Do Vibration Plates work? (Benefits – 2024)

If you’re one of those who are sceptical about using a vibration plate, wondering “do vibration plates work?” we’re here to tell you that yes, they do! We’ll also answer your next question - “how do vibrations plates work?” and then explain the vibration plate benefits that will make you wish you’d read this sooner. 

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What is a Vibration Plate and Do Vibration Plates Work?

You’ve almost definitely seen or at least heard of a vibration plate, often known as a ‘Power Plate’ but if you’re like most people, you’ve probably never used one. There are neglected vibration plates in pretty much every gym and we just do not understand why!

A vibration plate or ‘Power Plate’ is an exercise machine that sends high-speed vibrations through all of the muscles in your body. Vibration plates work by stimulating your muscles at a much higher rate than usual. Normally, your muscles contract and relax once or twice a second, but the multi-directional vibrations of a vibration plate transmit energy to your body which stimulates your muscles. This stimulation forces your muscles to contract and relax between 30 and 50 times a second. 

Vibration plates were originally designed by Russian cosmonauts in the 1960s to prevent them from losing their muscle mass whilst in the weightlessness of space. The effects of zero gravity mean that before the development of vibration training, cosmonauts had to do weight-bearing exercises for up to 8 hours a day to maintain their muscle mass. Using a vibration plate cut this time in half.

Today, vibration plates are accessible in the vast majority of gyms and you can even get one for your home for a pretty reasonable price. A vibration plate can be used as part of a warm-up, to intensify your usual workout or to aid your post-workout recovery. Better yet, the vibration plate benefits are just as varied as the machine’s uses.

Now we’ve answered ‘do vibration plates work’, keep reading for the evidence – the vibration plate benefits that you’re missing out on!

16 Vibration Plate Benefits

So, you’re wondering ‘do vibration plates work?’. At first, we were unconvinced of the benefits of vibration plates too. After all, no matter how much we all want one, there is no short cut to improving your health and fitness long term. Like most people, we thought the vibration plate was an easy way of losing weight and toning up with minimal time and effort – that’s not exactly true, but the benefits of vibration plate exercises are still worth it. Combined with a healthy diet and regular cardio, using a vibration plate will have you well on your way to achieving your fitness goals!

 #1 Benefits of Vibration Plate: Saves Time

We’ve all used not having enough time as an excuse for skipping a workout, but that excuse just won’t cut it once you’ve finished reading these vibration plate benefits.

Because a vibration plate forces your muscles to contract and relax so much more than usual, your body has to work harder to keep your position. This means that vibration plate exercises can cut down your workout time. Regular users of the vibration plate claim that they can cut what would be a strenuous hour-long workout down to just 15 minutes on a vibration plate.

Vibration training intensifies the effort you need to put into your workout and makes your muscles work harder. This means that you won’t be able to hold a position on a vibration plate for as long as you would on the gym floor, but because your muscles are contracting so frequently, you’ll reach your goals faster.

 #2 Vibration Plate Exercises Are Low Impact 

Another benefit of vibration plates is that they are low impact. Because vibration plates are a low impact form exercise, they are suitable for various ages and fitness abilities (there’s mixed opinion on age restrictions, so we don’t recommend that under 18s use them).

Low impact exercises are easy on the joints as they don’t put a lot of weight on your knees, hips or ankles. This means that low impact exercise on a vibration plate benefits those who are elderly or unfit and starting to get into fitness or those who are recovering from an injury (keep reading and we'll talk more about how a vibration plate benefits rehabilitation time).

Low impact exercise on a vibration plate is a great way of slowly building your overall strength and endurance with minimal risk of injury. If you’re new to exercising or elderly, vibration plates are a great substitute for high impact activities like running or weight training.

#3 You Can Tailor Your Workout to Suit You

Another benefit of vibration plate is that it’s easy to adjust the settings to suit your fitness level. Vibration plate settings differ between brands, so to find the right setting for you, ask an instructor for advice or check out the manual before you begin.

In terms of how to use a vibration plate, there are tons of different positions and vibration plate exercises to suit different fitness levels. If you’re new to the gym, start by standing on a vibration plate with your legs bent for 10 minutes 3-5 times a week. As your strength and balance increase, work your up to more difficult positions and exercises like this one. If you feel more confident, try some of these vibration plate exercises from JTX Fitness.

