I’ve been doing some reading about the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill in preparation for my first turn on one and for the article I will be writing about it in the February edition of Ohio Sports and Fitness. Mark Mendeszoon, the podiatrist I interviewed last month regarding minimalist/barefoot running has one of only three in the area and uses it in his practice for Precision Orthopaedics (their spelling) in Chardon. In a nutshell, the treadmill is equipped with a chamber that encases the body from the waist down and works to ‘unweight’ the user by gently lifting them from the treadmill as they walk or run. By so doing, it allows people recovering from various injuries to reduce their body weight to a level that allows them to walk, jog or run pain-free in an effort to speed healing.
I met Mark at Precision and listened to an explanation of what I was about to experience as I slipped into the special shorts that would be the method of lifting me while on the treadmill…and thus unweighting me. They fit like cycling shorts and came with a zipper around the waist that would attach to the air chamber into which I was stepping. Once inside and attached, an air tight seal was created from my waist down, encasing my lower body on the treadmill and making me feel like I was running inside a clear, plastic balloon. After the calibration process, he demonstrated the controls that would allow me to decrease my weight in 1% increments down to a low of 20% of my body weight…or around 38 pounds. I could also increase the speed to 10mph, its maximum, and the equivalent of running a 6-minute mile.
I started walking at 2mph and then began to decrease my body weight to a low of 70% and the point at which my heel stopped hurting. And this is really one of the reasons for its popularity and importance. I could perform the activity I needed to do without further damage to the injury…which in many instances can actually speed healing. I walked for a couple of minutes to get used to the sensation before slowly increasing the speed to the point where I was running 7mph. At this speed, I began to play with the weight control, taking my body from 70 back to 100%, running the whole time and experiencing the sensation of getting lighter and heavier…during a run.
Now…keep in mind that to gain this feeling of weighing less, you are literally picked up as though someone was grabbing your shorts and lifting you from the ground. It’s done gently and with air and wasn’t in the least as uncomfortable as it might sound…but I would recommend peeing before suiting up…not that I had an accident, or anything.
I spent 10 minutes on the treadmill before bringing it to a stop and then spending some time with Mark to hear his story of why he’d purchased the equipment and his dreams for its use…which include introducing it in his running store ‘The Achilles Running Shop’ for easy access to the running community. I’ll go over the ‘whys’ to this plan later, but it will be an amazing opportunity for local runners…both for working through injuries and for some special speed training.
I returned home and hopped on the trainer for a 75-minute ride, which I followed with an hour shoveling the drive. It was a good calorie burning day and a great opportunity to check out a piece of exercise/rehab equipment that is truly cutting edge.
Run Duration: 10 minutes. Bike Duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 running and 120 bpm.Calories burned during workout: 150 running and 1050 biking.
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