I've never tried it, but my sister-in-law does it and she found it helped her along with her diet to lose weight before her wedding. She also uses a stationery bike, so the exercises on the power plate is basically her strength training program.

I think a lot of people assume you just stand on the thing, but as far as I know, you do mild strength movements while on it (squats, pushups and so on) - and she also has a trainer type person who oversees her workout.

I don't belong to a gym, so I'd rather follow a DVD like Jillian Michael's 30 day shred or do my own strength routine at home than have to pay for using something like Power Plate.

People are buying them for their homes now, too!

It sounds interesting, but I do wonder about the actual benefits and future side-effects.

I wonder how long the line is for it at the gym!

Whoops I tried to do a laughing face. Oh well.

Seems like another fad to me.

We have them at my gym...

The trainers utilize them into our workouts. My trainer has me stretch certain muscles on the Power Plate. So, for example, I stand in a way that stretches my calf on the plate, then she turns it on. It feels good. But it does make the inside of my ears itch from the vibrations.

We also do squats on them sometimes. And it does take a lot of control to keep your form while doing them.

I would say Power Plates are a GREAT way to challenge certain exercises you do... But I certainly would never workout on one for 10 minutes and then not do anything else.

Thank you for answering my question!!
I will be going along to the introductory classes and trying them out. Heck, it's only 15 minutes.

I am usually a very skeptical person but my mom has been using this regularly and she swears she feel fitter, thinner and more energetic having used it for about 2 months now. I am concerned to hear about the side effects. They never bother to tell you about the possible dangers.

My trainer said you shouldn't use powerplates if you are suffering (or used to suffer) from migrains, apparently they can get worse. Which is why I've never used one, didn't want to take any chances there...

Doesn't seem natural to me. Generally there are no "shortcuts" to getting fit.

My old gym used to have one. It was very difficult to balance on at first and I think thats why it uses more of your muscles. However I'll stick to yoga. The machine didn't leave a lasting impression.

Does WBV work? Definitely! Is it an effective ten minute workout? Yes!- depending on how intense you are willing to get on the platform you can work out your entire body in just 10 minutes—If you think this workout entails just ten minutes of standing on the platform, you have another thing coming. You do actually have to perform dips, pushups, squats, lunges, curls, ab bridges etc. Will you build muscle mass? It depends on who you are and where you are starting from. If you are well built then you may notice some tone but not size. If you don’t work out at all then yes of course your muscles will develop to a point from engaging them.

I can understand how so many of you are skeptical about whole body vibration. At one point I was also. Think back to a time when elliptical machines were entering the fitness community. Elliptical machines looked awkward and made crazy claims that you could achieve better muscular/cardio effects than a treadmill with out putting excessive stress on the joints. Were you skeptical then? Now elliptical machines account for about 65% of home fitness store sales and make up roughly 50% of the cardio equipment in most gyms.

We as American consumers are skeptical of most new products on the market because we have been bombarded with so many useless fitness products. The difference here is that many of those products never make it past an infomercial because they don’t have much empirical data that suggests they actually work nor do they get a worldwide following like whole body vibration has.

WBV technology is nothing new and is something that has recently been exposed to you because it is becoming affordable to the public. Think plasma TV’s back in 1995- They existed but were not widely used or purchased by the general consumer like they are today. WBV was passed down from a space program to Olympic athletes, then to your favorite Professional sports teams and now to your gyms and homes.

My credentials:
I own Medvibe, a company dedicated to furthering the research and distribution of whole body vibration. We manufacture products that are a bit different than PowerPlates machines.

It is important to know that all gym/fitness equipment is not the same. Many machines in the gym i.e. free-weights vs. machines often engage the same muscle groups yet do it differently and have different benefits. The same goes with WBV machines. We use a pivotal technology that rocks the vibration platform from side to side rather than Powerplate which uses a tri-plannar technology that vibrates the entire platform uniformly in a vertical motion. Pivotal machines mimic your body’s natural gait which means the vibration is impacted and absorbed by your body’s natural motions thus eliminating the vibrations to your head.

