How to use the total body enhancement at planet fitness

Last Updated on January 22, 2022 by

Imagine this: a machine that touts fat loss. Cellulite reduction. Wrinkle removal. And all you have to do is stand still.  Sound too good to be true? The Total Body Enhancement machine at Planet Fitness makes these claims – and more. And my gym loving, science nerd self (who also touts a bit of cellulite and wrinkles) wanted to see if there was any validity to these claims.

So I did the research – and also – got into the machine for a few months straight. Here’s my story, and what I discovered about the Total Body Enhancement machine.

SO IT ALL BEGAN WITH SOCIAL MEDIA.  I was scrolling through Instagram stories, because that’s been my favorite distraction lately, despite the fact that I’m somewhat angry with Instagram for shortening users attention spans and therefore ruining the blogging industry.

LONG LIVE WRITTEN WORD!

As I scrolled through the daily IG “story” of an elite endurance athlete I admire, my (short) attention was grabbed by a boomerang video of her in a red light therapy bed.  Immediately my mind thought of the “Total Body Enhancement” contraptions at my local Planet Fitness.

But Heather, I thought you hated Planet Fitness?

Let me back up again.  Planet Fitness, as it turns out, is not as horrible of a place as I once imagined it to be.  Deep down I still fully support locally owned, small gyms that do not have a “no judgement” double standard, first and foremost. If you have known me for a while, you’ve certainly seen one of my rants over their “lunk” marketing campaigns and the fact that they have a reputation for singling out and shunning fit people; kicking you out if they deem your outfit too “intimidating” and getting rid of squat racks and heavy free weights because only bone-head “lunks” use those.   I’ve also snarkily commented over the fact that for years, their headquarters was located right next to a Chuck E. Cheese (we passed it on the way to Portland Maine multiple times per year).

But I’ll be the first to stand up and say, I’m sorry Planet Fitness.  I was wrong.

About a year ago I joined the Myrtle Beach PF circuit as a black card member in order to be able to workout with some friends..  And guess what?  It’s not bad.  In fact, my local gym (Myrtle Beach) is always super clean, the staff is very friendly, and if we’re being honest, the “no judgment zone” extends to all walks of life at this location…including the super fit ladies rocking only tights and a sports bra.  The equipment is always functional, and the first Monday of every month?

 THEY GIVE YOU FREE PIZZA. 

Talk all the smack you want about pizza in a gym, but THIS ultra runner thinks it’s freaking fantastic.  There is ZERO shame in my pizza game.  All of that, and I can bring my husband (or anyone else for that matter, but he is my favorite) as a “guest” as many times as I want, for $20 a month. I’ll take it.

But I digress.  Back to the Total Body Enhancement machine.   So this Instagram Elite athlete (it was Amelia Boone) reminded me that with my Planet Fitness black card membership, I get free hydro massages (yay), free tanning (say no to skin cancer) and free use of the Total Body Enhancement machine, which I’ve never bothered setting foot in.  I knew it contained red light therapy bulbs, but that was the extent of my knowledge.

But now I was intrigued.   If super endurance athlete Amelia uses red light therapy, maybe I should too (gah I’m such a sheep).  So I did a little online research.

About the Total Body Enhancement Machine: 

The Total Body Enhancement machine is also known as the “Beauty Angel RVT 30“, and it is essentially a booth that uses red light therapy bulbs (non damaging, non UV rays) combined with a vibration plate, to magically enhance you, somehow.  What is that supposed to do for you?  Well, non scientific, non reputable sources (aka, I googled) came back with the following potential benefits:

Potential Benefits of the Total Body Enhancement Machine:

• Stimulates the release of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) thus giving you more energy before a workout
  
• Stimulates collagen and elastin production, therefore increasing skin elasticity and reducing wrinkles and stretchmarks
  
• Reduces cellulite
  
• (brace yourself for this one) Burns tiny holes into your fat cells (?), releasing the fat into your body so you can now burn it off easier (??)
  
• Stimulates blood flow to the muscles, aiding as an effective warm up before a workout
  
• Helps reduce inflammation in muscles and joints

Is the Total Body Enhancement too good to be true?  Maybe.  Probably.  But…

I searched for some more reputable sources of the benefits of red light therapy, where I found some scientific and citable claims, such as:

One study aimed to determine the effectiveness of red light therapy for abdominal fat loss.  Results found that the combination of 3 different wavelengths of red light therapy was effective for abdominal girth reduction in 100% of subjects. (Montazeri, et al., 2017)

In another study testing the efficacy and safety of red light treatment on wrinkle reduction, groups treated with red and white light-emitting diodes found the wrinkle measurement in skin improved significantly from baseline at Week 12. The red LED group showed slightly better improvement, but there were no statistical differences. (Nam, et al.., 2017)

