Extract from TIME Magazine:

In a diet-obsessed world, we all have our own dream of the perfect weight-loss solution: a potato-chip diet, a pill that trims belly fat or, best of all, an exercise that builds lots of muscle with little work. The Power Plate, a new workout machine that looks like a doctor's office scale on steroids, claims to do just that.

According to Power Plate's manufacturers, if you stand on the machine's vibrating plates for 10 minutes a day three times a week, you will lose weight, increase bone density and improve your overall health. But is that really possible?

It might be. Unlike the old-fashioned belt exercisers that just shifted skin around, the Power Plate uses whole-body vibration, or WBV, to contract muscles 30 to 50 times per second. While you stand on the moving plates in the bent-knee position recommended for beginners, the continual vibration causes you to tense and relax your muscles to keep your balance. Even without the vibration, you would involuntarily tense and release just to hold the pose. But the WBV forces you to do so up to 50 times more. That's quite a workout for so little effort.

But to get the most out of the Power Plate, you can't just stand. The best approach is to perform the same exercises you would do on the floor—squats, tricep dips, push-ups and the like. Your muscles fatigue quicker, so the exercise routine will be shorter, but you're still not making the plates do all the work. "This is not a magic bullet that helps people lose weight without doing anything," says Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. "If you are a healthy individual, WBV training should be a supplement to a sensible diet and exercise program."

And a session of vibration may be not only good exercise but good therapy as well for people with physical ills like arthritis or osteoporosis. George Waylonis, a clinical professor emeritus of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Ohio State University, conducted a study on the effects of WBV on patients with fibromyalgia, a disease that causes constant full-body pain. Waylonis studied the Power Plate and the Galileo, another vibration exerciser, and was impressed by both. "WBV seems to be a way for people in pain to exercise their muscles and ultimately feel better," he says. More such research is certainly needed, but Power Plates can already be found in select gyms, rehabilitation centers and private homes. The machines are expensive: £2,500 for the home unit and £7,250 for the gym model, so some of the private owners are people with names like Madonna. But if you can't afford the cost or the space for such a bulky bit of hardware, look for the units to show up at a gym near you soon

Extract from Life & Style Magazine: What's it all about?
Power-Plate is a machine that gives the body's muscles a high-speed workout by using vibrations to stimulate them to contract and relax. They generally contract once or twice a second, but by standing on the Power-Plate, its vibrations cause an automatic reflex muscle contraction of 30-50 a second.

Power-Plate is a great time-saver due to the effectiveness of training and the fact that many muscle groups are activated at the same time. It's claimed that 10 minutes on the Power-Plate will have the same results as 60 minutes of conventional strenuous training.

What the expert says...
Mark Andrews is a remedial therapist and Power-Plate specialist trainer.

Better results in less time. Power-Plate is like the microwave of fitness - you can do as little as 10 minutes and still achieve a great workout.

Start gradually
The best way to train is by increasing the frequency gradually. Beginners are advised to start with nine minutes of the resistance programme, followed by nine minutes of the stretch, massage and relaxation programme, both on the lower frequency and amplitude settings.

Stand correctly
In order to develop strength, power, muscle tone and definition, it is essential to adopt a position that puts tension on the muscles. For example, if you're doing the squat position, have your knees bent and lean from the hips, as if you are about to sit on a chair.

Keep your workout short
Although everyone is different, it's usually enough to start with no more than 30 seconds on each exercise. This will reduce the duration of the workout, which is a real bonus for people who are time-short but crave results.
Combine your exercises

Try to choose a combination of compound exercises (such as squats and push-ups, which use more than one muscle group) and isolation exercises (biceps curls and front raises). You'll get a better training response, as well as increasing potential calorie burn.

Keep your knees bent
Vibration training stimulates the contraction of the muscle spindles, so it's important to keep your knees slightly bent to avoid jarring through the joints.

Drink enough water
Your muscles will be contracting 30-50 times more quickly, thereby generating a lot of internal heat, so even if you don't feel thirsty, always drink water while you're working out.

Train for other sports
Using Power-Plate can help you get far better sport-specific benefits. With skiing, for example, stand in a crouched ski squat position for 30 seconds, and your quads will receive a more appropriate training stimulus than any standing squat against a wall. You can get similar benefits for your golf swing, rugby scrum and so on - just stand in the sport-specific position.

Getting started
Celebrity Power-Plate devotees include Madonna, Jonathan Ross and Donatella Versace. But don't fret if you're not in the A-list league of owning your own. A number of health-club chains now have one or more Power-Plates as part of their gym equipment. David Lloyd clubs have between three and five units on each site, and several community leisure centres now own one, too. To find one close to you, and for classes, log on to powerplate.com. If you want to try before you buy, go to one of the introductory classes at the Power-Plate Studio, Harrods, London SW1 (020-7893 8518) - it's £25 for a 25-minute session with a certified trainer.

Once on the plate, the beginners' programme involves standing in nine different positions, each held for 30 seconds. You can choose your intensity of vibration stimulus from the control panel. Beginners are encouraged to start off at 30 vibrations a second, progressing up to 50. Getting started is easy - simply stand on the machine, select the appropriate vibration level on the control panel, and position yourself in each of the nine positions.
Each Power-Plate comes with an instructional manual, booklet and banner showing visual descriptions of each of the positions for resistance, flexibility and massage. Allow up to 20 minutes for a total workout for resistance, flexibility and massage.

The instructions are comprehensive and simple to read, while the banner illustrations are easy to follow. If you do want more information, however, the best source is power-plate.com.

The gear
After Madonna bought a Power-Plate, sales soared; at one point John Lewis's version - which costs £2,599 - was the store's fastest-selling fitness product. The larger version costs nearer £7,000, but at least you don't have to buy any specific gear once you've splashed out. What's more, there is no impact through the joints, so you don't even need to wear trainers. That said, it is generally good practice to wear protective footwear when you do exercise of any kind.
To get the most out of the positions, you do need comfortable clothing. If you've forked out £2,000-plus for your own Power-Plate, you may wish to look the part, too, as you vibrate your way to a better body. Loose-fitting, stretchy gear is best: Sweaty Betty has an excellent choice for women; men will find a good selection from brands such as Adidas and Nike.

The downside

No cardiovascular benefits
You may get great results in your body's tone and flexibility, but you won't see any significant improvements to the stamina of your heart and lungs.

It's cumbersome
This isn't the sort of equipment you can hide away and bring out each time you want to use it; if you have your own, you'll need to set aside a dedicated space at home.

To hire a Power plate simply ring 0800 542 5668