Fitness
Whole Body Vibration for a Sedentary Lifestyle Spending way too many hours sitting on your butt? Perhaps now is the perfect time to consider the benefits of a revolutionary exercise method. By Laura Pelletier
M
aybe you have heard the expression “sitting disease,” or maybe not; if not, it is used to describe the ill effects of an overly sedentary lifestyle. How do you know if you have sitting disease? Many of us work at a desk all day. We sit while eating our meals, while commuting to and from work, while surfing the Web, while relaxing or watching TV after work or in the evening. You’re probably sitting as you read this article! Once we start noting how much time we actually spend sitting, we’ll probably be surprised. Sitting disease is the new buzz phrase. It’s meant to draw attention to the fact that we spend way too much time sitting on our butts and our sedentary lifestyle is putting our health at serious risk. Extended periods of physical inactivity substantially increase our risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. This sedentary lifestyle also contributes to a host of other preventable causes of death. Maybe now is the time to consider the benefits of whole body vibration (WBV) exercise. Simply standing on a lowimpact, oscillating WBV platform causes the muscles and supportive tissues to alternately contract and relax multiple times per second. This repetitive movement sends pulsations of kinetic energy throughout your entire body. You control the speed and strength of these waves of energy through the WBV machine’s control panel. Whole body vibration is based upon frequency (vibrations per second), amplitude (distance the platform moves) and gravitational load, all of which contribute to making our muscles stretch at different times, forcing our muscles to continually work. WBV exercise engages over 95 percent of all muscles and muscle groups, whereas working out in a gym or fitness centre using traditional exercise equipment engages only 20 percent to 40 percent of our total muscle fibres. Furthermore, the time needed for a quality workout on a WBV machine is only 10 minutes compared to an hour of conventional exercise. It stands to reason that a whole body vibration, in particular a quality home-use machine, could play a very
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important role in preventing (and treating) sitting disease. As an added bonus, at the same time you’re stretching your muscles, you’re also increasing blood circulation and oxygenation, building bone mass and density and losing weight. If you’re concerned about the amount of time you spend sitting, it’s probably time to take a serious look at whole body vibration. n
Fall ‘17 - Okanagan Health & Wellness Magazine
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