Cutting Edge Fitness client Natalie Conte, front, does crunches while using the Power Plate machine during fitness class, with instructor, Rudy Bunge, center, and Sam Ghanem. The machine has users vibrating to tougher workouts. (Carline Jean, Sun Sentinel / October 15, 2012)
It may feel like exercising with a jackhammer, but fans of a new-age
machine vibrating in South Florida fitness centers and physical therapy offices
say it builds sleeker bodies and heals injuries in a fraction of the time.
Called the Power Plate, its rapid-fire pulsations are said to increase
blood flow and make muscles contract just by standing on it, which delivers an
extra, low-impact intensity to workouts.
Thanks to celebrity endorsements by the likes of the Miami Heat's Dwyane
Wade and Madonna, a machine first introduced to America's fitness scene 10
years ago is today enjoying a resurgence of popularity across South Florida. "There
was a picture in Sports Illustrated of Dwyane Wade working out on a Power
Plate, and now everyone wants to do it," said Jonathan Master, owner of
Vibe Fitness Studio in Wellington, which has four of the machines. "I get so many calls on it," said
Chris Verna, a personal trainer in Boca Raton.
Based on technology reportedly developed in the 1960s to help Russian
cosmonauts restore bone density lost in space, the Power Plate platform delivers
three-dimensional vibrations that stimulate 25 to 50 muscle contractions per
second, making the muscles work harder and energizing circulation. "From
the very first time I got on it, I thought it was absolutely the very best
workout you could get, because it's very quick," said Tara Darlene
Diamante Canhos, owner of the Diamante Day Spa in Fort Lauderdale. "It
works out your whole body in just 20 minutes." More of a beauty spa than a
gym, Diamante's has just one exercise machine: the Power Plate. And, Canhos
said, "people love it." "At first, people want to know what the
hype is all about," said Rudy Bunge, an instructor and personal trainer at
Cutting Edge Fitness in Boca Raton. "But then they get on it and see what it's all about, and they
keep coming back."
Research has shown some improvements in muscle strength and endurance
when using vibrating platforms with certain fitness and strength training
routines, according to numerous studies published in medical journals, and the
device reportedly helps improve symptoms of osteoporosis, fibromyalgia and
other illnesses. But others warn that in excessive doses, high-frequency
vibrations can carry long-term risks for brain damage, low-back pain and
digestive discomfort.
Those who swear by the Power Plate's benefits say there is no reason to
use the machine more than 30 minutes at a time, twice a week. And it's also
been embraced by multiple health-care experts. Of the 40 locations in
Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties listed on the Power Plate's website
as carrying the machines, 12 of them are chiropractic, physical therapy and
other health-care offices.
Darlene Wooldridge, owner of Back to Health therapy clinic in Fort
Lauderdale, said the machine is ideal for older patients who don't have a full
range of motion. Because you get results without putting pressure on the
joints, it helps people rehabilitate an injured knee or foot more quickly. "It's
got so many uses. It doesn't take up a lot of space, and it really works,"
Wooldridge said. "I'm not into getting something because it's a fad. If
I'm going to spend that much money, it better be useful for myself and my
patients." Retailing for $9,500 to $12,950, the machine is an investment,
but one that's paid dividends for gym owners like Anna Delgado, of Cutting Edge
Fitness. "Everybody that gets on the Power Plate, it's an unbelievable
workout, even for an athlete," Delgado said. The cost of a session on the Power Plate ranges by place. At Cutting
Edge Fitness, for example, a private 30-minute session with an instructor are
$49, and small group classes cost $35 each. At Diamante Day Spa, a 20-minute
session without an instructor is $35, and an instructor-guided session with a
Zen Bath is $75.
For Boca Raton mom Alisa Jaffe, 49, the Power Plate has both fitness and health
appeal. She believes using the machine twice a week at Cutting Edge Fitness, in
addition to surgery to remove a parathyroid tumor, helped reverse her
osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis. "I think it's amazing,"
Jaffe said, adding that it also helped with a stubborn foot injury. "I'm
very, very happy with it. I love it."
Chicago Tribune
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