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Vibration Training Anti-Cellulite Massage – Part 2

May 6th, 2013
Note: This article is written from my viewpoint as a trainer and user of high-energy, lineal vibration platforms. The results and the experiences described are not necessarily replicable on lower level machines, such as PowerPlate, FitVibe, nor on pivotal platforms of any kind.
It’s just an anti-cellulite massage – right -
how can there be a Part 2; surely its not that complicated?

Well, yes, really it is – the vibration training anti-cellulite massage is complex; its quite different to the training program, and in some studios you even pay an extra price to add it to your program.

In part 1 I’ve covered the basic process of how it works, enhancing blood flow to the backs of the legs and the butt, breaking down some of the static fat and transporting it back into the circulatory system.

So, what does this massage actually feel like?

I’m going to start by saying, we get a lot of  jibes from the wider fitness industry about vibration training; the words – vibe, vibration, and anti-cellulite massage get talked about accompanied with raucous laughter and more so when they joke about girls sitting about on  heavily vibrating platforms.  Some of these jokes are deliberately trying to discredit the fitness and strength training that we do, rather than accepting it as a valid alternative to the gym, but it’s probably fair enough to laugh about the anti-cellulite massage; after all, the ladies anti-cellulite massage means sitting on the world’s most powerful vibrators.

Woman sitting on washing machineIs it really that nice?

No, It isn’t all fun!  I said in my previous article (Part 1), the massage can be extremely irritating and it makes your legs itch so badly it’s hard to keep still. It can feel like being attacked by thousands of tickling or biting little ants.

Some ladies feel immediate sensation of needing to pee or pass wind and that’s really unpleasant. I explain to them that the vibration is actually closing up the urethral muscles, in fact they are getting a pelvic floor workout, but explanation doesn’t stop that horrible feeling. Adjusting position slightly can help and knowing what’s really happening does help ladies relax, so that over time they stop feeling quite so uncomfortable.  Another bad feeling some ladies get is a bright red bum and red backs of the legs, enough to prevent them immediately going to the pools or the beach – not a good look! And that feeling of passing wind, it can be so extreme that sometimes I’ll hit the stop button myself, go to the bathroom, then realise it was just the machine giving me that sense.

Women LaughingSo, you can see, that feeling; like you are about to go to the toilet – well it really can’t happen, do you think we would risk the machines like that?

I know you are going to ask, “do any women enjoy sitting on the machine, like the jokes suggest? Does it, well does it, ever, feel, you know; nice?”

Well, yes; some have told me it’s definitely a sensual experience for them, one they enjoy. Some burst out with laughter, others feel shy with embarrassment. Don’t worry, the trainers can’t tell what you are experiencing unless you openly tell them. Years of customer feedback plus comments from female staff who train regularly have told us the whole range of sensations people experience.

If;  right after the anti-cellulite massage, someone smiles and asks if they can take a  machine home with them; that’s when we laugh along with them and reply, “only if you can carry it out to the car all by yourself. Oh, and, it weighs about 200Kg”.

Seriously though, the company I work for doesn’t sell machines, they are studio based, so that would never be an option.

Why can’t males do it?

The reason why is quite obvious. Males are anatomically different to women; it would be very painful for them. Some have begged me to let them try; I’m not sadistic so always the answer is no!  Also remember, the dimpled looking fat deposits on the back of the legs that we’ve named cellulite, well it’s a women’s thing, men don’t have it quite the same anyway, no matter how big their legs are.

woman sitting on machine

 

So, you see that one position, the Anti-Cellulite Massage, it’s a lot more complicated than it first seems. The best thing is, it does exactly what it’s designed to do; it breaks down the fatty deposits on the back of the legs and butt. Despite the differing sensations women feel, the result is a better shape; no one’s ever complained about that.

 

 

 

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Posted in Benefits, Experiences, Programs, Vibration Training, Women

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Vibration Training Anti-Cellulite Massage

April 18th, 2013

anti-cellulite massageThis is the one position in the IVTRB Vibration Training Safety Program that’s rather odd. It’s not training, it’s simply a massage.

