You may remember the old time commercials involving women standing around next to a vibrating machine from which a strap was attached – this strap was placed around the woman’s hips and set to vibrate for a certain amount of time. It was all the rage at one point and was considered an easy and fashionable way to lose weight. Nowdays, one can purchase a more modern version of this vibrating dinosaur, which is more or less just a base onto which a person will stand while holding its handles.
Do vibration plates actually help people lose weight or are they just a scam?
Overview
Vibration plate machines consist of a base plate onto which a person stands. This base will vibrate vertically, while the rider holds onto its handles or handlebar. Although this may not sound like much motion, can vibrate quite vigorously and they are often expensive, with most starting at nearly a thousand dollars a pop. The concept is that while your mass remains constant on the base, you are applying acceleration or force to your mass, which should help you lose weight as your body continually supports itself while your muscles are undergoing constant contractions.
Exercise and Vibration Plate Training
Unlike in the olden days, people undergoing training on vibration plates aren’t just standing holding the handles if they are seeking a good workout. In the bygone era, women were often seen strapped to vibration machines while they read magazines as their belly fat flopped around. This is no longer the case with most people undergoing this form of training (although we’re sure it’s not true for all). In a large number of cases, people are being encouraged to do exercises on these machines which would help them further lose weight (such as squats, lunges, crunches, etc.).
Study on Vibration Training
In a recent study involving a group of obese people (a majority of which were women), researchers decided to look at whether vibration plate training had a positive effect on weight loss by closely following this group of 61 individuals for 6 months. Researchers divided them up into 4 sub groups: those on a diet alone, those on a diet using vibration training, those on a diet using conventional exercise, and a control group that didn’t partake in a diet nor any form of exercise. What they found was that after 6 months the vibration and conventional exercise groups had the best results – with the vibration group doing the best – losing over 11% of their body weight in the first six months and 10.5% after another six months; however, just to be clear, the participants in vibration training were doing exercises on the machines and not just standing there holding the handles.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a machine that will help you lose weight, it seems as if vibration plate training when paired with a good diet and exercise can be a potential benefit to your program. What may set you back though are their price tags. If you can find a gym that offers these types of machines and has a reasonable membership rate, this may be something you might want to check out. Alternatively, I recommend you check these good deals on Amazon.
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