Ok this is getting lengthy—sorry I am passionate about this subject. To answer most of your questions—WBV IS NOT AN ADEQUATE, END ALL MIRACLE SOLUTION TO WEIGHT LOSS AND FITNESS. It does have many benefits ranging from rehabilitation, stretching, massage, and muscle tone. I often tell my customers that FITNESS=DIET+EXERCISE. WBV in this case is only a part of your exercise. I think marketers have taken things a bit far by over exaggerating the benefits from the research that has been done.

For the millions of Americans that don’t get to the gym like we do—this product is effective because its better than performing no exercise at all. Additionally if you are an athlete, its another tool in your toolbox to add some diversity to your workouts via balance training, increase explosive power and an increased production of your natural growth hormones.

If you haven’t tried a WBV machine yet then get on one. Remember they are all not the same—If you get on one that seems like its too intense—it probably is—you may need to check out a few different companies and technologies before you find the machine that is right for you.

If you have any more questions—I would be happy to answer them—just email the Medvibe website www.wholebodyvibration.net and I will gladly respond.

Does WBV work? Definitely! Is it an effective ten minute workout? Yes!- depending on how intense you are willing to get on the platform you can work out your entire body in just 10 minutes—If you think this workout entails just ten minutes of standing on the platform, you have another thing coming. You do actually have to perform dips, pushups, squats, lunges, curls, ab bridges etc. Will you build muscle mass? It depends on who you are and where you are starting from. If you are well built then you may notice some tone but not size. If you don’t work out at all then yes of course your muscles will develop to a point from engaging them.

I can understand how so many of you are skeptical about whole body vibration. At one point I was also. Think back to a time when elliptical machines were entering the fitness community. Elliptical machines looked awkward and made crazy claims that you could achieve better muscular/cardio effects than a treadmill with out putting excessive stress on the joints. Were you skeptical then? Now elliptical machines account for about 65% of home fitness store sales and make up roughly 50% of the cardio equipment in most gyms.

We as American consumers are skeptical of most new products on the market because we have been bombarded with so many useless fitness products. The difference here is that many of those products never make it past an infomercial because they don’t have much empirical data that suggests they actually work nor do they get a worldwide following like whole body vibration has.

WBV technology is nothing new and is something that has recently been exposed to you because it is becoming affordable to the public. Think plasma TV’s back in 1995- They existed but were not widely used or purchased by the general consumer like they are today. WBV was passed down from a space program to Olympic athletes, then to your favorite Professional sports teams and now to your gyms and homes.

My credentials:
I own Medvibe, a company dedicated to furthering the research and distribution of whole body vibration. We manufacture products that are a bit different than PowerPlates machines.

It is important to know that all gym/fitness equipment is not the same. Many machines in the gym i.e. free-weights vs. machines often engage the same muscle groups yet do it differently and have different benefits. The same goes with WBV machines. We use a pivotal technology that rocks the vibration platform from side to side rather than Powerplate which uses a tri-plannar technology that vibrates the entire platform uniformly in a vertical motion. Pivotal machines mimic your body’s natural gait which means the vibration is impacted and absorbed by your body’s natural motions thus eliminating the vibrations to your head.

Ok this is getting lengthy—sorry I am passionate about this subject. To answer most of your questions—WBV IS NOT AN ADEQUATE, END ALL MIRACLE SOLUTION TO WEIGHT LOSS AND FITNESS. It does have many benefits ranging from rehabilitation, stretching, massage, and muscle tone. I often tell my customers that FITNESS=DIET+EXERCISE. WBV in this case is only a part of your exercise. I think marketers have taken things a bit far by over exaggerating the benefits from the research that has been done.

For the millions of Americans that don’t get to the gym like we do—this product is effective because its better than performing no exercise at all. Additionally if you are an athlete, its another tool in your toolbox to add some diversity to your workouts via balance training, increase explosive power and an increased production of your natural growth hormones.

If you haven’t tried a WBV machine yet then get on one. Remember they are all not the same—If you get on one that seems like its too intense—it probably is—you may need to check out a few different companies and technologies before you find the machine that is right for you.

If you have any more questions—I would be happy to answer them—just email the Medvibe website www.wholebodyvibration.net and I will gladly respond.