I know, as soon as you hear of vibration trainer, you see another piece of equipment that goes straight to the loft. But this one apparently works! Power-Plate is a not-so-well kept secret behind great figures of Kylie Minogue, Madonna and...Clint Eastwood.

It's a machine that gives the body's muscles a high-speed workout by using vibrations to stimulate them to contract and relax. They generally contract once or twice a second, but by standing on the Power-Plate, its vibrations cause an automatic reflex muscle contraction of 30-50 a second. Think of it as a fitness microwave - you achieve the same effect but with much smaller amount of time! The makers of this miraculous device claim that just 10 minutes on the vibrating plate will give you the same effects as 60 minutes of traditional workout. How? The vibration stimulate different groups of muscles at the same time and by adding combination of compound exercises (such as squats and push-ups, which use more than one muscle group) and isolation exercises (biceps curls and front raises) you'll get a better training response, as well as increasing potential calorie burn.

What's the downside? Express fitness is not cheap - to get one of vibrating trainers you have to be ready to spend something between £1500 and £8000. If you prefer classes you can join one for about £20 per session. The trainers make it clear as well - the magic works at it best when you combine it with traditional exercises. So don't give up your gym just yet.