Not only is Galileo a clinically proven method to improve speed and power development, but it has also been shown to enhance flexibility and circulation. This translates into not only sports performance gains, but also an increased rate of recovery from training and reduced injury risk.  The majority of studies done on muscular strength show that WBV training is at least as effective as traditional strength training, and perhaps even more so if the goal is an increase in power.

Treatment Goals

• Improve Circulation to Tight Muscles
• Flush out Metabolic Waste
• Improve Flexibility and Joint Mobility
• Improved Muscle Strength and Tone
• Prevent Joint Stiffness
• Reduce Pain
• Enhance Post-Training Recovery time

The Scientific Basis of Training

The use of vibrations in an athletic setting offers new possibilities to coaching science. Resistance training effectiveness has been demonstrated due to the possibility of enhancing neuromuscular performance, power output, strength and hormonal profile. However, the time needed for these adaptations to occur is relatively long as compared to the possibilities offered by vibration treatments. It should be recognized however, that vibrations need to be viewed not as a substitute tool of resistance exercise but as a valid additional means to be implemented in a training routine in association with all the other traditional methodologies nowadays utilized.

WBV exercise training appears to be a viable alternative or, supplement to conventional resistance training for enhancing muscular fitness, bone density, and balance.  Also, it is used for a variety of things from both a static and dynamic movement perspective: muscle recovery and regeneration, strength, power and flexibility enhancement, and metabolic training.

Study Summaries:

• Six weeks of WBV training produced significant changes in spring running kinematics and explosive strength performance. (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 2007)

• WBV training may increase vertical jump height. (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2006)

• WBV training was as effective in increasing strength in untrained females’ knee extensors as moderate resistance training. (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2003)

• Acute Changes in Neuromuscular Excitability After Exhaustive Whole Body Vibration Exercise as Compared to Exhaustion by Squatting Exercise. The observed total exercise time, the changes in blood lactate and the RPE values suggest that a comparable degree of exhaustion and muscular fatigue was reached more rapidly with vibration than without. This becomes plausible when considering that whole-body vibration increases the oxygen consumption when applied in addition to the squatting exercise (Rittweger et al., 2001). A substantial correlation was observed between the individual exercise times with or without vibration, indicating a contribution of the individual resistance to fatigue for both types of exercise. (J. Rittweger, et. al.; Clinical Physiology & Functional Imaging, 2003).

• In a few words, vibrations can stimulate the biological system of athletes in the same way as strength training or explosive training and this stimulation can be applied in a much shorter period of time as compared to the time needed to perform traditional training sessions. This opens a new window in sports science and gives coaches and scientists new possibilities for studying and enhancing human performance.The regular use of centrifugal force (2 g) for 3 months has initiated conversion of muscle fibre type (Martin and Romond, 1975). In the experiments conducted, the total length of the WBV application period was not very long (from 7 minutes to 100 minutes), but the disturbance to the gravitational field was quite consistent (5.4 g). An equivalent length and intensity of training stimulus (100 minutes) can only be reached by performing 200 drop jumps from 60 cm, twice a week for 12 months. In fact, the time spent for each drop jump is less than 200 ms, and the acceleration developed can barely reach 3.0 g (Bosco. 1992). This means stimulating the muscles for 2 min per week for a total amount in one year of 108 minutes.

• The improvement of the muscle performance after a short period of vibration training has been quoted (Bosco et al. 1998) to be similar to what occurs after several weeks of heavy resistance training (e.g. Coyle et al. 1981, Hakkinen and Komi 1985). In fact the improvement of the muscle functions after resistance training has been attributed to the enhancement of the neuromuscular behaviour caused by the increasing activity of the higher motor centre (Milner -Brownet al., 1975). The improvement of muscle performances induced by VT suggests that a neural adaptation has occurred in response to the vibration treatments. In this context, the duration of the stimulus seems to be both relevant and important. The adaptive response of human skeletal muscle to simulated hyper-gravity conditions applied for only three weeks, caused a considerable improvement in the leg extensor muscle behavior (Bosco. 1985). Thus it is likely that both neural adaptation and the length of the stimulus seem to play an important role in the improvement of muscle performances (e.g. Bosco, 1985, 1988).

• Adaptive Responses of Human Skeletal Muscle to Vibration Exposure. In the present experiment, even if the total length of the vibration training application period was only 10 minutes, the perturbation of the gravitation field was rather consistent (2.7g). An equivalent length and intensity of training stimulus can be reached only by performing 150 leg presses or half squats with extra loads of 3 times body weight, twice a week for 5 weeks. (C. Bosco, et. al., Clin. Physiol. 1999)

• The facilitation of the excitability of the spinal reflex has been elicited through vibration of the quadriceps muscle (Burke et al., 1996). Lebedev and Peliakov (1991) have aIso suggested the possibility that vibrations may elicit excitatory inflow through muscle spindle-motoneurons connections in the overall motoneuron inflow.

• It has been shown that the vibration-induced activation of muscle spindle receptors not only affects the muscle to which vibration is applied, but also affects the neighboring muscles (Kasai et. al., 1992). A mechanical vibration (10-200 Hz), applied to the muscle belly or tendon can elicit a reflex contraction (Hagbarth and Eklund, 1965). This response has been named “tonic vibration reflex” (1VR).

• Vertical jumping ability has been shown to increase following vibration treatment (Bosco et al. 1998; Bosco et al. In-press). These improvements have been attributed to an enhancement of neural activity in the leg extensor muscles, together with an enhancement of the proprioceptors’ feedback. During vibrations, the length of skeletal muscles changes slightly. The facilitation of the excitability of spinal reflexes has been shown to be elicited by vibrations applied to the quadriceps muscle (Burke et. al., 1996).