Well maybe not too “simply” a massage, as we shall see.

For one thing – the anti-cellulite massage is very annoying.  It can make your butt itch so bad you hop about for ages afterwards.

Sitting on the machine, legs spread-eagled,leaning forward and resting arms over a big flat rubber mat or dangling the arms down by your ankles (which is very important to keep the backbone slightly lifted off the machine); then being pounded into the backs of the legs and parts of your butt; it isn’t necessarily a pleasant feeling.

It’s easy to picture what’s happening if you think of a big juicy piece of steak and imagine pounding it over, and over, and over with a heavy wooden (or metal) meat tenderiser.  Keep that up for three minutes and what happens to the steak? Yes, it flattens and some of the fats and other juices run off.

This is kind of what happens with a lineal vibration machine, three minute, anti-cellulite massage.

But we aren’t a slab of dead meat so the released fats and other fluids don’t drain out anywhere but are instead taken up by the small veins and routed back into the circulatory system. Some of the fat stores that sit just under the skin (in the legs we call this cellulite) are broken down and free fatty acids (FFA) are released into the blood.

So now we have some extra fats in our blood, what now?

girl looking in fridge - tight butt

Fridge

The fats in this form can be readily oxidised and available as muscle fuel to help with the rest of our workout or they can travel around the body and reconvert back into fat stores. The good news is that even this re-conversion to fat stores uses up energy (calories).

Of course the way all this works is much  more complicated than this simple blog but there’s lots of good news here.

At Vibra-Train Auckland City, I’ve often heard customers comment on how effective the anti-cellulite massage is; on how much tighter and better shaped their toosh* is after just a month of vibration training sessions – that’s about 12 visits.

The anti-cellulite massage is part of the standard vibration training IVTRB Safety Program used at Vibra-Train and other vibration training studios and in  fitness studios worldwide.

 

* a slang word for butt or ass

 

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Vibration Training – Lloyd Shaw’s Six Year Training Results

February 6th, 2012

This post is going to be short – the picture says it all!

Lloyd Shaw Profile Feb 2012

Lloyd Shaw - Vibra-Train - February 2012


For about five years I’ve watched Lloyd Shaw follow the IVTRB Safety Program on Vibra-Train brand vibration machines – three times a week, every week. Well not quite, there’s been a few times he’s taken a break, just a week off, usually just one or two sessions. A short amount of time off any exercise training program is good, it allows the body to completely rest and still growth and gain continues.

I’ve posted a few pics of Lloyd in previous articles, Click here to see them .

Lloyd’s been following the Safety program for six years now. If you clicked through to the older pics you”ll see that Lloyd has lost size  – he no longer carries the bulk he had a year ago. This is an interesting change, he still eats burgers but I think he’s been a little more careful with food quality lately. I rarely see the pizza delivery man at the studio now. Nothing else has changed; Lloyd still eats when he’s hungry – and that’s an important point, he doesn’t overeat. He also doesn’t take supplements or steroids (never has). His protein intake is increased by a serving of pure pasteurized eggwhite (Eggcel) most days along with a few Vitamin C tablets and some Magnesium. He maintains a healthy gut and elimination with a spoonful of a fibre mix.

And this is the result, a slimmer, healthy body, with excellent muscle definition. Body Composition Analysis Machine test results put Lloyd in the highest category for muscle quality. His body fat level absolutely normal, right on the line.

When I think of the owners and marketers of many of the well known vibration machine brands I sometimes wonder what sort of results they are personally getting – from vibration training alone (its the only exercise Lloyd Shaw does).

I could name many who are young to mid aged guys. My challenge is – show us what you’ve got, show us a picture and tell us your program.

Lloyd Shaw’s program – click through to YouTube

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Posted in Experiences, Safety Program, Vibra-Train, Vibration Training, Videos

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Vibration Training Or Death – your choice

June 29th, 2011

Okay, the first thing readers are going to tell me is that my title is very serious – it’s meant to be!

