Diablo Fit: Power Plate Workouts

Diablo's editor tries a cutting-edge machine for her summer workouts.

I thought I was fit. I ski, play tennis and golf, and love to swim and hike. I even get to my gym, Renaissance ClubSport in Walnut Creek, three or four times a week and can do as many lunges or crunches as any other woman in my Group Power weightlifting class. Rawr!

I thought for sure, if I tried the crazy new exercise machine that landed at ClubSport this spring, I’d be able to do it no sweat. The machine, called a Power Plate, doesn’t have any weights or pullies, just a large plate to stand on, with handles and plenty of cool computerized buttons. Actually, it looks like all it can do is transport you to another world if you give the command: “Beam me up, Scotty.”

Unless it required the kind of programming skills you need to set a VCR, something I always let my husband do, I wanted to give it a try. If I was lucky, maybe the five pounds I’m always trying to lose would be transported to Mars; and if not, at least, it was a story for Diablo.

So I made an appointment with one of ClubSports’ personal trainers, Mary Ann DeCosta, who teaches my Thursday morning spin class. And she gave me a 10-minute demo, which nearly killed me. It’s as hard as anything I’ve ever done—other than giving birth to my son.

The power plate is “vibration training.” That means the plate you stand on vibrates while you exercise—30 vibrations a second. The vibration makes your muscles contract and relax, which makes it extremely difficult to do a simple move, like a crunch or a lunge. It’s just harder to control your muscles when they are vibrating all over place. And when you try to 30 of them in a minute, well, good luck!

The short session was so tough, I wondered whether I should tell Mary Ann that I didn't think I could do it. I was afraid I’d never make it through a 30-minute session the next week. But before I ccould quit, Mary Ann said I was doing great—and that I’d be surprised at how quickly I get stronger.

Well, it is an out-of-this-world workout. During the demo, my heart rate shot up to 163, and I must have been burning an astronomical number of calories. It's also a quick way to strech your muscles to warm up, and you can even program the Power Plate to massage them afterward. You get a full and intense workout in 30 minutes.

So, I’m going back next week, and I hope I’ll be able to get through the 30-minute circuit without begging for mercy. Or trying to figure out whether I really can program that thing to beam me up and out of the gym.

Wish me luck, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted at 12:33 PM in Best Of Editor Picks | Permalink