Vibration plates are all over everyone’s feed, so Dr. Kelsy Vick (board-certified orthopedic doctor of physical therapy and pelvic floor PT) dives into what they actually are, why people are buying them, and what the research on “whole body vibration therapy” really examines. She walks through how studies test different positions and exercises on the plate, explains why systematic reviews matter, and unpacks the big categories researchers track—strength, power, bone mineral density, body composition, and even differences across training status and menopausal status. You’ll also get a quick, girly “smart science” moment on the proposed reflex-style mechanism behind vibration, plus what to consider if you’re shopping (protocol length, frequencies, amplitudes, and why specs matter). She closes with practical recommendations for who might want one versus who can focus on building an at-home routine without extra gadgets.

Jump Training Episode (74): https://youtu.be/DCwnnEYOYtA?si=CS3S-9aY2flW2Kfb (also on Spotify & Apple!)

Resources:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12124539/#pone.0322010.ref039

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40391029/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6944803/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14750005/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4697776/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30142802/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6944803/

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Okay.

2

Be honest.

3

Have you guys also been seeing

vibration plates and started wondering,

4

am I missing out on one of these

lazy girl fitness hacks, or is this

5

just another sort of gimmick I.

6

Can I just virtually.

7

Stand on this vibrating plate and get

stronger, leaner, and more powerful.

8

Is it that simple?

9

So today we're breaking it down.

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Are vibration plates actually worth

it or are they just expensive noise

11

machines and maybe a lower to the

ground place to put your laundry?

12

Welcome back to Wellness Big Sis the Pod.

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I'm your host, Dr.

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Kelsy Vick a board certified orthopedic

doctor of physical therapy and a

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pelvic floor physical therapist.

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And I've been seeing more and more

of these around, and I've also

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been seeing creators who are sort

of making fun of them or giving

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alternatives that you can do at home

without purchasing a vibration plate.

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So I figured it's about time we

dive into the science behind.

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Vibration plates.

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Why are people buying them?

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What is the research behind them

and should we be purchasing them for

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Our own at at-home workout studios?

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So quick overview.

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What is a vibration plate?

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It's basically a device that is on

the ground that vibrates at Certain

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frequencies and amplitudes and the

research calls it whole Body Vibration

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Therapy or WBVT, and there's varying

protocols, but typically you are

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either just standing on the device with

straight knees or bent knees that makes

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a difference, or you're performing some

sort of static or dynamic exercise on it.

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Think like a body weight squat.

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Or a lunge or something like a

plank for a more static exercise.

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So before we dive into the research, a

quick little smart girl science moment.

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I've mentioned this in the past, but

just as a refresher, I was actually

35

surprised at how many systematic

reviews there were out there on.

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Whole body vibration training

and systematic reviews are the

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top tier level of research.

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It basically means this is like

the group chat of research.

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It pulls together a lot of studies

that have studied a similar device or

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protocol or way of doing things and

analyzed the overall effectiveness

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from all of these studies combined.

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It gives us a clearer, more

reliable picture on whatever

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it is that they're looking at.

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So when we have this level of evidence,

We can feel a lot more confident

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in what's actually worth our time

compared to something just like a

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commentary or like an opinion piece.

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The systematic reviews looked at a lot

of different outcomes, whether that

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is strength, power, fat loss, body

composition, cardiovascular health,

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postmenopausal versus premenopausal.

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There's a lot of outcomes that are

analyzed and assessed when we talk

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about these systematic reviews.

52

So we'll basically dive

into all of that today.

53

But just so you guys are aware, a lot of

these studies are the top tier evidence.

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So does whole body vibration

training actually make you

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stronger or just a little shaer?

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One of the biggest questions with

vibration training in these vibration

57

plates is, can vibration plates

actually improve strength and power?

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One of the main systematic reviews and

meta-analyses looked at over 700 women.

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So a strength of these systematic

reviews and meta-analyses is that

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it's not just a smaller sample size.

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That's part of one study, but it's really

grouping together a lot of different

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participants, different demographics,

so it's decreasing your risk of error

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and increasing the overall sample size.

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here's what they found.

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Whole body vibration training was

better than doing no exercise at all,

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but regular exercise was still

better than vibration training,

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except in one situation, jump performance.

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And this is the one where I

raise an eyebrow a little bit.

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Most of these studies didn't

actually include jump training as

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part of their exercise routines.

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So let's say they were comparing whole

body vibration training plus exercise,

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so think body weight squats on a

vibration plate compared to body weight

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squats without the vibration plate.

