Can You Get In Top Shape With a Vibration Plate Workout?
Even though vibration plate workout is often ignored as a means of good exercise in some gyms, it can be a good amount of diversity to your workout session. The machines send high vibrations through all your muscles at a higher rate than the conventional exercises which makes your workout more effective. The muscle stimulation is more intense than usual which results in 30 to 50 contractions per second.
Are vibration plates good exercise?
The so-called power plates are a training system that can help you increase your weight loss potential significantly by causing your body to burn more than 170 calories in a short period of 5 minutes. Except for high-calorie loss, the fitness system helps your body in a few more ways like
- The vibrations lead to better muscle stimulation and the building up of higher strength and endurance.
- Muscles work a lot harder which results in a higher chance of significant fat loss.
- Training sessions of this type can be used to stimulate all muscle groups or to target a specific area of your body. It helps you burn calories-it has been estimated that you can burn somewhere between 200-500 calories per hour.
- Fat cell shrinking: Recent studies show that dynamic physical exercises of this type mimic the metabolic effects of other intense training types like treadmill workouts. Daily vibration plate workout sessions have proven to shrink fat cells, reduce body weight, and decrease insulin resistance significantly.
- Full body vibration stimulation leads to improvement of your lymph flow which helps your body get rid of all toxins that might cause damage by building up in your tissues or organs.
- Power plate workouts are very effective at decreasing blood pressure to a healthier level and also contribute to heart health. Training of this type makes you happier due to the release of serotonin during the WBV session and decreases the level of cortisol (the infamous stress hormone) to lower levels.
- Blood circulation improves which gives your organism the ability to heal better and faster. This is one of the reasons why a lot of physiotherapists full body vibration plate training.
- Along with stress and blood pressure regulation power plates decrease the amount of chronic lower back pain through the genuine analgetic effect the vibrations have on the body.
- Sitting or just standing or doing exercises on whole body power plates has been proven to be less strenuous on the body. Whole body vibration exercises can provide similar benefits to activities like climbing a hill or cycling.
Does a vibration plate help you lose weight?
Power plate workout has been proven to raise physical metabolism which means that the more you exercise, the stronger your body gets and the more energy it needs. This in its turn causes your body to burn more fat and calories faster.
According to a study, one of the groups that included vibration plate exercises in their workouts proved to have the highest percentage of average weight loss, 11%, for 6 months and maintained 10.5% of weight loss for a year. In comparison, the second test group, who practiced classic physical exercises and diet makes group #1 superior when in regards to the results.
An article published by WebMD confirms that a vibration plate workout helps the human body increase its metabolism, muscle strength, and balance. It reduces bone loss and cellulite. How does cellulite reduction work when it comes to this type of exercise?
The simple answer to this question, without getting into deep scientific explanations, is that power plate vibrations are known to disrupt fat cells which makes them “die early” and they get replaced by new collagen cells and elastin as a result of the exercise. Thus the skin becomes firmer and more elastic, which contributes to the overall, smoother appearance of the body.
Also, specialists advise combining whole body power plate exercises with light cardio or HIIT to help get rid of the fat cells, so they don’t resettle. If you combine these two with the proper diet and calorie restriction you will be able to achieve maximum effect.
Do vibration plates burn belly fat?
Vibrations are known to help fat breakdown, increase metabolism and burn fat, especially combined with other types of workouts. When practiced in a proper manner power plate training may help overweight and obese people trim belly fat and maintain good long-term physical shape. Combining a good diet and vibration plate workout helps with long-term keeping in shape and getting rid of stubborn belly fat.
Types of vibration plate workouts according to your fitness goal
Whole body vibration plate workout can be divided into several groups according to your goal.
Resistance training for building strength
Resistance training exercises help you build muscle strength, sculpt your figure and become more athletic through the use of an external load. Higher resistance helps you build stronger muscles because of the better stimulation they receive. Exercises that engage more muscle groups at once tend to be more effective than those that train a single muscle group.
Body conditioning workouts
The so-called conditioning trains your skeletal muscles and improves your cardiovascular health and general endurance. To increase your general endurance and improve your cardiovascular health, it is advised to combine cardio exercises (dancing, sprints, running) with strength exercises. If you wish to achieve the best results experts recommend practicing 10-20 minutes of power plate workout and an additional 30 minutes of cardio.
Flexibility & mobility
Exercises of this type are known to help with body flexibility, coordination, balance, and mobility. WBV workout machines help you target stiff joints by using a set of exercises to achieve the goal. You can add stretching and mobility exercises to your whole body vibration plate workout session. Some of the more concrete exercise examples you might try while using whole body vibration workout machines are:
Squats
Including squats in your workout is one of the best ways to exercise as they train your legs, glutes, and tendons at the same time. Also, they are one of the easiest ones to practice while using WBV machines. Stand firmly on both of your feet in the center of the platform and perform the squat but make sure to hold on to something so you don’t lose your balance.
Lunges
Lunges are another good exercise to add to your vibration plate workout and are good for strengthening the back, hips, and legs. This type of exercise offers more flexibility as you can perform the luges by stepping backward or forward. If you’re on beginner level training it would be better to perform the exercise facing the vibration machine forward.
Push-Ups
Push-ups significantly strengthen the upper body muscles compared to squats and lunges which target the lower part. For best results, you can start with push-ups on your knees or feet on the ground and hands on the power plate machine. After you gain strength you can try placing your feet on the vibration plate and hands on the ground.
Planks
Planks are another great example of exercises that will help you get in shape. They will help you by strengthening your back, shoulders, chest, neck, and abs. Frequent use of the exercise will help you maintain a good posture as it makes it easier for you to keep your shoulders back and your lower back in a neutral position decreasing the strain on your body and preventing chronic pain.
How long should you exercise on a vibration plate?
Some specialists claim the optimal time for a good vibration plate workout of this type is 10 minutes because of the strong muscle stimulation.
Every 5-minute interval of use burns approximately around 49 calories, which means that using it for double or triple the time would help you multiply the number of calories burned by twice or triple the size. On the other hand, experts say you can use a machine for 20 to 30 minutes a day, daily but no more.
Overuse of this type of physical stimulation may lead to different types of problems. Due to the high number of vibrations using a machine like this for too long might lead to physical problems like hearing loss, lower back pain, cartilage damage, or blurred vision.
References (in order of appearance)
WebMD by Mayo Clinic – Can Vibration Plates Shake off Weight?
