Tucking Your Pelvis in During Squat Poses ???
It has come to my attention recently that this practice is now being taught by vibration trainers, ( who I will explain in a minute why ) obviously have no idea Vibration Training is not Pilates. Again what I am going to point out to you is actually common sense and I thought common knowledge, but apparently not.
To get you to understand the theory behind the kinds of forces and angles we are dealing with I am going to refer to a method of training called "shock methods". These are usually classed in the Plyometric group of exercises and were originally developed and perfected by a Soviet coach Yuri Verkhoshansky. The meaning of the word Plyometric ( originally pliometric ) meant "eccentric contraction." In these exercises a person would "drop" from a height and land in a perfect squat ( form being considered very important ) , causing massive pressure to be applied to the muscles in the scientific standard....
Mass X Acceleration = Force
............. equation most vibration companies love to use in their literature.
Another thing vibration training companies love to quote is G-Forces, with most companies claiming over 6 Gs on their platforms ( usually faked specs ). Which by coincidence is almost exactly the kinds of Gs that dropping from a meter high platform produces. It is well understood that having to catch your own body mass x 6 causes an involuntary reflex many times stronger than a voluntary contraction.
Vibration Training is this exact scenario but reversed. The platform comes up underneath you with the equivalent force of the impact of a "drop" exercise, causing your muscles to contract in a powerful Eccentric Contraction. A no brainer really but here is where common sense seems to go out the door and dumb assed trainers take over. Now that may sound like a strong statement but I am not joking when I say a 3 year old knows more than these trainers.
When you were a kid you were smarter...
Think about this, did anyone teach you how to jump off something and land safely, or did it come naturally ? I bet you instinctively knew to bend at the knees, stick your bum out the back and drop a few inches when you hit the ground right ? Then you ran off like nothing even happened. Well imagine how your lower spine would look today if someone had taught you to "tuck your pelvis in" when you hit the ground. It would take a mammoth effort to override your body's natural defenses against injury, but I am sure with practice you could end up in a wheelchair in no time.
Now luckily for us most machines do not in reality produce enough force to damage you straight away, but the theory is still there, and it is still producing far more force than just standing on the ground like Pilates, Yoga, Dancing etc.. which is where the "tuck your pelvis in " pose came from in the first place. Which is meant to "engage your muscles". Well trust me when you are catching your own bodyweight x 6 over and over again, your muscles are being engaged already. Again this advice in Vibration Training land is similar to telling someone to tense up just before you hit the ground in a shock-drop. I cant even see why someone would think that would be a good idea. ( another thing a child knows not to do ).
Make no mistake, bringing these poses and ideas into Vibration Training is purely the result of Trainers being backed into a corner and not wanting to admit they are clueless to even the basics of this science, so in classic fashion revert to what they do normally, just on a Vibration Platform instead of on the floor. Something I unfortunately see time and time again in my industry.
I hope I have written another article that gets the industry thinking about how easily it is to be fooled by so called "experts" in exercise, when in fact their ideas do not even pass the most simple of logic tests. Please do not leave our future in these peoples hands, question everything.
