Whole Body Vibration

At Avalon Physiotherapy & Clinical Pilates we have a Galileo Whole Body Vibration machine in the practice that is used for many patients wanting to improve their strength, bone density and balance.

The machine was originally designed in the Soviet Union for the use of cosmonauts and Olympic athletes.

The plate that you stand on vibrates by tilting on a central axis. The vibrations stimulate the stretch reflex in your muscles, which causes many more muscle fibers to be activated compared to traditional weight training, which leads to very efficient strengthening.

Different vibration frequencies cause differing benefits, for instance, slower speeds are excellent for improving balance and proprioception as well as increasing bone density for osteopaenia and osteoporosis, and faster frequencies are generally used for people wanting to improve on their strength and explosive power.

The exercises that you can do while using the WBV machine are very simple, functional movements, like squats, walking, step ups, lunges, and even just standing still on the machine.