Will you die if you don’t do vibration training? Maybe you won’t but there’s a very high risk of premature death for certain groups of people who refuse to partake in strength producing exercise; and vibration training is the safest and most effective form of fitness training I know of. In fact there are only a few conditions where vibration training isn’t recommended.

Who are the people who would benefit so much and what happens if they refuse or, the much more common scenario, they start training (or therapy using the machines if that’s their starting point) and then they stop – for all sorts of reasons with laziness (just can’t be bothered) being the prime one.

slim shaped girl jumpingOkay, you don’t fit into this category if you are young, active, fit, of healthy weight, and maybe also if you are middle aged and go to a gym regularly (though vibration training on top of a gym session is the extreme that gives amazing results).  It’s not for you also if you are pregnant (as a precaution at this stage, we don’t allow it), if you have a pacemaker (but we haven’t forgotten you; there are small vibrating foot platforms available), or if you have an active cancer (even this contra-indication is being debated).

This leaves a huge population that CAN use a vibration machine and if they aren’t active in some other fitness method, they will benefit greatly if they do.

That’s the nice message – the harder more serious one is this

People who have a disability and can’t easily do other forms of exercise; people who are morbidly obese (considered to be around 40% BMI) and can’t even walk to the letterbox without pain in their knees or hips, or gasping for breath, those who have muscular dystrophy or M.S. and even older people who are sedate – these people benefit so much from Vibration Training or Vibration Therapy.  And I almost forgot to add; those who have diabetes or pre-diabetes which goes hand-in-hand with obesity and has become the Number 1 health problem in New Zealand.  These are the people my hard hitting title really applies to – Do it or Die!

The Joys and the Problems

At Vibra-Train we allow some people to be sponsored and do their sessions free. These are people with true life threatening conditions (very extreme obesity is one) or a major disability they are never going to recover from.  Coming in for free isn’t automatic – it’s done after discussion and generally with the support of their medical helpers (doctors etc). It’s certainly not given to everyone who thinks they’re a little overweight. Some of the people who are given this sponsorship have been in a severe health situation for a long time and don’t have the finances to pay for sessions so this is a wonderful gift that Vibra-Train gives them – and more so as the sponsors are the directors and staff; there’s no outside organisation that pays for this in New Zealand.

These people (the morbidly obese, those with M.S., in wheelchairs, and similar) work hard, some starting out with just a single handlebar assisted squat position. This can mean driving or being driven across the city to do just one single, 60 second position on the machine.  Those who are not able to do even that sit in front of the machine with their feet placed on the platform edge for 3 minutes, repeated once or twice.  Starting with just that one squat, or sitting in front of the machine with feet on edge, the client graduates slowly  into more squats and when they are able we add in a few more positions building up to the full program for some; others do what they can.

The results are truly amazing – they are life saving! I see people who can only walk with a cane or stoop and shuffle begin to stand upright and walk with confidence knowing their legs are stronger and will support them.  Within three or four weeks I’ve seen hugely obese clients gain strength and then start to slim down. It’s a slow change and no one becomes slim overnight despite what advertising for various pills and plans tells us but it is real and its forever if the person keeps training. Their whole demeanour changes, they tell me how much they look forward to coming in for their sessions. It’s very hard work doing the vibration training but that part is no different than it is for other clients – all real training is hard work.

The great thing about using the Vibra-Train brand of machines is that the sessions are fully supervised and the machines are very powerful but designed specifically for use by people who cannot squat unaided what we call “worst case scenario”.

I work with some of the sponsored clients and enjoy encouraging and pushing them as hard as they are able, and some more above that. We get real results from real training in a safe controlled environment.