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So they're comparing width.

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Versus without when it comes to

exercise, and then they're measuring

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the power output after, however,

they're not necessarily doing a

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power exercise, so they're not

doing squat jumps or broad jumps or.

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Counter movement jumps to

train to improve their jumping

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ability or their power output.

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We have this concept in exercise

science called specificity of training,

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where it basically says if you are

a basketball athlete, you're going

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to wanna train specific to your

sport like a basketball athlete.

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Yes, you're going to be

doing squats and jumps.

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And deadlifts and core work, but you

also need to train for basketball.

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Same thing if you are a power lifter.

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Yes, you're going to be doing all of

these additional supplemental motions

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to help your overall health, wellness,

and ability to perform those power

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lifting movements, but you're also

going to practice those power lifting

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movements, so you have to be specific

with your ultimate performance goal.

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And a lot of these studies that

measured power output with that counter

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movement jump did not include jump

training in the exercise protocol.

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So I'd be interested to see how

whole body vibration training

93

influenced jump training when

compared to jump training alone.

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Other notable findings when it comes

to strength and power specifically

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were that less trained individuals

derived greater improvements in

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strength and power compared to

trained individuals, which this one

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applies to a normal exercise program.

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Anyways, if we put the.

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Untrained person through a body weight

exercise program and the trained

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person through a body weight exercise

program, the untrained person is going

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to derive greater benefits because

the stimulus for them is greater

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compared to the trained person.

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So that makes complete sense.

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Okay.

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And lastly, postmenopausal women derived

greater strength and power improvements

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from whole body vibration training

compared to premenopausal women.

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As a little aside, you might be asking

yourself, what even is the mechanism

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behind whole body vibration training

and strength or power improvements?

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Like why would this even be

something that they studied?

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How can standing on a vibration plate

or exercising on a vibration plate

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actually improve strength and power?

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It is actually kind of cool and it relates

back to when you go to the doctor's

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office and they check your reflexes.

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If you ever have gone to the doctor

and they've checked your reflexes,

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hopefully they have, or a physical

therapist or someone has checked

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your reflexes, they'll usually use

a reflex hammer and tap the knees.

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Kind of the one a lot of people know.

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So they'll tap the knee and

then you'll subsequently kick

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if you have a good solid reflux.

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As a little disclaimer, just

because you don't kick doesn't

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mean you don't have a good reflex.

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There's other things that go into play,

but a normal response is a little kick,

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so that stimulus of the hammer hitting

your knee creates a muscle response.

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this is a similar hypothesis to.

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Why vibration plates might actually

improve strength and power.

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the vibration from the vibration plate

activates these stretch receptors

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throughout our body, which in turn

creates this muscle activation.

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We can think of it like a protective

response a little bit too.

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With that reflex.

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The body senses a.

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Stretch and it thinks, okay, I have

to protect that in some way, so let me

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activate the muscles involved to reduce

that stretch, to protect the body.

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So the vibration plate also activates

these stretch receptors that then

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activates the muscles in order

to sort of like protect the body.

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But it's a way to activate muscles,

which activation of muscles can

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increase strength and power depending

on the stimulus that your body needs.

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That's probably why it's more effective

in untrained individuals compared to

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trained individuals is there's less

of a stimulus needed for untrained

139

individuals to get that same improvement.

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However, bringing it all back to the

research, it seems that exercise is

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still the gold standard for making

strength improvements and will still

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elicit power improvements without

the cost or time associated with

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whole body vibration training.

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So the TLDR, it can improve strength

but not better than regular exercise.

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And if you're already working out,

this is probably not the missing piece.

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Another question surrounding

whole body vibration training

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is the question of is it good or better

for my bones, my bone mineral density,

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and this is where it gets a little

bit more interesting because as women,

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bone mineral density is super duper

important for us, especially as we age.

150

One systematic review looked at adults,

so men and women who are over 55, and they

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found possible benefits on total femur

bone mineral density, so your thigh bone,

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although they did not see that same level

of improvement when looking at two primary

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areas that physicians often check for.

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Bone mineral density diagnoses,

so osteoporosis or osteopenia.

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They did not see the same improvements

in bone marral density when they looked

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at the femoral neck, so around your hip

area or your lumbar spine . However,

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in another study that just looked at

postmenopausal women, they did find

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bone mineral density improvements in

that femoral neck and that lumbar spine

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why would whole body vibration

training actually help our bones?

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Bones respond to stress.

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That's why things like strength

training, jumping and overall

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impact are so effective.

