Vibration Training Shakes Away Your Liver Fat - 9% Liver Fat, 7% Visceral Fat & 26.4% Intra-Muscular Fat Loss + Reduced Inflammation Without Extra Dietary Intervention

If you actually work out on the vibration plate (instead of just standing there) it may in fact be an effective adjunct to regular exercise for must of us.

I have to admit that I am regularly laughing about the women on the vibration plates in my fitness studio. Now that I have read the latest paper from the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, however, I will probably see them standing on the "wacker plates" with different eyes. In said study which was conducted by Sechang Oh et al. (2014) the scientists tried to elucidate the effects of what they call "acceleration training" (this is in fact what we know as vibration training) on the physical function, body composition, hepatic and metabolic function, fat contents in the liver and skeletal muscles of overweight subjects (BMI = 28 kg/m²) with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

For the lean NAFLD sufferers I'd suggest HIIT instead of a vibrator ;-)

Never Train To Burn Calories!

Tabata = 14.2kcal /min ≠ Fat Loss

30s Intervals + 2:1 Work/Rec.

Making HIIT a Hit Part I/II

Making HIIT a Hit Part II/II

No Time? 1 Min is Enough

The 18 participants (4 men and 14 women) took part in the vibration program twice a week for 12 weeks. Participants performed upper and lower body exercises on a vertical vibration machine (Power Plate Pro6, Badhoevendorp, the Netherlands). The protocol itself consisted of three sessions (movement preparation, strength and power, and massage) and had a total duration of 40 minutes - including a rest interval of 30 seconds after each movement.

A movement preparation session included hamstring stretch, calf stretch, side stretch, and hip joint stretch (frequency, 30 Hz; amplitude, low; time, 30 seconds; set, 2). A strength and power session included deep squat, wide stance squat, lunge, push up, triceps dips, crunch, front plank, and pelvic bridge (frequency, 30–35 Hz; amplitude, low; time, 30 seconds; set, 2). A fial session consisted of massage of the calf, hamstring, lower back, shoulder, and face (frequency, 40 Hz; amplitude, high; time, 60 seconds; set, 2). Trained staff supervised all training sessions to ensure correct execution (Figure S1 provides details on the AT program used in this study)."

What is important to point out is the fact that the subjects did not receive any lifestyle counseling, and did not decrease their habitual energy intake or increase their regular physical activity.

In practice, the energy intake of the subjects actually increased (by 246kcal/day, i.e. 13%) and the physical activity - probably to "compensate" for the "exhausting" vibration training *irony* - was reduced so that their total daily energy expenditure on non-exercise days ended up being 320kcal lower (-14%). Since there were large inter-individual differences, these changes didn't reach statistical significance, though.

The surprisingly pronounced effects you can see in Figure 1 have thus been triggered by the often laughed at "exercise" regimen.

Figure 1: Changes in body composition in response to 12x2 vibration training sessions in the absence of lifestyle interventions, diet or additional exercise (Oh. 2014)

I see you are impressed. 6% lower body fat, increased muscle mass, 7% reduced visceral fat... that's impressive, right? Well, I was similarly flabbergast, when I saw the results of this peer-reviewed study. One thing we should keep in mind, though, is the fact that the subjects were not fit, but fat.

When it's propely designed, add. vibration training can increase athletic performance in fem. athletes (Fagnani. 2006).

So this can't be useful for athletes, right? Wrong. Totally wrong. While vibration training will probably never replace athletic training, it "is a suitable training method to improve knee extension maximal strength, counter-movement jump, and flexibility" at least in young female athletes, but only "if it is properly designed" (Fagnani. 2006). Only if a subject-specific, previously determined and professionally monitored optimal frequency, amplitude, and g-force is used (something a regular gym probably doesn't offer) and the muscle activation measured the beneficial effects will show (Fagnani. 2006).

The same type of exercise that will be hardly challenging for someone who is working out regularly will thus be pretty intense for them - and (!) the higher body weight makes the exercises on the vibration plates extra intense.

Figure 2: Pre- vs. post-changes in selected markers of metabolic health (Oh. 2014)

As Figure 2 reveals, these changes in body composition went hand in hand with a plethora of improvements in several markers of metabolic health of which yet only the decrease in gamma-GT, AST, free fatty acids (FFA) and total cholesterol reached statistical significance. The marginal decrease in insulin sensitivity, on the other hand, was not statistically significant.

Figure 3: Quadriceps strength and circumference, as well as intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) before and after the intervention (Oh. 2014)

What was statistically significant were the size and strength gains in the quadricreps and the reduction of intramyocellular (in the muscle) fat, which has previously been associated with muscular insulin resistance in obese individuals (depletion of the intramuscular fat can in fact restore muscular insulin sensitivity | Greco. 2002).

Your liver will thank you for working out on a full-body vibrator ;-) Even if you are not willing to give up the rest of your obesogenic lifestyle - which is obviously not suggested.

Bottom line: If we also take into consideration that all these beneficial changes went hand in hand with reductions in leptin, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and significant reductions in hepatic steatosis, i.e. the amount of fat that clogged up the liver of the subjects and liver stiffness, the results of the study at hand clearly indicate that "passive" exercise is much better than none exercise, when it comes to the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

What's most impressive, though, is that this works without dietary intervention and / or significant weight loss, solely by changes in body composition and site-specific fat loss | Comment on this article on Facebook!

References:

• Fagnani, Federica, et al. "The effects of a whole-body vibration program on muscle performance and flexibility in female athletes." American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation 85.12 (2006): 956-962.
• Greco, Aldo V., et al. "Insulin resistance in morbid obesity reversal with intramyocellular fat depletion." Diabetes 51.1 (2002): 144-151.
• Oh, Sechang, et al. "Acceleration training for managing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a pilot study." Therapeutics and clinical risk management 10 (2014): 925.

