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Buying a cheap Vibration Machine almost guarantees you a move overseas

June 21st, 2011

plane travelling awayI’m joking of course but here’s the serious part – each day I check out the vibration machine auctions on New Zealand’s TradeMe website and I see a trend emerging; many sellers of cheaper machines like the low speed pivotal ones (Crazyfit, Skydancer, SiTrek etc) and the small lineal DKN are selling their machines because they are moving overseas.  I check out their other listings to see if they are selling anything I might be interested in but, to my surprise, their only auction is the vibration machine.

Other sellers list their low quality machine with glowing reference to how much weight they’ve lost or how amazing their fitness is now, after using their machine for the past three months. In fact they are now so fit now they are selling it on so that you can get these same incredible results – they don’t need it anymore. I wonder what happens two to four weeks after they stop using the machine. Don’t they realise fitness training must be continued every week, every year, to keep the benefits and not become deconditioned?

These claims are, in my opinion, totally fictitious and could be laughable except for the real truth – that truth is that many of the sellers were ripped off and bought a cheap, or not so cheap in the case of Gymform VibroMax, low quality machine (usually based on claims of health, fitness and even beauty) and now they are fobbing it off onto you, the potential buyer.

I don’t think the sellers on TradeMe deliberately set out to lie about their home machine, well not the everyday people just selling a machine they no longer use, they just advertise it with the same sort of wording that attracted them when they first bought the machine.  They want it gone, fast and for as much money as possible especially if it cost them quite a lot. Also, home vibration machines are the size of an armchair so they can be really taking up space; annoyingly if they aren’t being used.

Buyer Beware! Before you buy a secondhand machine ask the seller the real reason why they are selling it.  And even more importantly do some research into the varying brands and types of machines available.  Vibration Machines are very effective for fitness and strength, for fat-loss, and for helping the body to relax and repair in the case of those with injuries or conditions that require simple blood circulation improvement and gentle muscle stimulation.  Make sure what you are buying is the right product for your needs.

A visit to a vibration training studio can be really helpful also. You will learn how to use a machine safely and correctly and maybe you’ll decide a studio with supervised training is a better option, if there’s one you can get to of course.

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Vibration Training – The Results of Five Years Training – Lloyd Shaw pics

April 8th, 2011

This photo essay show the results of 5 years of fitness workouts using only Vibra-Train brand vibration machines; a self test done by the owner and designer of the machines, Lloyd Shaw.

Lloyd Shaw at the beginning of Vibra-Train quite chubby

Lloyd Shaw at the start of the Vibra-Train test

Picture 1: shows Lloyd Shaw in 2004. Back then he loved his gym workouts – 1 and 1/2 hour sessions six days a week.  Add in cardio sessions three times a week also, sprints and swimming.

He looks good but decidedly chubby. His muscle definition was better than the average gym goer but there’s no way he would take off his shirt and pose back then. And look at his arms; there’s muscle there but they have a covering of fat.

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Lloyd Shaw VibraTrain

Lloyd Shaw Vibra-Train

Picture 2: Two years into a self test, using only Vibra-Train brand machines and the Vibra-Train Safety Program for workouts; this picture shows a very cut look. It was taken on impulse and looked so good the background was added for use as a poster. Lloyd’s only gym visits were once every few months to check out his strength which was increasing.

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Picture 3: Fast forward to 2011. The picture below of Lloyd Shaw taken April 7th, 2011 – a slimmer profile showing amazing abs and a completely balanced look.

Lloyd Shaw Vibration Training Muscles April 2011

Lloyd Shaw Vibration Training Muscles April 2011

The picture is completely unedited and was taken on a whim. I thought it was so good I had to publish it.

It’s now 5 years since Lloyd Shaw began his “Vibra-Train as only exercise” test using himself as the test subject. This look was achieved solely using Vibra-Train brand Vibration Machines. I know Lloyd well and can attest that his diet isn’t always great (too much fastfood) although he has cleaned it up somewhat this year.

Individual results vary of course; some people are badly hampered by hormonal or overweight/fat issues, stress or injury.  Some people respond very quickly to this form of exercise while for others their body goes through other changes first but for everyone results begin to show after just a few weeks and are ongoing.

Here’s Lloyd Shaw’s  personal Vibration Training Workout: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PikfQv7uwwo

and the Vibra-Train Safety Program:

Vibration Training Safety Program for Lineal Machines

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Posted in Benefits, Brands, Experiences, Industry, Other Articles, Programs, Safety Program, Vibra-Train, Vibration Training, Videos, health

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Vibration Training 2011 The History of Machine Specs

January 20th, 2011

Just two weeks back at work this year and its been so busy. It’s been all-hands-on-deck in the studio working as an instructor with so many new customers and almost all the regulars back now too.  Alongside this there’s the rest of the work and keeping up to date with what’s happening in the larger scene; the rest of the Vibration Machine Industry.

checking suspicious billThere’s been quite some debate this year about the technical side of the machines, what they’re made of and how they work and especially about fake specs, the issue that had dogged our industry for years.