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your body basically goes, oh, we sense

stress in that area on our bones.

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We're going to have to build more bone in

order to protect that area in the future.

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Vibration plates might create this similar

effect through both mechanical stress,

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so that amplitude that frequency, but

then also through muscle activation where

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those muscles are actually pulling on

the bone a little bit and causing the

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body to think to lay more bone in that

area where those muscles are pulling.

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So the TLDR, it might help bone marral

and sti, but there are time efficient and

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effective ways to build bone without the

cost that comes with the vibration plate.

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What about vibration plates for

fat loss and toning specifically?

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This is one I know people care about and

I feel like there are so many claims or.

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What are they called?

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Click beatty.

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Things that make you click on a

vibration plate that's like, Ooh, fat

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loss vibration training for fat loss.

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So what does the research say?

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One systematic review of meta-analysis

showed some improvements in body

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composition, but not significant

fat loss, and a lot of those

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improvements were actually from

increased muscle, not decreased fat.

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In another commentary, so a little

bit less high quality of evidence

182

that looked at strength, body

composition, and cardiovascular health.

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With whole body vibration training,

the researchers noted that there were

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improvements in body composition,

muscle mass, and cardiovascular health.

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Most notably in the elderly

population, patients with diseases

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and those who were immobile.

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This is where I could see a real benefit

for whole body vibration training.

188

Overall, with all of the studies we've

talked about so far, it seems that

189

people who are less trained, who are

older, who might be in disease states

190

or are immobile, get the most benefit

from whole body vibration training.

191

If someone might have a

cognitive issue where their.

192

Unable to program or

pattern certain movements.

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Whole body vibration training might be

great for them because it does give you

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some of those benefits just when you

compare them to Other forms of strength

195

training or cardiovascular exercise.

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The cost benefit might not be there,

but for rehab purposes, for patients

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who might be immobile or who have

cognitive deficits or who are older

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and might not tolerate certain joint

motions or exercises anymore, whole body

199

vibration training could be very useful.

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And lastly, one study looked at

whole body vibration training on

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untrained females and its effects on

body composition and strength, and

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found no changes in total weight,

total body fat or subcutaneous fat.

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However, they did find improved

strength and they noted it was

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similar to what one would gain from

traditional strength training programs.

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Also a small rant.

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When we talk about body composition,

it's important that we know how the

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researchers measured body composition.

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There's a lot of different ways to measure

body composition, and when I'm talking

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about body composition, I'm really talking

about fat mass and muscle mass and bone.

210

If you're able to have a device that can

tease that out, there are a variety of

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methods and there's one gold standard.

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And the gold standard is the DEXA scan

that gives you a look at your fat mass,

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your lean mass, your bone marrow density.

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It can break it up by body region.

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It is a.

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The gold standard for a reason.

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It is very, very cool and gives

you a lot of great information.

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Importantly, it does not

fluctuate based on your hydration.

219

A lot of the other testing methods

will fluctuate based on your hydration,

220

whether through a BOD pod where

you're floating basically, and they

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measure water content and estimate

body composition from that or.

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There's an electrical pulse one where

you either have a handheld one or

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some people have like a feet and a

handheld one where there's basically

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an electrical current that goes through

your body and the faster or slower

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tells it how much water you have.

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And from that, you estimate

fat mass and muscle mass.

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And then there's also calipers

where you basically pinch different

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standardized areas, but there's a lot

of user error in that because I'm gonna

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be the one pinching different areas

to measure body fat and then use a

230

formula to estimate body fat percentage

overall and muscle mass percentage.

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So there's just a lot of

error that goes into it.

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And not many of the studies

used DEXA scans as their.

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Way of measuring body composition.

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So I'm just saying there's a lot

of error built into these studies

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anyways because of the method of body

composition testing that they chose to do.

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And that's not a doc on the researchers.

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A DEXA machine's very expensive.

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So it is just saying that when we

talk about applying research to

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our own lives, this is something

that we need to consider.

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So the TLDR, this is not a

fat loss hack, but it can be a

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helpful tool for certain people.

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Think older adults, people with

mobility limitations, rehab

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settings, or individuals who might

not be able to tolerate traditional

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exercise for whatever reason.

245

So what would I actually recommend?

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if you're in your twenties and

thirties and able to exercise, I

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don't think you need to be going out

and purchasing a vibration plate.

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We did a series back in the fall

called the Exercise Handbag series,

249

and it basically simplified the

exercise types and variations that we

250

need as women for our goals now, but

also for our longevity in the future.

