Yesterday I headed on down to Good Vibes to try out one of their Power Plates sessions. Power Plates was actually the first type of class I took when I was getting back into fitness a couple of years ago. I haven’t been on one for about a year, so was excited for the session. As soon as I got on it, I remembered why I loved it so much.

So, what the hell is a Power Plate anyway? Basically, it’s a machine that vibrates. When you do exercises on it, it causes the muscles to contract 25-50 times a second. So essentially, you’re working the muscles much harder. As such, Power Plates sessions usually only last anywhere from 15-30 minutes. When these bad boys first hit the scene, obviously to market them to women, they played it heavy on the ‘it cures cellulite!’ angle. (True story, there was an African food shop near where I live that had a Power Plate in it. Women would go and stand on it while they waited for their food. For reals). Now yes, due to the vibrations, the breaking down of that fatty tissue is one of the benefits, so you may see a reduction in cellulite (though you have to do a little more than just stand on the damn thing), but other perks include better balance, increased muscle strength, a low impact workout and reduced pain and soreness.

My class at Good Vibes yesterday was solid. It was a 25 minute class made up of three 6 minute circuits and a warm up and warm down. Each 6 minute circuit was made up of six exercises that you’d do for 45 seconds on the first set, 50 on the second and a full minute on the final circuit. When it started out, I thought the exercises were a little easy, but I know all too well not to judge too early on.

I liked that dumb bells, exercise bands and medicine balls were brought in for certain exercises – kept it varied and forced you to concentrate on different motion.

I must say, the final circuit was my favourite – focusing on the core. I do love a good core workout and doing it on a Power Plate, you can just feel the intensity of it immediately. I liked that the instructor made a point throughout the class of reminding me to keep my core engaged as it really did add an extra dimension to each exercise when I did. While I did enjoy the class, admittedly, I would probably go for a harder session next time.

If you were wondering what you can do on a Power Plate, I did a variety of press ups, sit ups, planks, crunches, squats, lunges and more. It also had a massage function where it vibrates extra fast – this is brilliant to work out any kinks in the quads or calves, you really feel a benefit.

Good Vibes is a nice studio and with just six Power Plates, you’ll have a nice session that isn’t overcrowded or manic.

I really think Power Plates is a great cross training tool – throw it in to your training once or twice a week to strengthen your muscles and I’m sure you’ll see the benefit in any other training you do.

Check out Good Vibes here