Power Plate

[Justin]

Hey guys so my new gym just received these machines called power plates and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about them! i did some research and apparently their the next 'best' thing. I was wondering to incorporate HIT cardio on it like push ups squats some obliques and whatever else i can manage to think of.

Power plate is: https://ca.powerplate.com/en/

[Big.jazayrli]

sounds to me like a balance ball exercise that is destined, in the long run, to hurt you

stick to stable floors bro

[Justin]

thanks! I was just curious about it. I never heard or seen one b4

[matter2003]

Hey guys so my new gym just received these machines called power plates and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about them! i did some research and apparently their the next 'best' thing. I was wondering to incorporate HIT cardio on it like push ups squats some obliques and whatever else i can manage to think of.

Power plate is: https://ca.powerplate.com/en/

Power Plates work by manipulating the other part of the force equation:

Force=Mass X Acceleration(or for you physics buffs F=ma)

Weight Lifting manipulates the Mass part of the equation, as your body literally believes it must get stronger due to the effect of gravity and the weights on your body. Basically, the body believes gravity has gotten stronger, and it must compensate for it, by getting bigger and stronger to combat it. Without gravity, weight lifting would have ZERO effect.

This type of training is not really new, it was found/created by the Soviets in the 1960's who wanted to figure out a way to keep their cosmonauts in space longer without experiencing the severe muscle atrophying and bone density loss they would suffer from normally due to the lack of gravity. This is what they came up with---what they called "vibrational training". It allowed the Russians to stay in space up to 270 days longer than their American counterparts.

They found out they could effectively achieve the same results, and actually in many cases, better results by using the other part of the equation---acceleration.

Power Plates work by vibrating your muscles many times per minute(25-50 times), which forces them to very slightly tense and contract to hold themselves in place each time it vibrates. This not only can completely exhaust the muscles in a short period of time, but it will reach a MUCH higher percentage of muscle fibers than traditional weight lifting will in many cases(95% of muscle fibers versus 20% of muscle fibers in traditional lifting)

It is not some fad or something "new". It has been researched extensively in over 200 studies and the benefits of such training is clearly demonstrated. It is known more commonly as "vibrational training" or "acceleration training". Part of the reason it has not gained more popularity is because of the high cost of the machines, which run around $10,000 each.

[sovabrat]

My gym recently got one of these machines. I understand the mechanics of it but they are trying to sell it as "the best thing since sliced bread". They only allow you to use it with a personal trainer, forcing you even more to sign up for sessions. I see people doing pushups on it along with variations of squats, nothing real "cutting edge".

[matter2003]

My gym recently got one of these machines. I understand the mechanics of it but they are trying to sell it as "the best thing since sliced bread". They only allow you to use it with a personal trainer, forcing you even more to sign up for sessions. I see people doing pushups on it along with variations of squats, nothing real "cutting edge".

Likely your gym's way of trying to recoup their large investment...in all reality, the chance of injury with those is virtually non-existent. It would be like requiring all types of safety equipment for walking down the street, but none for riding a motorcycle...

[sovabrat]

Yes I totally agree on recouping the investment. Its a large corporate owned chain of gyms. They make the most money off of personal training sessions.