Step aside mom jeans, scrunchies and denim on denim, there’s another trend making a comeback. Vibration plates are trending once again. Similar to the mid-20th-century vibrating belt machines, vibration plates have been said to provide the body with various benefits and can even be a tool for weight loss. But is the hype backed by science and expert opinions, or is it all social media hearsay?

To find out if you should add a vibration plate to your workout routine, we asked personal trainers and other fitness experts about the benefits, risks, how to use a vibration plate and more.

What is a vibration plate?

Whole body vibration plates is are a form of exercise machine that shakes rapidly when you stand on it. When you stand on a vibration plate, you’re engaging in a full body vibration exercise, where your muscles are forced to contract and relax quickly.

“The purpose of vibration plates is to generate quick vibrations that cause your body’s muscles to contract and relax several times per second,” says Dr. Leah Verebes, a physical therapist and assistant professor at Touro University’s School of Health Sciences. “At a far greater frequency, this resembles the spontaneous contractions that take place during exercise.”

“This stimulates a subconscious muscle activation each time the machine moves, meaning your muscles are activating far more than they would on a stable surface,” says Laura Wilson, a personal trainer at Life Time Fishers and director of training and curriculum at Power Plate, a company that produces vibrating exercise machines. 

There are several ways to use a vibration plate, the most common being standing on its rectangular platform. However, you can also perform squats or push-ups on it.

Wilson says vibration plates can move in multiple directions: up and down, side to side and front to back. The harmonic vibrations move between 25 to 50 times per second, activating the corresponding muscles.

Vibration plate benefits

Yes, there are health benefits to using vibration plates. According to Verebes, some of the advantages may include “improved muscle tone and strength, better circulation, higher bone density, improved flexibility and balance, lymphatic drainage and the possibility of weight loss when paired with a healthy diet and regular exercise.”

However, experts agree that vibration plates offer the most benefits when used as part of an overall health and wellness plan. In other words, you shouldn’t expect to lose weight or increase muscle strength just by standing on a vibration plate — even if social media makes it seem so. Instead, experts suggest supplementing vibration exercise with other healthy habits, including a balanced diet and aerobic and strength training.

“Vibration plates are not a magic bullet or a replacement for traditional exercise,” warns Michael Betts, a personal trainer and director at TRAINFITNESS. “The benefits are modest and work best when combined with other forms of training.”

Still, research indicates that using vibration plates can have positive effects on your health. For example, one 2021 study looked at whether whole-body vibration training could improve muscle strength in older adults, concluding that it “may be an alternative exercise method to boost the effect of strengthening exercise.”

Similarly, a 2007 study investigated the effects of whole-body vibration training in men over 60 and found that it has the “potential to prevent or reverse the age-related loss in skeletal muscle mass, referred to as sarcopenia.”

Other research suggests that vibration-based exercise may help improve bone mass density, reduce inflammation, alleviate chronic low back pain and more.

Vibration plate risks

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For most, vibration plates are generally safe. However, like any other type of exercise, they come with a few potential risks, including “aggravation of existing conditions, temporary dizziness and joint stress if used incorrectly,” according to Betts.

There are also certain groups of people who should avoid using vibration plates altogether. “Vibration plates shouldn’t be used by anyone with cardiac or circulatory disorders, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pacemakers; pregnant women; people who have just had surgery; and people who have severe osteoporosis,” Verebes says.

“People with pre-existing disorders, including herniated discs, joint issues or acute inflammation, may experience worsening symptoms when using vibration plates,” she adds. “The vibrations may also be disconcerting to people who have inner ear problems or balance abnormalities.”

Verebes points out that “excessive use or high-intensity vibrations may strain ligaments, muscles or joints.”

Even if you don’t have one of these conditions, it’s still a good idea to talk to your doctor before getting on a vibration plate.

It’s also worth mentioning that a 2015 study discovered a link between regular exposure to whole-body vibration and a higher risk of lower back pain and sciatica. However, the participants in that study were regularly exposed to vibration as part of their jobs, so the results may not apply to vibration plate users.

How often should you use a vibration plate?

If you’re new to whole-body vibration training, it’s important to start slowly. 

“To allow the body to adapt to vibrations, beginners should start with 5 to 10 minutes at a low intensity,” says Verebes. “Moderation is key, as excessive use may lead to fatigue or injury.”

