Over the last 12 years, Whole Body Vibration Training, also known as Accelerated Vibration Training™, has become one of the fastest growing segments in the fitness world. Being used in applications varying from professional sports to senior fitness centers, vibration training has proven to be effective at almost every level of fitness!

However, vibration machine exercises have actually been around since the days of the ancient Greeks, who used vibrational instability training with their soldiers for developing better balance and strength.

The concept of vibration training exercises has been put to work in some incredibly varying settings.

Around 1900, John Harvey Kellogg, the co-creator of Kellogg’s Cereal Company, was working as the chief medical officer at the infamous Battle Creek Sanitarium. Kellogg used various forms of vibration training chairs to help alleviate symptoms of constipation, headaches and back pain of patients, in addition to providing exercise. Kellogg also believed that sitting in the vibrating chairs increased total-body oxygenation.

Russia re-discovered the benefits of vibration training in the 1960s when they used it to train cosmonauts in order to help combat muscle atrophy and bone loss that can occur in zero-gravity space. Vibration training exercises enabled the Russians to remain in space 250 or more days, which was longer than their American counterparts. The stimulation of vibration helped the training subjects to regain and improve overall muscle strength and reverse the effects of low gravity environments.

The Eastern bloc countries kept this training method in mind when they used acceleration vibration training to better prepare their athletes for Olympic competition in the 1970s.

Since the year 2000, Vibration Training has grown exponentially in clubs and private homes, professional sporting environments and therapy centers around the world.

More people than ever are taking advantage of a technology the Greeks first introduced centuries ago.

Today, because of the ease and safety with which vibration training can be performed and due to the limited time and space that vibration machines require, people all over the world are enjoying this great form of exercise.