Remember, about five years ago, those TV ads hawking a belt with sticker things that sent electric pulses into your midsection? It was called something like The Abdominator, and the spots promised that using it for 10 minutes would take the place of, like, 2,000 crunches.
Uh, I bought one. It didn't work. I never returned it to get my money back (guaranteed), which is what they were counting on.
This sucker move flashed through my mind when I first heard about the Power Plate, which purportedly strengthens muscles by basically shaking you up. Ah, sweat-free exercise in air-conditioned splendor — perfect for our Summer Guide theme — but a bunch of bullshit nonetheless.
Turns out, the Power Plate — a new, trendy exercise machine (hey, Madonna has one) first developed 40 years ago for astronaut training — is a different beast altogether. I checked one out at The Body Factor, a spa in Safety Harbor that, near as we can discern, is the first public facility to feature one.
The apparatus includes a sturdy base and a T-shaped hand support with operating controls. When you turn it on, it vibrates like hell — frontward and backward, up and down, and side to side all at once, in very small, intense movements. The effect of this vibration, the Power Plate people say, is to cause your muscles to rapidly contract (30-50 times a second), and thus tone, tighten and break up cellulite.
My hosts — co-owners Melanie Clem and Sandy Curry — started me with a simple exercise, a partial squat. I stood on the base, held tight to the grips and bent my knees slightly. They turned it on. A dull roar filled the room. My body hummed, my fillings rattled. I held the position for 30 seconds. A strange sensation. It got me a little fatigued.
The women put me through several exercises, each of which required me to hold a position, each a bit more strenuous than the last. For one, I had to lie down on the base and hold a crunch position. This really, really shook me up. After a while, I did, in fact, break a sweat.
I'd love to tell you whether the Power Plate worked, but one session isn't enough. Studies show that it gets results. Hey, just breaking a sweat is a start. The Abdominator belt certainly didn't do that.
The Body Factor, 531 Main St., Suite B, Safety Harbor, FL 34695, 727-797-9585.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2006.