As a beginner, it’s best to limit yourself to two to three sessions per week, says Betts. Over time, you can work toward longer and more frequent sessions. “As your body adapts, you can increase to 15- to 20-minute sessions up to 3 to 4 times a week,” he says. “Never go over 30 minutes, as this can cause fatigue and joint stress.”

For proper recovery, Betts also recommends leaving at least 24 hours between vibration plate sessions. “Listen to your body and adjust accordingly,” he advises. “Quality of movement matters more than duration.”

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Vibration plate exercises

To use a vibration plate, you can simply stand in place with slightly bent knees. You can also engage in other exercises — like squats or push-ups — while using the machine. 

“Incorporating exercises such as squats, lunges, planks, push-ups and core workouts enhances results by engaging more muscle groups and boosting calorie burn,” says Verebes.

If you’re up to the challenge, here are three vibration plate exercises to try, as recommended by Wilson:

Push-ups

“Push-ups work your chest and shoulders — and doing them on a vibration plate activates many more muscle fibers per second than if you were to do them on the floor,” says Wilson.

To perform a push-up on a vibration plate, follow these steps: 

1. Get into a high plank position by placing your palms flat on the platform and stretching your legs long behind you.
2. Lower into a push-up position slowly. Your chest should come close to touching the platform.
3. Perform three sets of 10 reps, taking 30 seconds of rest between each set.

High plank holds

You can also use a vibration plate to perform a high plank hold, which is “great for your core and upper body strength,” says Wilson. Here’s how: 

1. Get into a high plank position by placing your palms flat on the platform and stretching your legs long behind you.
2. Hold for 30 seconds. Perform three sets, taking 15 seconds of rest between each set.

Tricep dips

“This exercise works the back of the arm as well as the shoulder,” says Wilson. “You’re going to experience much more muscle activation when doing it on a vibration plate machine.” Here’s how: 

1. Sit on the edge of the platform. 
2. Place your palms on the platform (just outside of your hips). Keep your feet flat on the ground with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
3. Scoot forward until you’re hovering in front of the platform, only supported by your arms and legs.
4. Lower your hips toward the ground by bending at the elbows, stopping when your elbows reach 90 degrees or when you can’t lower your hips further.
5. Push through your palms and return to the starting position. 
6. Perform three sets of 10 reps, taking 30 seconds of rest between each set.

Do vibration plates work if you just stand on them?

You don’t need to perform exercises while using a vibration plate, but experts say moving your body — rather than standing still — will help you get more out of the machine.

“Actively moving while using the plate maximizes its benefits, even though simply standing on it can support circulation and balance,” says Verebes.

Betts agrees, adding: “Standing still on a vibration plate provides some stimulus through the muscle contractions, but adding movement increases the benefits. Static positions can help with circulation and muscle activation, but dynamic exercises will give you strength gains, balance improvements and overall training effects.”

If you’ve never used a vibration plate before, you could begin by standing in place or squatting while you’re on the machine. As you get more comfortable, you can incorporate different exercises and positions. Or you can alternate between standing still and exercising, suggests Betts.

“Combine both approaches — use static holds to build comfort and awareness, then move for optimal results,” he says. “Form and progression are key regardless of whether you’re moving or holding positions.”

The bottom line

Simply scrolling through social media, you might get the idea that vibration plates are an easy, low-commitment way to transform your body. While it’s true that vibration plates offer some compelling benefits, they aren’t a shortcut to fitness. 

To get the best results from your vibration plate training, experts also recommend following a healthy diet and participating in other forms of exercise. It’s also a good idea to speak with your doctor before you start using a vibration plate — especially if you’ve had blood clots, joint issues or other health conditions.

Do you need a little extra inspiration to be more active throughout the day? Or perhaps you’re wondering if your workouts are challenging enough to optimize your cardiovascular health. And if you have any type of heart disease, you’ll want to be sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard during vigorous physical activity. For each of these situations, a wearable fitness tracker may be a worthwhile investment, especially when you consider that exercise is widely considered the best medicine — not just for your heart but for your overall health.

You may already own such a device, as most smart watches include a range of fitness tracking features alongside their other functions. Other options include wrist-worn bands and smart rings that focus primarily on health and fitness tracking.

