Although there is still a lot of emerging research on the benefits of whole-body vibration plates, scientists and neurologists alike have found that using vibration plates may benefit the human body and brain in surprising ways!
What is a vibration plate? It’s a machine that you stand or sit on with a vibrating platform. As the machine vibrates, it transmits energy to your body, forcing your muscles to contract and relax dozens of times each second. Whole-body vibration plates are used in sports therapy, athletic training, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation. According to experts, whole-body vibration therapy makes you feel like you have just exerted yourself, improves circulation, enhances lymph flow, and aids muscle recovery. Oh, and it feels more like a message or stretching than a workout!
How does it work? According to Darnell Cox, a Healthy Aging Coach, and Gerontologist, “Through vibrations, movement is created—this puts our body slightly out of balance as we resist the extra gravitational pull created by the vibrations, requiring us to constantly engage our muscles in order to keep us upright.” Our muscles contract and relax because they are trying to remain balanced, which they do involuntarily, happening several times a second as the plate moves under us.
In addition to exercise and a healthy diet, research shows that using whole-body vibration can help with improved muscle strength, balance, and weight loss. For older adults (especially those who cannot participate in traditional resistance training exercises), whole-body vibration can help with balance, reduce bone loss, and reduce back pain. Although using a vibration plate will never be as effective as exercise (because, let’s face it, nothing is), adding it to your routine can help boost your performance in the gym. In addition, experts agree that using a vibration plate helps reduce soreness and enhance recovery when used before or after a workout! In fact, vibration plates have been used for a long time to help with muscle recovery, which is likely due to the fact that it improves circulation, therefore getting nutrients to your muscles more quickly, thus resulting is less soreness!
Interestingly, there is evolving evidence for a potential value of whole-body vibration in improving cognition and preventing the development of age-related cognitive disorders in humans. Like exercise, it has been found to create physiological changes in humans and improve neuromuscular, respiratory, and cardiovascular functions. Studies suggest that whole-body vibration therapy can potentially enhance a spectrum of cognitive functions in adults. In addition, there is research to suggest that using whole-body vibration can actually help prevent age-related cognitive impairment. Although there is a need for more research in this specific area, the results are promising! Of course, you get these benefits from exercise too, but when you consider that it helps with muscle soreness, it seems silly not to go ahead and give it a try before or after your next workout or on a day that you’re just plum too tired to exercise.
Although there are plenty of benefits to whole-body vibration therapy, please use vibration plates under the supervision of a professional. Some people should not use vibration plates (such as people with pacemakers, who are pregnant, who are recovering from a traumatic injury, such as a muscle tear or sprain, or anyone with advanced cardiac disease, for example). We have a vibration plate here at Fit, and we are excited for you to try it (under our professional supervision, of course)!