The Merach Vibration Plate Is the Funniest Workout I’ve Ever Done
Many years ago, my brother-in-law was renovating an 18th-century house in New Orleans. As I spent the day searching through piles of moldy copies of Peanuts comics, I found a (still working!) 1950s-style fat-jiggler machine. From the Remington Beltmaster to the classic Shake Weight, many gimmicky fitness devices over the years have tried to capitalize on the concept of dynamic inertia to help us get toned and lose weight. Most human beings don’t like to move, even though moving is how you maintain your muscle mass and, you know, how you stay alive. A vibrating device offers you a mystical promise: You can trick yourself into exercising while staying absolutely still, as long as you’re standing on, near, or holding something that’s vibrating! Violently! Anyway, this is a long way to go about saying that for a few weeks, I have been vibrating myself while watching Train to Busan and other zombie movies. While I do think that the long-standing claims that you can vibrate your way to weight loss are mostly bogus, they do …
