A question for people who use vibration plates regularly.

thiswasthelasttime
thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,
I got a vibration plate recently as I know years ago in the gym doing some exercises on them had my legs/bum absolutely thumping afterwards like I'd been on a bike for ages. I am 27, disabled, with an eating disorder and also other MH issues that mean I don't get out at all really. I find it hard to do most exercises without being in a lot of pain. Due to the mentioned above factors, I've struggled to lose weight for a good few years now. I got a vibration plate to aid gentle workouts.

So my question is aimed solely at those who actually use the machine. I see people ask questions aimed at users but instead a lot of people come and say "what people will do not to exercise" and share their negative opinions but they don't even use them. I have already heard these onions. I can't exercise the way most people can. I'm very limited and I am using this as an aid not an overnight miracle fad.


I really want to hear from people who use them specifically. I've been using mine a wee while now, and oh god, the following day I feel like I did when I used to do 2 hours of dancing a day!

How long have you been using yours? Do you find it to be a good aid to toning up/slowly losing weight? I do other exercise so I'm not relying solely on it, but I do exercise on the machine too. I do not only stand there as many people assume you do with it.

Thank you in advance. :blush:

Replies

  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    I no longer use one as my current gym doesn't have one. Previously, I used one, irregularly, for about a year. It did nothing for me losing weight - but neither did anything I did in the gym as I simply out-ate my exercise burn-off. I therefore can't say what it would have done for me if I'd been tracking calories at that time.

    You'll see plenty of comments on here that you can't out-exercise a bad diet and my experience agrees with that statement. You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight.

    MFP is designed that, if you entered your stats in the Guided Set Up screen, it will factor in a deficit, based on the goal rate loss that you selected, to give you your number of calories to eat per day. Because a deficit is built in, you should separately log any purposeful exercise and eat those calories as well. Otherwise, you're creating a bigger deficit which may not be good for your health and well-being.

    Every 5-10lbs lost, go back to the Guided set-up and re-Save so that MFP recalculates your calorie needs - the amount you need to eat will go down as your weight goes down.

    I did feel that the plate helped with toning my leg muscles, however. With longer term use and doing multiple exercises, I'd expect you to find you'll tone up. (make sure you're not using it every day / give your body a break a couple of times a week). But if you're eating more than you're burning, it'll do nothing for weight loss.
  • thiswasthelasttime
    thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks for the response!
    I don't eat enough, not too much. The ED obliterated my metabolism basically along with a medication that commonly caused weight gain. As well as that the ED has a profoundly negative effect on the mind, and my rationale/consistency. So slowly my weight crept up through years due to those reasons and the disability making it hard to do exercise.

    I know all about what I need to do food wise and also exercise wise as I have lived with the ED for over 10 years now and have sought help but I appreciate the info and will pay attention to adjusting MFP set up.

    It's just I have very limited ability to do a lot of exercises due to my disability. Causes a lot of pain in various parts of my body just in general day to day movement and I am not physically capable of correctly doing certain exercises. This is why I bought the machine as an aide. I am now trying to do a small amount without and with the machine and then resting for a day or two if it's necessary. I am not sure of my results yet as it's early on, I've been depressed and eating badly (but slowly adding healthy things to my day to not overwhelm me with change) and I have a very bad relationship with the scales so I'm trying to break the constant checking cycle. A lot of things on one plate to sum up haha.

    I'm happy to see it helped tone you up. I hope it does that for me too! :smiley:

    Thanks again!
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    My grandmother used one. How about the swimming or therapy pool. Low impact on your joints and you can increase your exercises and build your stamina, shake things up a little at a time.
  • thiswasthelasttime
    thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
    edited July 2020
    Did she find it beneficial?

    I can't swim properly due to my disability sadly so when I was younger I never lasted long and I imagine now especially, when my pain issues are worse I wouldn't last 2 seconds. Also due to my MH I don't go out pretty much at all and could not handle going to a public pool/gym. I'd need a private pool to make my attempts and unfortunately I'm not rich haha. Thank you though! :smiley:

    *Also sorry for not quoting I didn't see that option initially and I can't seem to delete this post.
  • holly8312
    holly8312 Posts: 38 Member
    I have used them a lot in the past, but my current gym doesn't have one (not that it's reopened yet anyway). When using them, I definitely felt the burn but they were good for stretching after cardio or weights as well with some of the settings. I've never really tracked anything like muscle mass, but in terms of feeling it after use, I definitely did!
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Grandmaw liked it very much and so did all of the grandkids. <3 Go for it.
  • thiswasthelasttime
    thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
    Terytha wrote: »
    There does seem to be some solid scientific backing that the vibration plates do help with muscle strengthening in people who can't otherwise get a lot of exercise. As long as you're standing anyway. The ones where you lay down seem to only be good for circulation and nothing else.