#4 Vibration Plate Weight Loss Benefits

One of the most popular vibration plate benefits is its ability to aid weight loss. As little as 10 minutes a day on a vibration plate can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

As using a vibration plate turns up the intensity of your normal workout, it boosts your metabolism so you’ll burn fat at a higher rate.

Using a vibration plate strengthens your muscle fibres which increases the amount of energy you use during your workout. When you burn more energy than you consume, you start to burn fat from stored fat reserves. So, combined with a healthy diet, the increased energy expenditure from using a vibration plate will lead to a calorie deficit and result in weight loss!

But as we said, there are no shortcuts to achieving noticeable, long term results. The more you put in, the more you get out! Once you get comfortable on vibration plates, start switching it up with different positions like a squat or a lunge.

#5 Vibration Plate Benefits for Toning Muscles

One of the most common questions about vibration plates is “do vibration plates work for toning muscle?” -  good news, the answer is yes they do!

If you repeatedly put pressure on your muscles by holding certain positions on vibration plates, your muscles will become more toned and appear more defined. Even just standing on a vibration plate with your knees slightly bent is an efficient way of toning the muscles in your legs and your core.

To get more specific and noticeable vibration plate benefits for toning, you can hold different positions depending on the areas you want to target. If you want to tone up the muscles in your lower body, do squats or lunges. You can hold these positions or do the full movement, depending on your strength and balance. For the muscles in your upper body, you can do push-ups or crunches. Basically, any exercises you would do on the gym floor can be kicked up a notch on a vibration plate!

#6 Build Your Overall Muscle Strength

There are also vibration plate benefits for those who want to strengthen and build muscle. Vibration plates are a great alternative to high impact muscle-strengthening exercises like weight training. So, you can work on your overall strength without putting stress on your body.

Even though vibration plates are low impact, they are still effective in strengthening and building muscle - we know you’re questioning how this works, so we’ll explain.

Because Force (in this case strength) = mass x acceleration, the more weight you lift during training (mass), the more strength you will build. The vibration plate increases the acceleration part of the equation. By increasing the rate at which your muscles contract (acceleration), the vibrations increase strength without the need for increased mass. 

So, by stimulating your muscles to contract at an accelerated speed, vibration plates make your muscles work harder. This is why even simple movements like lunges or squats on a vibration plate benefits your muscle strength.

 #7 Benefits of Vibration Plate: Full-Body Workout

The sheer amount of vibration plate exercises and positions out there means that you can work on all of your main muscle groups with this one machine. Depending on the exercise or positions you choose, vibration plates can provide a full-body workout, with some exercises using up to 90% of your muscles at the same time! 

Check out this vibration plate exercise routine for a full-body workout.

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#8 Vibration Plate Benefits for Core Strength and Stability

As well as building your overall muscle strength, vibration plates can be a particularly intense core workout.

As you would when working out on the gym floor, you can target your core on a vibration plate by getting into positions such as a plank. The vibration plate benefits your core strength and stability significantly because the muscles have to work much harder than usual to maintain your balance and stability. The development of a strong and stable core has further benefits for reducing lower back pain and improved posture too! 

This doesn’t mean that the vibration plate is a fast track to defined abs, although it will help! The muscles relax and contract at a much higher rate on vibration plates, so expect to feel tired and don’t be discouraged if you can’t hold your plank for as long as usual.

#9 Vibration Plate Benefits for Flexibility

There are benefits of a vibration plate for your flexibility too. You can use a vibration plate for stretching, even simple yoga poses will increase your flexibility and range of motion. Having a good range of motion has further benefits for mobility, recovery, and reduced injury risk.

See this article from VibePlate for some inspiration for yoga vibration plate exercises.

#10 You Can Take One Home With You! 

If you aren’t a fan of exercising in a crowded gym, or you just like to workout at home for the convenience, you don’t have to miss out on the vibration plate benefits. There are tons of affordable vibration plates available on Amazon, so you can get all of the benefits of a vibration plate from in front of your TV.