Lloyd Shaw of Vibra-Train has written an informative article about this. It’s complete with the evidence of engineering reports.

Click here to read it:  Timeline of Fake Specs on Vibration Machines

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Personal Trainer Infomercial Star Tells it Like it Is

November 10th, 2010

I’ve written before about Teneka Hyndman.  She’s a multi-award winner at BodyBuilding shows in New Zealand and is currently in U.S.A. from where she’s just told us she won first place in the “Open Physique” class at the 2010 INBA Natural Universe competition.  She’s soon off to Reno to take part in the “Natural Olympia”.

Teneka uses the high-energy lineral vibration machines at Vibra-Train as part of her extensive training program so it was very disappointing to see her endorse a low speed pivotal vibration platform, the Gymform VibroMax and take part in an infomercial just to earn a few dollars.  The informercial is still current on New Zealand television and I cringe when I see it. I get phone calls at work and private emails asking me where to buy this machine and I want to simply say, “don’t!” but to be fair it does have some valid uses – it gently increases circulation and tickles the body; that’s about it!  It doesn’t make users build muscle, gain amazing fitness and look like the models that are shown on the machines.  All television advertorial exageration aside the presentation in this infomercial is very sad as it targets the very people who need help to gain fitness and often to lose large amounts of fat (weight-loss) but the only thing that’s going to get slimmer is their wallet. The same, identical machine, with a different brand name stamp on it, can be bought on auction sites and in clearance stores for less than 25% of the TV price.

When she did the advertorial, initially as a stand in for another fitness model who couldn’t make it that day, Teneka realised right away that the machine she was being filmed on and endorsing, as per the script, was totally different to the Vibra-Train ones she trains on three times a week.  She tried at first to justify to herself and to others that maybe, just maybe, all vibration machines did the same job but she knew from the feel of the machine that this wasn’t true.

Now she’s come out and tells it like it really is:

Check it out here: http: Infomercial-fitness-instructor-spills-the-beans

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Posted in Brands, Experiences, Vibration Training, health

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Vibration Training – Where are Vibra-Train Studios?

October 5th, 2010

Vibra-Train Vibra Machine A  question that comes up frequently in my website statistics is “Where are the Vibra-Train Studios?”

This site isn’t primarily to promote  Vibra-Train TM brand Studios, it’s about all aspects of Vibration Training and Vibration Machines but as its asked so often I’ll answer with a link to the list of Vibra-Train Studios and Vibra-Train Machine Lease Locations.  These locations are in New Zealand, Australia, and U.K. and I’m confident they’ll soon be in many other parts of the world as all it takes is for someone to become passionate about this form of fitness training and they can apply to set up a licenced area.

All the info is at:  www.vibra-train.com/openstudio.html

and the locations where you can go now to train:  www.vibra-train.com/contact.html

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Posted in Brands, Studio, Vibra-Train, Vibration Training

Vibration Machines – Internet Articles

September 20th, 2010

Crazy Fit Massage MachineType “Vibration Machine” or “Vibration Training” into Google and you’ll find an abundance of articles, equipment sellers, equipment manufacturers, fitness centres, specialised Vibration Training Studios and more.

You’ll find some articles with excellent information for people wanting to train in a studio or to buy a machine for home use but you’ll also read many artices that are thinly veiled, often poorly worded informational advertisements with click-throughs that take you to sites that sell cheap, home machines.

These articles are easy to spot, once you’ve read a few of them, as they promote a particular brand of machine and the same article, word-for-word, often appears on many internet sites at the same time.  Even worse, the authors sometimes go by more than one name, so you will find the same, word-for-word, article on different websites, written by Jessica Watson, Jessica Whatson, Shilipi Sharma, and Sanjana Sharma. These are all the same author writing paid articles to promote HyperVibe machines.

If a search engine, like Google, finds many articles about a brand, product or service, that brand’s website goes up in the rankings, (the ideal being to show on Page 1 of a search for that product) and so it gets even more hits and the brand is thus, promoted.  Most articles also contain “click throughs” – links to the promoted company or brand’s real website.

If you use Google again and type in the actual brand name of the machine promoted in the advertorial articles you’ll sometimes find other articles exposing the particular brand; sometimes an opinion on the marketing pratices (as in the example of multi-writers above).

