# Power Plates **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580 "2008-03-24T20:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/1 "2008-03-24T20:23:55Z")
My gym has recently bought two power plates. Ignoring the effects on weight/toning/fitness, does anyone know if there are any side effects from using a power plate? After three sessions i’ve had bad indigestion-something i never normally suffer from. Could this be from the power plate? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/2 "2008-03-24T20:44:51Z")
I don’t know. Don’t even know what a power plate is. Here it is: [A New Way to Shake Off the Pounds](http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1531693,00.html) > [@](#): > > Unlike the old-fashioned belt exercisers that just shifted skin around, the Power Plate uses whole-body vibration, or WBV, to contract muscles 30 to 50 times per second. While you stand on the moving plates in the bent-knee position recommended for beginners, the continual vibration causes you to tense and relax your muscles to keep your balance. Even without the vibration, you would involuntarily tense and release just to hold the pose. But the WBV forces you to do so up to 50 times more. That’s quite a workout for so little effort. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/3 "2008-03-24T22:26:42Z")
You can get one of [these](http://www.brookstone.com/store/product.asp?product_code=531707&wid=17&cid=1701&sid=170102&search_type=subcategory&prodtemp=t2) from Brookstone and sit on it. The also carry the [Power Plate](http://www.brookstone.com/store/thumbnail.asp?wid=17&cid=1701&sid=170110) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/4 "2008-03-24T23:05:28Z")
[QUOTE=GaryM] You can get one of [these](http://www.brookstone.com/store/product.asp?product_code=531707&wid=17&cid=1701&sid=170102&search_type=subcategory&prodtemp=t2) from Brookstone and sit on it. The also carry the [Power Plate](http://www.brookstone.com/store/thumbnail.asp?wid=17&cid=1701&sid=170110) [/QUOTE] That iGallop looks like a Sybian that’s gone respectable… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/5 "2008-03-25T00:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] That iGallop looks like a Sybian that’s gone respectable… [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/6 "2008-03-25T05:00:13Z")
[QUOTE=ANeverEndingRose] My gym has recently bought two power plates. Ignoring the effects on weight/toning/fitness, does anyone know if there are any side effects from using a power plate? After three sessions i’ve had bad indigestion-something i never normally suffer from. Could this be from the power plate? [/QUOTE] From reading the copy on sites selling these things, “stimulation of peristalsis,” is a minor selling point. There are even [a few patents](http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2001%2F32124&IA=WO2001%2F32124&DISPLAY=DESC) on vibrators of one type or another that are supposed to cure constipation. So, yes, it probably is causing your indigestion. If you want to incorporate instability in your workout, try using an exercise ball or balance cushion. While there may be some clinical or rehabilitative benefits from using a vibrating plate, it looks pretty gimmicky for regular exercise, which is par for the course in the mainstream fitness business, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/7 "2008-03-25T05:13:00Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] That iGallop looks like a Sybian that’s gone respectable… [/QUOTE] I saw something on a late-night infomercial that was used with a ridiculously suggestive thrusting movement. The women using it hung on to a handlebar and had their feet on another bar; the exercise consisted of pulling the bar to the chest while pushing with the feet. All they needed was a dildo on the “saddle” and it could have passed for one of those convoluted sex machines on a bondage site. No idea what it was called. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/8 "2008-03-25T20:03:10Z")
Thanks, it seems noone knows much about them at the moment. Apparently astronaughts use them in space to stop their muscles deteriorating. Steel, i use an exercise ball most days aswell as running long distances and swimming every day…ive had a play around on the power plate to experience what its like and because they are meant to be good for osteoporosis. Thanks for the advice though. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/9 "2008-03-25T20:05:19Z")
opps thats meant to be sleel not steel! ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-plates/442580/10 "2008-03-26T04:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=ANeverEndingRose] opps thats meant to be sleel not steel! [/QUOTE] Not a problem. Happens a lot with my username.