By Joy Stephenson-Laws, JD, Founder 

It’s pretty amazing what you can add to your proactive healthcare arsenal if you are open-minded and educate yourself about all the available incredible modalities that exist. Take, for example, the Sonix Whole Body Vibration machine.

As you can see from the photo above, the Sonix basically looks like a scale with handles and a thick platform to stand on. The platform actually vibrates and delivers a very effective therapy called whole body vibration exercise (WBVE). The vibration is not jolting or aggressive. 

“When you vibrate and excite the 80 trillion cells in the body and increase their cell voltage [also called cell potential] and move fluid up and down - lymphatic fluid - the whole body starts to restore order,” said CEO of Da Vinci Medical Jason Tebeau, who in this video explains in depth how the Sonix works, including the three different modalities of this machine. The one modality I am going to focus on is whole body vibration (WBV).

“Oxygen, nutrients gets to every cell and can be carried to the 11 organ systems. I don’t really care what’s going on with you. If your body can heal it, the Sonix vibration machine will give the assistance. Sometimes we just need a little push in the right direction, and that’s what this machine will do.”

I am so excited that I can recieve the benefits of the Sonix machine at Chiltonic.

“Russian researchers, in the half of the last century, observed that astronauts who were on a special mission had a decrease in muscle and bone mass due to the zero gravity, and a vibration platform was developed to treat these astronauts,” according to this article from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that discusses the benefits of whole body vibration exercise in elderly people (more on that soon).

To give this a bit more perspective and credibility, in the 1970s Russian scientist Vladimir Nazarov tested whole body vibration on Russian cosmonauts. The results were pretty outstanding.

“In fact, the Russians were able to keep their cosmonauts spacebound nearly four times longer than the Americans,” according to this article from the Huffington Post. 

Reportedly, because the Russian cosmonauts implemented this therapy, many of them were able to spend a record 420 days in space while American astronauts only got up to 120 days. 

This NASA article discusses how NASA-funded scientists suggested that astronauts may be able to prevent bone loss in space by standing on a lightly vibrating plate for just 10 to 20 minutes a day (of course, they have to be held down with straps to be able to stand on the plate in a zero gravity environment).

One recent study recruited both male and female bobsled-skeleton athletes from the Korea Winter Olympics National Team to see if whole body vibration had a positive effect on sprint ability. The athletes either had to sprint immediately after undergoing WBV or sprint without this therapy. The results overall revealed that both the male and female athletes had faster sprints when WBV was implemented.

“It might be WBV helped athletes improve lower extremity muscle function with similar results to previous studies,” according to the study article from PLOS ONE.

Professional athletes from all kinds of sports from all over the world use whole body vibration exercise. Vibration has proven to be such an effective therapy that this man created a vibrating foam roller that has been endorsed by some of the most incredible athletes, including LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Lindsey Vonn and Tom Brady.

This is big. Really, really big! Sarcopenia is age-related skeletal muscle loss and strength. It is the loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function. It increases the risk of falls and is a major cause of disability in older adults. Working to counteract sarcopenia as we age is one of the best things we can do to promote a happy and healthy long life.

This article published by the NIH discusses how WBVE helps elderly people in regards to:

• Muscle strength and power
• Flexibility
• Gait speed
• Improvement in bone mineral density (which is the measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorus) in the bone)
• Balance
• Blood flow
• Cognition and executive functions
• Quality of life
• Pain management
• Decreased risk of falls

“Furthermore, individuals with specific clinical disturbances, such as cases of obesity, sarcopenia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, fibromyalgia, Parkinson disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, osteogenesis imperfecta, osteoarthritis, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have been treated with WBVE,” according to the article.

Postmenopausal women are at an increased risk of developing osteoporosis.

“It is well known that bone adapts to mechanical loading by increasing its density and altering its geometry and microarchitecture, resulting in increased strength,” according to the article published by the NIH.

“Since WBVE induces mechanical oscillations that are sensed by bone cells, there is growing interest in the potential for WBVE to be used as a nonpharmacologic therapy for improving bone health especially in postmenopausal women (PW) who are at increased risk for osteoporosis.”

Furthermore,“Physical exercise is important for the management of undesirable clinical conditions due to age, and WBVE could be an important intervention due to its safety and efficacy. Moreover, WBVE is associated with reduced health-care costs.”

I don’t want to call whole body vibration exercise the lazy person’s exercise but honestly it may be! Some say that just 10 minutes on the Sonix is  equivalent to an hour of cardio! The cool thing about this machine is that you can do squats on it (the wide base and handles provide plenty of stability). You can also do tricep dips on the Sonix, do some stretches and lift some free weights. The options are practically endless. One of my favorite parts about the Sonix is that it is a great recovery tool for sore muscles and joints.

Visit Chiltonic in Encinitas and check out this incredible machine and learn more about how you can implement it into your proactive healthcare regimine. As always, if you are pregnant or have any existing health issues be sure to consult with your doctor or a competent healthcare professional.

Enjoy your healthy life!

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor or another competent healthcare practitioner to get specific medical advice for your situation.                          

The pH professional health care team includes recognized experts from a variety of health care and related disciplines, including physicians, attorneys, nutritionists, nurses, and certified fitness instructors. This team also includes the members of the pH Medical Advisory Board, which constantly monitors all pH programs, products, and services. To learn more about the pH Medical Advisory Board, click here.