Let’s face it. Very few of us go to the gym as often as we’d like. Our health can quickly fall by the wayside when we’re busy with work, school, family, and other situations that life inevitably throws our way.

But get this. A new study may reveal a new way to exercise that could change the lives of people with diabetes.

Published in the Endocrine Society’s journal, Endocrinology, the study showed that whole-body vibration, or WBV, was as effective as regular exercise when performed on mice. While is still in its beginning stages, future human testing could reveal a new way of working out for people with limited movement.

WBV Benefits Bone Health

Whole-body vibration sounds like what it is. A person or, in the case of the study, a series of mice, sit, stand, or lay on a vibrating platform. This platform causes the muscles in your body to contract multiple times a second, thus mimicking the way our body moves and grows stronger when we run, walk, visit the gym, or lift weights. The vibrating platform would make physical activity much more accessible for people who need to follow different methods of exercising due to their overall weight or health.

Both obesity and diabetes require regular exercise to mitigate and treat the root causes of the health issue. For some people, traditional exercise isn’t recommended because both obesity and diabetes cause bones to become weaker, thus increasing the chances of bone injury.

Results

The results showed that WBV could be just as beneficial to the body as regular exercise, and that overall, it increases bone formation in the mice. The mice also enjoyed metabolic benefits from both regular physical activity and WBV.

The researchers would like to continue their work with WBV in the future with human subjects. Although WBV may not be a completely suitable substitute for exercise for most people, it could act as a supplementary conditioning for people who need it.

Future implications

For people with diabetes, the metabolic function is incredibly important for regulating blood glucose levels. Additionally, regular exercise can help keep the metabolic rates stable; however, bone injuries could keep them away from the gym. Further implications of WBV could change how diabetics think and treat the exercise portion of the disease.