Some people believe vibration machines make your muscles work harder and can help you lose fat, build muscle, and get stronger. At this time, there’s a limited amount of high quality research looking at the effectiveness of these devices.
Vibration machines, also called shaking machines or shaking platforms, use whole-body vibrations to force your muscles to contract reflexively. They’re available in some gyms and people can buy them for home use.
People may perform exercises like squats, pushups, or crunches on these machines, as some older studies suggest they may help with weight loss and muscle gain. However, more research is required to understand how effective they might be compared with traditional exercise.
Let’s break down what the research indicates about using vibration machines for weight loss and muscle gain.
Some studies suggest whole-body vibration machines may help people lose weight and build muscle.
It is important to note, though, that many of these studies had small sample sizes or only looked at the effects of vibration machines on people who were physically inactive or had obesity.
Weight loss
A
They found that whole-body vibration led to a significant amount of fat loss but didn’t cause a significant change in body fat percentage in studies that lasted fewer than 6 months.
The review concluded that longer and larger studies are required to accurately evaluate the use of whole-body vibration machines for weight loss.
Strength
A
The researchers noticed a significant improvement in the participants’ standing long jump scores, which is a measurement of lower body power.
Body composition
In a
- dieting only
- dieting and vibration training
- dieting and aerobic exercise
All three groups lost body fat, but the second and third groups lost more fat than the first.
The researchers concluded that vibration training combined with a diet program was equally as effective as an aerobic program with a diet program over 9 months.
When the platform of a vibration machine shakes, your muscles reflexively contract rapidly. Even though this isn’t under your conscious control, it still requires energy and causes you to burn calories.
Machines called electromyographs, which measure electrical activity in your muscles, have confirmed that vibration machines cause an increase in muscular activity.
The amount of energy your body burns depends on the frequency and strength of the vibrations.
Vibration machines are generally safe, but they may not be suitable for some people.
People who are at a high risk of falling may want to stick to exercises they can perform while lying on their back or sitting down, as opposed to standing.
These studies suggest an association between repeated exposure to vibrations and an increased risk of developing pain in the back, neck, hand, shoulder, and hip. Repeated exposure to vibrations was also associated with an increased risk of developing:
However, most studies linking vibration to these health effects have involved people exposed to vibration every day for an extended period while working. These people are also often exposed to other risk factors, like toxic chemicals and repeated heavy lifting.
More research is needed to understand exactly how vibration affects your body.
Depending on the model, you can usually use vibration machines while standing, lying, or sitting. Most of the time, people perform exercises on the machine while it’s vibrating to increase the number of calories they burn.
A person can perform many different types of exercise on a vibration machine, including both static and dynamic exercises.
Static exercises involve holding a position for a set length of time. A plank is a static exercise. Dynamic exercises involve moving during the exercise, for example, doing pushups.
Some potential exercises you can perform on a vibration machine include:
You can find vibration machines at some fitness clubs and gyms. You can also buy them for home use from many places that sell fitness equipment. Prices generally start at around $100.
It’s not clear how effective vibration machines are compared with traditional weight loss techniques, and they aren’t a substitute for regular exercise and a healthy diet. Many other factors also affect weight loss, including changes in your metabolism.
No matter how you lose weight, the aim is to eat fewer calories than you’re burning. You need to burn about 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat, including calories burned while resting.
It’s best if this calorie deficit comes from a combination of diet (reducing calories in) and exercise (increasing calories out). Combining exercise with a healthy diet is often more effective than focusing on one or the other.
People who focus on a slow and steady approach to weight loss are generally more able to keep any weight they lose off than those who try to lose weight as quickly as possible.
If you don’t enjoy traditional forms of exercise like running or biking, many other activities can help you increase the number of calories you burn each day. The following are just some examples:
- bowling
- hiking
- kayaking
- dancing
- gardening
- playing frisbee
At this time, it isn’t clear how effective vibration machines may be for helping you burn fat or gain muscle. Some older studies suggest they may help, but many of these had small sample sizes of participants. Solid evidence is lacking.
Well-balanced eating and regular exercise are the most reliable ways to lose weight.