Are Vibration Plates Harmful? (With 3 Tips on How to Start)

Vibration plates are becoming increasingly popular. Several fitness trainers and many celebrities, like the Queen of Pop, Madonna, rely on exercising on a vibrating platform. Nonetheless, countless critics still claim that vibration plates are harmful to health. To squash this rumor right at the outset: Are vibration plates harmful to your health?

No, vibration plates generally are not harmful or dangerous. However, in a few exceptional cases, such as in those with osteoporosis, vibration training should be discussed with a doctor. In addition, more attention should be paid to the correct execution of the exercises.

This article covers everything you need to know about the potential dangers of a vibration plate. You will learn which people are better off avoiding vibration training and what you should generally pay attention to when exercising on a vibration machine.

How Do Vibration Plates Work?

Training with a Vibration Plate

Before we deal with the question of whether vibration plates are harmful to health, you must first understand how the vibrating platforms work and what they are doing with our bodies.

A vibration plate simply transmits vibrations to our body. An integrated motor provides vibrations that can go in all directions, depending on the machine. If we train on the plate or just stand on it, the vibrations will constantly cause our body to lose some balance.

The so-called deep muscles, which are responsible for the stability and upright posture of our body, then ensure that the balance is restored. The best thing about it: This happens automatically, so you don’t have to consciously control these muscles.

It’s not only that we cannot control these deep muscles, but we also cannot actively train them. However, they make up about 40% of our total muscle mass, which means that we normally only train about 60% of our muscles. With a vibration plate, we can reach almost 100%, which in turn makes this kind of exercise so effective.

Who Cannot Use Vibration Plates?

Vibration plates themselves are not harmful to health. On the contrary, they even provide numerous positive health effects. Nonetheless, in certain cases vibration training is not recommended. In these cases, caution is generally advised when exercising. Those with the following are advised to consult a doctor before starting to train on a vibration plate:

  • Acute diseases / inflammatory responses
  • Thrombosis and risk of thrombosis
  • Stents and bypasses
  • Severe osteoporosis with fractures
  • (Untreated) high blood pressure
  • Arthrosis
  • Gallstones and kidney stones
  • Pregnant women
  • Children under 13 years

If you have literally given up on any form of physical activity over the last five years and now want to kickstart being active, you should approach the matter with caution and consult a doctor before you start.

The reason for this is mainly that vibration training puts a certain stress on our bones and muscles. Normally, this load is not a problem for our body, but with very weak bone structure or very untrained muscles, it can theoretically happen that the body cannot react properly to the vibrations of the plate.

Children under 13 years of age should also refrain from exercising on a vibration plate, as the muscles are not always developed well enough at this age.

If the muscles are too weak and thus the vibrations cannot be damped, vibration training can put a high stress on our cartilage and joints, which is why caution is required in these cases. If in doubt, it is always helpful to consult a doctor in advance.

3 Tips on Using a Vibration Plate

As you have learned by now, vibration plates in most cases are not harmful to health. To ensure a safe and positive experience with vibration training, I recommend the following tips:

Start Slowly

I know that especially in the beginning it is really fun to exercise with any kind of new technology, and that you might even be willing to train every day. However, you’re probably better off allowing your body to slowly get used to the new stimuli, because this is a new kind of stress for your muscles as well.

Therefore, it is best to start with a low frequency range first, and then slowly increase it.

Start With Familiar Exercises

In the beginning, it is best to choose exercises you are already familiar with. Especially when training on a vibration plate it is very important that you pay attention to proper form, because otherwise your joints will be overly stressed. So, start with exercises such as squats or push-ups and only after several weeks of vibration training should you continue with more advanced exercises.

Keep The Vibrations Away From Your Head

Make sure that the vibrations of the plate do not go all the way up to your head during the workout. This is nothing dramatic, but if you use it for a long time, it can cause headaches, dizziness and blurred vision.

You should therefore avoid exercises where the vibrations can be poorly damped. These include exercises in a sitting, lying or stiff standing position.

Which Vibration Plates Can Be Recommended?

Vibration Plate

In this article, the main question is whether vibration plates are harmful to health. Since this question has now been clarified and many of you are surely wondering which specific machines can be recommended, I will now present to you my favorite vibration platform. I am currently using this machine myself and can recommend it without reservation.  

It’s the LifePro Waver Vibration Machine. This plate is of highest quality and comes with a wide range of different training programs and speed levels from 1–99. In my eyes, it’s the perfect machine for both beginners and advanced. I would recommend you to just take a look at it for yourself. Find it here.

The Bottom Line

I hope I helped you with this blog post covering the topic “Are vibration plates harmful to health?”

If you have further questions or suggestions, you can always send me an email or just leave a comment below. Otherwise, I invite you to spend some more time on my blog, where I answer many more questions about vibration plates and other fitness products.

Team HTF

We are the team at High Tech Fitness and have a love for educating and sharing our insights on all things tech and fitness with you.

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