Gear: vibration platforms

Vibration platforms, which purportedly provide a host of bone, muscle, circulatory, flexibility and injury-rehab benefits by shaking your body 20 to 50 times a second as you stand on them, are becoming more varied and practical as the market grows beyond pro sports teams and physical therapy offices. Backed by numerous studies (sometimes company-supported) suggesting that vibration increases load and stimulation with less joint stress, the machines are promoted as "workout accelerators" that hammer muscles in half the time of normal gym sessions.

By Roy M. Wallack, Special to the Los Angeles Times

July 12, 2010