Other times (not related to the paragraphs above) it’s the brand of machine advertised and promoted as the “best machine available” or the “only one that does what it does, that others within the vibration training industry take “offense” at. These advertising terms are very common but when attached to low price, low quality brands, they have caused intending buyers to give up and look for other fitness products instead. We know that advertising hyperbole is the norm but I believe more care needs to be taken when advertising a health and fitness product.

I recommend people check out the Vibration-Training-Advice.com website for articles that tell the truth plus a review of machine types and what they can be used for.

My website also exists to educate and, like this article, expose scams and frauds that are, in my opinion, harmful to consumers.

There’s just one problem -

some people seem destined to be “ripped-off”.  They read the articles exposing lowQuestion Mark quality machines, go to the machine review page (I presume as it’s often listed in articles plus it appears in bold on the Vibration-Training-advice website), yet they ask non-sensical questions.  Those of us writing the help articles get emails or questions on forums asking the price or where to buy a low quality machine we’ve just given a bad review to or written an explanatory article about.  You have to wonder if people really do read the articles or if they presume every brand you write about must be the machine that will give the results they’re looking for.

After two articles exposing the Gymform VibroMax scam and telling readers the real uses of that machine I got the question, “how much do you sell the VibroMax for?”

Let’s make it simple – at this point in time, I do not sell Vibration Machines and If I ever did sell the Gymform VibroMax I’d sell it for a true price (not the exaggerated prices I’ve seen on the TV Infomercials that use models and trainers to promote the machine) and I’d sell it for it’s true use, which in my opinion, definitely isn’t fitness training.

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Unethical TradeMe Seller reacts to the truth

May 31st, 2010

A week ago I wrote a series of articles about sellers of Vibration Machines on TradeMe, a New Zealand online auction site, similar to Ebay.  I wrote about fitness product importers who sold new machines, usually low energy, pivotal vibration massage units and also about regular re-sellers of used machines.

One of the sellers of low energy, cheap to manufacture, machines has banned me. That means I can’t ask any questions on his auctions or give any reply when he misleads potential buyers by his auction wording or in replies to questions asked.

This seller trades on TradeMe as Fitness Hire Ltd or razzel1 and they use the brand name SiTrek Vibration Trainer. They say its one of the most sold vibration machines in the world.  This is true, it’s the well know, CrazyFit Massager. Read a little about them: Click here

Crazy Fit Massage MachineI wrote of how this auction seller of new cheaply made, low energy, pivotal machines advertised them in a manner that made them sound equal to high force Studio platforms and even said, ” don’t waste your money going to a studio”.  They say that for benefits equal to working out for an hour at the gym all you need to do is STAND on the machine while you watch TV or listen to music”.  Then you’ll get increased circulation (that’s partially true), increased metabolism and burn more calories both during your time on the machine and after. Well that last part is a big stretch, I can’t say it’s totally untrue but really? increased metabolism after standing (that’s standing not performing any exercise positions) on a machine that moves you up and down, slightly see-saw style about 12 times a second? Maybe if you weigh over 400 pounds it might be a helpful start to movement.

I’ve tried it!  On one machine I got bored, on another that had faster and very random sideways movement as well and the see-saw up/down I got sea-sick.  To someone unaccustomed to exercise or vibration machines It can feel, well, like movement, so it is possible to get a good sensation and a belief that, yes, this machine is going to make you fit and strong. This is how so many people are happy enough to buy this type of machine.

It really can feel exciting. After all, it was one of these low energy pivotal machines that I first tried and decided it was, 1. dangerous (it was a bigger, faster, uncontrolled movement, pivotal machine), 2. soothing to painful shoulders when I knelt and put my hands on the platform so I pondered its value for massage and healing, 3. exciting enough to make me investigate more about other uses opf Vibration and other types of machines.  I thought it had “potential” but that, something was very wrong with the design of the machine I tried.

The rest is, as they say, history! I am now one of the most prolific advocates for high quality Vibration Training and Vibration Therapy.  I’ve seen what it can do and the proven benefits in my life and so many others.  I’ve written many published articles and debated with people worldwide on the topics of machine types, quality, benefits and more.

There’s no way I am going to stand aside and watch as unethical traders use whatever advertising words they choose and attach the benefits of high energy, high quality machines to the auction details for their plastic, low everything, machines.  I’ve said many times that some of these low force, pivotal machines can have benefits for some people; massage value to the legs, slightly increased circulation and very slightly increased metabolism in overweight, very unfit or unwell, or those who do no exercise at all.  The degree of benefit depends mostly on the machine but also on the needs of the user. 

