Over recent years Powerplate, the vibrating exercise platform, has become ubiquitous in UK gyms. The Pineapple, the manufacturers would have us believe, is the next step in the evolution of such machines with a smoother, safer oscillating action. You can do everything from push-ups, sit-ups and lunges to yoga poses on it, but the subtle up-and-down motion makes those movements more challenging. It is reputed to provide the benefits of a 60-minute workout in a half hour.
I use the machine under the supervision of Rob Mason, a physical trainer who, in 2002, won the Mr New Jersey body-building contest. My introduction feels inauspicious: we begin by standing on the machine as it revs at a medium speed and I am chagrined to see my belly jiggle vigorously over the waist band of my Lycra shorts. I don't know if the machine melts fat off bodies, but in my case it certainly makes it more visible.
One of Mason's clients claims that simply lying on the Pineapple every day has shrunk his waistline. That sounds like a brilliant routine, but Mason has other things in mind for our session, putting me through a series of squats, lunges, weight lifts, sit-ups and push-ups. The lower-body drills I don't find too hard, but doing sit-ups on a stability ball is a lot tougher on the Pineapple than on a gym floor. The shifting plate engages your core muscles, and crunching them when they are already straining makes for a challenging set of repetitions. Even harder are the press-ups. Generally I can do about 50 (resting halfway through), but on the Pineapple I surrender after 30.
I expect my stomach to be trembling and my arms to feel like noodles after stepping off the machine, but it is my legs that feel most wrecked. Apparently jumping from a standing position to a squat 15 times had been more taxing on the Pineapple than I'd realised. The "benefits of an hour workout in half the time" line isn't false advertising"
For more information, go to www.pineapple.la, Pineappleeurope.com, or call Rob Mason