    I'd like to gently push back on one statement you made: you did not wreck your metabolism. No diet, no form of disordered eating, can do that. Even the poor folk on Biggest Loser who were eating 800 calories a day and exercising until their bones broke were shown to have limited change to their metabolisms.

    Your metabolism is fine.

    Ok I don't know the science on it (not my topic in school I can tell you that haha) and the people who have been helping me through the years with the ED have never pushed back on me saying that. All I know is I lost a dramatic amount of weight through eating 300 - 600 calories a day, or sometimes nothing, and exercising (back when my disability was more tolerable). And I kept it off for some time but after a 3 or 4 years despite nothing in my life changing other than that medication, my weight crept up and up and no extra exercise, no further restricting, no eating more changed it.
    This is what I lived and am still living with though I have been trying my best to get better.

    I guess my main point was in that statement, there was an assumption I'm eating too much..I'm guessing because I want to lose weight? But actually, the issue is majority of the time, that I don't eat enough and thats part of why I struggle to lose weight. That's coming from the dietitian.

    Anyway, good to know about the muscle strengthening as I do have weakness in my legs particularly. I did read up somewhat before buying one but I posted here as I was hoping to hear the personal stories rather than just clinical research/study etc. Personal touch always helps motivate me.
    Thank you again. :blush:
  • Ddsb11
    Ddsb11 Posts: 607 Member
    edited July 2020
    Have you done metabolic chamber testing or a DEXA scan? You need to get your metabolism checked for clarity. As an aside, due in large part to misinformation spread since “the beginning of time”, people think their metabolism is broken, and it couldn’t possibly be CICO. Starvation mode is a myth. You can not argue with physics or thermodynamics. You sound new here, read the stickies, and get your metabolism checked with scientific measures to be sure where to go from here. Lastly, any exercise you can do in a safe way is good for you. If you like the machine that means you’ll stick with it and that’s typically how you get physical results to strengthen and tone.
  • thiswasthelasttime
    thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
    edited July 2020
    msalicia07 wrote: »
    Have you done metabolic chamber testing or a DEXA scan? You need to get your metabolism checked for clarity. As an aside, due in large part to misinformation spread since “the beginning of time”, people think their metabolism is broken, and it couldn’t possibly be CICO. Starvation mode is a myth. You can not argue with physics or thermodynamics. You sound new here, read the stickies, and get your metabolism checked with scientific measures to be sure where to go from here. Lastly, any exercise you can do in a safe way is good for you. If you like the machine that means you’ll stick with it and that’s typically how you get physical results to strengthen and tone.


    Hi. I'm not sure if I'm misinterpreting you as tone is hard to judge online but I am not trying to argue with anything or anyone. I didn't say starvation mode existed either. I've read plenty about it over the years ... because of my eating disorder. It controls my life.

    There's a million pieces of information out there about various exercise/food topics that often conflict each other with medical research on either side (and hell I don't understand half of it). It's exhausting. So now I don't even pay attention to anything on the topic but what the medical professionals I see are telling me at this point, because it has done nothing to help my mental health or my ED over the years.

    I probably shouldn't have said obliterated my metabolism, but rather, the ED changed things along with the medication I was on.

    I really only added all that extra information about my disability, my ED etc, so people wouldn't try to chime in with "maybe you should eat less, exercise more" "have you tried running" etc. I wanted to, in short, say no I can't run no I can't do this etc etc. Whilst I'm newish to posting, I have read plenty of MFP forums over the years. I've seen A LOT of assumptions made about peoples lifestyles from very simple questions, that had no relation to the question and I wanted to nip that in the bud because I am trying to keep this on the topic I asked about.

    I really just wanted to know how people who have used vibration plates for a period of time feel about them. I will stick to this because I can do it without being in tons of pain but any extra motivation is appreciated.