What happens next is very sad

Sometimes it’s frustration because there’s no instant fix or miracle, sometimes its family pressure, sometimes laziness but there are some clients, some sponsored even, who stop coming after a few months. It happens at any time, even after we’ve marvelled at their results.  They know Vibration Training is working for them yet they stop coming. We usually don’t know why people have stopped – we wonder if they are unwell or moved to another city.  Then they come back – many months later, always so much worse in their condition, and they expect us to fix them.  Ask where they’ve been and they’ve been “too busy” or gone off to try a “magic cure” or just stopped for no real reason.  After the effort the trainers here put in and the effort they used to make, they stopped coming and think they come back and recover, get back on track again. This might be possible but often it isn’t!   Debilitating conditions get worse over time so we’re starting over at a huge disadvantage since their previous time.  We’ve had people come back in a wheelchair where before they could walk in. There are times we simply can’t help anymore!

Title of this article; “Vibration Training or Death?” The choice is serious so choose well.

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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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So many FAT people at the mall

June 13th, 2010

The title says it all really!

It’s been around two years since I’ve taken a weekday, morning trip to the local shopping mall, St Lukes, very close to Auckland City.  My mall visits are usually done late afternoon, evening or weekends but as I am off work for a few weeks I took the opportunity to visit the mall earlier in the day.

St Lukes was one of New Zealand’s first “all in one-place”  shopping centers and is alike to all the others, offering an overwhelming number of fashion clothing shops, cosmetic and personal needs stores, a few appliance and specialty stores and a food supermarket. And, of course, an abundance of cafe’s, small restaurants, and fast food outlets.  There’s plenty of choice with foods ranging from fries, cream buns, and iced cupcakes to sushi or healthy kebabs, egg based dishes or steak and salad on flat bread. There’s whipped cream topped hot chocolate (a very yummy occaisional treat) through to trim lates and freshly made fruit juices.

There’s a buzz at the mall and a pervasive sense of wanting to buy “stuff”. I’m reminded of a childrens Veggie Tales movie about the “Stuff Mart” and how we are entreated to buy “stuff” no matter if we need it or not.  In fact, even my home is filled with a lot of unecessary “stuff” and I’m not easily swayed by advertising.

But back to the reason for this post: There are so may FAT people at the mall.

Don’t take offense; it’s a statement of fact, not judgement BUT I wanted to grab a lot of them and shake some sense into them, not that it would have helped; there’s plenty of education and help available.

What I noticed was families; gran, mother and children; and friends together eating huge iced, creamed buns, sweet cakes and slices, the worst brands of burgers and fries, along with fizzy drinks. The people sitting at these cafes were noticeable by their size, they were obese!

I know I’ll get told I am being unfair on those who chose to have a treat that day but walking past those fast-food outlets and cafe’s I had lunch at Coffee Club where healthier, yummy choices are available. I ordered freshly made  pizza and drank my previously bought miso soup. Pizza is high in calories but it’s toppings were chicken, feta, tomato, olives, a little bacon and minimal pizza cheese; healthy foods with excellent nutrient value, unlike the carbs and sugar laden, nutrient deficient foods I saw so many people eating.

I’m left wondering how we can educate and help people when they choose against all recommendations.

I find it easy to overeat and that’s mostly on “good” foods and so, for me, diet (what I eat, not what I don’t) and exercise is very important.

Walking, swimming, playing ball with children or the dog are all excellent, fun choices for cardiac health and general fitness.  Using hand weights (or assisted weight machines) or  Vibration Training on high quality machines, in a vibration studio, fitness or beauty centre, or at home, is the other part of the fitness equation helping to build muscle and strength which then uses up more calories to maintain.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive.  Simple exercise isn’t expensive.

Choosing to eat right and exercise – too hard for some.

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Posted in health, Other Articles, Vibration Training, Women

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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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Posted in Brands, Marketing, Vibration Training

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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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A reply from @powerplate on twitter

March 30th, 2010

I asked the @powerplate girls if they were P.R. and paid to promote PowerPlate Vibration Machines.  It took a while to get an answer but I got one,here’s part of it.

“we are Power Plate trainers, PRs, marketers, directors, customer service, sales assistants, educators and are here to answer questions and help people understand more about the Power Plate machine…. Our Power Plate trainers are busy instructing clients and advising programmes for them, however any specific training related questions are forwarded over to them.”