Because vibration plates are fairly small in comparison to most exercise machines, you don’t need a full home gym to have your own. Better yet, because the vibration plate benefits are so broad, you can save money on your gym membership. A vibration plate, a healthy diet, and regular cardio will have you well on your to achieving your fitness goals without stepping foot in the gym!

#11 Benefits of Vibration Plate for Circulation

A vibration plate benefits your health in general, beyond just your physical fitness. Regularly using a vibration plate for massage results in a significant increase in blood circulation in the arms and legs, according to research from Loma Linda University (USA). The vibration plate benefits for improved circulation can help to heal injured muscles, improve your oxygen supply and get rid of waste products like lactic acid.

Check out the Loma Linda University article here for more detail on the findings of the study and information on how you can use a Power Plate for its massage benefits. 

#12 Benefits of Vibration Plates: Recovery From Injury

As mentioned, vibration plates are low impact. This means that they’re ideal for easing your way back into exercise post-injury. Better yet, because you can get a vibration plate for your home, it’s the perfect machine to use little and often to start to rebuild your strength.

So how do vibration plates work for injury rehabilitation? 

Because of the benefits of using a vibration plate for flexibility and muscle strength, vibration plates benefit those who are recovering from an injury. Improved flexibility and range of motion will reduce any stiffness around the affected muscles and joints. Exercising on a vibration plate is a safe and easy solution to reducing recovery time which is usually prolonged by associated long periods of immobility.

#13 Benefits of Vibration Plate for Balance

Because of the vibration plate benefits for core strengthening, regular use of vibration plates increases postural stability which will improve your balance too. This improved balance will mean you can take on more difficult vibration plate settings and exercises. Having good balance will also benefit your well-being fitness abilities in general, thanks to the various advantages of good balance like improved co-ordination.

#14 Vibration Plate Benefits for Recovery

The vibration plate benefits for recovery make this machine ideal for your post-workout cooldown. Thanks to the massage benefits we’ve just discussed, vibration plates can help you to recover quicker from your workout. Using a vibration plate for your cooldown reduces the build-up of lactic acid in your muscles, so it will ease your post-workout muscle ache!

#15 Benefits of Vibration Plates: Reduce Cellulite

Sick of your cellulite? Vibration training can help that too!

Thanks to the vibration plate benefits for blood circulation, weight and fat loss, and muscle toning, vibration plates can help to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Combined with a healthy diet and regular cardio, vibration plates will get you on your way to body confidence.

#16 Vibration Plate Benefits: Exercise as Part of a Group

Some people love working out alone, some people hate it. Regardless of whether you prefer to stick your headphones in and get in the zone when working out, or you prefer more of a social setting, you can get all of the vibration plate benefits without edging (too far) out of your comfort zone!

Most gyms have a few vibration plate machines, and because many people aren’t really aware of their benefits, they’re usually all free! So you can head down to the gym with your friends and get some group motivation going.

If you prefer a bit more structure in your workout, there are gyms and fitness studios with Power Plate classes! A typical Power Plate class is 30 mins long and led by a fitness instructor who will guide you through the best vibration plate exercises to get the most out of your workout.

To recap, here is a full list of the vibration plate benefits:

1. Benefits of Vibration Plate: Saves Time

2. Vibration Plate Exercises Are Low Impact 

3. You Can Tailor Your Workout to Suit You

4. Vibration Plate Weight Loss Benefits

5. Vibration Plate Benefits for Toning Muscles

6. Build Your Overall Muscle Strength

7. Benefits of Vibration Plate: Full-Body Workout

8. Vibration Plate Benefits for Core Strength and Stability

9. Vibration Plate Benefits for Flexibility

10. You Can Take One Home With You! 

11. Benefits of Vibration Plate for Circulation

12. Benefits of Vibration Plates: Recovery From Injury

13. Benefits of Vibration Plate for Balance

14. Vibration Plate Benefits for Recovery

15. Benefits of Vibration Plates: Reduce Cellulite

16. Vibration Plate Benefits: Exercise as Part of a Group

‘Wait, so do vibration plates work on their own?!’ we hear you say…

Not exactly, whilst the vibration plate benefits are varied, you’ll need a balanced diet and regular cardio to really see the benefits. But trust us, it will all be worth it!

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