7 Benefits of Sitting on a Vibration Plate

You know that moving your body is good for you, whether you’re doing stretches in the morning or going for a brisk walk. But did you know that even tiny vibrations can have a positive effect on your well-being?

Vibration plates are becoming a staple in many fitness and wellness spaces due to their versatile uses and countless advantages. By sitting on a vibration plate or pairing it with other workouts, you can support your health and wellness journey in a unique way. Below, we break down just a few of the benefits of sitting on a vibration plate as part of your regular routine.

#1 Improved Muscle Strength

The idea that you can simply sit down on a vibration plate to build muscle may sound too good to be true. However, studies show that vibration has a measurable impact on your muscle mass and overall strength. Regularly using a vibration plate can help you enhance your fitness without serious physical exertion. Check out our blog to learn about vibration plate exercises for arms and upper body for more.

How Vibration Plates Stimulate Muscle Contractions

Vibration plates impact your physical development by directly stimulating your muscles. The pulses of vibration force muscles throughout your body to expand and contract, similar to resistance training.¹ In essence, the vibration helps simulate exercise by moving your muscles on a microscopic scale.

Comparing Muscle Strength Gains to Traditional Exercises

Vibration therapy is proven to increase muscle strength and enhance your physical performance when used as a warmup for traditional exercise.¹ But is vibration just as effective as a traditional workout? It really depends on the intensity. 

Experts note that vibration therapy provides similar physical benefits to walking on a treadmill.² While vibration therapy may not be a replacement for a full weightlifting regimen, it can be a great start for anyone who wants to gradually build strength and improve muscle tone. You can also use vibration in tandem with more strenuous workouts to amplify your strength training.

#2 Enhanced Flexibility and Balance

Physical strength is only one measure of health. Being flexible and having good balance can prevent serious injuries and allow you to try more adventurous exercises and daily activities. Luckily, vibration therapy has the potential to improve both flexibility and balance, enhancing multiple aspects of your wellness at once. 

Flexibility Gains from Vibration Therapy

A majority of research surrounding vibration and flexibility indicates that vibration therapy directly improves your flexibility. People undergoing vibration therapy experienced anywhere from a 2.81% to 6.35% boost in their flexibility, with a decrease in joint stiffness, too.³

Balance Improvements and Fall Prevention

Muscle weakness is one of the major contributing factors to poor balance. If you want to reduce your chance of a serious fall, vibration training can help by improving your overall muscle strength.⁴ You’ll be able to move more confidently and feel more surefooted—both in the gym and in everyday life. 

#3 Enhanced Bone Density

Bone density decreases slowly as you age, which increases the risk of breaks and fractures. So, if you are wondering how to improve bone density naturally, vibration therapy is a promising treatment for combating bone density decay, helping you remain active and agile well into your senior years. 

Vibration Therapy and Bone Health

Vibration therapy is thought to support bone health by increasing circulation to the bones and ensuring your body has the nutrients it needs to regenerate essential bone and cartilage structures. Undergoing vibration treatment can also give your endocrine system a boost, allowing you to regenerate bone more effectively. 

Whole body vibration training may also increase your bone health as a natural result of overall muscular development. When you have stronger muscles supporting your skeletal system, you decrease your risk of a serious break, in the event that you do take a tumble.⁵ Learn more about the many whole body vibration benefits in our blog.

Studies Supporting Increased Bone Density

The science, though still emerging, is certainly promising in this area:

• Some studies show that whole body vibration can slow down bone loss and even increase bone density, particularly in post-menopausal women, who are often vulnerable to a major drop in bone strength.⁶
• Other studies have shown that vibration has similar benefits as resistance training when it comes to boosting bone density.⁵

Because vibration therapy is so low-impact, this can be a game changer for anyone who wants to improve bone density without the physical stress of high-intensity exercise. As a result, vibration is a powerful tool for both preventative wellness and treating conditions like osteoporosis. 

#4 Boosted Metabolism

Everyone has their own unique metabolic rate, but different factors can influence the strength of your metabolism. Vibration plate training increases circulation and promotes cellular rejuvenation, which may be your key to a faster metabolism. 

Metabolic Benefits of Vibration Plates

Enhancing your metabolism can help you lose weight, sleep more soundly, have more energy, and build muscle more quickly. Vibration therapy can help activate your metabolism, unlocking all of these benefits and more. Increasing your metabolism with vibration therapy can even improve your overall circulation and nervous system function, so you simply feel better in your day-to-day life. 

Supporting Research on Metabolic Rates

One study found that supplementing your workouts with vibration increases their “metabolic cost”—essentially, you’re getting more bang for your buck for each workout.⁷ The physical exertion of vibration causes your body to use more oxygen, one of the markers of an enhanced metabolism. 

However, the metabolic benefits of vibration don’t stop when your session ends. Another study showed that regular vibration sessions can increase your resting metabolic rate, meaning you can enjoy the effects of vibration therapy even when you’re not using your device or working out at all.⁸

#5 Improved Circulation

Your circulatory system is responsible for delivering oxygen and other critical nutrients throughout your body, making it a cornerstone of your overall health. Sitting on a vibration plate can become your key to better circulation, as it increases the rate of blood flow. 