AND, perhaps my FAVORITE little bit of information this runner stumbled upon:

“Photobiomodulation (the use of red or near-infrared  light to stimulate, heal, and regenerate damaged tissue) can increase muscle mass gained after training, and decrease inflammation and oxidative stress in muscle biopsies”  (Ferraresi, et al.,  2016)

As you can see, there may potentially be actual benefits of the Total Body Enhancement machine as an athlete with often sore muscles, a little extra butt cellulite, and stretchmarks.  The question, of course, is if the wavelengths used in the studies are the same emitted by the bulbs in the Total Body Enhancement machine.  Your guess is as good as mine.

Total Body Enhancement Review:

After doing what every social media savvy athlete does in 2018 (I asked strangers in a Facebook group if they’ve ever used the machine) I decided to give the Total Body Enhancement machine a try myself.  After checking in at my local Planet Fitness, the front desk girl assigned me a room for my Total Body Enhancement experience.   She gave me zero instruction other than “room 13” and walked away.

I enter room 13 and shut the door behind me. The booth looks similar to the stand up tanning beds I used to use when I was 19 years old, living in cold Vermont, and dreaming of the summer sun.  I have NO IDEA how this machine works, and there are NO instructions.

The room was small enough that I couldn’t get a good picture of this contraption, so here’s one I pulled off Yelp:

Do you wear clothes in the Total Body Enhancement?

I read on one review that another user was told by a staff member to get completely naked inside of the machine, but it’s 30 degrees outside and this is Planet Fitness.  There’s a lock on the door but…ehh no thanks (says the girl who runs naked 5K’s for fun). I decide taking of my shoes, socks, and tank top will be enough.   I’m not given any goggles, nor asked if I had any.  I scour the room for warning signs about eye protection and see nothing but a few disclaimers saying that the Total Body Enhancement machine uses NON UV emitting, safe lights.  So I step into the chamber, shut the door, and hit what I assume is the start button.

Which Buttons Should I Press?

The chamber roars to life and immediately blinds me.  But after a few seconds my eyes adjust, and I can see just fine.  I’m still not sure if this is safe, but we are all a science (or Darwinian) experiment of one, right?  I’ll let you know tomorrow if I wake up blind.   The fans overhead are quickly blowing air down on me, some New-Age music that makes me think I should be in a posh wine bar that I cannot afford to be in starts playing from above, and I hear a muffled woman’s voice telling me do to something, but I’m not sure what.

So naturally, I just start pushing buttons.

Again, I have no idea what’s going on or what she’s saying. I hit what I think is a volume button, and nothing changes. The control panel doesn’t give a level reading or anything, but I’m under the impression that there are, indeed, varying levels of…exercise? I’m not even sure what to call it.  The vibrating plate under my feet starts off at a light, yet tolerable level.

Vibration Plate

At some point, maybe three or four minutes in, the muffled ladies voice tells me (I think) that the warm-up portion of my adventure is over, and the vibration plate suddenly goes into overdrive.  It’s equal parts hilarious and terrifying, and as such, I go through phases of laughing hysterically and closing my eyes, willing myself to not potentially throw up because I’m being shaken vigorously like a clogged salt shaker.  The “mom” in me wonders if all of this jiggling that does indeed come all the way up to my head is good for my brain, the logical “adult” in me remembers that I’m not a newborn infant, and cannot succumb to shaken baby syndrome.  So instead my attention is drawn to how much my ass is jiggling (hint: it’s shaking a lot).

Again, hilarious and terrifying.

Once I get used to the vibrating plate, which, for the record, shifts and changes as it goes to target (and when I say target, I mean jiggle) other parts of your body, I actually quite enjoyed it.   When I was able to relax, I could feel how the vibration plate can increase blood flow to your muscles, therefore loosening them up and acting as an effective warm-up.  It almost felt like a massage.  The red lights were not hot, but they were certainly warm, which was again welcome pre-workout.

Now, Planet Fitness claims the vibrating plate helps work your muscles.  While the plate certainly moves A LOT, it doesn’t move in a manner that would throw me off balance, therefore working my glutes, hips, core, etc.  So unless you can effectively shake your muscles into shape, you are better off sticking to the weight room.

After twelve minutes, the lady I could barely hear tells me my session was done (I think), the lights turn off, and I step out of the chamber and back into the room, somewhat disheveled and unsure of what the hell just happened.

So I get dressed, emerge from room #13,  and go on to complete a killer 90 minute workout.