251

Things like strength training and high

intensity interval training, or sprint

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training, jump training, recovery.

253

We talk about.

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A lot of the foundational essentials that

we all need in our exercise handbags,

255

and a lot of the benefits that whole body

vibration training proposes that might.

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Happen in some people also occur when we

exercise and apply some of these exercise

257

essentials into our own exercise routines.

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So highly recommend that series.

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I believe it's around

episodes like 74 or 73.

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I know episode 74 is our

episode on jump training.

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And jump training specifically

affects bone marrow density and a

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lot of other things in our bodies.

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But jump training is the big one

that helps bone marrow density.

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I call it like bone building on steroids.

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Jump training allows us to

improve our bone marrow density.

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In a quick way.

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So there was a study done on college

girls that said jump training three

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times a week doing 10 vertical jumps

with eight to 12 seconds in between,

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improve their bone marrow density.

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So that takes like less than a minute

the entire week and you get some of

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those bone marrow density improvements.

272

So I highly recommend that series.

273

I'll leave that full episode 74 below, but

I think it's like 74 plus or minus two.

274

I think it was like a five part series

or a four part series throughout, I

275

believe it was October, if you wanna go

back and take a look at some of those.

276

But I love that series and I think

it's super important, and a lot

277

of those exercise principles are

what I would recommend for girls in

278

our twenties and thirties who can

exercise and don't have some of the

279

limitations we talked about earlier.

280

Who I would recommend these vibration

plates for are in postmenopausal

281

women who might not be able

to tolerate jump training or

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strength training for some reason.

283

If you have money to spend

in, want a more passive way of

284

stimulating bone formation changes.

285

I'm thinking like while you're

watching TV or something, although.

286

In order to get the necessary

frequency and amplitude, a lot

287

of the devices are 1100 plus.

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We'll talk about that in a little

bit, but it does get expensive.

289

But if you have money to spend and

you're looking for a space filler

290

and something to passively help in.

291

Possibly strength improvements, muscle

mass and bone density, and you're maybe

292

a little bit older or postmenopausal.

293

This could be something for you patients

with cognitive impairments where fancy

294

exercises might be more cognitively

demanding, and especially in rehab.

295

I've used vibration a lot in rehab and

I think there's a lot of great benefits

296

for it, but a lot of these rehab

facilities have a little bit of money.

297

I won't say a lot, but they have money

to spend on some of these devices, so I

298

would definitely recommend it for rehab.

299

If you're thinking about purchasing

a vibration plate, here's what to

300

look for based on the research.

301

You want frequencies above 30 hertz

and you want amplitudes between

302

two to five millimeters with a

protocol lasting 12 plus weeks.

303

The longer protocols do seem to

have better results and always

304

combined with exercise if possible.

305

The best benefits are.

306

Whole body vibration

training with exercise.

307

however, the research

does show that it's not.

308

Statistically better than just

exercise alone, so keep that in mind.

309

I did a little investigative journalism

to find out different vibration plates

310

that were on the market, and I found a

lot on Google that I looked through and

311

I was not able to find any that met.

312

Those requirements for less than $1,100.

313

There were some for around 1800.

314

Around 2000, around 1100

was I think the cheapest.

315

Some of the cheaper devices did not meet

those frequency and amplitude requirements

316

that are found in the research.

317

So something to note, it is expensive.

318

Don't necessarily cheap out if

you're thinking about buying one

319

because you might not see the

benefits that are found in research.

320

So the final verdict, would I buy one?

321

No, not because it's useless, but because

for most of us, I think it is unnecessary.

322

You can get equal or better benefits from

traditional exercise without the cost.

323

Thank you guys for listening.

324

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

325

If you did a like, comment,

subscribe, review, sharing it with

326

one of your healthy and wellness

friends would go a long way to

327

helping me spread this education and

knowledge and podcast with others.

328

So thank you guys again for all

of your support for listening,

329

and I'll see you guys again in the

next episode of Wellness the Pod.

330

Also while I was in South Korea and Japan

at the beginning of March, we hit our

331

two year anniversary of Wildness the Pod.

332

So I wanted to shut that out last year.

333

I did like a one year episode This

year I think we're just gonna pass

334

on through and keep on keeping on,

but I feel very proud to have done.

335

Two years of this releasing once to

twice a week, and I am grateful for

336

all of you guys, old and new listeners

who have joined in on the journey.

337

So thank you guys again.

338

I wanted to shout that out

a little bit before we end.

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Okay.

340

Done.