8 Benefits of Vibration Plates to Shake Up Your Workout

Finding the motivation to exercise sometimes requires, well, a bit of a boost. To start and stay moving, a vibration plate can provide that extra nudge.

The subtle vibrations engage your muscles, improve circulation, and make workouts more efficient—even when you're low on time or energy. Whether you stand on your vibration plate while you do squats or sit on your plate to cool down, vibration plates can add a burst of benefits to your wellness routine.

Benefit 1: Enhances Muscle Strength and Tone

Strengthening and developing muscle tone requires time and consistency. Fortunately, you can aid the process by adding a vibration plate to your muscle toning and strength training sessions.

When stepping onto a vibrating plate, the quick pulses stimulate your nerves and muscles. Your body involuntarily responds to the vibrations by flexing the muscles, a process called the tonic vibration stretch reflex. This reflex moves your body without requiring intense physical exertion, acting as a major asset for low-impact workouts.

Several studies found that supplementing basic exercises with whole-body vibration leads to a greater increase in muscle mass and strength when compared to exercise alone.¹ Specifically, one study identified that vibration training led to sustained muscular improvement over six months, showcasing its potential for enhancing your long-term wellness.

Even using a vibration plate on its own, without the addition of strength training exercises, can help to activate your muscles and strengthen them over time.¹

If your sore muscles are taking longer to recover or you’re looking to engage in a low-impact workout that supports your joints, vibration training could be your key to gaining or sustaining your strength.

Benefit 2: Boosts Blood Circulation and Lymphatic Drainage

When your muscles start moving, your blood starts flowing. Many of the benefits of vibration plates come from your circulatory system. The vibrations can increase your heart rate and circulation, helping the fluids in your body flow freely to deliver nutrients and oxygen to your cells.

From this single physiological response, you may experience²:

• An increase in your body’s healing processes
• An improvement in your heart health
• Healthier body tissue

Improved blood flow also activates your lymphatic system. As a result, lymphatic fluid can help to absorb and drain toxins, infected cells, and other waste products from your circulatory system. Learn more about how to use a vibration plate for lymphatic drainage in our blog.

Although your body can typically handle waste management on its own, it doesn’t hurt to give it a bit of a boost through massage or vibration. These techniques can help to³:

• Relieve swelling
• Improve immune function
• Provide relief for conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, and low arterial function

By directly supporting your circulation to indirectly promote lymphatic drainage, vibration training helps your body conduct one of its most critical functions, allowing you to feel your best after each workout.

Benefit 3: Aids in Weight Loss and Fat Reduction

You’ve heard it before—weight loss is all about monitoring the number of calories in and out. However, people with injuries or limited movement may struggle to move enough throughout the day to sustain long-term weight loss.

So how can you burn more calories without overexerting yourself?

When you step onto a vibration platform, the added muscle movement from your tonic vibration reflex can increase your energy expenditure, helping your body burn more calories to support your weight loss efforts.⁴

While the calorie burn from vibration alone isn’t monumental, every little boost to your workout counts.

One study found that people who use vibration to supplement other health habits often lose weight faster than people who rely on diet and exercise alone.⁵ Not only that, but they were better at keeping the weight off long-term for a healthy and sustainable weight loss solution. Learn more about how to use a vibration plate to lose weight in our blog.

Benefit 4: Reduces Stress and Promotes Relaxation

Vibration training can also positively affect your mood, helping to ease stress and worry throughout the day.

Unresolved stress doesn’t just feel bad; it can also come with a bevy of negative health consequences. When you undergo consistent stress for an extended period of time, you can increase your risk for a wide variety of afflictions, like⁶:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Stroke
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Sleep issues

Stress can even dampen your immune system, exasperate mental health challenges, and make you more susceptible to unhealthy behaviors. Vibration training is a simple way to decrease stress, helping you maintain your mental and physical well-being.

What’s more, it may be even more effective than exercise at dispelling stress. One study found that vibration training had the potential to reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress at greater rates than basic exercise.⁷

Generally, vibration sessions may be fantastic tools when you want to relax your mind and body. When using a vibration plate,

In addition to the science-backed benefits of reducing stress, vibration sessions can be incredibly relaxing. You might feel a surge of endorphins from your workout or simply enjoy the soothing, massage-like effect of the vibrations as they help your muscles unwind. Whether it’s the physical release or the mental break, incorporating these sessions into your routine can leave you feeling refreshed and recharged.

Benefit 5: Improves Thinking Skills and Cognitive Function

You may already know that traditional exercise is great for your brain. Regular workouts help you sleep better and eliminate stress, which compounds to produce several cognitive benefits, including⁸:

• Improved memory
• Enhanced cognitive function
• Increased brain matter volume

Because vibration therapy elicits similar physiological responses to exercise, it’s no surprise that it also has cognitive benefits. Research on mice uncovered that vibrations altered the cellular structures of their brains, boosting their cognitive abilities on a biological level.⁹

Although similar research has yet to be conducted on humans, studies have confirmed that vibrations can increase brain activation on EEG tests, which document the brain’s physiological response to vibration.

