Forget walking on sunshine; I want to run on air
Category: Cycling/Running/Fitness...
Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 06:31 AM [GMT-6]

My wife showed me a column in the current issue of Runner's World wherein the writer described his experience with the G-Trainer, a treadmill developed by Alter-G that uses air pressure to simulate running in a low gravity environment.

Now, aside from the fact that the device looks as though you're running inside a hovercraft (as MLB so aptly described it), this is something I and my aging knees can get behind (or in, or on, or however you and the machine get along). You can reduce your effective weight by up to 80%, and run at speeds up to 18 mph (faster than a 3.5 minute mile). Heck, you can even run backwards at 10 mph – and who hasn't wanted to do that at one time or another?

The downside, other than needing a workout room the size of a garage, is that it costs $75,000. This makes it exclusive enough that Alter-G's website has a list of the individuals and organizations that own one, including former world record marathoner Alberto Salazar, the prestigious Cooper Clinic in Dallas, and the Houston Texans and Rockets (although I just can't picture Yao Ming fitting inside the G-Trainer skirt).

I have no doubt that trying to move your legs at an 18 mph clip provides a good aerobic workout without stressing the joints too much (the heart? well, that's a different story). On the other hand, running is supposed to be good for maintaining bone density, because it's a weight-bearing activity. Alter-G workouts would negate some of that advantage.

The other thing I'd worry about, being the worrier that I am, is that I'd have the thing pumped up to maximum pressure, somehow lose contact with the skirt, and find myself suspended from the ceiling with my head stuck through the drywall.

One organization which is surprisingly missing from Alter-G's owner list is NASA. I guess the device is just too science-fictiony for them.

Technorati tags: G-Trainer Low Gravity Treadmill | Alter-G