Vibrogyms / Powerplates etc...Any good ?

[Jamie Taylor]

Ok so theres 2 vibrogyms sat in our health club that pretty much just collect dust. The guy who came originally made big claims about the machines such as..

' You can build more muscle / strength on this than you ever would with free weights ' - I trashed that straight away by asking how as theres no way to increase resistance / overload the muscles. He said yes there is, do it for longer or use a higher hz setting. Balls, what happens when you can use the top setting for long durations ? He just kept ignoring me and talking about other stuff.

' It's really good for burning fat ' - Again I asked how standing on a plate that vibrates is going to burn more calories than say doing a hard run etc.. He said that the muscles contract so many hundred times per minute causing elevated metabolism for hours after ( similar to an intense weights workout ).

Almost all of the upper body stuff is isometric ( 2 straps coming off the side of the machine that you either curl, lat raise, tri extension etc although you can do press ups on it but even on the hard setting its pretty easy. I imagine the isometri stuff could be good for strength gains but can't see how you could build muscle to any certain degree.

The guy reckoned they are gonna be the best thing since sliced bread over the next few years but I'm not buying it. They have a nice massage setting though and are very good for stretching.

Am I wrong ? Has anyone ever used one of these exclusively and had good results ? Tell all ....

[Cha$e]

I've used the powerplates at the JJB health clubs but only ever used them for stretching on and for muscle massage after weight training.

I have heard they can bee good for injury recovery, something to do with the frequency of vibration effecting the injured area and causing tissue growth to form around the stresed area, that may be for bone fractures, shin splints periostatis i think.

Im not too sure about the muscle growth but i do see people using the strap handles and doing the curls, extensions and raises but never really asked myself. I'd like to try it though if there is proof to it working.

[TTDKing]

yeah i use them at jjb after weights sessions especially after squats as they do stop you from being as crippled the next morning. Also when i pulled a hamstring the other month i used it for rehab and it worked well, fucking weird sat on it though, makes u feel like your gonna shit yourself!

[Cheets]

Originally Posted by Jamie Taylor

Ok so theres 2 vibrogyms sat in our health club that pretty much just collect dust. The guy who came originally made big claims about the machines such as..

' You can build more muscle / strength on this than you ever would with free weights ' - I trashed that straight away by asking how as theres no way to increase resistance / overload the muscles. He said yes there is, do it for longer or use a higher hz setting. Balls, what happens when you can use the top setting for long durations ? He just kept ignoring me and talking about other stuff.

' It's really good for burning fat ' - Again I asked how standing on a plate that vibrates is going to burn more calories than say doing a hard run etc.. He said that the muscles contract so many hundred times per minute causing elevated metabolism for hours after ( similar to an intense weights workout ).

Almost all of the upper body stuff is isometric ( 2 straps coming off the side of the machine that you either curl, lat raise, tri extension etc although you can do press ups on it but even on the hard setting its pretty easy. I imagine the isometri stuff could be good for strength gains but can't see how you could build muscle to any certain degree.

The guy reckoned they are gonna be the best thing since sliced bread over the next few years but I'm not buying it. They have a nice massage setting though and are very good for stretching.

Am I wrong ? Has anyone ever used one of these exclusively and had good results ? Tell all ....

There's lots of research being on these things at the moment - mainy short-term power stuff - and the jurys still out on all the training stuff so no solid programs have been developed. The burning fat thing is utter nonesense

Best general utilisation is for massage - really good imo and it has potential for rehab.

[Jamie Taylor]

Originally Posted by Cheets

There's lots of research being on these things at the moment - mainy short-term power stuff - and the jurys still out on all the training stuff so no solid programs have been developed. The burning fat thing is utter nonesense

Best general utilisation is for massage - really good imo and it has potential for rehab.

My thoughts exactly.

The massage setting is great especially for quads and hams but yeah when you're on it it makes you feel like your anus is expanding and ready to drop any second. Bizarre.