Vibration Plates and Blood Flow

Because physical activity increases blood flow, it makes sense that the stimulation from vibration therapy would have similar effects. Studies show that vibration boosts blood flow, enhancing your vascular health.⁹

Benefits for Cardiovascular Health

Proper circulation encourages cellular regeneration, promotes organ function, and supports your heart health. As a result, you might feel more energized, experience less muscle cramping, and even mitigate issues like numbness and swelling in your joints, simply by relaxing on your vibration platform.

#6 Pain Relief and Rehabilitation

Chronic and acute pain can be major roadblocks to your overall wellness, but vibration has the power to alleviate several different types of pain. If you’re looking for ways to gain control of your pain, sitting on a vibration plate may be an effective solution. 

Alleviating Chronic Pain with Vibration Therapy

Using a vibration plate machine has been proven to help relieve certain types of chronic pain, such as lower back pain and joint pain.¹⁰ It can even improve your physical functioning and mobility if you have painful conditions like arthritis.¹¹ Although the exact mechanisms behind the pain relief are still unclear, they may relate to the increased circulation you experience during vibration therapy.

Learn more about vibration therapy for arthritis and how to use vibration therapy for back pain in our blog.

Rehabilitation and Injury Recovery

Along with long-term benefits for chronic pain, vibration offers relief for short-term pain from muscle strain, soreness, and injuries. By stimulating your body with vibration, you can encourage your muscles to relax, helping you reduce inflammation throughout your body.  

#7 Convenience and Efficiency

There are many different ways to exercise and move your body, but the most effective workout is one that you enjoy. Vibration therapy is a low-effort way to reap the rewards of an active lifestyle, and it’s easy to incorporate into your routine. Its convenience and accessibility allow you to effortlessly invest in your own wellness, regardless of the limitations of your daily life.

Short Workouts with Significant Benefits

How often should you use a vibration plate, you ask? You can enjoy the health perks of vibration by participating in sessions as short as 15 minutes—or even less, if that’s all you have time for. 

You can enhance the benefits by combining vibration with light exercise, or simply sit back and let your vibration plate do the work while you watch TV, meditate, or listen to an audiobook. By standing or sitting on your home vibration device, you’ll be able to target multiple aspects of your health and fitness at once. 

Ideal for Busy Lifestyles

Because you can benefit from vibration therapy after just a brief session, it’s the perfect wellness boost for people with active, hectic lifestyles. Instead of planning a trip to the gym or an in-depth workout session, you can hop onto your plate whenever you have a few spare moments. 

Why Choose Lifepro Vibration Plates?

Now that you know more about the profound impacts of vibration on your life, you need the right low impact exercise equipment to maximize your results. Lifepro is your destination for reliable, durable wellness equipment that you can use to take charge of your health. 

You can find a wide range of Lifepro vibration plates with different modes and speeds, all adjustable to ensure you achieve your wellness goals. Lifepro plates are designed for your comfort, so you can seamlessly incorporate them into your current routine. Plus, you can rely on Lifepro’s extended warranties to protect your vibration plates long-term. Regardless of the model you choose, using a Lifepro vibration plate is a foolproof way to improve your health outcomes.

 

Sources:

1. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity. Effects of vibration therapy on muscle mass, muscle strength and physical function in older adults with sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. https://eurapa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s11556-020-00247-5 
2. Augusta University JagWire. Whole body vibration has same health benefits as walking. https://jagwire.augusta.edu/whole-body-vibration-has-same-health-benefits-as-walking/
3. National Library of Medicine. Effects of Whole-Body Vibration on Flexibility and Stiffness: A Literature Review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6533098/
4. Frontiers. Beyond physiology: Acute effects of side-alternating whole-body vibration on well-being, flexibility, balance, and cognition using a light and portable platform A randomized controlled trial.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1090119/full
5. National Library of Medicine. Whole-Body Vibration Therapy as a Modality for Treatment of Senile and Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: A Review Article. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9925023/
6. American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. Effect of Low-Intensity Vibration on Bone Strength, Microstructure, and Adiposity in Pre-Osteoporotic Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized PlaceboControlled Trial. https://www.csr-mgh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Vibration_jbmr.4229.pdf
7. National Library of Medicine. Metabolic effect of bodyweight whole-body vibration in a 20-min exercise session: A crossover study using verified vibration stimulus. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5792008/
8. News Medical Life Sciences. Shaking things up: Whole-body vibrations rev up metabolism in young men. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231015/Shaking-things-up-Whole-body-vibrations-rev-up-metabolism-in-young-men.aspx
9. National Library of Medicine. Whole-Body Vibration and Blood Flow and Muscle Oxygenation: A Meta-Analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4560014/
10. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery. Vibration therapy to improve pain and function in patients with chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. https://josr-online.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13018-023-04217-2
11. National Library of Medicine. Effects of Whole-Body Vibration Therapy on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35174868/

Author

Joel Gottehrer

Joel Gottehrer is the Co-Founder of Lifepro Fitness and has dedicated his life to 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.