Want to get back in shape but feeling out of place next to those super-fit twenty-something bodies happily preening in their color coordinated Lululemons? Maybe you’re in need of a workout that accommodates or helps you rehab an injury? Well, your answer lives right here in the neighborhood and it’s called BodyQuirks (BQ).

BodyQuirks is a wellness studio with a whole new twist on fitness. That’s because licensed massage therapists and co-owners, Esther Bell and Tara Krupich opened BodyQuirks Wellness and WBV Studio in the spring of 2014 as an alternative to the gym scene. They wanted to offer a safe space where everyone, no matter their size, shape, or fitness level could improve their overall wellness – without judgment. Since then, their whole body vibration (WBV) studio has been helping Eliot neighborhood residents up their game, getting healthier and even – happier.

What is whole body vibration training?

Whole body vibration training clients use state of the art 4G technology (that’s 4 times the G-force) to increase muscle resistance using gravity and the body’s own naturally stabilizing forces to create a whopping 97% muscle engagement with little or no impact on joints. It stimulates your muscles and reflexes, mobilizing and providing rapid heating to joints and muscles, improving their tone and function with very low joint impact.

This is the very same technology that was pioneered by the Russian space program some 50+ years ago, with Russian Cosmonauts first using these machines to train before going into space (allowing them to stay up in space up to a year longer than our astronauts) and shortening their recovering times upon return, by using them once they were back here on earth.

FDA approved since 1983, and used by American Astronauts, Olympians and professional athletes for years, these whole body vibration machines are now finally available to the public for use.

A full-service WBV studio

The BQ Studio offers three kinds of WBV – pivotal (beginners) uses side-to- side motion, linear (advanced) up and down motion, and sonic vibration (targeted) uses sound waves – all allowing you to get the benefits of an hour long workout in as little as 10-12 minutes. Saving you precious time and sweat. Which, as Bell points out, means you can skip the fancy (and costly) workout wear, “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. You can wear you work clothes because you don’t sweat.”

Additionally, these WBV machines amplify the benefits of any weights you use while on them. For example, a 2-pound weight, when used on the machine, is equivalent to hoisting an 8-pound weight, accelerating your benefits, while minimizing your risk.

Just standing on the platform you can feel your body’s muscle groups working differently, adapting to the variety of vibrational intensities as it works to engage core muscles and keep youin balance on the machine. Even small changes in posture or in knee or foot placement can make a big impact on your workout.

More than your average workout

Massage therapists since 1985 and 1999 respectively, Bell and Krupich have years of experience helping their clients overcome injuries or limited mobility issues, successfully regaining mobility and range of motion. They brought their first WBV machine into their massage practice a few years ago and never looked back. “We found clients who had been stuck in their recovery process, were gaining ground again and their overall recovery times were being cut significantly with the use of the machine,” says Bell.

Krupich, whose mother has Alzheimer’s disease, also notes anecdotally, that she believes WBV may help improve cognitive ability. “After using the WBV machine at home regularly, she is now speaking more and learning new games, and it’s improved her balance. She rarely falls now,” Krupich says.

And that just may be the biggest difference BodyQuirks offers, the particular care and attention they pay to tailoring the experience, from their in-house multi-modality massages, to the supplements offered, and even the customizations they make in their WBV training. According to Krupich, “Depending on what our clients are working on, (strengthening, adhesions, toning, relaxation, circulation) we develop a program specifically to meet their individual needs.”

In fact, BQ also offers a Far Infrared Sauna for deep penetrative heat and superior detoxification, and PEMF (those pulsed electro magnetic field mats used in Sweden and Germany) to help “recharge your cells.” Krupich notes, “It’s basically magnetic therapy on steroids.”

BodyQuirks’ clients range in age from 14-88 and Bell and Krupich say the health benefits of WBV are far-reaching and enumerated in the many studies on WBV – from improved circulation and lymphatic flow, reduced arthritis and joint pain, to an increase in your “happiness hormones” (like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, while decreasing stress hormones like cortisol) and increasing your body’s natural healing response. Even clients with Multiple Sclerosis and spasticity issues have seen marked improvement.

Conveniently located right here in the Eliot neighborhood, BodyQuirks is the only full-service WBV studio in the area. Highly-trained staff are always on hand to provide guidance and tips to meet member’s individual needs and their studio doubles as a showroom, making machines for home use available for purchase to both members and non-members.

You can call BodyQuirks at 503-233- 9030 or stop by the studio at 3311 NE MLK Jr Blvd Suite 102 for details. Eliot residents who mention this post will get a good neighbor discount, so contact them soon to schedule your free in-depth demonstration.