There is no way a person can build muscle and get the physiche of the people shown on infomercials or in pictures attached to these machines just by standing on one, ten minutes a day, or even by following the supplied exercise chart.  Heck, I couldn’t even get into some of the yoga style poses that are shown on some of the exercise charts but I’ll grant that performing the poses on or off the cheap, low energy pivotal machine might increase one’s flexibility (and you don’t need the machine for that).

I’ll continue to warn about the rip-off’s of the Vibration Training Industry and equally importantly, I’ll continue to promote the use and benefits of good quality machines, of varying brands and types. Banning me from questioning an auction’s details gives me greater reason to suspect the seller of being knowingly dishonest and unethical and I’ll yell loudly against that every time.

Note: This blog post is my personal opinion. All buyers of Vibration Machines by auction, in stores, from or as-seen-on-tv sellers are advised to seek advice, use Google, and make their own educated decisions.

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Unethical and Blatently Dishonest Retailers

May 21st, 2010

An online auction  for a Vibration Machine reads: “DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY GOING TO VIBRATION CLINICS when you can now do it at in the comfort of your own home…you can trust you are about to get a GREAT MACHINE with service to match . ONE OF MOST SOLD VIBRATION TRAINERS IN THE WORLD SITREK Vibration trainer” (It’s a Crazyfit machine repackaged with a new label)

It goes on to say “Just 10 minutes on the SFT can equal up to 1 hour of exercise… Reduces unwanted fat on the hips, waist and abdomen… Improves muscle tone and flexibility” and more

Other sellers suggest that their machine is equal to the ones in Vibration Studios and they quote academic study results from larger, higher force machines, often ones that have a completely different mode of action; studies from lineal (upright vibration) machines are frequently attached to low cost, low energy pivotal (see-saw action) machines.

Specifications are very often incorrectly stated, copied from the manufacturer’s papers which are in poorly translated English and confusing, but that, in my opinion, is no excuse for stating obviously incorrect figures.  Online retailers frequently state that a small, home model pivotal Vibration Therapy machine runs at 50Hz, that it vibrates 50 times a second or that it has 50 speed levels. This is blatently incorrect and if they thought about it for even a minute they would realise that the 50Hz relates to the power supply to the machine which in New Zealand is at 50Hz.  Some  even state alongside the 50 speed levels that it vibrates at 5-20Hz or similar.  I’m left wondering how they can state two conflicting figures alongside each other.

Then there’s one online New Zealand retailer that adds a disclaimer to his TradeMe auctions: IMPORTANT – we do not accept returns if you have simply changed your mind on this item or the item does not meet your expectation of what you orginally thought.

Retail Stores, such as fitness equipment stores, often advertise using the same incorrect specs and wording.  I’ve gone to stores and asked questions about machines and got responses telling me how amazing the (very low force and quality) machines are and how I will get fit, lose weight, gain muscle and become almost super-human in no time at all if I buy this machine.

I’ve written previously about T.V. advertorials – the same misinformation  is presented, along with testimonials; sometimes from people we recognise and thought we could trust.

It’s very much a matter of: Buyer Beware!

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Selling Vibration Machines – So many dishonest re-sellers

May 19th, 2010

I’ve been thinking over my last post and also told a few people what I’d written.  Their replies tell me I have been too kind, too polite in what I’ve written.

Talking about buyers the comments have included:

  • So many people buy low energy home Vibration Machines thinking they are going to get really fit and strong, lose weight, gain muscle and get the look of a model, all by standing on the jiggly machine 10 minutes a day.
  • Lazy people wanting a quick fix believe what the infomercials that tell them, that no effort is required, just stand on the machine while watching T.V.  it’s so easy.  They are so gulliable that they believe that the model or personal trainer shown in the infomercial got to look so good just because they use that machine.
  • Some people do try harder to buy a machine that will give them results.  They might even get some benefit from their machine at first because they follow a program carefully but only a few weeks later they plateau and stop making gains.

Then what do these people do when they realise their cheap (or sometimes not so cheap), low quality machines are not going to give them the results they’d hoped for?

Many, and I’m tempted to say Most, sell them on – using the same dishonest advertising that tempted them to buy in the first place.  By this time they know it’s not the truth but hey, they were conned or maybe too lazy to really check out what they were buying, and now they want as much of their money back as possible.

I can’t understand how people can do this;  how so many can lie so easily.  Maybe online auctions make the whole sales process seem remote and selling to someone you don’t know somehow lets people feel okay about being dishonest but really, if you have been conned, how can you turn around so easily and con someone else?

And to the question: have I ever bought or sold a Vibration Machine on an online auction site?

