Powerplate Review

I have the attention span of a gnat. To keep myself interested in working out I have to constantly find new exercises and classes. A quick Google search threw up the Powerplate as an alternative gym workout. According to The Guardian :

"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."

Sounds great right? Only problem is most Powerplate classes are about £15 to £35 for a 20 minute session, which is a bit steep for me and I imagine most other people. However, the powers that be Google yielded a free trial session at City Powertone Studios in Central London. So last week Wednesday I rocked up to the Studios at the ungodly hour of 7am to try out a free session.

I was impressed. The session was a one to one with an instructor and lasted about 20 minutes. In that time I held 5 or 6 poses/moves for a minute at a time. One of the moves was a standard squat. Doing squats for one minute on a Powerplate felt like the equivalent of doing squats with 20 kg weights for an entire track in a Body Pump class. A bold claim, yes, but entirely true. I was working at the lowest "vibration" level (there are 2 higher levels) without kettle bells so there was clearly scope for a truly punishing workout. My instructor recommended that I do 2 sessions a week for about 8 weeks to see good results. That's £240 over an 8 week period compared with the £80 I would pay in gym membership fees over the same period. Is the Powerplate worth the extra money? I would have to say no for the simple reason that it was a bit boring. I like my workouts to be fun and I like to be part of a decent sized class for motivation and a sense that I'm not alone in wanting to achieve my goals. A larger group is also good for the gym version of peer pressure - if the person next to you in a spinning class can do another standing sprint, so can you. Powerplate sessions tend to be limited to a maximum of 4 people and the atmosphere is more zen-like pilates than let's-kick-@ss-and-sweat. And for that reason, I am out.

Click here to book a free trial at City Powertone Studios.

p.s. I completed day 4 of the Shred this evening after work, it's getting easier again - phew!