Logging the miles is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind. However, despite our best efforts running injuries are still very common!
In fact, research has reported that the majority of runners experience at least one injury in a one-year period. You may develop a stress fracture while trying to improve your 5K time or sprain your ankle during a trail run.
Fortunately, there are many tools that can help devout runners who want to recover faster without losing fitness. One of these is a device known as an anti-gravity treadmill
The National Agency of Space has reported that antigravity treadmills can help injured college and elite athletes, military members, seniors, and those coming out from surgery.
Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared this machine to be used as a medical device in rehabilitation back in 2008.
So, the all-important question: Do anti-gravity treadmills really work? Any research that backs up the claims?
In this article, we’ll dive into what exactly is an anti–gravity treadmill, the history behind it as well as some of the research that looked into its effectiveness.
The History Of Anti-Gravity Treadmills
For over 50 years, NASA has been sending astronauts into space.
As missions got more complicated and technology advanced, astronauts were spending more time in orbit. In fact, depending on the mission, the average astronaut could dwell between three to six months in space.
Devoid of the literal pull of earth’s gravity, the muscles and bones of these brave space pioneers start to atrophy.
To counteract this loss in muscle and bone strength, astronauts must engage in regular exercise. Why is it important? Without physical exercise, their bodies, sooner than later, will start losing both muscle and bone density.
This leads to a decrease in size and strength and can compromise the astronauts’ ability to perform tasks while in space because it makes them weak. And, God forbid, in case of emergency, they would need to be in excellent shape to get out of the danger as fast as possible.
What’s more, once the astronauts are back on earth, weakened muscles and bones would make any form of weight-bearing challenging, even painful.
For these reasons, NASA (as well as other space agencies) have worked hard over the years to devise plans and devices to help astronauts stay in good shape.
Then in the 1990s, Dr. Robert Whalen, a biomechanics researcher at the NASA Ames Research Center, was tasked to invent a means for the astronauts to exercise in the space station.
Among the tools he invented was a pressurized bubble that used air pressure to hold the astronauts down. Thus, the concept of anti-gravity treadmills was born.
The process was simple. The original design placed the lower body of the astronauts in an airtight chamber where air pressure was increased, pushing them down and simulating gravity in the process.
This, in turn, increased the astronaut’s apparent weight, allowing them to exercise at their normal earth weight.
This was a big step. With the previous devices, the astronauts could only train at roughly 60 percent of their body weight on earth. But now, thanks to the new device, the astronauts could simulate Earth-like conditions but in space.
However, due to funding limits, NASA decided to pursue some of Robert’s other ideas, and his “air-pressure” controlled treadmill never really caught on.
Then around 2005, Sean Whalen, Whalen’s son, decided to revive his father’s experimental treadmill. Instead of adding gravity, Sean wanted to make it possible to reduce gravity on earth.
Then, by flipping the air pump, thus, creating the opposite gravity effect, Sean designed the initial prototype of the anti-gravity treadmill as we know it today.
In the same year, the Whalen prototype was licensed to a company called AlterG, which seems to have come up with the term “anti-gravity treadmill.” For a nice image of this in action check out the AlterG treadmill featured here on nasa.gov
So What’s An Anti-Gravity Treadmill All about?
It might sound like a contraption from a science-fiction movie, but an anti-gravity treadmill is just a piece of highly specialized equipment primarily used in physiotherapy practice.
The machine is designed for people to exercise with reduced load on their joints and muscles. It works by employing air pressure to make the body “weigh less,” counteracting gravitational forces.
This sensation is created by a system of pulleys and motors that can negate the weight of the user when it presses against the belt (more on this later).
The user can choose how high or low they want to go, and the springs will provide the feeling of walking/running on air pressure. This, in turn, allows the user to walk or run at 100% to 20% of their body weight.
Since antigravity treadmills are more technical than the typical treadmill, expect an in-depth console.
You can keep track of strike force, cadence, stance time, stride-length symmetry, as well as other advanced stats and data relating to the antigravity effect.
The Technology Behind The Machine
The reason anti-gravity treadmills can “manipulate” gravity comes down to the innovative “Differential Air Pressure” (DAP) technology which counteracts gravitational forces.
Anti-gravity treadmills feature a bubble that inflates with air, then surrounds the user’s lower body. This gently lifts them off the treadmill which reduces pressure on the lower body.
So, for example, if you weigh 180 pounds and use the anti-gravity treadmill at 50 percent setting, you can walk/run as if you only weigh 90 pounds.
Want to feel what it’s like to lose 30 pounds? Use the 84 percent setting to train at 150 pounds.
The Actual Session
To use the machine, you’ll need to wear special neoprene shorts that have a skirt around the waist. Next, to create the vacuum, you’ll get zipped into an airtight, pressurized, bubble suspended over the machine’s surface.
Once the treadmill is turned on, the casing starts to gradually fill with air, which creates a waist-high bubble around the machine and the user’s legs.
