WHAT IS LOCALIZED VIBRATION TRAINING (LVT)
Localized Vibration Training is an evolution of Whole Body Vibration Training, whereby instead of applying a vibration to the whole body, the vibrations are targeted on individual muscles. In addition, these vibrations mimic attentional cues onto the muscle, improving the users proprioception and bodily awareness.
These devices create vibrations that elicit a physiological and mechanical response, which have been shown to drastically improve activation in the target muscle.
HOW DOES LVT INCREASE MUSCLE ACTIVATION
The vibrations exerted by LVT devices increase the activation of mechanoreceptors involved in proprioception [1], causing an increased neural activation of a muscle when initiating a movement [2,3], which results in increased muscle activations [4,5,6] and increased maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) [7,8,9].
LVT simultaneously causes the muscles opposing a given movement to experience a reduced neural activation, ‘turning them off’ for longer as a result of reduced excitability [10], further enhancing the positive effect of LVT on movement.
WHY IS MUSCLE ACTIVATION SO IMPORTANT
As a weightlifter, muscle activation is extremely important because it directly correlates to the effectiveness of your workout. With poor activation in the target muscle, you will engage accessory muscle groups and joints that you don't intend on working, which increases injury risk and decreases results where you want them.
Muscle activation also correlates to force output. The less muscle fibers that you activate, the less fibers that you have working to generate force and strength for you.
All in all, muscle activation is critical when trying to make progress in your fitness journey, so LVT could be great for you if you're trying to take your workout to the next level and get the results you desire.
Sources:
3. Rosenkranz and Rothwell, 2006
5. Mosier, 2017
