The first time I stepped onto a vibrating plate, I was reminded of vintage ads for the Mueller Exercise Belt—an archaic fat-jigging machine used by 1940s housewives to allegedly keep a svelte figure. Vintage slogans like “whittle your waist in minutes a day” flash through my mind as my teeth chatter and I begin to feel a bit nauseous. Was my body reacting negatively to the vibrations, or was it the three cups of coffee I had before hopping on the machine?
While the technology is new to me, the vibrating plate technology was originally created by Dr. Gustav Zander in the Victorian era and perfected through modern-day science, and came from a desire to work smarter and not harder to improve physical fitness. Of course, it sounds like a dream—though maybe too good to be true?
Machines can run anywhere from $50 to thousands and tout benefits like increasing bone density, muscle mass, lymphatic drainage, improving balance, and boosting memory. I commit to giving the device a chance for the next few weeks to see what happens, testing machines from Power Plate (the Rolls-Royce of vibration plates) and Lifepro Fitness. For the first 15 minutes, I perform a guided warm-up, strengthening exercises such as bicep curls, squats, and planks, followed by a cool-down. When I’m finished, I don’t feel the same muscle fatigue I usually do on solid ground with heavier weights, but I am winded, as if I just did a thirty-minute HIIT workout. Throughout the rest of the day, I feel invigorated. How can such a short workout make me feel so good?
Power Plate master trainer Laura Wilson explains how whole body vibration (or WBV) technology does things that nothing else can (if true, that’s likely why professional Serena Williams, Mark Wahlberg, and Stevie Nicks promote its benefits). “On the floor, you are going to do one to two muscle activations per second; you need your muscles to contract and squeeze, and then release,” Wilson says. “Overloading muscles is how we get stronger. If you have the Power Plate on level one, it’s moving 30 times a second, so now you’re doing 30 muscle contractions a second.” Some quick math means that 30 seconds on the machine will give you 900 muscle activations, while a lo-fi floor workout would be just 30 to 60 contractions.
Wilson also advises it is best to drop to about 70% of the weight you would typically when lifting traditionally while using a vibration platform because you are doing more in far less time. She also adds that a 20-minute workout on the plate is equivalent to about 90 minutes in the gym. “However, you are going to get so much further than you think because the secret is it’s pushing so much circulation, getting blood flow and nutrients back into the muscles, while you are working, that you are recovering at the same time. So you are going to feel better despite doing so much more,” explains Wilson.