Thus, everyday use of a vibration machine can improve your mental abilities across several different metrics, including:

• Memory
• Concentration
• Language skills
• Reaction time
• Focus

Researchers also determined that vibration had potential positive mental outcomes for people with senile dementia and ADHD. Whether you’re exploring preventative measures for cognitive decline, or just want to sharpen your mind, vibration plates may be a valuable tool.

Benefit 6: Enhances Flexibility and Range of Motion

Working out isn’t just about losing weight or getting stronger, even if those are your primary goals. Exercising can also improve your balance and range of motion, helping you stay fit and agile.

That said, flexibility is one of the most important aspects of functional fitness, and vibration sessions are a great way to keep you limber.

A review of various studies showed that vibration led to better scores on several tests for flexibility and range of motion, including reach distances, trunk flexion, and knee extension tests.¹⁰ Participants in these studies regularly showed a greater tolerance for various stretches, showcasing how vibration exercise can help you achieve different wellness goals.

Benefit 7: Supports Bone Health and Density

Improved bone health is one of the most heavily documented benefits of vibration workouts. Not only can whole-body vibration training help slow down the natural bone loss that occurs as we age, but it can also help you reverse bone loss entirely.¹¹

If you already have fragile bones or a bone disorder like osteoporosis, traditional workouts can tax your body. Vibration training can help avoid overexerting yourself to the point of a serious injury like a break or stress fracture. This type of training is extremely low-impact, enabling people of all abilities and activity levels to be proactive about their bone health. Learn more about vibration therapy for osteoporosis in our blog.

Benefit 8: Enhances Muscle Recovery

Remember how vibration training improves your circulation? That boost has extra benefits when it comes to your muscular recovery, too.

Improved circulation can speed up your body’s healing processes, returning you to full capacity more quickly after a heavy workout or even an injury.²

Studies found that using a vibration plate after a workout can decrease muscle soreness for up to 72 hours after a heavy workout.¹² During these studies, scientists also measured subjects for the presence of creatine kinase, an enzyme that responds to tissue damage. Up to 48 hours after working out, the group that engaged in vibration training showed significantly lower creatine kinase levels, indicating a higher rate of muscular recovery and healing.

With your muscles recovering faster, heavy workouts can be less of a disruption during busy days, and you won’t have to worry about being stuck on the couch due to soreness. If you want an extra recovery day in between workouts, working in a vibration session can maximize the impact of any breaks in your regular exercise routine.

Why Lifepro’s Vibration Plates Are the Right Choice

With so many vibration plate benefits targeting different areas of the body and mind, starting a vibration regimen is a no-brainer. By supporting your cognitive health, circulation, muscle development, and beyond, vibration is an easy way to elevate your holistic wellness.

Benefiting from your vibration routine starts with investing in the right device. When you shop at Lifepro for your next vibration plate, you’ll find high-quality, trustworthy devices that are built to last. Equipped with plenty of vibration settings and impressive warranty coverage, Lifepro vibration plates will get you on the path to a healthier, better you.

Shake it up with Lifepro.

Sources:

1. National Library of Medicine. Impacts of Whole-Body Vibration on Muscle Strength, Power, and Endurance in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4697776/
2. University of Rochester Medicine. It’s all about blood flow! https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/noyes/migrated-media/PT-Blog-April_1.pdf
3. WebMD. Lymph Drainage Massage: Benefits and Risks. www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-lymph-drainage-massage
4. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Energy Expenditure During Whole Body Vibration Training. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2021/08001/energy_expenditure_during_whole_body_vibration.36
5. Power Plate. Power Plate® Training Shown to Reduce Abdominal Fat in Overweight and Obese Adults. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/1139/2645/files/power-plate-training-can-reduce-abdominal-fat-in-overweight-and-obese-adults.pdf?v=1586158277
6. Mayo Clinic. Stress symptoms: Effects on your body and behavior. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987
7. National Library of Medicine. Effect of Whole-body Vibration on Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Quality of Life in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9396709/
8. Harvard Health Publishing. Exercise can boost your memory and thinking skills. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-can-boost-your-memory-and-thinking-skills
9. National Library of Medicine. Whole body vibration therapy and cognitive functions: a systematic review. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10323263/
10. National Library of Medicine. Effects of Whole-Body Vibration on Flexibility and Stiffness: A Literature Review. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6533098/
11. The Royal Osteoporosis Society. Vibration therapy and osteoporosis. https://theros.org.uk/media/uvsdna2v/vibration-therapy-fact-sheet-august-2017.pdf
12. National LIbrary of Medicine. Does vibration benefit delayed-onset muscle soreness?: a meta-analysis and systematic reviecw. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6384495/

Author

Joel Gottehrer

helping people transform theirs. With over 12 years of experience in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and owner of two personal training studios, Joel has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to helping transform lives. After suffering from physical injuries, Joel and his business partner, Abraham Brach, came together with a common goal to alleviate the pain caused by their injuries.

They continued to find themselves disappointed with the results stemming from various products promising to relieve their pain, and with that – Lifepro Fitness was born. Joel's mission is to have a positive impact on millions of lives with the Lifepro brand. Whether it's finding new and innovative ways to help people recover from injuries or developing products to improve overall wellness, Joel is always looking for ways to push the boundaries. Thanks to his commitment to help people live their lives free of pain, Lifepro has been able to do this for thousands of people since its founding in 2017.