Vibration Exercise Machine For Weight Loss

In a world in which cookie diets and "ancient" remedies claim to help you lose weight quickly with little effort, the wise person laughs off such hype. Weight loss products that sound too good to be true, most likely are. However, vibration exercise machines may be more effective for weight loss than they initially seem.

Claims

Marketers of whole body vibration products such as the Power Plate claim that training on their machine for as little as 10 minutes a day can offer you similar health benefits to those you'd get from doing "traditional" exercise an hour per day. In addition to weight loss, potential benefits of using a whole body vibration machine may include improved balance, greater bone density and better overall health.

Research

Vibration machines may actually be effective in helping overweight and obese people lose belly fat and keep weight off in the long-term if used properly, according to research published in a 2010 issue of "Obesity Facts" journal. Participants in a study at University College of Antwerp were split up into four groups: a group that didn't do anything, a group that dieted, a group that dieted and did various traditional exercises and a group that used whole body vibration training and diet. The three groups that used any sort of intervention lost weight, but only the groups that used whole body vibration or aerobic exercise maintained long-term weight loss of 5 to 10 percent. Additionally, researchers speculated that a whole body vibration group might eventually lose more visceral adipose tissue than a traditional exercise group.

How it Works

If you stood on the whole body vibration machine in the recommended beginner bent-knee position, the continual vibration of the moving plates would cause your muscles to relax and tense in order to maintain your body balance, according to a 2006 article in "TIME" magazine. Simply standing in that position would engage your muscles, but the vibrations would cause you to contract and relax them more frequently and thus lead to a higher calorie burn rate.

Considerations

A whole body vibration machine may help you burn a greater amount of calories than simply standing in a basic bent-knee position. It wouldn't, however, be as effective for weight loss as self-initiated and self-maintained exercises such as swimming, contends MayoClinic.com. You will get more benefit out of a vibration exercise machine if you perform a range of exercises with it. Participants in the University College at Antwerp study likely lost a notable amount of weight because they performed therapist-supervised exercises such as lunges, squats and calf raises while on the machines.