“The information these wearables provide is measurable, meaningful, and motivating,” says Dr. Sawalla Guseh, director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. “It’s like having a goal-setting coach with you around the clock,” he says.

Long-term monitoring may also alert you to heart problems, says Dr. Guseh. “I had one patient who didn’t feel chest pain or related symptoms, but he noticed his exercise performance declining over time. It turned out he had coronary artery disease,” he says.

Features to watch

Here are some of the features on wearable fitness devices that are worth checking out.

Stand or move reminders. Many wearables feature customizable notifications — a message on the watch face or a sound or vibration — to remind you to stand up and move around for a short period of time to break up long stretches of sitting. Even dedicated runners need to avoid being sedentary throughout the day to keep their hearts healthy, says Dr. Guseh (see “Stand up for your heart” in the June 2025 Heart Letter).

Daily step counts. Although you’ve likely heard that 10,000 steps per day is a good goal, that number was based on a Japanese marketing scheme and not actual data. Recent evidence finds that a lower number — anywhere from 4,000 to 7,000 daily steps — is linked to improved heart health. A smartphone (provided you carry it with you most of the day) can give a close estimate of your daily step count, but a wearable will be more accurate. Data from your smart watch automatically syncs with your smartphone, and most have apps that display trends in your step counts and other exercise data over weeks, months, and years.

Heart rate zones. Wearables make it easier to assess your exercise effort with heart rate zones, which classify how intensely you’re exercising by measuring your heart rate. The zones are based on your maximum (or peak) heart rate (MHR) — an estimate of the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity. A commonly used formula for MHR is 220 beats per minute minus your age, but you should consider this a ballpark figure, since factors other than age are at play.

Different wearables have varied numbers of heart rate zones, although five is typical. Zones 2 and 3 are generally thought to correspond to moderate-intensity exercise, while zones 4 and 5 correspond to vigorous-intensity exercise. But because they’re not individualized, they may not be accurate for everyone, Dr. Guseh notes. Ideally, you should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes or more of vigorous-intensity exercise, or an equivalent combination every week.

Heart rate recovery (HRR). This value reflects your heart’s ability to return to its normal, resting pace after you stop exercising. It’s the difference between your peak heart rate during exercise and your heart rate at a set time after you stop (typically one to two minutes). A value of 20 beats per minute is considered good, and higher is even better.

Maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂ max). This value is the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during intense exercise. It can be measured directly when a person runs on a treadmill with an oxygen mask in a lab. Some wearables estimate it based on an algorithm that uses data such as your MHR, HRR, pace, weight, and sex. VO2 max is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular health. “The absolute number may not always be accurate, but the trends can be useful. If your VO₂ max rises over time, that’s a strong sign your training is improving your fitness,” says Dr. Guseh.

Heart rate variability (HRV). This value is a measure of the variation in time between heartbeats — differences that are just fractions of a second. More variability (a higher value) suggests better heart health, because it reflects the heart’s ability to respond quickly to rapid changes occurring throughout the body. Most wearables report this value, but there isn’t a recommended target because it varies widely depending on your age, sex, fitness level, and medical history. However, it can be useful to track trends in your HRV over time. HRV often falls after a period or stress or illness but then bounces back — a sign that you’re good to go back to exercising, says Dr. Guseh.

Image: © Oscar Wong/Getty Images

I have a strange question, but stay with me: Have you ever thought about how long you can run without breathing through your mouth? In a dark basement in central London I recently discovered that, for me, the answer is: Not for very long.

Apparently, that means my VO2 max, or ability to send oxygenated blood to my muscles, and how well my muscles can use that oxygen during intense exercise, is quite low.

Translation: I’m unfit.

I do low-impact strength training like yoga and pilates most days, but no cardio. I’ve tried to get into running, but it never sticks, and I find cardio machines boring.

I learned specifically how bad I am at cardio at V02:MAXED, a new class at London’s GymBox. I knew one session wouldn’t transform my health, but I was interested to try the first class I’d seen marketed around VO2 max.

I wondered if exercising with a specific goal might motivate me to finally form a cardio habit, and if the class — and the nose strips we had to wear while working out — was just a fad.

Once the preserve of high-level athletes, in recent years, VO2 max has become a buzzy measure of cardiovascular fitness among runners, fitness competition enthusiasts, and health optimization bros. People are obsessed with it because it’s said to be a strong predictor of longevity.

