Vibration Plates - to buy or not?

[averyyoungkitten]

Hi,
I am not a regular poster in this forum. I wonder if anyone can advise on vibration plates? I have been steadily losing weight but I have got to the point where I am flabby and need to firm up.

I went to the local gym but it was a bad experience. I had read about the flabelos machines this gym had but when I got there I was rail roaded into doing "proper gym". The vibration plate was elsewhere in the building and they wouldnt tell me where! Seriously. Proper gym is a waste of time and money. I wont keep it up (have already stopped following catching a chest infection and having a few days off. I realised I didnt like it, and I didnt need chest infections). The trainer had a programme for me that I couldnt possibly do .... I have a slight co ordination/ muscle weakness problem since birth. It does not affect every day life but it does affect my ability to do swimming, cycling, and similar activities. I tried to explain. Hence I thought the vibration plate would be good for me.

So, I took to looking for a vibration plate for home use instead. Less embarassing. I have several questions you lovely people may be able to answer

a) does it work?
b) is it worth the investment? gym membership has cost me a lot and the vibra plate was additional anyway,and it seemsthat the money spent there would part way toward the equipment.But I dont know.
c) there are tons of plates out there. Ranging from £100 - £1000 . Can someone suggest one?
d) I have limited space and was considering those smaller ones that store away. Do they work?

Help?

Thanks in advance.

Not sure if its all over but our local small town has a place called "shake fit" where you can use the machines like you would a gym.

I tried it once with a friend and it felt too weird for me.

And I've seen plenty for sale second hand- Gumtree etc.

There are machines at a beauty salon where I live that you can use by booking a session.

I've only tried once (at a gym) and it made me feel sick!

If you want to tone up without bulking up I can recommend the Tracy Anderson Mat Workout dvd. It shows results quickly and doesn't involve any jogging/leaping around/vibrating

I used to do vibration plate classes. They were incredibly painful but short. They were very good for toning but all the skill was in the instructor knowing which moves to use for maximum benefit, how to work the correct muscles and so on. I considered getting one for home as the classes were expensive but I couldn't replicate the instructors so it didn't seem worth it.

I'd probably not bothering buying one unless you were really familiar with good exercises to use the plate properly. If you have already done a long course of classes and love the vibration plates and know all the moves (and how not to injure yourself), it might be worth it.