{"id":320027,"date":"2026-02-04T16:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/320027\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T16:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:01:09","slug":"do-vibration-plates-actually-do-anything-experts-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/320027\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Vibration Plates Actually Do Anything? Experts Weigh In"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media has a new fitness obsession<\/a>: vibration plates, or scale-sized platforms that vibrate at a range of frequencies <\/a>and claim to boost fitness and improve body composition. And a whole lot of lifestyle and fitness influencers are buying into it.<\/p>\n

Brands and influencers claim vibration plates promote lymphatic drainage, help with weight loss, improve muscle tone and strength, and reduce bloating.<\/p>\n

And medical professionals have many thoughts about these claims.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a saying by astronomer Carl Sagan that goes, \u201cextraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,\u201d and this couldn\u2019t be more true when it comes to many social media fads, said Matthew Welch<\/a>, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a lot of really knowledgeable people and some great information that\u2019s out there, but this information exists on a spectrum. So, we get really qualified people putting out high-quality information and really good tidbits, but then we also get people that are really just looking for clicks, engagement and basically just trying to gain traction on their pages,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

There is often no research to support the claims of this latter group, which is (sorry) the case with vibration plates, Welch noted.<\/p>\n

This can be confusing for the average social media user who is looking for simple ways to improve their health and boost their fitness, especially when these plates can cost $200, $500 and even upward of $1,000.<\/p>\n

Simply standing on a vibration plate isn\u2019t going to do much of anything for your health.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Welch, most vibration plate studies<\/a> have been conducted when the plates were used as an exercise accompaniment, such as when someone does push-ups<\/a> or squats on a vibration plate.<\/p>\n

Many social media users have posted videos of themselves just standing or sitting on the platform to get benefits, but Welch warns against that.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding on it isn\u2019t just going to improve your body composition,\u201d Welch said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to lose fat just by standing on it. You need to be doing other things,\u201d whether that\u2019s using it as you do crunches, resistance band training, squats or some other form of movement.<\/p>\n

If you think that just standing on a platform for 10 to 15 minutes a day is going to improve your body composition, \u201cthat\u2019s just not true,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

Standing on a vibration plate as it moves can burn some calories, but not many, and certainly less than you\u2019d burn on a walk or run, said Dr. Charles Chatman<\/a>, a family medicine and sports medicine physician at the University of California at Davis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something you want to just do by itself,\u201d Chatman added.<\/p>\n

\""Saying<\/p>\n

LordHenriVoton via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“Saying that, ‘Oh, just by standing on this platform for 10 to 15 minutes a day is going to improve your body composition,’ that’s just not true,” said exercise physiologist Matthew Welch.<\/p>\n

They can help improve balance in older folks who are prone to falls.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One benefit? When standing on a vibration plate, your muscles do activate and contract to keep you from falling over, Chatman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you are going to have an increase in your strength in those muscles, especially the lower extremity and also the core. And then what that allows you to do is have an increase in balance,\u201d Chatman noted.<\/p>\n

For older adults who have balance issues, a vibration platform can potentially be beneficial, Chatman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSedentary and elderly folks, they\u2019re going to get pretty good results from doing this because it\u2019s such a novel stimulus to them,\u201d Welch added.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll challenge their balance and get their muscles contracting in a different way than they\u2019re used to. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can check off a lot of boxes in terms of balance, stability, coordination, and also just giving your muscles and joints a different type of exercise,\u201d Welch said, so long as it\u2019s done in conjunction with other movement.<\/p>\n

Exercising on a vibration plate is fine, but research doesn\u2019t show it\u2019s any more effective than exercising without one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For someone with a regular exercise regimen who chooses to do certain workouts on a vibration plate, the benefits aren\u2019t clear.<\/p>\n

Working out is beneficial whether you do it on a vibration plate or off of one, Welch said. It\u2019s not any better to exercise on the plate.<\/p>\n

For example, while your strength may improve if you exercise on a vibration plate, it won\u2019t improve any more than it would if you did strength training off of the vibrating platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you can get strong doing it, but it may not be because of the reasons that you initially thought. The vibration isn\u2019t necessarily adding an extra benefit,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, with that being said … if someone enjoys doing it, if they don\u2019t have pain when they\u2019re doing the exercises and if it\u2019s something that\u2019s going to keep them consistent, then I have no problem with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It can be a supplement to a well-rounded strength training program, said Welch, but not a replacement. <\/p>\n

Any claims of lymphatic drainage have not yet been proven.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One major claim about these vibration plates is that they can be used for lymphatic drainage, which is the lymphatic system\u2019s natural process<\/a> of moving and draining excess fluid.<\/p>\n

But the idea of \u201clymphatic drainage\u201d is a wellness buzzword that people often associate with weight loss and bloating, which is not what the term actually means.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes everyone need to have their lymphatic system \u2018drained?\u2019 No,\u201d said Chatman. Some people may have health issues that involve lymphatic system blockage, Chatman said, such as lymphedema<\/a>, which causes swelling in the legs.<\/p>\n

People with lymphedema and other lymphatic system issues need specific therapies to drain their lymphatic system, Chatman said. \u201cBut I would say for an average individual, that\u2019s not necessary.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as you have a liver, you\u2019re getting lymphatic drainage,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

\"VibrationVibration platforms promise improved muscle tone, less bloating and more \u2014 but medical professionals aren’t so sure.<\/p>\n

Exercise already promotes lymphatic drainage, Welch said, as do things like calf raises after sitting for a long time or getting up to walk around on an airplane. <\/p>\n

Your body is already draining excess fluid when you move around, so getting on a vibrating plate to further promote this drainage isn\u2019t particularly beneficial, said Chatman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t find any evidence that whole body vibration improved lymphatic drainage, and I also couldn\u2019t find any studies that examined that in the research,\u201d said Welch.<\/p>\n

Vibration plates probably don\u2019t help with bloating, either.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One major promise from influencers using these machines is that they help reduce bloating.<\/p>\n

Chatman said that he doesn\u2019t \u201csee the correlation with how that helped with bloating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welch added that while someone may have noticed less bloating after using a vibration plate, there may be other factors at play (diet, alcohol consumption, exercise, for example) that caused those improvements.<\/p>\n

There is better fitness equipment to spend your money on, experts say.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing that I want to get across is that it would be an adjunct, but it shouldn\u2019t be your primary source of fitness,\u201d Chatman said of vibration plates.<\/p>\n

Research shows that there are many other things, such as going for a walk<\/a>, jog or taking part in resistance training, that are more beneficial than using a vibrating platform, Chatman said. <\/p>\n

If you have a lot of fitness equipment that you\u2019re already using properly and regularly and want a vibration plate to help you reach some of the proven goals mentioned above, such as better balance<\/a>, that\u2019s fine, said Welch.<\/p>\n

But if you are hoping to achieve objectives that aren\u2019t yet proven, or want the most effective way to reach fitness or health goals, you may want to pause before spending your money on a vibration platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could think of a lot of other pieces of equipment to select for a lot of goals before I would select that,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n

If you are considering getting a vibration plate, Chatman said, it\u2019s a good idea to talk to your doctor first to make sure the machine is a good fit for you. \u201cSee if this is something that will benefit you, or if it\u2019s something that is not going to be beneficial depending on your medical condition,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

In the end, a vibration plate likely won\u2019t change your health or fitness immensely, but if it helps you stick to a workout plan or pushes you to make better health choices, there is nothing wrong with using one.<\/p>\n