# Vibrating exercise belt machines **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543 "2015-02-13T05:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/1 "2015-02-13T05:30:52Z")
I saw a TV commercial today that featured one of these. For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, it’s one of these [machines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96LkiRQDk38). You stood on a platform, put a belt around your middle, and then the machine shook you. It was supposed to be a form of exercise. Obviously, this thing was bullshit. Being shook by a machine was not going to help you lose weight or build up your muscles. But was this 100% nonsense or is there any benefit to be gained from shaking on a machine? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/2 "2015-02-13T05:52:12Z")
I don’t have an answer. I just came to say that [this Betty Boop cartoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyaWjS0l3tw#t=77) is the only reason I know about these machines. I must have seen it a hundred times as a kid (but the machine makes no more sense to me now than it did then). I guess they were popular around 80 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/3 "2015-02-13T13:29:55Z")
I’m sure it was a pleasant massage. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/4 "2015-02-13T13:37:58Z")
From what I have been reading about [power plates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Plate), these machines basically do work. The question remains, though, if some of the claims are exaggerated. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/5 "2015-02-13T14:19:14Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > From what I have been reading about [power plates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Plate), these machines basically do work. The question remains, though, if some of the claims are exaggerated. The linked article points out that it’s the product’s maker who is disseminating the information about the product’s effectiveness. So a little grain of salt is applicable. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/6 "2015-02-13T14:32:10Z")
Someone in my mother’s family owned of those when I was a kid. (I haven’t been a kid for a long time.) My mother borrowed it for maybe a week or two. My recollection is that they were supposed to take inches off a woman’s hips. I thought it was kind of silly then and still do. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/7 "2015-02-13T14:52:04Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > From what I have been reading about [power plates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Plate), these machines basically do work. The question remains, though, if some of the claims are exaggerated. I saw nothing in your cite that showed the vibrating plates had any effect that standard calisthenics did not have. And the conclusion of the only scientific cite in the Wiki article said - > [@](#): > > The supplementary benefit of WBV on muscle performance compared to classic exercise remains to be explored further. As for the vibrating belt machines, it has essentially no effect besides possible skin irritation. The idea was that the vibration would break up the subcutaneous fat, which doesn’t happen and would be painful and dangerous if it did. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/8 "2015-02-13T15:08:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I saw nothing in your cite that showed the vibrating plates had any effect that standard calisthenics did not have. And the conclusion of the only scientific cite in the Wiki article said - > As for the vibrating belt machines, it has essentially no effect besides possible skin irritation. The idea was that the vibration would break up the subcutaneous fat, which doesn’t happen and would be painful and dangerous if it did. > > Regards, > Shodan All I was trying to say is that power plates don’t seem to be outright bogus (unlike these belt machines). ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/9 "2015-02-13T15:42:54Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > All I was trying to say is that power plates don’t seem to be outright bogus (unlike these belt machines). No, they are bogus. They are the newest instantiation of the vibrating belt machines. Why do you think the belt machine is bogus, but not the plate machine? They do the same thing! Vibrating your body is not exercise, at best it is a massage. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/10 "2015-02-13T15:48:08Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I don’t have an answer. I just came to say that [this Betty Boop cartoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyaWjS0l3tw#t=77) is the only reason I know about these machines. I must have seen it a hundred times as a kid (but the machine makes no more sense to me now than it did then). I guess they were popular around 80 years ago? I saw these things on TV and some very old movies. Hard to imagine anyone thought they were a form of exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/11 "2015-02-13T15:56:25Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > No, they are bogus. They are the newest instantiation of the vibrating belt machines. Why do you think the belt machine is bogus, but not the plate machine? They do the same thing! Vibrating your body is not exercise, at best it is a massage. There are plenty of studies to be found on PubMed ( [vibration training - Search Results - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=vibration+training) ) and I have read other articles over the years discussing the merits of this type of exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/12 "2015-02-13T16:04:57Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > There are plenty of studies to be found on PubMed ( [vibration training - Search Results - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=vibration+training) ) and I have read other articles over the years discussing the merits of this type of exercise. Number 3 of your results: “Analysis of the Seismic Performance of Isolated Buildings according to Life-Cycle Cost”? ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/13 "2015-02-13T16:10:19Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Number 3 of your results: > “Analysis of the Seismic Performance of Isolated Buildings according to Life-Cycle Cost”? _Sigh_ Yes. Try this one: > **["vibration training" - Search Results - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22vibration%2Btraining%22)** > > "vibration training" - Search Results - PubMed ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/14 "2015-02-13T16:44:46Z")
