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Gabby Windey Injures Back Using Vibration Plate
Confirmed
In Short: Gabby Windey, a former 'Bachelorette' contestant, shared on social media that she broke her back while using a vibration plate, a device designed to promote muscle activation and circulation.
In an essay posted to her Substack titled 'Broke back, no mountain,' Windey detailed her routine of using the vibration plate, which she set to level 30, moving at 'supersonic speed,' on the morning of her injury.
Windey described the moment of her injury, saying, 'Then it lands softly, too softly, so softly the landing’s in question.' She added, 'And that’s what did it.'
The vibration plate is designed to rid stagnant lymph fluid by shaking up the body, but Windey noted that the rapid vibrations and pressure may have contributed to her injury.
Windey wrote candidly about the beauty standards and self-care practices that led her to use the vibrating plate, questioning whether these practices are driven by self-love or societal pressures.
She joked about her wife's role in making her feel beautiful, saying, 'My wife helps me feel beautiful all day, every day. You got to get yourself one of those. If you don’t have one, I don’t know what to tell you.'
Windey also discussed the long-lasting consequences of her injury, including 'insatiable' paresthesia, a tingling sensation.
In a September 2026 episode of Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals, Windey mentioned her history of five concussions, noting that brain injuries can exacerbate her condition.
Windey’s injury highlights the potential risks associated with high-intensity workouts and the importance of understanding the limits of fitness equipment.
Windey’s candid account has resonated with many, sparking conversations about the balance between self-care and the potential risks of extreme fitness routines.
What this adds
The extent to which beauty standards influenced Windey's decision to use the vibration plate remains unclear.
The specific model of the vibration plate Windey used has not been disclosed.
What's confirmed
- The ‘Bachelorette’ alum, 35, shared photos of her trip to the hospital after injuring her back while using the workout device Gabby Windey said she broke her back falling off a vibrating workout plate.
- “Most mornings, I vibrate. On a plate,” she wrote in part.
- “Seemingly, subtly, somewhere on the way to 30, maybe 10 or 20, my vertebrae turn crooked and rub against each other,” Windey continued.
- Then it lands softly, too softly, so softly the landing’s in question.” “And that’s what did it.
What's still developing
- “I’ve broken my back due to a speedy vibration. And I’ve barely lived to tell the story,” she captioned the photos, which showed her posing in a hospital gown alongside an X-ray of her spine.
- The plate is a platform that vibrates when you stand on it and is said to promote strength, flexibility, circulation, and boost bone mass and can stimulate muscles, per the Mayo Clinic.
- “Hear me when I say, this is not just a trite and colloquial miss-work excuse,” she wrote of her injured back.
- I assume the camel couldn’t feel the last straw and I couldn’t feel the crooked or the crack.” “It was too fast vibrations I guess, and too many vibrations maybe, and too much pressure to shake.
- Former The Bachelorette star Gabby Windey said she cracked a vertebrae in her spine after setting her vibration plate to "supersonic speed," quipping, "Broke back, no mountain."
- Since then, Windey said she's been dealing with what she described as "insatiable" paresthesia—a medical term for a tingling, pins-and-needles sensation, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
- While Ryan described her first four concussions as "incidents," she said her fifth one was trauma caused by " sustained shaking over a minute of time."
- "Quite often the world is really loud. It’s really too bright. There’s a lot going on," she explained.
- "It's OK," she told sister Bella Garcia at the time.
- "We're going to get it fixed one day. I told the doctor, I go, 'Newly divorced, so the minute the boots are hung up, I'm going to come back to you and we're going to make these girls look real good, because these girls are going to get some action in the future and that can't look like that.'" In October 2026, the former The Bachelorette star detailed how she cracked a vertebra in her spine after setting her vibration plate—a motorized platform that rapidly moves back and forth to promote muscle activation and circulation—to "level 30, supersonic speed."
- And I do wish it on my worst enemy If only they hadn’t wished it on me first." Now, the Traitors winner is "in the community.
- A society of bad backs." "A bad backer is easy to identify.