I had not heard of a vibration plate, but when I saw the info talking about lymphatic drainage, helpful for circulation and improving muscle tone I thought I would give it a shot. When I got it I was telling my 85 year old mom about it and she said, "well I have one of those and I use it a lot". I had no idea. :-) It is a very sturdy unit, I was a bit worried that I would feel unstable but not at all. I am not sure I could do squats on it, but then again, I can't do squats on the ground either. It is easy to set up and there are 99 incremental speeds, and nine different modes to try out. I just thought that for a few minutes a day it could help my improve my physical self. But what really sold me about this was that I have had swollen feet/ankles for the last year or so. I am not sure why, but I do know the hot weather doesn't help. So, I figured I could try it out and maybe it could help. Amazing, but I tried it one evening and it seemed like the swelling was greatly reduced. I am not sure if it will work for everyone for that, but for me it did and was totally worth it. I have not had a chance to start a solid exercise plan, but I think that will do me some good as well. It is kind of heavy, but not unreasonably so. Just enough to make it feel sturdy. It is flat enough it is easy to store away. So far it is a two thumbs up for me!