The Phenomenal Growth of the Vibration Training Industry
Let me start out this article by admitting something. I was wrong… way off the mark… not even close.
This is going to come as a shock to those in the health industry that think by sticking their head under a rock and proclaiming Vibration Training “can’t work”, or somehow it will go away. Sorry but you are also very wrong.
I will explain.
Back in 2001 when I first looked into this technology there were really only 3 units you could purchase. All 3 were hard to get hold of and information on how they worked was even harder to get - if not impossible. Most of it being just being dumbed down marketing material.
By 2004 we had about 8-10 units available to the public. One factory had moved from Holland to China but most still built in Europe with 1 or 2 in the U.S. Information to the public was still tight, but since then I have done my best to fill the gap.
Now consider this. For every unit released companies have to go through a series of moves called Research and Development (R&D).
Here’s the basics…
- Design.
- Feasibility Study (ascertain the likelihood of the project’s success).
- Funding.
- Prototype Development.
- Prototype Testing (includes breakage rates along with scientific or medical tests depending on target market.
- Funding and Cost Feasibility Study along with projected profits forwarded to”Financial Backers”.
If approved…
- Production of machine (factory or assembly line).
- Distribution agreements.
- Release of product followed by marketing and education.
This will usually take up to 2 years and can cost tens of millions of dollars - just to produce the first line. Most companies do not expect to make a profit until the 3rd year of sales.
I had calculated that approximately 15 companies worldwide would have by 2007 taken the risk and actually released a product.
I recently updated my folder of products and it officially has now gone over 140 !!!
Companies like Dunlop, Honda and some longstanding medical companies have invested hugely in this technology. Some in more than one model. Granted a lot are only filling the “profit for sales” slot and may not want to be involved in the industry long term. However they have all done their maths and come to the same conclusion; it not only works - but it is going to be worth the investment.
Lets make that statement clearer. They are going to MAKE it worth the investment.
My prediction is when all these companies marketing budgets converge, you are going to hear and see a campaign like nothing before. Yes they will be blowing their own horns, but the world will hear it.
Even from under a rock.
52 Comments
Yes the preverbial Vibration/Gravy Train ?
Normally I would be worried at such a prospect. Almost a ” We have created monster ” scenerio.
But with the unprecedented marketing that I believe will soon come , we will also have the net as a tool to counter the hype. And keep things grounded.
At least that’s the plan. But I also once wanted to take over the world with my army of Lego robot’s. And I failed.
- Di
April 10th, 2007Quote:
Almost ‘We have created monster’ scenario.I wish this “monster” every success !!!
This is a Winner!
It’s so very exciting and not very much because some companies are going to make sure it was worth their investment (that reeks of purely profit driven policies) but becauseIt Works! People are seeing results!
I’ve been asking friends and family and it seems that I was slower on the uptake than most as I’ve only been using Vibration Training this year. I’ve talked to people who have used various types of machines with varying degrees of success, ranging from continued use, regular use then losing interest, and those who believe they were injured by the machine (I’ve got one from that group coming for a session next weekend). Also those who have bought cheap, “as seen on TV” Store and Internet Auctions, models that have already broken down or else they are gathering dust, unused, in the shed.
When major marketing impacts the public many of those who lost interest and those for whom this didn’t work before will try again, along with many newcomers.
Is the industry ready for this rush and how will the industry keep this renewed interest?
This is where the “monster” could see it’s demise if not ready. It’s almost like a second “wave”. It’s very, very exciting!
Some players are falling especially here in N.Z. I’ve just heard of one who had a studio and has now retreated into the corner of a local gym and isn’t doing well (I cannot substantiate this statement yet). Others are being forced to rebrand to remove themselves from bad publicity (or is that to escape from the truth about their machines), others have closed down.Let’s hope the “scary” pushes the honest players to embrace the “exciting” and get ready for the influx!
- Robert
April 15th, 2007Hi all there,
You guys seem to all be “keyed” into vibration training.
I am looking for some advice…
Living in Australia and have a small fitness studio that I am looking to get a vibration platform to put in.
On a very limited budget, and of course price is an issue…
Is there any product/s that someone could recommend me looking into, and what kind of price I should be thinking of.I have been reviewing this site a bit and get the drift that China made is bad etc.
Thanks for the great site and tremedous participation you guys are putting in.
Rob
Call me at my head studio. I should be able to point you in the right direction.
Acceleration Training and Vibration Training/Therapy is the same thing in case anyone hears the term from marketing companies and is confused.
- Sarah Ball
April 23rd, 2007Ive just seen this on the powerplate website. I’m quite shocked that Dr Marco Cardinale is on this board. I thought he was independent. I can’t believe he is now affiliated to powerplate! Or maybe its powerplate misleading again.
Proof everyone has a price ?
- Green
April 23rd, 2007It says he is “Co-founder and primary leader of all research related to and focusing on vibration”–It seems he is co-founder of Powerplate: Quite a revelation!
