Vibration Plate Training

I just bought a vibration plate from a leading german supermarket in the UK for £100/$200.
There is a wealth of research to suggest that they work for building strength and power but I was wondering if anyone here uses one and how? I have seen and heard a lot of people view these things negatively , a lot like a lot of people’s views on EMS.

I did have some success using one in a very perfunctory manner over 5 years ago when i was a little more powerful at a lighter bodyweight. But I would love for this thing to increase my bench press , squat , deadlift etc and help me to lose a little weight.

can you think of a mechanism through which it’d do any of these things?

You are, essentially, talking about being jiggled.

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It is the force it puts, through your bones. It is higher than weightlifting. Granted I am no physician.

I was thinking using this to activate the mucles ( a bit lik depth jumps , bounding etc) and then doing a strength movement.

If I told you sitting on the washing machine would increase your bench press and help you lose weight, would you believe me? I don’t really see a difference.

I could be wrong though. Good luck with the jiggling.

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Over Rate Vibration Trainers

I’ve read the research, both good and bad. I am not convinced they are a good investment.

At a sanctioned strength clinic years ago, a PhD presented her research on them demonstrated that had some value. In quizzing her on them, she stated that to obtain a Vibration Trainer that did what it needed to do, you’d need to spend a minimum of $10,000.

My Job

I work in Commercial Fitness Equipment Sales. We have Vibration Trainers on the floor to sell. The Vibration Trainers are priced from close to $2,000 to $5,000.

There is virtually no demand for them in the commercial market, even amount University Athletic Programs.

A secondary market, that they may have an application is with Physical Therapy. However, there no demand for them with Physical Therapist.

The Take Home Message

If Vibration Trainers really did what they have been promoted to do, you’d find them in Health Club Gym, University Athletic Program and in Physical Therapy Clinics. However, there virtually no demand for them in any setting.

A Strength Coaches Evaluation of Vibration Trainers

His perspective was if Vibration Training was that effective, people who worked with Jack Hammers every day would be some of the strongest and fittest people on the plant." A bit over the top statement but it drives the message home.

Some Value

With that said, I believe they may have some value.

Vibration Trainers do build bone, work fast twitch muscle fiber and increase blood flow. Thus, they may have some value for recovery or therapy.

However, walking and running builds bone density better and increases blood flow to a greater extent.

Fast twitch muscle fiber can be developed with Limit Strength and Explosive Strength Training.

It’s Not…

  1. Going to help you increase your Bench Press, Squat or Deadlift.

  2. It is definitely not going to help you lose any weight. How did you ever come up with that?

It May…

slightly increase your training recovery.

Kenny Croxdale

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Well you disappoint me Kenny. But thank you for the detailed response . It is always a pleasure to read what you write. If it helps with recovery and hopefully alleviates some back pain , it’s all good.

personally not a fan but at my gym I’ve seen guys put on muscle with push ups variations over time( if done actively not isometric) and heard a lot of people say it really" burns " the abs. So give those a try

Thanks I’ll give it a go.

thanks i’ll give it a go

Doubtful

Where did you obtain that information?

It is questionable if it exceeds Weightlifting/The Olympic Lifts, Weight Training and even more so with high impact plyometric movements.

Plyometric movement fall into the category of jumping and running.

It produce enormous amounts of…

Impact Force

Research shows the impact force of walking is 1.5 times your body weight.

Thus, a 200 lb person would encounter 300 lb of force with each foot step.

Running produces impact forces that are 3 - 5 time your body weight.

That means a 200 lb person would encounter 600 to 1000 pound of impact force with each foot fall.

Depth Landings

Russian research from the “Soviet Sport Review” found Depth Landing from a two meter platform produced impact forces that were 20X greater than the athletes body weight. Source: “Strength Training of Jumpers”
Teoriya I Praktika Fizcheskoi Kultury, 10:62-64, 1978
L.I. Dursenev, L.G. Raevsky
Soviet Sports Review/1979/Yessis
14:(2)53-55

The National Strength and Conditioning Association

A research article on Plyometric Training demonstrated that when a 10 lb Medicine was dropped 42 inches, the impact force was close 90 lbs. Source: Plyometric Bench Press Training for More Strength & Power, [Plyometric bench training for 1rm increases | EliteFitness.com Bodybuilding Forums]

Application

This type of application may provide minor assistance.

However, Depth Landing with no rebound, just stick the landing, Depth Jumps and Bounding Movement will elicit a greater training effect.

Kenny Croxdale

Sorry I was mistaken. The loading on the knee and hip is significantly lower than 6 times bw at least according to wiki more like 1.3-1.5 bw.
I wanted some anectodal responses . I don’t pretend to understand all of the wiki entry.

Ines Kutzner, Philipp Damm, Hendrik Schulze, Georg Bergmann: Loading of the Knee and Hip Joint during Whole Body Vibration; European Congress of Biomechanics, Patras, 2013

I tried something similar, lying down throwing and catching a medicine ball followed by 60% bench presses. It didn’t work to well for me.
Bench throws appeared to work though.

So if I go run 40 steps, it’s like I just squatted 800 x 40?

RUNNING IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED!

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there is an examinations of the biomechanics of running vs walking here. It was rebroadcast yesterday. It states that walking can be more injurious than running because we walk for longer than we run. That’s about all I can remember from it . they had a professor on tv discussing it.
Running is not bad for you if performed properly if there are no pre-existing injuries. It (as Kenny Corxdale states ) increases bone density.

You might need to register a bbc account. ( never used to have do this).

NSW went through a phase in the mid-aughts where we bought a couple of the good ones. Our trainer (ATC/CSCS) had us implement them into our pre-hab/mobility/warmup/activation routine (whatever the current buzzword is for doing stuff before lifting/training) - they were supposed to activate the muscles being trained that day.

Results were…negligible? Nothing noticeable, at least nothing that couldn’t be attributed to a (insert buzz word here) that didn’t contain them. Eventually the only people you saw using them were people rehabbing from knee surgeries, fat support dudes and chicks.

They did feel good on the lower back if you laid down on it though.

Save your money (and your time).

Only if you press the washing machine with a load of towels that is off set.

Could be wrong though.

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I sure am glad I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. Feel bad for those who are.

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Thank you for your posts here !

Bench Press Throws

This method allows you to develop Power through the full range of the Bench Press.

This is a excellent movement for increasing Power. It work well in a Smith Machine.

A Traditional Bench Press only works Power though a small range of the movement.

“Another obstacle when training for an explosive bench press (even at lower percentages of 1 RM) is the deceleration of the bar during the lift. “Research has shown as much as 75% of a movement can be devoted to slowing the bar down.” (Flannagan, 2001). Elliot et al. (1989) revealed that during 1-RM bench presses, the bar decelerates for the final 24% of the range of motion. At 81% of 1-RM, the bar deceleration occurs during the final 52% of the range of motion. The accompanying deceleration phases result in significantly decreased motor unit recruitment, velocity of movement, power production and compromises the effectiveness of the exercise.” (Berry et. al., 2001) [Plyometric bench training for 1rm increases | EliteFitness.com Bodybuilding Forums]

Bench Press Throw can be performed with a Free Weight Bar. However, the issue with a Free Weight Bar is the trajectory of the bar in drifting forward or backward.

Kenny Croxdale

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