While this gives a little credibility to the twitter posts it’s a cop-out.  They are paid marketers using social media to promote a product.  Their posts are mostly statements about which model or movie star is using a PowerPlate and there’s a lot of “retweeting” of others posts, saying they’re planning or have done their workout.  There’s also some links to exercises videos.

I’ve yet to see any real questions asked and answered!  They are P.R. marketing people above all else. It was easy for me to find the P.R company they work for.  P.R. people are not “on the floor” trainers even if they’ve done a basic instructor course; what’s more the level 1 course is all about marketing.  Questions can be forwarded to trainers I don’t doubt that but then to have to wait for a reply, all via the marketing company; seems to me to be a very inefficient way to deal with queries.  I can answer your queries immediately in the studio or by phone or email.

I’m not against advertising or promotion; heck, I’m promoting Vibration Training every day with this website and in many conversations both in person and online but I’ll never be seen pushing the gossip that “..insert movie star or model name here..” uses the brand of machines that I work with.  They do!  I could list a “who’s who” of celebrities, models, media people and more but who cares? Vibration Training (on real, medium- high force machines) is for everyone; the stay at home mom, the elderly priest, the airline staff (we get a lot of these), the obese for whom it’s a lifesaver, the top personal trainers and sales staff from local gyms, athletes, students, those with disabilities and just about everyone else.

I can’t promise you’ll end up looking like a model or movie star if you train with me but I can promise that I’ll push you hard and encourage you (there’s nothing politically correct about our way of encouraging though – you may get a smile and kind words but you just might get told how much you “suck” and get shocked and shamed into doing better).

You, the reader, really can do the Safety Program, no excuses accepted.  If the 84 year old priest and the 200kg mom can do full 60 second positions on a high force machine then you can!   You’ll have a fully supervised session in a fun environment and get great results.

Call into any Vibra-Train Studio in New Zealand, Australia, and Ampthill, Bedfordshire, U.K. or read more of my blogs for more information.  There’s a contact link in the Welcome tab at the top of the page.

Recommended Vibration Training Information Websites:

www.vibra-train.com

www.vibration-training-advice.com

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Posted in Marketing, Other Articles, Vibration Training

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Bad Advertising and Pricing

February 24th, 2010

Yesterday I went to the mall and while there I went to the FTC store to buy some bed linen for my daughter.  There were SALE signs up all through the store and I soon found some sheets with a 30% off sign above them.  The sign was large and the numbers took up the most part of the sign.  Deciding on a pale blue set I took it to the counter to complete the sale and was charged full price!  Surprisingly maybe for mid afternoon I was alert enough to notice and immediately queried the price, pointing out that the sign above the stand I’d taken the sheet set off said 30% off.

Sale signI was told, NO, the 30% off ones are “over there”.   “Over there” was exactly where I’d found the set I wanted to buy so the sales assistant checked further.

The sign did say 30% off  BUT under those large numbers was the small print.  The small print said 30% off if you buy two of the same item.   I checked another sign above some bed quilts.  It read 50% off and again, under the large numerals was the small print – when buying two items.

I consider this to be very misleading advertising!

I believe if a SPECIAL PRICE has conditions attached they need to be as easily seen as the teaser, special 30% off wording.

Legally, in New Zealand the price displayed for an item is an invitation to sale rather than a set price and the sale price is determined at the point that a price agreement is reached or money is paid BUT this usually applies to large items like appliances and vehicles where the customer can be advantaged by a discount for paying immediately or can choose a more expensive, longer payment term.  The FTC store was within the law in the way they displayed their prices but they lost this sale as I refused to pay the full price after being lured by the 30% off sign.  I went to KMart and bought a very similar item at even lower price.

I’m very happy to say that in our Vibra-Train studios the price is clearly displayed and customers NEVER pay more than the displayed price.  In fact they can pay less by taking up various advance or term payment options or by using discount coupons from several publications.  The first visit is free regardless of any commitment to ongoing training.

I choose not to support stores and organisations who have deceiptful advertising or display any sort of signage that deludes me into thinking I am getting a better deal than I really am or in any way obscures the truth about the price or the worth of item.

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