Perhaps they only meant that Marco Cardinale was co-founder of research on the subject. Dr. Cardinale co-authored in 1998 articles written by Bosco. However, Bosco, who is the recognized father of WBV trining in the Western World, wrote the first articles on hypergravity effects on training in 1985.
- Dr. Marco Cardinale
May 3rd, 2007Dear All,
I came across this website by chance. Can I clarify that I have no association with Power Plate and I am not a co-founder of any company. Dr. Cardinale….
if this is the case , and I have no reason to doubt you , how can this be clarified.Are you going to release a public statement ?
Considering Power-Plates past dishonest/unethical behaviour it can only be assumed the use of your name is not a mistake and I would personally take it as an insult to be associated with them.
- Dr. Marco Cardinale
May 3rd, 2007It is being dealth with at the appropriate level.
I can confirm the above message is indeed from Dr. Marco Cardinale.
So PowerPlate has seemingly been caught red handed misusing a top academics name for marketing purposes.
It makes me wonder if the idiots who run PowerPlate have heard of the ” net “.
Energy wave machanic guidelines ( quanta ) seems to apply directly to the internet.
Here is what I mean….
2 waves matching fq ( re information on the net supporting the truth ) = what we call ” constructive interference “.
2 waves not matching ( re lies told by marketers and being caught out ) = what we call ” destructive interference “.
This is called a ” dark spot ” when talking about light waves on a bubbles surface.
I would say PowerPlate are in a dark ,dark ,dark spot . And their bubble is about to burst.
Pop.
- Green
May 6th, 2007Powerplate’s website gets curioser and curioser! The ‘advisory board’ page has undergone a change–all names have been removed and there is a blurb that indicates they might put the name of the distinguished researchers there…but I suspect, in language that might be interpreted as support of their product.
Green….
Exactly the reaction of someone caught with their pants down dont you think ?
I will tell you one thing. PowerPlates fake “respect” for those Industry Professionals will not work now.
The Academic community has now been alerted to this form of marketing and will be ready to act.
I suspect no scientist who supports good solid unbiased research will allow their name to be put up. Only the ” hand to mouth grant sellouts ” will .
But this is a good development as it will allow us to isolate them into the appropriate groups.
Grants come and go , but your reputation follows you.
A formal complaint has been laid against PowerPlate in the U.K. about the Medical Board fiasco. I am not privilaged to say who made the complaint but it is serious.
- Di
May 17th, 2007Power Plate using the term “Acceleration Training” has got to be a “dumb” move. The term is already used by Sports trainers and companies for running; used by Airforce and Airline companies for Pilot training; used by hospitals referring to rehab of patients and that’s just the few I can think of.. google lists a lot more.
The term has such a broad meaning and in terms of wbv what can it, specifically, mean?
I’d like to hear from someone on the Power Plate Marketing team, to explain why they chose that term.
From the Dictionary: acceleration 1. an increase in speed 2. the act of accelerating,increasing the speed 3.(physics) a rate of change of velocity
It makes me think of nascar or GrandPrix actually not WBV
- patou
May 17th, 2007but could somebody clarify powerplate dishonest attitude?
and furthermore is it WORKING?? Patou…
(1) Stolen Awards
(2) Stolen University tests
(3) Selling underperforming units to the disabled.
(4) Fake medical advisory board.
(5) Fake celebrity endorsements.
(6) European metal units brought and paid for being swapped for plastic Chinese units.
(7) Lying to public about country of origin of machines.It is not a matter of are they dishonest. That is in no doubt. When are they going to stop lying is the question.
And do they work?
If they did , they wouldnt need to be dishonest.
Patou…
How about this..
(1) Stolen awards
(2) Stolen university tests attached directly to their untested machines.
(3) Selling underperforming units to disabled people after engineering reports showed machine had a massive error rating.
(4) Lying to the public about where the unit is made.
(5) Fake medical advisory board to trick doctors.Do you want more, I could go on if you want.
And do they work , why would you be so dishonest if you had a good product ?
I have started a Blog on Sports Science and Fitness. I will write a series of articles on the truth about vibration
Well I for one will be reading with great interest.
- MikeyB
August 12th, 2007well whats the URL Dr. Marco?
Click on his name.
- Mike Hair
August 12th, 2007Just click on the Dr. name
I have the funny feeling that my theories/opinions and the Dr’s are going to be wide enough apart to drive a truck through in some place. But I definitely hope some issues are resolved.
Just though I would all let you know I am working on a set of stickers that can go on to all Lineal machines to test Amplitude and Fq. I have the amplitude one done and am using Moir’e Fringe patterns to develop the Fq one. Its funny how Lord Rayleigh’s work keeps popping up ( the guy was born in 1842 ).
You will even be able to see any unwanted 3D movement.