As I’m not an endurance athlete, my low score may not seem like a big deal, but having a high VO2 max is linked to a longer life, and a reduced risk of conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

I don’t care that I can’t run five kilometers in under 30 minutes, but I do care about staying active and healthy as I age.

To increase your VO2 max, you have to do a mixture of shorter high-intensity and longer, easier workouts. VO2:Maxed is a 16-week course where clients train at a range of intensities. The class I did was the fourth in the series.

Feeling nervous about entering a gym that uses the words “gnarly,” “sadistic,” and “savage” to describe some of its classes, I descended the staircase from the reception area to the dimly lit bodybuilder’s playground below with trepidation.

We had to breathe through our noses for as long as possible

In the 50-minute class, we repeated three-minute sets on a stroke machine (ski or rower) and a cycle machine (bike or treadmill), with 45-second breaks in between. I used a ski machine and an assault bike.

What made the class unique was the breathwork. Our instructor, Firas Iskandarani, a Hyrox and Crossfit coach, explained that we should aim to breathe through our noses for most of the class. He called this type of breathing “gear one,” and breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth “gear two.”

We were told to note when we had to “switch gears.” Iskandarani said this should happen after around 90-seconds to two-minutes, but I struggled to get to one minute.

As a rough guide, the longer you can stay in gear one, the higher your VO2 max is likely to be, he said. The idea is that, over time, you will need to switch gears less quickly, which indicates your aerobic capacity has increased.

About halfway through the class, we were given nasal strips to stick on the fleshy part of our noses, and encouraged to notice if it helped us stay in gear one for longer.

It’s thought that widening the nasal canal could help to increase endurance by allowing more air through the nose. But one 2020 meta-analysis published in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology found that wearing a nasal strip while exercising didn’t improve VO2 Max or heart rate. Still, lots of runners and athletes swear by them, like the elite tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, who wears them during his matches.

I felt that the nasal strip helped a little, but it kept peeling off as my nose got sweaty.

Breathing through your nose while exercising is thought to help you stay in Zone 2

Nasal breathing is not directly linked to improving VO2 max, but is thought to help the body use oxygen more efficiently.

It also encourages you to stay in Zone 2, or at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, while you’re exercising. Your muscles have more access to oxygen in Zone 2, making it an effective way to increase aerobic endurance.

Once you enter Zone 3, 70% to 80% of your max heart rate, you’re moving at an intensity that’s too much for the available oxygen supply, which causes you to get out of breath.

Breathing through my nose and doing cardio at the same time was hard

I found there was a lot to remember and focus on in this class: not only understanding the different gears, but trying to stay in gear one while checking the clock to see when I started mouth breathing.

All of this mental arithmetic was required on top of the three-minute sets of cardio, which, I think is fair to say, is a long time. My mind kept wandering and I kept accidentally mouth breathing before I’d actually reached my threshold.

It was also tricky to go at a slow enough pace to stay in gear one for even a minute. After about thirty seconds I started to lose my breath. I suppose that tells me I have some work to do in this area.

That being said, I wasn’t huffing and puffing or red in the face afterwards like I usually am after a 35-minute run. But my arms did get very tired from pulling the ropes on the ski machine and moving the handles on the assault bike back and forth.

A structured class made working on my cardio feel more achievable

If I did this class again I would pace myself better so that I wouldn’t get out of breath so quickly. But I think for a cardio beginner like me, it was a little too technical and advanced.

Iskandarani said that part of the demand for the class came from Hyrox fans and CrossFitters, who are already pretty fit and looking to increase their endurance for competitions.

But I found doing cardio in such a structured way and with a group of people much more fun and motivating than doing it alone. Going forward, I think I’ll stick to cardio classes rather than running every once in a while, getting bored, and trying again when enough time has passed for me to forget how arduous I found it.

By focusing on my breath, it became apparent that my cardiovascular fitness is lower than I’d like, and I’m only 28. I wondered how it would inevitably deteriorate over time, and if I’m struggling to get through a class like this now, it’s only going to get harder when I’m in my 50s, let alone 80s.

As for the VO2 max workout, I don’t think it was the right cardio class for me, but it’s motivated me to continue my search. Anyone for Zumba?