« 2 reasons nettickr.de is my new favorite website | Home | Fiskars 30-Gallon Kangaroo Container »
March 03, 2008
Is PowerPlate the next Ionic Breeze?
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, The Sharper Image created an air purifier so popular that its sales came to make up a large share of its income.
Then Consumer Reports reviewed it and said not only did it not purify air, it polluted it.
The Sharper Image sued and lost and so began a case of the corporate dwindles, culminating in its filing for bankruptcy two weeks ago.
The new new thing is now vibration technology, spearheaded by the mighty marketing machine of PowerPlate.
The company's devices (one is pictured above), starting at around $5,000 a pop, seem to be vibrating off the shelves as fast as the company can churn them out, even though many exercise physiologists scoff at their efficacy.
Now comes Lloyd Shaw to bookofjoe with insider information.
Who's Lloyd Shaw, you ask?
He was PowerPlate's Product Manager until he left because of "... unethical practices/poor quality.... They moved to China to make cheap copies, that's a fact and no amount of marketing will change that."
You can read Lloyd's remarks in their entirety as they came in earlier today — his comment is posted below.
No, it's not "The Insider" — there's no smoking gun here.
But there is a wisp or two of smoke, which sometimes indicates fire down below.
Stay tuned.
Wait a minute... what's that music I'm hearing?
March 3, 2008 at 04:01 PM | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5dea53ef00e550a8dcf18834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Is PowerPlate the next Ionic Breeze?:
Comments
David...
I don't sell machines at all. But I do write consumer protection articles for the industry both positive and negative , and it would be unethical of me not to report information I am given . If you go to vibrationtraining.net you will see Power Plate is only one of the companies we write about. They just happen to be the worst so they are an easy target. Other companies have been written about negatively , but most apologize quickly and move on. Power Plate have yet to say sorry to the consumer for anything they have been caught doing.
At the end of the day , if you don't like what I write , talk to Power Plate and get them to clean up their act as I cant write about things they don't do can I ?
Its a simple question for consumers to ask........
" why all the lies if they really do sell a good product" ?
My message is , do some homework before you spend thousands on a machine .How can anyone possibly be against that ? Unless they have been dishonest of course , then they should be very worried.
Posted by: Lloyd Shaw | Sep 28, 2008 10:13:53 PM
Lloyd Shaw criticizes the heck out his old company- most people researching power plate are consumers that have seen it at brookstone. Yet all Lloyd offers from what I have seen is commercial machines.
So until he can offer a home use alternative whats the point? To kill sales for power plate b/c he doesnt like them?
Posted by: David Kalecky | Sep 28, 2008 2:57:57 PM
Important Power Plate update...( important if you want a machine that says what it does on the box )
A researcher David Bazzet-Jones has released the actual G-forces the Power Plate machine gives out, we will look at the figures.
http://www.jssm.org/vol7/n1/21/v7n1-21text.php
Note: This tests was done unloaded ( no-one on it )it would get worse if tested with someone standing on the plate.
The research lists that the machines set its top setting of 50hz and 4mm . The engineering tests show it ran at 5.83G
But working backwards with certified Vibration Analysis Software from CTC ...
(1) If the amplitude was correct at 4mm then it was only running at 32Hz instead of 50Hz ?
(2) If the Hz was correct then it was only running at 1.64mm to get 5.83G , instead of 4mm ?
So it either had lost 36% of its speed or 59% of its amplitude before someone jumped on it. That is even worse than other tests I have seen on the Power Plate that showed it running at only 38Hz on its 50Hz setting.
When I reported this years ago as their own Product Manager I was accused of tampering with the machine , when other parties including an Olympic sprinter got similar results they " refused to acknowledge " them. Now it has been released on a peer-reviewed paper and published it can be used to prove we have been telling the truth the whole time.
I think the time has come for consumers to understand this company.......
(a) Will never be honest in their advertising.
(b) Actually cant build a good machine.
They lack the skills and integrity to do either.
My advice: Give yourself the best chance to gain the results you want by using a quality machine.
Posted by: Lloyd Shaw | Aug 30, 2008 8:50:20 PM
i have been training my (personal training) clients on Power Plate for years. it is a remarkable tool and i have seen significant benefits from - strength, flexiblity and pain reduction and have even had clients improve, yes improve, their T scores (bone density). Power Plate is used by over 40 professional sports teams and many Olympic athletes (US and abroad). these are world class athletes who can not afford to risk their bodies on something just because it is "marketed" a certain way.
Power Plate is also recognized by all of the major personal training organizations (NASM, ACE, NSCA etc)... are you?
it's a shame when people dont understand something they immediately become an expert and dismiss it.
have you actaully been through a workout on a Power Plate w/ a trained professional? It will change the way you think...
Posted by: - J | Aug 7, 2008 3:28:50 PM
Why is the Vibration Training market so hard to understand ?
