finding gyms with a glute-ham raise machine, finding this vibrating thing would be improbable. Maybe a ladies fitness might have it, wonder if they would let me try it out if they have acquired such a gizmo
Since I posted that question, I have realized exactly what you stated…also a little help from Chris Korfist was invaluable. What I have found is that doing a “good form” drop squat prepares a person to do actually perform a good squat…although that is not our goal. Learning to allow the hips to aborb, stretch, contract and rebound, has many carryovers to other athletic movements…squats being one of them. Getting back to WBV, we lift on it every 4 to 5 weeks, and usually get a boost. We may go as heavy as 55-60% of 1rm, and do either do dl’s or squats…and do as many reps in 20 seconds as possible. Anything more than 20 seconds will fatigue too much. You need a vibration platform wide enough…many vibration models are just too small.