I remember usng those at a health club in the 70s. I think the rationale was breaking up fat and losing inches, as Shodan said, not exercise in that I would build muscle or something like that. I’m afraid it didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/15 "2015-02-13T16:57:10Z")
Just glancing at the front page for the Power Plate website and the article headlines on the pubmed site, I get the feeling you’re supposed to be working out on the power plate thing. Working out on a vibrating platform is going to force your body to keep itself stable and keep all your other muscles active during your entire workout. That has nothing to do with the machine in the OP. In that machine, you don’t even have to keep balance since you’re leaning into it. I can understand the idea of doing some kind of light workout on a Power Plate and getting some extra benefit out of it, but I would doubt that you’d get any benefit from just putting a chair on the platform and sitting there for a half hour. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/16 "2015-02-13T16:58:58Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > There are plenty of studies to be found on PubMed ( [vibration training - Search Results - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=vibration+training) ) and I have read other articles over the years discussing the merits of this type of exercise. Further solidifying my opinion that from “exercise scientists” all the way down to the layman, the fitness industry is 99.99% garbage. Seriously, what possible mechanism is there for vibration to burn calories or to build either strength or cardiovascular capacity? Does a massage chair work? Can I just take a drive on a gravel road to lose weight and get strong? There is no passive way to fitness. None. These plates are a scam, as are the “studies” which support them. Anyone can publish a paper. That doesn’t make it science, though, even if it’s on Pubmed. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/17 "2015-02-13T17:05:00Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > There is no passive way to fitness. None. These plates are a scam, as are the “studies” which support them. Anyone can publish a paper. That doesn’t make it science, though, even if it’s on Pubmed. I’m assuming then that you are not a big fan of [Electrical muscle stimulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_muscle_stimulation) either? ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/18 "2015-02-13T17:11:44Z")
> **[The effects of a whole-body vibration program on muscle performance and...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17117001/)** > > Whole-body vibration is a suitable training method to improve knee extension maximal strength, counter-movement jump, and flexibility in a young female athlete if it is properly designed. Not only do the optimal frequency, amplitude, and g-forces... > [@](#): > > This **randomized controlled study** was designed to investigate the short-term effects of an 8-wk whole-body vibration protocol on muscle performance and flexibility in female competitive athletes. > DESIGN: > Twenty-six young volunteer female athletes (ages 21-27 yrs) were randomized to either the vibration group or control group. The vibration intervention consisted of an 8-wk whole-body vibration 3 times a week employed by standing on a vertical vibration platform. As outcome measures, three performance tests (counter-movement jump, extension strength of lower extremities with an isokinetic horizontal leg press, and a sit-and-reach test for flexibility) were performed initially and after 8 wks. > RESULTS: > A total of 24 athletes completed the study properly. **In the vibration group (n = 13) whole-body vibration induced significant improvement of bilateral knee extensor strength (P \< 0.001), counter-movements jump (P \< 0.001), and flexibility (P \< 0.001) after 8 wks of training. No significant changes were found for all the outcome measures for the control group (n = 11).** > CONCLUSIONS: > Whole-body vibration is a suitable training method to improve knee extension maximal strength, counter-movement jump, and flexibility in a young female athlete if it is properly designed. Not only do the optimal frequency, amplitude, and g-forces need to be identified but also the level of muscle activation that would benefit more from vibration stimulation. The improvement of flexibility is important not only for performance but also for the prevention of muscle-tendon injury. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/19 "2015-02-13T17:14:19Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > I’m assuming then that you are not a big fan of [Electrical muscle stimulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_muscle_stimulation) either? What do you think a TENS machine can do? One of the [links](http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2002/05/ftc-charges-three-top-selling-electronic-abdominal-exercise-belts) on that page claims it can do very little of what those commercials claims it says. You’re not going to look like Terry Crews because you did some electrotherapy. You’re all so not going to win Biggest Loser. What you might do is speed along your physical therapy because it’ll help loosen some tight muscles or help you supplement your workout routine be keeping down your pain. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543/20 "2015-02-13T17:30:25Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > [The effects of a whole-body vibration program on muscle performance and flexibility in female athletes - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17117001) > **[Significant](https://xkcd.com/882/)** > > 'So, uh, we did the green study again and got no link. It was probably a--' 'RESEARCH CONFLICTED ON GREEN JELLY BEAN/ACNE LINK; MORE STUDY RECOMMENDED!' A single study isn’t meaningful in science. You need to see it replicated by others, who aren’t funded by the manufacturer. That said, it’s likely that the machine does count as exercise from a very circumspect angle, since it’s asking you to maintain a stable, upright position while being shaken about. That’s probably slightly better “exercise” than standing in place for the same amount of time, and far better than sitting on the couch, eating M&Ms, but if you were to compare the effectiveness of walking to “whole body vibration” you’d probably find that the effectiveness of WBV for leg strength is 1/100th that of walking. And if we say that there’s a rigorous definition of “exercise” which requires a certain minimum of active physical activity, then just because A is better than B, that still doesn’t mean that A falls under the heading of exercise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vibrating-exercise-belt-machines/712543.md?page=2)