Power Plate Blog: Fluid Motion

By: David Howatson-Begg

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When teaching others using vibration my advice is always drink, drink, drink. Consume as much water as you think necessary, double that amount and drink some more is my mantra. That may sound somewhat excessive but the importance of hydration can never be underestimated when it comes to our wellbeing. But this insistence is about much more than just fighting thirst or staving off the headaches associated with dehydration.

'Honey vs Water'

Fellow Master Trainer Paul Edmondson digs a little deeper and links fluids to the quality of our movement, "The viscosity of our fluid can, and will, affect our movement quality. Think of your blood, lymph and water in and between joints and muscles. The thicker the fluid the less willingness to move. The thinner and more 'free running' our fluids can be then the more efficient and expansive our movement tasks become."

Edmondson continues, "Think of Honey vs Water - water runs quick and easy, honey moves sluggishly, it needs help to move it along and out of the jar. Imagine your fluid having the same sticky viscous property...stiffness for sure!"

The cause of this stiffness can be attributed to a "lack of movement" and Edmondson advocates, "Nutritional enrichment, hydration internally (drinking water) and hydration externally by moving often with variability to drive fluid and make it 'run free' to nourish our bodies."

Vibration Solution

"Every movement made on Power Plate is being driven through our foot/hands and hugely enhancing micro-circulation (in the part of the body in contact with the plate) and also macro-circulation (systemic circulation)" says Edmondson, "this means oxygenation to far reaching cells, tissues and organs to the body, removal of waste quicker through our unique lymphatic vessels and replenishing water between fibres in our muscles and fascia helping us move and groove with ease and efficiency again.

What most of us 'feel' after prolonged bouts of sitting, we get up to move and we feel the 'stiffness' in hamstrings. This is not all of a sudden tight, it's because short term we've compressed and squeezed water out if the fascial fibres that lie between each muscle. Water exists to help fibres glide/slide thus move efficiently. If water is squeezed out the tissues 'stick' together impeding motion and like a 'dry sponge' is brittle, bone dry and easy to tear."

One of the plate's huge qualities is restoring the flow of fluid to/around the body. That quality is one which myself, Paul Edmondson and thousands of other Power Plate users experience day in, day out allowing us to prepare faster, perform better and recover quicker. So stay well hydrated when moving with vibration. Your body will thank you for it.


By Paul Edmondson & David Howatson, Performance Health Systems UK Master Trainers