This is a question I am being asked constantly now with most people getting very confused as to what to buy , why and from whom. I will quickly explain below the concerns I have and how the confusion surrounding this industry is deliberate and why I am so hard on those selling dodgy machines.
(1) If a machine is not built to a good standard not only will it not work for long ( reports of broken units coming in hard and fast lately ) ,but it may not work at all. Combine that with the injury risks from uncontrolled 3D units or machines running at incorrect Fq its just not worth it.
(2) Simply creating a "Vibration" is not Vibration Training , if it was that simple then we would have had this science up and running 100yrs ago , correct ? The only people you will hear say otherwise are the same marketers/manufacturors that would sell you fake Aids drugs .
(3) If a machine is built to the level of a proper Vibration Training device the correct postures needed when in contact with the unit becomes so important that unsupervised use actually becomes irresponsable. ( education of the buyer is very important here )
(4) If the program does not match the unit , even the best machine can become an injury trap.
Why is this not told to you....
To some involved in this industry , taking your money is just a game , with the fact they are selling you a health product to be used on your body not even considered. They risk some capital , you risk your spine , and the expanding obesity crisis comes second to their expanding bank accounts.
This is the game they are playing with you and why it looks so confusing from the outside......
In chess you have 3 stages to a game.
(1) Opening
(2) Middle game
(3) End game
Opening....
In the opening players set up their defences and potential attacks. If a photo of the game around move 10 was shown to most other players they could basically work out whats going on even if they had not witnessed the game up till that point.
Our opening was the "real" industry building good quality units , testing units , doing R&D or opening places to access them safetly.
Middle Game....
This is where you will see pieces scattered all around the board in what appears to be a random order, a photo of a middle game would tell an outside player little as to others stratagies and past movements, this is YOU the consumer at the moment , looking at a middle game and wondering why it looks so disorganaized.
This is where the marketers like to step into the game , making off the confusion and doing their upmost to make out they are a part of the "real" industry , relying on the presumption you will just get tired of hearing conflicting information and flow like water to the nearest/cheapest dealer. Their mantra of " but at least at this price you arnt risking much " sounds logical, except for the risk to you future health that is not being discussed.
The dishonest marketers/manufacturors ( about 160 out of 180 at last count ) have relied on this confusion period to be of 5yrs minimum from the introduction of Vibration Training to your country, so they can make back their investments. They fully understand the risks to you.
My aim is this , to shorten the " Middle Game " buy releasing so much marketing free information to the consumer as to collapse their plan and give them a very expensive lesson at the same time. And yes I am aware how aggressive and condescending this sounds.
The end game is yet to come....
A group of us have made it our relentless endevour to have a clean industry where the end game has no losers but those who should not have been playing with your health in the first place.
If you are still confused , my advice is to wait for us to finish our work. In the mean time education is your only weapon. Keep reading , keep asking.....
Posted by: Lloyd Shaw | Apr 23, 2008 11:35:21 PM
Anything below 38Hz can give resonance problems ( studio units run at 43Hz ) , so with the Power Plate MY5 only have a 35Hz setting their is no way of fixing that.
Try another unit of another brand that goes 43Hz , in the correct pose you will have a completely different experience.
Please do not judge the rest of the industry on the lack of education from some companies.
Posted by: Lloyd Shaw | Mar 23, 2008 6:23:44 PM
We just bought a Power Plate MY5 for home use. Both my wife and I found that the vibrations created a tennitis type ringing in the ears that lasted for a whole day after use.
I want to return the machine so that we don't suffer any permanent hearing damage.
Posted by: murray dalfen | Mar 22, 2008 12:34:34 PM
This is what Power Plate finds acceptable and what I do not.
1) Engineering tests / not from machine supplied to consumer.
(2) University tests / not from machine supplied to consumer.
(3) Medical endorsements / not from machine supplied to consumer.
(4) Awards carried forward / not from machine supplied to consumer.
(5) Misuse of top academics names.
(6) Misuse of disabled peoples endorsements.
(7) Country of origin labels changed .
So the comment.... " He just doesn't like his former employer " is a slight understatment. I challange anyone to say the above actiona are likable or forgivable. My personal resentment comes from the fact they where going to use my commitment to this industry to hurt the very people I try to help.
Note: Power Plate did try to injunct me on some of these matters. They walked away when I presented the evidence to prove every point. I will take them on anytime , anywhere as I never operate out of fear.
" Obesity cannot be beaten with dishonesty "
It is a shame they missed this point.
Posted by: Lloyd Shaw | Mar 17, 2008 1:59:29 AM
Careful, Joe! Lloyd is a True Believer, a staunch advocate of the Ionic Breeze, er, I mean, Jiggly Platform (whatever it's called). He just doesn't like his former employer, is all.
Posted by: Phillip Winn | Mar 4, 2008 1:45:13 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