Initial Thoughts:

One session in the Total Body Enhancement isn’t enough to tell you if I’ve had any positive results (for the record, the results I’m hoping for are increased recovery from workouts…but a touch of stretch mark diminishing wouldn’t hurt).  But I will tell you that, if nothing else, my Total Body Enhancement experience was wildly entertaining…and warm.  I really loved the warm.  And therefore, I’m going to use it again.

I’m bringing sunglasses next time.

Two Month Total Body Enhancement Results:

Many of you have been asking for an update, so I thought I’d provide one.  To give a little bit of current background information, I’d say, on average, I’ve been using the Total Body Enhancement machine two to three times per week.  I prefer setting “4”, because the vibrating plate feels awesome on my perpetually sore legs.   It’s like a massage, only significantly cheaper.  Here are some changes I’ve noticed about my body over the last two months, with some important notes* to go along.

(*so please, read the notes.  There’s a catch.  THERE’S ALWAYS A CATCH.)

Since I started using the Total Body Enhancement 45 days ago:

My skin feels better.

Smoother, perhaps a little tighter, and I feel less like an old hag when I accidentally catch sight of myself in the mirror. Nothing in my normal skin care regimen (which I’ll be the first to admit, is practically nothing) has changed in the last 45 days. But I also stopped drinking alcohol, started drinking more water, and started making healthier food choices 51 days ago.   Remember when you were little and your grandma told you to drink more water, it’s good for your skin? SHE WAS RIGHT.

I’ve lost a few pounds.

But in addition to the healthy nutrition habits (see above) I’ve taken some time off from long distance running.  Instead, I dove head first back into heavy, and consistent, strength training.  I’ve also (awkwardly) taken up yoga.  Personally, anytime I switch my athletic focus, I always tend to drop a few pounds.  My body needed a break from the disgusting mileage I had demanded of it as of late, and is responding positively to the decrease in stress.  Further, heavy lifting also tends to burn far more calories (three cheers for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption).  Combine that with healthier eating choices?  Weight loss.

I’ve dropped body fat and increased muscle mass. 

3% body fat, in fact. But…please see above.  Healthy nutrition choices, lots of water, a focus on building lean muscle mass.  Ladies (and gentlemen), let me tell you once again: if you want to drop body fat and increase muscle mass, for the love of all things, LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS. Ladies, you won’t “bulk up”.  I promise you won’t bulk up.  You need testosterone to do that, and our bodies do not create enough of it.

The Red Light Therapy makes me happy. 

I’ve got no other explanation for this one.   Back when I was younger and dumber, I used to visit tanning beds.  Not very frequently, but we all now know how dangerous those UV rays can be.  I would always leave the tanning bed glowing…not just my skin, but my attitude.  The warmth and the light felt so good, it genuinely made me happy.  I have similar side effects from the Total Body Enhancement, but without the dangerous UV rays.   It’s been a welcome 12 minutes of bliss during this cold, dreary winter.

Things that have not changed, or I have not yet noticed a change in:

• A decrease in those awful crows feet around my eyes
• A decrease in stretchmarks
• A decrease in inflammation in joints and muscles
• An increase in my squat PR
• A decrease in my mile time

(do you see where I’m going with this?)

IN CONCLUSION:

Do I think the Total Body Enhancement machine helped change the composition of my body?

No.  A resounding no.  I guarantee you that was, and will continue to be, the result of behavioral changes (nutrition) and busting my ass in the gym (hard work).  I know, that’s never the answer anyone wants to hear.  As a fitness professional, I spend my days informing people that they only true path to lasting weight loss is healthy eating and exercise.

I will, however, gladly share the fact that I truly enjoy my time in the Total Body Enhancement machine.  It’s a happy 12 minute mood booster that I tack on to the front or back end of my workout (depending on the day, and honestly, there is no rhyme or reason as to what time I choose).  I firmly believe that health encompasses more than just our physical body, it includes our mental and emotional well being.  And damnit, for whatever reason, it puts a smile on my face.

So, if you came to this post hoping to hear that the Total Body Enhancement machine helped me shed pounds, inches, and cellulite I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  It did not. You are honestly better off spending more time on the weight machines and cardio equipment in order to achieve those goals at the gym.

If you came to this post hoping to hear that the Total Body Enhancement machine helped me get rid of stretchmarks, wrinkles, and other skin blemishes…hold tight.  The results aren’t in yet, haha.

I hope that update helped.  Any questions? Leave a comment below!

*Disclaimer: Planet Fitness is in no way affiliated with this review. I am a paying customer who decided she felt like writing about her experience in this machine.   All thoughts and experiences are my own.  Use the Total Body Enhancement machine at your own risk. 

How does Planet Fitness Total body Enhancement work?

Can you tan and use the total body enhancement machine in the same day?

Should I tan before or after total body enhancement?