Losing weight with the power plate: can you lose weight with the vibration plate?

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Losing weight with the power plate? Higher fat burning through a vibration plate or power plate? Does vibration training actually help with weight loss? In this third and final part about the power plate, you’ll find out.

Losing weight with the power plate

This is the third and for now last article I dedicate to the power plate, or vibration plate. I previously wrote about its theoretical operation in the article how the Powerplate works and then about the effect on strength as shown in studies in the article: Powerplate and strength. In this article, we look at the effects if you want to lose weight with power plates. So what is the effect of power plates, or “whole body vibration”, the principle they use, on fat burning.

Muscle growth through power plate

In 2004, researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven studied the effect of vibration training on untrained, young women (average age 21 years) [1]. One group did “traditional fitness” (strength and cardio), another group trained on a vibration plate while a third group did nothing (control group). The increase in strength after 24 weeks was comparable between the vibration plate group and the group that did traditional fitness. In both groups, no significant differences in body fat were observed. However, in the vibration plate group, muscle mass had slightly increased.

At the end of the same year, the same university conducted a similar study with postmenopausal* women where fat mass did decrease through vibration training (reduction of 2.3% vs. an increase of 0.5% in the control group) [2]. Moreover, now the lean mass was unchanged. Oddly enough, the researchers do not attempt to explain these different outcomes. A first explanation seems to me to be sought in the different test groups (young women vs. postmenopausal women).

*Many of the studies are done among postmenopausal women because there is also interest in possible positive effects of vibration training on bone density in this risk group.

Less fat through the power plate

In a study conducted at the University of Oklahoma among postmenopausal women, it was found that combining strength training with vibration training leads to a “reduction in fat percentage” [3]. However, this study reveals two interesting points.

First, that the lower fat percentage was only caused by a greater increase in lean mass when combining strength training with vibration training.  In the group of women who combined vibration training with strength training, the fat mass did not decrease. Because the lean mass increased, the fat percentage dropped with a constant fat mass.

Second, that the combination resulted in more lean mass, which might suggest that strength training on a vibration plate leads to more muscle mass.

In older women, resistance training alone and with whole-body vibration resulted in positive body composition changes by increasing lean tissue. However, only the combination of resistance training and whole-body vibration was effective for decreasing percent body fat…

…We note, however, that the positive body composition effect in our sample was accomplished by increasing the lean soft tissue component of the body, not by reducing fat mass.

C. Fjeldstad, University of Oklahoma

More lean mass, no effect on fat mass. In that respect, comparable to the data from the first study by the Catholic University of Leuven.

Obesity prevention

Researchers from Stony Brook University in New York saw a very different potential benefit for vibration training [4]. Not only would it work metabolically by increasing your fat burning, it would inhibit the formation of new fat cells (adipogenesis) during development. So, obesity prevention. Very interesting although I wouldn’t immediately put a vibrator under the mattress in my baby’s crib.

6 weeks of these low-magnitude mechanical signals reduced the commitment of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into adipocytes by 19%, indicating that formation of adipose tissue in these models was deterred by a marked reduction in stem cell adipogenesis. Translated to the human, this may represent the basis for the nonpharmacologic prevention of obesity and its sequelae, achieved through developmental, rather than metabolic, pathways.

C.T. Rubin, Stony Brook University

Metabolically, however, they also saw an effect. Fat burning increased through vibration training, at least in mice. Even after the end of the vibration training, the burning remained elevated. Researchers from the National Taiwan Sport University saw this effect five years later in 2012 (also in mice) and suspected that vibration training improves insulin sensitivity [12].

Higher fat burning

Similar results were seen in 2008 at the Oregon State University, but then in rats [5].

These findings show that whole-body vibration reduced body fat accumulation and serum leptin without affecting whole body BMC, BMD or lean mass.

…Also, whole-body vibration did not affect muscle function or food consumption.

G.F. Maddalozzo, Oregon State University

The rats were in individual cages connected to a vibration platform. For 12 weeks, five times a day, there was a half-hour of vibration. Not only did this thus lower the amount of body fat (10.2+/-1.7 vs 12+/-2.0%, P<0.05), but surprisingly also the amount of leptin. Leptin is also called a “hunger hormone” because it causes a feeling of satiety. Low leptin levels would therefore cause less satiety and thus more hunger. However, in this study, it did not lead to the “vibration plate mice” eating more.

Fat reduction

When researchers in 2012 compared strength training with strength training + vibration training, they saw that only the combination led to a reduction in body fat [6].

The addition of WBV to resistance training during 8 weeks, in recreationally active young adults, did not result in a larger muscular performance improvement compared to an identical exercise program in absence of vibration. Muscle mass also seemed to be equally affected with or without vibration, yet body fat could be exclusively decreased by WBV.

E.G. Artero, University of Granada

Research University of Zaragoza

In 2013, the effect of 20 weeks of vibration training on the body composition of teenagers with Down Syndrome was examined [7].

…the WBV group showed a higher reduction in body fat at the upper limbs (p<0.05), and a tendency toward higher percent increase in whole body lean body mass. Overall, a 20-week WBV training is not enough by itself for increasing lean body mass in adolescents with DS, but it might be helpful for improving body composition in this population. Its relationship with health and autonomy enhances the importance of these results.

González-Agüero A, University of Zaragoza

The researchers thus saw a greater loss of fat mass in the upper arms and a tendency to more muscle mass although this was not significant.

