If it's good enough for the Queen of Pop it'll do me!!

Recently, the nice people at Perth and Kinross Leisure invited me up to Perth Leisure Pool to try out their new, and highly popular exercise machine, the PowerPlates.

From what little I had read about them, all I knew was that you stood on them and it jiggled the fat away. This was how Madonna got her figure (her figure is good, it's her face that's the problem) and Claudia Schiffer, who still looks amazing!!

It turned out to be more involved with that.

All of the instructors at Perth Leisure pool have to be trained to teach people how to use the machine. There are even classes for those too timid to go it alone. For an exercise newbie like myself, it is reassuring to know you are in safe hands.

I was told by my instructor that the point of Powerplates was send vibrations through my muscles, so that they expanded and contracted much more quickly than during normal exercise. This means that half an hour of Powerplates can have more of an effect than half an hour of toning exercises.

And that point was soon hammered home, as the instructor got me onto the machine and squatting (like I was sitting on an invisible chair). Then the machine started, and I had to hold that stance for 30 seconds. This was much more difficult that I'd thought it was going to be, and it showed how unfit I actually am!

Then I had to do a tricep dip, hold my position mid-dip and keep it like that for 30 seconds. I'll admit I fell a couple of times.

The strangest sensation during my Powerplates session was the feeling in different parts of my body. Initially I would get the vibration feeling in one part, then after about 10 or 15 seconds, I would get a secondary feeling in the muscle being targeted by the exercise. And the great thing about Powerplates is that it was so intense, the feeling that it was actually working came soon.

Twenty minutes later and I was onto the cool down, which involved me lying down with my legs on the plate and relaxing which was the best bit. I was weary and slightly sore from the work out. Ten minutes after that I was done, and it felt as though I'd been using weights for hours.

And the deciding factor that Powerplates was a success? The backs of my legs were aching the next morning!

For me, Powerplates were gentle, but it still worked, and I think it will become an important part of my exercise routine.

For more information, go to http://www.liveactive.co.uk