I just wanted to offer my thoughts on vibration training. First of all, just a quick correction, the author referred to above is "Matt Jordan" not "Matt Jones". I know this because that was my paper : ) Anyhow, here are some thoughts:
1. A lot of companies overstate the potential benefits of vibration training. For example, ten minutes of vibration won't turn your body into that of a Greek God. In fact, evidence suggests vibration elicits a muscle contraction (tonic vibration reflex) and this muscle contraction is of mild to moderate intensity. It also has a similar CV effect to that of moderate exercise.
2. In my experience, vibration has a profound effect on the following qualities: elastic strength, flexibility (these are well documented). I use vibration post-injury, to improve flexibility both acutely and chronically, and as part of my elastic strength development programs.
3. Our lab has found vibration may have an attenuation effect on fatigue especially during elastic and ballistic movements. For example, we have found a significantly smaller drop-off during repeat sprints with vibration in the rest intervals.
4. For those who are interested in some science, vibration has been shown to reduce presynaptic inhibition of the Ia afferents of the muscle spindle. This "potentiates or augments" the stretch reflex pathway. Recent studies from the world of proprioceptive training have proposed that this mechanism may partially explain the increase in initial rate of force development seen after a proprioceptive training protocol. Initial rate of force development (IRFD) or starting strength is tough quality to develop in the weight room and has often considered mostly based on genetics. My pet theory is that vibration may serve as another tool to improve IRFD. So I have started using vibration with a lot of my fighters (boxers, kickboxers, MMA) as a tool to help improve hand speed.
5. Lastly, vibration is not for everyone... there is a risk for injury if used inappropriately)
(please excuse typos)
Matt Jordan