Anyhow I am planning to release the patterns free through our regulating body to anyone who wants to have a basic idea of what their machine is doing in real time.
These stickers will go on a unit and stay on and a log can be kept of the machines performance.
Very simple to use and very cheap to make.
Dr Marco Cardinale’s latest entry in his website puts the Vibration Training industry into 3 groups
The Good
The Bad
The UglyHis definition of all three are..
The Good… is the fact that there is an increasing number of scientists looking at understanding how vibration can be used as a therapeutic or exercise intervention. These people work very hard, struggling to find research funds to sustain their labs and their research to find a way that could improve health and performance.
The Bad…. is represented by companies that don’t invest money in research and development and “steal” all the ideas developed and produced by the hard work of dedicated scientists.
The Ugly…. is represented by the marketing spins, the liars and the lies.
I am not sure what catagory he believes I fit into .
- Di Heap
August 17th, 2007The Stickers sound really good Lloyd. Could be useful for people who already own home machines to be able to test them and see if they are performing up to specs. Also for people wanting to buy a machine.
About the fq one; I had no idea what a Moiré pattern was but once I looked it up I remember some friends making a circular pattern one years ago, similar to one using an old wall clock that has making instructions online. I might get electronics nerd son to make one or make one myself - totally irrelevant to what you are doing of course but the circular ones look good used as a wall picture - almost psychedelic.
I have no idea how you are using Moiré patterns for your fq test. Has anyone else ever designed easily readable tests for WBV machines?
- Di Heap
August 17th, 2007Lloyd, About the 3 groups in the Vibration Training Industry. I don’t see you in any of them as scientist seems to refer to research scientist in those groups. An extra category is needed. I can’t think of a nice name for it but you kind of remind me of Dr Bunsen Honeydew, the Muppets “mad scientist”. Bunsen is the founder of Muppet Labs and has some scarey inventions like a gorilla detector, edible paper clips, a banana sharpener, and a machine that can turn gold into cottage cheese.
You’ve done much better than Dr Honeydew though as your designed machines work well, unlike his. It’s your enthusiasm for helping people and eagerness for progress into the future that reminds me of him
I always thought Beaker was the smart one.
Meee, Meeee, Meeeee, Me
Not Impressed with Dr. Marco Cardinales ambiguous statements so far . He repeats constantly in his blog that the truth is a “must have” commodity and then continues to mention, but not name, the individuals/companies ( in his word ) involved in misusing his name.
Two points I would like to say about that…..
(1) It puts a cloud over all of us.
(2) He is proving that PowerPlate was right to bet on mis-using academics names.
I personally believe he should not step into the ring , unless he is prepared to bring full disclosure to the fight.
I will quickly see him as part of the problem and not the solution if this is indeed the case.
- Mike Hair
August 17th, 2007come on Dr Cardinales do the whole industry a favour and name the companys in the wrong. The way i see it is you have a good reputation and people respect what you say, why ruin that reputation by not speaking up about issues you know you are right about.
If you are right you have nothing to fear. I have recommended Dr. Cardinale invoice PowerPlate for his endorsement. It is in print so would be very hard to dispute.
I would say a million would be a nice round figure an International Company would pay for an academic to sit on its Medical Advisory Board , Advertising rights and it would be easy to prove his reputation was also used to help capture retail contracts like the one with Brookstone’s.
He could put the funds towards unbiased research.
- Jason
August 18th, 2007Hallo Lloyd
Can you propose a weight loss programme using WBV and perhaps a cardio training programme together eith weight lifting ?
I am 25 years old and 98 Kg
- Jason
August 18th, 2007Or some Guidelines
Thanks
Jason…
My advice is to keep it simple ……
Day 1….
Weight training session concentrating on Fly’s , bench press and Hack squats in the same session.
Standard Vibration Training session on the same day sometime after your weights program.
http://www.vibra-train.com/exercises-bullet.html
Day 2….. 30mins+ of cardio . Preferably low impact.
Day 3 … have a day completely off.
- Di Heap
August 18th, 2007Jason, Obviously you also need to look at nutrition. Don’t go for any restrictive diet but look at your overall food intake and if you need to reduce it or change it in any way. Don’t eat fries and other greasy takeout foods. Drink at least 2 litres of water each day as well as the other drinks you have. Alcohol in moderation only. Increase the amount of fresh fruit and green veges you eat and avoid starchy veg like potato and taro etc. Eat protein at lunch and dinner. Reduce grain carbs but don’t go all out low carb. Get some professional advice on diet if you need to. Along with WBV, weights and cardio (fast walking is okay) you’ll lose weight
April 10th, 2007
Hi Lloyd, the above is both scary and exciting.
It is obvious that the there are going to also be more people that want jump in on the bandwagon purely for the purpose of making quick profits regardless of the effect on the public and the industry.
The sooner there is an independant body to limit the effectiveness the unethical, purely profit driven operators the better.
Interesting times ahead!