Jess contacted me way back in August to see if I was interested in trying out the Alter G Anti-Gravity Treadmill. I was so intrigued, as I had read a few reviews about it that of course I wanted to try it out for myself!! After a couple secheduling conflicts, I finally made it yesterday to Athletico to try it out for myself! I met with Brian, the Athletico Facility Manager who was so kind & gave me a tutorial about the Alter G. So you know, going into this, I was curious, but really had no idea what to expect. After all, I’m not an astronaut and have no idea what anti gravity really feels like when your running. My curiosity was really peaked the more Brian talked. He told me that people use it for a variety of reasons; mainly recovery or training. “The Alter G gives you the opportunity to rehab from surgery, or train through injury, without the pain. Alter G’s unique unweighting technology reduces the impact of walkin or running, while your body goes through the normal healing process.
After Brian gave me a little description of how the Alter G works, it was time to get “geared up”. He gave me a pair of “biker type shorts with a zipper around the top”. I put those on over my capri’s. It was a little awkward putting on shorts & tugging & pulling up, as they fit snuggly. I felt like I was getting dressed in front of him into a pair of pants that were too small for me, as they were hard to pull up over my capri’s. Anyway…. Got them on with a little sweat & then it was time to step into the monster machine! You carefully step in, pull up the enclosure & then zip into the air chamber that surrounds your lower body. Basically zip your biker shorts into the machine! WACKY feeling!
Oh, by the way, I had my phone & had all intentions of taking pictures, but was so excited & enamored with the entire experience, I forgot about pictures until I was finished running & unzipped!
I was off. I played around with the air chamber/pressure so I could understand how it works. What happens is that the machine weighs you when you step on it & prior to running/walking. Then you manually adjust it between 20-100% of your body weight while running/walking. I fluctuated between 80-50. I have to say that I giggled every time I got less than 60, as I felt as though I was George Jetson running on air. It was bizzarre. However, at one point I was running at 7:35 pace & my body weight was at 50%. It was so interesting. I still am having shin splint issues & I didn’t have any issues running on the Alter G. It was really a neat experience & felt so great!
Brian told me that a guy used to use it for therapy along with traditional p.t. & then when he was better & didn’t require p.t. anymore, still continued to use the Alter G.
I would definitely like to use it periodically to switch things up when training. The only down side I see is that it’s a bit pricy to use if not for therapy: $15 for 15 minutes, $25 for 30 minutes, $35 for 45 minutes & $45 for 60 minutes. I will tell you that it’s definitely worth going in there to try it out & see what the “buzz” is all about!
Brian did say that they can incorporate the Alter G into some types of therapy & that could be covered by insurance! Ding Ding Ding!!! I could have used that in the fall when I was going to p.t. for my foot/ankle “thing”. Believe me, I’m keeping that in mind for the future!
Here are some pictures of the Alter G (minus me)
It does look a bit like a space machine! I can’t imagine what it looked like with me in it & all blown up with air below my waist.
Can you see the white zipper inside the blue bars? That’s what you zip the “biker shorts” to before you run.
The settings are similiar to any treadmill, except for the body weight controls.
Here’s a little more information from the Alter G brochure that I found to be quite interesting:
AlterG’s patented differential air pressure technology, developed at NASA applies a comfortable and uniform lifting force to your body. Integrated into a high-tech treadmill, AlterG’s technology offers precise body weight reduction and an easy to use set of controls. And because the AlterG DAP technology uses air pressure as the lifting force, it feels comfortable and allows you to run or walk normally, with full range of motion.
I feel so fortunate that I was able to try this amazing piece of machinery & hope I will be using it agian (when I’m healthy).
Thanks Jess & Brian for the opportunity & education.
** Brian so kindly gave me a coupon for a free 10 minute run on the AlterG. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share it with you. Simply send me an email & I’ll get it to you. 1st person to request, gets it. If you want to experience something unique to anything else, you should give it a try!