  • thiswasthelasttime
    thiswasthelasttime Posts: 7 Member
    once again a post with a really simple question aimed at specific people has been utterly derailed so i'm just going to stop engaging after this because frankly, i'm angry and fed up.

    i have lived many years with an eating disorder now and i have been as polite as possible whilst people have focused on how wrong i apparently am about my OWN life despite knowing little about it.

    i am literally telling you i ate a couple of eggs in a day, went and did hours of exercise and the scale would just keep going up. why the hell would i lie about this jesus christ. i have struggled with this for 10+ years, every single day is a nightmare when it comes to food and frankly even talking about it can be upsetting to me. however i felt it necessary to clear up assumption that i must be eating too much if i cant lose weight, when my own goddamn dietitian tells me i need to eat more every time i see her.

    im flabbergasted by the lack of compassion or even just consideration for another person. a human being tells you they ate 300 cals a day and their weight went up at one point and wouldn't stop and THATS the response? i said i have struggled to lose weight, due to the ED and medication. it's a complex bloody thing.and i never dove into all the tiny ins and outs of my disorder, or how my disability affects my body, given im asking about exercise equipment.


    BUT more importantly, and this is why i am so angry, this was NEVER THE TOPIC AT HAND.

    i JUST said i only added that extra information, so that people wouldn't make suggestions that would derail the post and just bloody focus on what im ACTUALLY ASKING ABOUT. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS MACHINE IF YOU HAVE IT. HOW DO YOU FIND IT BENEFICIAL. PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE OR USE ONE GO AWAY."

    i was trying my best to politely beg people who don't use the machines or have nothing to add regarding the machines to butt out! my mistake apparently because yous will chime in no matter what.


    THANK YOU to the people who actually have used a vibration machine/knows someone who does for answering. i deeply appreciate it.


  • peggy_polenta
    peggy_polenta Posts: 325 Member
    thiswasthelasttime wrote: »
    once again a post with a really simple question aimed at specific people has been utterly derailed so i'm just going to stop engaging after this because frankly, i'm angry and fed up.

    i have lived many years with an eating disorder now and i have been as polite as possible whilst people have focused on how wrong i apparently am about my OWN life despite knowing little about it.

    i am literally telling you i ate a couple of eggs in a day, went and did hours of exercise and the scale would just keep going up. why the hell would i lie about this jesus christ. i have struggled with this for 10+ years, every single day is a nightmare when it comes to food and frankly even talking about it can be upsetting to me. however i felt it necessary to clear up assumption that i must be eating too much if i cant lose weight, when my own goddamn dietitian tells me i need to eat more every time i see her.

    im flabbergasted by the lack of compassion or even just consideration for another person. a human being tells you they ate 300 cals a day and their weight went up at one point and wouldn't stop and THATS the response? i said i have struggled to lose weight, due to the ED and medication. it's a complex bloody thing.and i never dove into all the tiny ins and outs of my disorder, or how my disability affects my body, given im asking about exercise equipment.


    BUT more importantly, and this is why i am so angry, this was NEVER THE TOPIC AT HAND.

    i JUST said i only added that extra information, so that people wouldn't make suggestions that would derail the post and just bloody focus on what im ACTUALLY ASKING ABOUT. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS MACHINE IF YOU HAVE IT. HOW DO YOU FIND IT BENEFICIAL. PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE OR USE ONE GO AWAY."

    i was trying my best to politely beg people who don't use the machines or have nothing to add regarding the machines to butt out! my mistake apparently because yous will chime in no matter what.


    THANK YOU to the people who actually have used a vibration machine/knows someone who does for answering. i deeply appreciate it.


    i hear you girlie and i agree. i do not have personal experience with these plates and i am not aware how these plates help with losing weight. however my mother is diabetic and in kidney failure and many of her specialists have recommended she use one to help with circulation, mobility, strength/stability, feeling in her legs, etc. so, you should see some overall health improvements if you use as recommended. i personally use EMS machines back and neck pain and its changed my life. and i am not sure your disabilty, but maybe that is something you can look into to help with one day making it easier to exercise and move better with less pain. i asked my dr to prescribe me the personal sized one and that is how i was able have it covered by my insurance. good luck to you!

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