Yes, I have. I bought a small DKN lineal vibration machine when I was learning about machine types and force. I wanted to see how well it worked for home use and just what could be achieved with it.  I knew what I was buying and only paid $NZ150, a reasonable price.  The seller was honest in the auction saying it had been bought for her father but as he was a fit, muscular man who enjoyed sailing; the machine was simply too low powered and also the platform was too small for him so they had bought a much larger medium force machine.  They warned me that the machine was low force.

I played with the little DKN machine for a few months putting myself, family and friends through the Vibra-Train safety program; as much as one can do with such a small, low to the ground machine.  I even bought a foam mat to use on the platform when hands or elbows were in contact with the spikey surface.  The machine had very limited use for my famly as we use Vibra-Train machines in the studio so we soon tired with it.  It’s only real use was for my husband to warm up before going for a 10 mile winter run and for this he found it okay.  So I on-sold it, again on an internet auction site, with honest wording, of course and I showed the buyer how to use it.  It was adequate for the buyer’s needs; useful  for gentle muscle stimulation and increased blood supply.

And, it’s really not so hard to be honest.

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Vibration Machines for Sale on TradeMe

May 19th, 2010

I often look at the auctions for Vibration Machines for sale on TradeMe, New Zealand’s popular auction site for new and re-sale items – It’s similar to Ebay.

There’s a question/comment field and at times I use this to educate and correct sellers on the specifications and uses of the machine they are trying to sell as there’s so much misinformation.  Gymform Vibromax Pivotal Vibration Machine

Cheap, low energy pivotal (teeter-totter/see-saw) machines are frequently listed as “amazing workout, builds muscle, lose weight. The same machines as in studios, just smaller”.  This is, of course, not true and those machines are Vibration Therapy machines useful for helping increase blood circulation and helping free up movement, depending on the actual machine – some are only useful to use the arms as a clothes hanger, not really much use at all.

Vibe Trainer Whole Body Vibration MachinesThen there are mini lineal/upright Vibration Machines.  These can be quite useful especially for warm up and cool down before sports or going for a walk.  They can even be a good start into exercise and fitness, again it depends on the actual quality and type of machine.  You can’t generally trust the brand name of the machine as these change each week; huge runs of machines come off the production line in China and the same machines get stamped with many different names.

strength on Vibra-TrainI have little sympathy for people who get duped and buy a home Vibration Machine for a few hundred dollars believing it will be just as good as the heavy, steel platformed, high energy lineal/upright Vibration Machines that are in Vibra-Train Studios.PowerPlate Vibration Machine

Even the medium energy PowerPlate machines and FitVibe, Fit-X , and some BodyGreem machines that are found in studios, gyms, and beauty clinics are absolutely superior to the low price home models that are available on auction sites.

There are some workout quality home machines available – they cost more along with other differences and it’s essential that people do some “homework” and learn about the varying types of machines before they buy a home machine, carefully matching their needs and what results they want with the machine they choose to buy.

Expecting a $300 machine from TradeMe that is advertised with the same wording of advantages and results that accompany $20,000 Studio machines, to truely deliver those same results is a little crazy in my opinion.

One point that is made in almost all of the re-sale machines for online auction is that the seller hasn’t used the machine at all or used it only a handful of times.  Why, if it gives great results, don’t they use it? They even tell you sometimes – “I don’t have time to use it”.  This, I find laughable.  Programs for Home Vibration machines take 10 minutes or even up to 30 minutes three times a week.  For the pivotal (think Crazyfit brand or the currently advertised Gymform Vibromax) machines they tell you to stand on the machine for just 10 minutes every day.

(A little info here: make sure you are using the right program and frequency for the machine type you buy for home use)

So, the sellers of machines can’t find 10 minutes three times a week or, for pivotal machines, 10 minutes each day to use their machines so they are trying to sell them to you, telling you of all the supposed, amazing benefits you will get?

I’m going to suggest they are either

  • Very lazy, too lazy to exercise at all?
  • Involved with other exercise or sport and know that their low quality machine isn’t going to benefit them.
  • Have used the machine about ten times and realise they were lied to, that it isn’t going to give the results they want and so they are trying to sell it on to you, complete with those same lies.
  • They’ve started going to a Vibration Studio or they are using a machine at their gym and they know their cheap (well they might have paid quite a lot actually) unit is not so good as they thought when they bought it.

There are, of course, genuine sales; people moving overseas or long distance, those who really did use their machines and now have some other activity involvement, those who cannot contine for true medical reasons or pregnancy.  I hope those sellers honestly state the specifications, uses and benefits of the machine they are selling, sadly many exagerate.

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