I had heard about these vibration machines about a year ago from my chiropractor for building bone density and started doing my research on vibration machine reviews online. While it does seem like there are so many cheap knock offs out there I was looking at the Powerplate brand that has a medical device number from the FDA, which means they have proven it does what they say it does, it’s the one my chiropractor uses but it is very expensive (over $9,000!) and I don’t a full blown commercial machine for my house. The more research I did I found that the type of movement is very important; moving in 3 fields, up and down, side to side, and back and forth is what all the positive research pointed to. The frequency range it can go to will make a difference, mine goes up to 50hz same as commercial powerplates! The machines weight is also important especially for balance and strength use, you don’t want it to tip over when leaning back into a deep squat or stretch. I tried out a few different models and brands at my local fitness store which really helped me see the difference in quality. The inexpensive ones were not even close to the sturdiness and quality I was feeling using the one at the Dr.’s office. I found a great machine I am really happy with and after 6 month of using it 4 days a week I am happy to report I am no longer in osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis) and have actually had an measurable increase in bone density! I am buying a vibration machine for my mom now because she has osteoporosis and has been on medicine for a few years now with no benefit (and a bunch of scary side effects). I’ll keep you posted but I could not be more thrilled with the 3G AVT Vibration machine I bought, well worth it! -J’aime
Power Plate: Do Vibration Plates Work?
August 21 2010
Power plates seems to be the latest trend in the fitness indusrty. And there are number of studies done on these vibrating exercising machines. Let’s take a look at what the science say about the power plate.
What is a Power Plate?
Power Plate, one brand of vibration plate, as the name implies uses whole-body vibrations while you perform exercises on the plate.
What are the power plate performance & health claims?
The power plate company claims that power plate helps:
- increase strength & power even in elite athltes
- improve your golf performance
- prevent age-related muscle loss
- increase bone density
- remove toxins and thereby decrease cellulite
Their most marketed claim is the increase in strength and power and how it is used by elite level athletes in the NBA, NFL, and pro golf players. Here is a qoute from their website:
“For serious athletes, workouts on the Power Plate® machines enhance the results of conventional training and explosive strength training, as well as serve athletes and trainers alike to speed recovery and regeneration times. Because of the extensive academic and independent scientific research, professional sports teams throughout the world use Power Plate® machines as part of their strength and conditioning programs.”
So does power plate help in increasing strength and power?
There are number of long term studies which looked at strength, power and speed changes with vibration training. The power plate website quotes number of studies which show significant increase in strength and power. But almost all of these had serious methodological issues as shown below:
- Passive control Group: The control group in the majority of the studies did not exercise. They just sat on their butt. No wonder they saw large improvements in strength and power compared ot the control.
- Improper Control: The studies which concluded that vibration training is as effective as traditional strength training did not normalize intensity. Since the intensity was not normalized, it just could be that the intensity of exercises in both groups were similar and the vibration had nothing to do per se in the improvements.
- Proper control: Now guess what, the studies which employed a proper control where they did similar exercises without vibration saw no statistically significant difference in strength or power.
Looking at all the studies, we can conclude that:
- Strength and power: None or only minor additional effects on muscle strength and jump performance as compared with performing the same exercises without vibration.
- Speed: No improvements in speed is observed.
- Bone density: There is evidence to show it increase bone mineral density.
- Other: There is no evidence to show that it will remove toxins and decrease cellulite or improve your golf performance or prevent age related muscle loss
Can vibration training be harmful?
- OSHA: It is now well established that vibration exposure can cause harmful effects. According to OSHA (Occupational & Safety Hazard Association), long term exposure to vibration can also cause nausea, impaired vision, hyperventilation, and disorders such as White Finger Disease (Raynaud’s Syndrome), Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, & Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Practical Recommendations
- There is no conclusive evidence to recommended power plate as a replacement or addition to the resistance training to improve performance.
- Besides increase in bone density , there no evidence to support the claims made by power plate.
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Lloyd Shaw
| Sun April 08, 2012
Warning to readers…
Jane / Jaim’e etc…. is a viral marketer for a brand of cheap plastic machines. A bunch of them are bombing the net now with fake ” pleased consumer feedback reports” .
It is in fact a direct copy of a Power Plate, which in itself is a fake machine pushed by dishonest marketers.
So Jane is promoting a copy of a fake. With all the same 3D, do lunges on the machine BS.
A message to 3G AVT….
We will now make sure every post you put up on any forum has this warning behind it. You blew it.
