Vibration Power Plate

bar_1

Hi,

I am thinking of purchasing the above but am a little sceptical about it. There has been a lot of hype in American but I am struggling to find any reviews on the internet.

Firstly are you familar with it and if so have you used one?

secondly does it work?

Thanks

Ted_Hutchinson

Effects of whole body vibration training on muscle strength and sprint performance in sprint-trained athletes.
In conclusion, this specific Whole Body Vibration protocol of 5 weeks had no surplus value upon the conventional training program to improve speed-strength performance in sprint-trained athletes.

Effects of 24 weeks of whole body vibration training on body composition and muscle strength in untrained females.whole body vibration training induces a gain in knee-extensor strength combined with a small increase in fat free mass. The gain in strength is comparable to the strength increase following a standard fitness training program consisting of cardiovascular and resistance training.

Savvy_Sue

Thank you bar and Ted, DH has been expressing interested in one of these but I didn't know quite what they were called.

Ted, the thing we've heard is that they are good at increasing bone density, although not a lot of help for cardiovascular fitness. DH's other health problems make anything that looks like a 'standard' fitness training programme extremely difficult to put into place, but as he has osteoporosis he feels he needs to do something (other than mega doses of Vit D and prescribed calcium supplements!) Any comments specifically on that? If you have time ...

Ted_Hutchinson

Preliminary results on the mobility after whole body vibration in immobilized children and adolescents The authors concluded WBV might be a promising approach to improve mobility in severely motor-impaired children and adolescents.

The pubmed search results below were for otherwise "normal" folk. I'll look at bit harder to see if there are more results for use with specific groups. But their is a big difference between providing some kind of exercise for people who cannot exercise in any other way and showing that vibration ADDS extra performance to fitness regimes currently deployed.

Effect of 6-month whole body vibration training on hip density, muscle strength, and postural control in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled pilot study.
These findings suggest that WBV training may be a feasible and effective way to modify well-recognized risk factors for falls and fractures in older women and support the need for further human studies.

This study had a control group and a resistance training group and the vibrators did produce more muscle/bmd improvement.
Small vibrations can improve bone, increase muscle mass

PS Rather than use the word "mega doses" of Vitamin D surely you meant "effective" amounts. If when your shadow is shorter than your height, sun shines directly on your skin really MEGA amounts of vitamin d are produced, 10,000iu if you have several SHORT sessions in the sun. The amounts supplied in D3 capsules therefore are trivial in comparison with NATURALLY acquired vitamin d3. I'm sure you know as well as I do how much vitamin d your body naturally uses daily, any less than that will not create optimal health in the same way spending daily more than you earn daily will not increase savings in your bank account.

Savvy_Sue

Cheers Ted, really appreciate it, as ever!

bar_1

Thanks Ted, I will have a read of the studies.

angel

I used one of these last year for about 8 weeks. I don't think that my fitness level improved at all and it was hard work to hold the positions for the amount of time needed for each move. I don't think that I was fit enough really. Then again someone else who I met there who was very fit said that it didn't challenge her enough and it was too easy so she didn't get any benefit either!

Savvy_Sue

I don't know about bar's reasons for looking into it: DH saw one in John Lewis and the saleswoman was explaining how good they are for people with osteoporosis, which a colleague has also heard. It is clear they won't do anything for your cardiovascular fitness.

The one we saw was about £1000, which clearly we're not going to spend on a whim. The TV pages has something similar for less than £200 but even so ...

angel

The one that I used was a £6,000 one!

Reluctant_spender

I have used these at our local gym - I found the only benefit was that they helped me to relax; so to some extent it helped by health. In regards to anything else no noticiably benefit

bar_1

I was interested in getting one as we are building a home gym and popped into JJB and had a go on the vibration plate (think it was around £250). The sales assistant said the machine worked the muscles much more efficiently, so when doing a regular squat your muscle contracts once, but doing a squat using the vibration plate the muscles contract lots of times. Thought it might be a useful piece of equiptment to aid my workout, mainly for body toning.

However, from some of your comments it doesn't look it is very efficient at that...