The key factors that can make vibration unsafe are:

• Excessive duration.
• Inadequate rest between exposures.
• High degree of vibration transmitted to the head.

Is Whole Body Vibration Safe?

Vibration of the human body is a natural phenomenon that occurs as a normal part of movements such as walking, running or jumping and the body is designed to deal with vibration in a healthy way.

Certain types of vibration are used in clinical settings to assist with relaxation and enhance muscular performance. Under some circumstances however, vibration can create stresses on the human body that are not healthy. The kind of vibration and the way the body encounters it determines whether the vibration stimulus is healthy or not.

Occupational Whole Body Vibration

Truck drivers, jack-hammer operators and other industrial machine users can encounter unhealthy stresses from sustained exposure to vibration, even at low levels of intensity.

Typically, Occupational Whole Body Vibration refers to vibration exposures that occur for hours at a time, day after day and can involve vibration frequencies ranging from 1Hz up to 100Hz and more. Vibration during seated postures can generate the highest degree of unhealthy stress due to the inability of the legs and hips to absorb vibration that would otherwise travel through the spine and head.

The body has numerous defensive mechanisms it can use to prevent damage from external stimulus such as vibration. However during extended periods that are repeated without adequate rest, the nerves and muscles that would otherwise stabilise a vibrating body segment, become fatigued and can no longer function properly. This allows all the surrounding tissues to be exposed to excessive movement for hours on end which is an unhealthy stress on the body.

Whole Body Vibration Exercise

Whole Body Vibration Exercise differs to Occupational Whole Body Vibration in that it is performed:

• For brief periods, typically 10-minutes.
• Intermittently with adequate rest periods.
• Using a limited frequency range not lower than 5Hz and not exceeding 60Hz.
• In a standing posture most of the time which allows the legs to dampen and reduce vibration in the spine and head.*

*The exception to this is Lineal Whole Body Vibration Exercise in which the whole body is vibrated in a vertical direction without allowing the pelvis to rotate. Pivotal Whole Body Vibration reduces the amount of head vibration by up to 189% when compared to Lineal Whole Body Vibration Exercise.

In this way and in a manner similar to other forms of exercise, Whole Body Vibration Exercise is a means to mobilise the body, warm the muscles and joints internally and stimulate mechanisms that encourage the development of strength and endurance without overcoming those mechanisms with unrelenting fatigue or excessive levels of force.