Next, the treadmill measures your weight and starts to calibrate the corresponding pressure for your body. The higher the pressure, the higher you can be lifted.
By adjusting the pressure inside of the bubble, you can manipulate your weight, reducing it by as much as 80 per cent in precise one per cent increments.
As you start to walk, your legs begin to feel lighter and experience less pressure on your joints. In fact, walking/running may feel virtually weightless, even with increased speed and incline.
From there, the treadmill works just like any other. You can keep a pace of up to 15 miles per hour, adjust the incline as well as do intervals. You can also perform weight-bearing exercises in the reduced gravity setting.
Now let’s look at some of the real-life applications of this amazing machine.
Post-Surgery Applications
Regardless of age or fitness level, post-surgery patients, especially orthopaedic procedures, require a long healing period in which various parts of the body recover at various rates before being able to locomote with ease and confidence.
For instance, when recovering from an ACL surgery, expect to have altered walking mechanics for at least a month.
Here’s the good news.
Hopping on an anti-gravity treadmill during the recovery period can help patients walk farther with less stress on the lower body joints and muscles.
This, over time, helps improve their neuromuscular control as well as keep them away from a completely sedentary lifestyle.
And of course, don’t take my word for it. Over the past few years, there are many studies that examined the usefulness of anti-gravity treadmills.
One example is research that examined the impact of antigravity treadmill on balance during post-surgery knee rehabilitation.
Forty-nine patients who had knee surgery participated in the experiment.
At week one post-surgery, each patient was assessed for a single leg stance on the affected knee on a floor.
Then, they were either placed into an AlterG group or a control group.
The AlterG group performed balance exercises on an antigravity treadmill with the resistance adjusted to a minimal or pain-free level once a day for five days a week.
The other group performed their balance exercises on the floor in the same manner. All subjects were assessed again at least two post-operatively.
The conclusion?
One week after surgery, the duration of the single-leg stance was about 40 seconds and 20 seconds for the AlterG group and the control group, respectively,
By week two, the AlterG group improved to 50 seconds while the control group jumped to 35 seconds.
In other words, anti-gravity treadmills can be useful for post-surgery patients who want to get back on their feet as soon as possible. This is especially the case for those who experienced excruciating pain during weight-bearing following a knee operation.
Stay In Shape While Recovering
Whether you’re recovering from knee surgery or have sprained your ankle, you’ll want to stay in shape, especially when you’re training for a specific race.
Say you’re a marathon runner recovering from a stress fracture. You still have a full range of motion, are willing to run but struggling to log the miles due to pain.
Sure, you could choose to cross-train, but when it comes down to it, logging the miles is what you need to stay on track.
Hopping on an anti-gravity treadmill may help keep you going without any adverse side effects, providing you’re under the guidance of a trained health professional.
In fact, many rehab athletes find they can return faster to training with the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill.
Again, don’t take my word for it. Research has shown that the AlterG technology helps reduce swelling, prevent muscle atrophy, and improve patient outcomes.
The Main Conditions
Many conditions afflicting the lower limbs can be improved by exercising on the anti-gravity treadmill. These include
What’s more, the device can also be used to support balance and strength training in the elderly and enhance coordination and motor ability in patients with neurological conditions or disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
The Downsides
I can go on and on about the benefits of anti-gravity treadmills, but, just like any other tool, the machine isn’t without downsides. Here are a few.
The Cost
Anti-gravity treadmills aren’t your standard residential or even gym treadmills. Costing around $35,000 to $75,000, they’re some of the most expensive training machines on the market.
Anti-gravity treadmills are usually found in university sports facilities and physical therapy offices. You can rent it for one session—usually costing 50$ to 80$ per hour.
It Makes Training Easier (which can be negative if you want a good training effect)
Thanks to the altered gravity, training on an antigravity treadmill is easier than on a standard one, research shows.
Since the majority of the metabolic cost of running stems from absorbing impact and resisting gravity to create forward propulsion, it shouldn’t be surprising that lowering apparent body weight while keeping the same running pace will reduce the energetic cost of running.
In fact, the research has shown that the metabolic cost drastically decreases with an increased level of support. The more you unload your body weight, the easier the exercise gets.
So is there anything you can do to mitigate this?
Research has pointed out two things: support level and incline.
In an experiment, scientists examined the physiological adaptations triggered by an 8-week training plan on an anti–gravity treadmill at three different levels of body weight support of 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent in healthy participants.
The researchers reported that training at 50 percent body weight resulted in a slight reduction of aerobic capacity in contrast to training at 100 percent bodyweight.
Whereas training at 75 percent body weight didn’t trigger any drastic change.
Therefore, if keeping your gains is your goal—and not recovery—train at least 75 percent or more of your body weight at moderate intensity.
The next thing you need to do is simply increase the incline.
In fact, research has found that elite runners at high speed can reach their VO2 max with reduced bodyweight by simply upping the incline.
Conclusion
If you’re dealing with injuries, want to explore more training options, or just want to train in a bubble (no pun intended), you should give anti-gravity treadmills a try.
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