Research Miami

So far, all studies showed no effect on body fat or a lowering effect. However, last year a study also appeared that showed that vibration training actually caused a small increase in body fat and a decrease in lean mass [8].

However, for percent body fat, a moderate effect size was seen for the time × group interaction (η²=0.243; P=0.10), with the WBV group showing a slight increase in percent body fat while the aerobic training and circuit resistance training groups showed minor declines. A time × group interaction also approached significance for lean body mass (P=0.093). As can be seen from the results reported in Table 5, there was a slight decline in lean body mass for the WBV group, while the aerobic training and circuit resistance training groups showed minor increases.

L.R. Tapp, Departments of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences

That sucks. So far, you could at least think: “If it doesn’t help, it doesn’t hurt”.

Research Korea

And if you think we’ve now covered all the critical remarks, unfortunately, you’re wrong. Several years earlier, it was seen in Korea that vibration training actually reduced muscle mass and didn’t do much with body fat in postmenopausal women with overweight [9].

WBV** might display a weak but positive effect on body weight and waist circumference reduction in healthy postmenopausal obese women. However, attention must be given to avoid a decrease of muscle mass.

**Whole Body Vibration

Go-Eun Song, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon

Conclusion: can you lose weight with the power plate?

I haven’t covered all the studies such as a study among people with type II diabetes that was positive [10]. Or another study that compared vibration training with vibration training plus radio waves which showed a similar lowering effect on young women [11].

Unfortunately, we see many different and contradictory results from the various studies. I think we’ve seen every possible outcome. Sorry, in this case, more research is needed for certainty about the operation of vibration plates. Moreover, more insight is needed into the different effects on different target groups under different circumstances.

We can’t dismiss the power plate as a lure for unmotivated women  who mainly want to give themselves the idea that they are doing well. For this, there is too much research showing a positive effect. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of research that does not show this effect, so we can’t fully embrace the power plate yet.

So can you lose weight with the power plate? There seems to be smoke, but whether there’s fire….

References

1. Roelants M, Delecluse C, Goris M, Verschueren S. Effects of 24 weeks of whole body vibration training on body composition and muscle strength in untrained females. Int J Sports Med. 2004 Jan;25(1):1-5. PubMed PMID: 14750005.
2. Verschueren SM, Roelants M, Delecluse C, Swinnen S, Vanderschueren D, Boonen S. Effect of 6-month whole body vibration training on hip density, muscle
   strength, and postural control in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled pilot study. J Bone Miner Res 2004;19:352–9.
3. Fjeldstad C, Palmer IJ, Bemben MG, Bemben DA. Whole-body vibration augments resistance training effects on body composition in postmenopausal women. Maturitas. 2009 May 20;63(1):79-83. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.03.013. Epub 2009 Apr 21. PubMed PMID: 19386449.
4. Rubin CT, Capilla E, Luu YK, et al. Adipogenesis is inhibited by brief, daily exposure to high-frequency, extremely low-magnitude mechanical signals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007;104:17879–84.
5. Maddalozzo GF, Iwaniec UT, Turner RT, Rosen CJ, Widrick JJ. Whole-body vibration slows the acquisition of fat in mature female rats. Int J Obes
   2008;32:1348–54
6. Artero EG, Espada-Fuentes JC, Argüelles-Cienfuegos J, Román A, Gómez-López PJ,Gutiérrez A. Effects of whole-body vibration and resistance training on knee extensors muscular performance. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2012 Apr;112(4):1371-8. doi: 10.1007/s00421-011-2091-0. Epub 2011 Aug 2. PubMed PMID: 21809090.
7. González-Agüero A, Matute-Llorente A, Gómez-Cabello A, Casajús JA, Vicente-Rodríguez G. Effects of whole body vibration training on body composition
   in adolescents with Down syndrome. Res Dev Disabil. 2013 May;34(5):1426-33. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.01.023. Epub 2013 Mar 5. PubMed PMID: 23474995.
8. L.R. Tapp et al.Efficacy of WBV as a modality for inducing changes in body composition, aerobic fitness, and muscular strength: a pilot study. Published online 2013 Dec 23. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S30048
9. Go-Eun Song, Kwangmin Kim, Duck-Joo Lee, and Nam-Seok Joo. Whole Body Vibration Effects on Body Composition in the Postmenopausal Korean Obese Women: Pilot Study. Korean J Fam Med. 2011 Nov; 32(7): 399–405.Published online 2011 Nov 30. doi: 10.4082/kjfm.2011.32.7.399. PMCID: PMC3383152
10. Sañudo B, Alfonso-Rosa R, Del Pozo-Cruz B, Del Pozo-Cruz J, Galiano D,Figueroa A. Whole body vibration training improves leg blood flow and adiposity
    in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013 Sep;113(9):2245-52. doi: 10.1007/s00421-013-2654-3. Epub 2013 May 9. PubMed PMID:23657766.
11. Milanese C, Piscitelli F, Simoni C, Pugliarello R, Zancanaro C. Effects of whole-body vibration with or without localized radiofrequency on anthropometry,body composition, and motor performance in young nonobese women. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Jan;18(1):69-75. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0324. PubMed PMID:22268971.
12. Huang CC, Tseng TL, Huang WC, Chung YH, Chuang HL, Wu JH. Whole-body vibration training effect on physical performance and obesity in mice. Int J Med Sci. 2014 Sep 18;11(12):1218-27. doi: 10.7150/ijms.9975. eCollection 2014. PubMed PMID:25317067; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4196122.