Many gyms and health clubs are how installing Power-Plates in their centre allowing members and gym users the chance to experience a whole new type of workout. Power Plate brands include Vibro Power Plates, Vibrostation, Bodytrain and Body Sculpture.

Hailed as the fitness phenomenon by celebrities, top athletes and personal trainers alike Power-Plate uses something called Advanced Vibration Technology to deleiver all the benefits of a one hour resistance based gym session in only 15 minutes.

Amazing the Power-Plate was first used by NASA to allow astronauts landing back on Earth to regenerate the muscle mass lost in space (due to zero gravity the muscles don't need to work as hard and so consequently they lose their size, strength and tone) quickly.

A Power-Plate workout is the perfect supplment to your usual resistance / weight training session at the gym. Unlike other forms of resistance exercise which encourages the performer to use the full ROM (range of motion) the Power-Plate workout asks the exerciser to hold a series of poses, positions and postures while working on the Power-Plate, including squats, lunges, press ups, push ups, abdominal crunches, tricep dips and amazingly bicep curls!

The Advanced Vibration Technology then transfers vibrations to the exercisers muscles which requires the muscles to then contract and relax up to 50 times a second! So whilst holding the aforementioned positions, squats, lunges, press ups etc, the body is moving and the muscles are working hard to stabilise the body. This form of 'Acceleration Training' produces noticablely faster and more dramatic results.

 Well, firstly it is a time saver. An hour workout packed into 15 minutes means that a Power-Plate session could easily fit inside even the tightest lunch time. Not only that but a Power-Plate workout will help people who find traditional resistance training difficult - the elderly, the very young, people with injuries or disabilities.

Of course a Power-Plate workout will also allow the exerciser to gain the benefits of any other form of workout, including:

• Improved muscle tone
• Increases in muscle strength
• Increases in muscle power
• Improvements to the posture
• Improvd flexibility
• Improved circulation
• As sense of well-being

As early suggested, the reason for NASA astronauts using Power-Plate was to regenerate lean muscle tissue and natural bone density ... so what works for them will also work for others employing the Power-Plate technology.

More and more gym goers will start to see Power-Plate appearing on exercise class timetables on on the gym floor. However, before using the Power-Plate it is advisable to consult your local doctor or GP if you suffer from the following conditions:

• Wearing a pace-maker
• Wearing recently fitted IUD's, coils, metal pins, bolts and / or plates
• Acute Thrombosis
• Advanced stage osteoporosis
• Synthetic joints
• Cardiovascular disease
• Recent surgical intervention
• Pregnancy

Power-Plate workouts are supposed to be fun as well as benefical. However, not everyone will take to them. If, for what ever reason you don't want to participate in a Power-Plate workout simply choose another activity more in-keeping with your personality and exercise goals.