Resistance Training Causes Fat Accumulation in Muscle - A Reason to Stay Away From Weights? Quite The Contrary!

Weights works for ladies, too! Really!

I am not sure if you remember it, but you've read about what I would like to refer to as the "proximity hypothesis" before, here at the SuppVersity.

The basic idea behind is eventually similar to the notion of "localized fat loss", yet on the micro- not the macro-scale. In other words, instead of "do sit-ups to burn abdominal fat" the no-bro-science-variety of the "proximity hypothesis" says: "Train your legs to empty the huge intra-muscular fat stores and have them refilled from the abdominal fat."

Probably you will already have realized that this is "proximity" as in "right next to the skeletal muscle mitochondria" and not "proximity" as "a fat depot next to the muscle your train".

SuppVersity Suggested Read: If you are less interested in ramping up your intramusclar fat stores than in increasing and replenishing your muscular glycogen stores, I suggest you take a look at my previous article " Post-Workout Glycogen Repletion - The Role of Protein, Leucine, Phenylalanine and Insulin. Plus: Protein & Carbs How Much do You Actually Need After a Workout?" | go for it!

SuppVersity Suggested Read: " Spot Reduce Abdominal Fat With Green Tea, Green Clay & Magnesium Sulfate Soaked "Plaster Body Wrap"... Really!?" | read more

As S.O. Shepherd and his colleagues from the Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Birmingham and the University of Stirling point out, it has long been speculated that part of the improvements in insulin sensitivity following endurance training

"[...] are mechanistically linked to increases in muscle oxidative capacity, intramuscular triglyceride (IMTG) utilization during endurance exercise and increases in the content of the lipid droplet-associated perilipin-2 (PLIN2) and PLIN5." (Shepherd. 2014)

These lipid droplet-associated proteins (or short PLINs) coat the lipid droplets in fat and other cells and protect them from lipases of which you, as a SuppVersity reader know that they are enzymes our body uses to break down and "free" stored body fat - a process scientists usually refer to as "lipolysis".

An increase in perilipin in the musculature will thus necessarily increase the storage of lipid droplets in the muscle; and since it does not affect fat storage in the adipose organ and in view of the fact that the fat must come from somewhere (nutrition, endogenous fatty acid production from glucose, or stored body fat) this is not a bad thing.

More fat in the muscle? That's bad, right?

It's thus not shocking to have a "high" amount of fat in the muscle, as long as it is deposited there as a fat reserves for the mitochondria and serves as an alternative, additional or auxiliary, astonishingly readily available energy source for the muscle. A "range extender" with profound beneficial effects on muscular endurance.

Figure 1: Changes in heart rate VO2max, carbohydrate + fat oxidation, and respiratory exchange ratio (left); blood glucose + insulin levels after an oral glucose tolerance test before and after RT intervention (Shepherd. 2014)

Any marathon runner, ironman or -woman and even pharmaceutically enhanced Tour de France drivers would thus be happy if they experienced a similar increase in intramuscular triglyceride stores (IMGT) as the thirteen sedentary males (20±1 years, 24.8±0.8 kg/m²) in the study at hand.

The guys had perfoemed a 6-weeks whole-body resistance training program (3 sessione per week) in the course of which Shepherd et al. observed not just the previously mentioned increases in IMTG, and PLIN2 and PLIN5 protein content, but also highly significant increases in intramuscular fat breakdown during "light" cardio training (65% VO2max; +43% in slow-twitch type I and +37% in fast-twitch type II fibers).

Don't forget: As long as you are solely working out to burn calories you are doomed to stay fat forever. Want to learn why? Read more about the  The Fallacy of Working Out To "Burn Calories" | here

Beneficial effects for everyone: All in all, the increased intramuscular triglycerides, the accompanying increase in fatty acid oxidation and the ensuing beneficial effects on the endurance capacity suggest that doing a simple whole body workout (chest press, leg press, latissimus dorsi pull down, leg curl, leg extension, shoulder press, bicep curl, tricep extension and abdominal crunches; 80% 1RM) thrice a week is the ideal "non-cardio" training for the sedentary slob and could be the ideal adjunct to the endless hours, of running, cycling or swimming in endurance athletes...

What? Oh, yes of course, for the average gymgoer, the results are a welcome confirmation of his regular training practice: Helps with endurance, helps with fat loss and makes you strong; and don't forget - just as Carl says: "Muscle is metabolic currency" (and, as recent studies show, the best quality of life ensurance you can invest in; cf. Silva. 2011; Geirsdottir. 2012; Rizzoli. 2013)

References:

• Geirsdottir, Olof Gudny, et al. "Physical function predicts improvement in quality of life in elderly Icelanders after 12 weeks of resistance exercise." The journal of nutrition, health & aging 16.1 (2012): 62-66.
• O'Connell, Matthew DL, et al. "Do the effects of testosterone on muscle strength, physical function, body composition, and quality of life persist six months after treatment in intermediate-frail and frail elderly men?." Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 96.2 (2010): 454-458.
• Rizzoli, René, et al. "Quality of life in sarcopenia and frailty." Calcified tissue international 93.2 (2013): 101-120. 
• Shepherd, Sam O., et al. "Resistance training increases skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and net intramuscular triglyceride breakdown in type I and II fibres of sedentary males." Experimental Physiology (2014).
• Silva, Neto LS, et al. "Association between sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, muscle strength and quality of life variables in elderly women." Revista brasileira de fisioterapia (Sao Carlos (Sao Paulo, Brazil)) 16.5 (2011): 360-367.