'Antigravity' treadmill a boon for injured athletes
Briana Whaley thought her running career was over just when it was starting. Fresh off a victory at the 2011 Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, Fla., she hoped to qualify as an Olympic marathoner.
But she could barely walk.
“My foot had all kinds of problems,” she said. “I could barely put any weight on it.”
Whaley, 33, who ran track at Virginia Commonwealth University, was born with an extra bone in her left foot. It didn't cause her any trouble until she began to increase her mileage, setting her sights on the Olympic marathon.
“I was really depressed,” she said. “I thought this is it. I'm finished with running. I'm going to get fat. This sucks.”
But then she heard about a revolutionary new treadmill that would allow her to keep training in virtually weightless conditions until she could undergo surgery to correct the congenital defect. The device, developed by NASA so astronauts in space could exercise in a “weighted” environment, would save her dreams of competing.
“They basically re-engineered the machine so it could be used here on Earth,” explained Brian Gillooly, rehab coordinator at Morton Plant Hospital's Ptak Pavilion in Clearwater, Fla. “It allows an injured athlete like Briana to continue to run without putting any additional stress on their body.”
The “antigravity” treadmill uses air in a pressure-controlled chamber to lift the runner off the running surface.
The technician calculates body weight and the desired percentage of lift — from 20 percent to 100 percent of the user's weight, in 1 point increments. That makes running easier on the lower extremities, yet still hard enough to get the heart and lungs pumping.
“It's the only way that I can get a good workout,” Whaley said, “because once you start running, you won't find another exercise that will give you the same cardiovascular benefit.”
The machines are used by more than 30 professional sports teams, including the Miami Heat, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys and soccer's Manchester United. College athletic programs that use the AlterG include Arizona State, Notre Dame and the University of Southern California.
But this high-tech treadmill is not just for elite athletes. “Other folks that could benefit from the AlterG include those with osteoporosis and those with mild to moderate obesity who cannot consistently exercise because of joint pain,” Gillooly said.
“It can also help those with early-onset neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and people who have joint replacement, stress fractures, low back pain and soft-tissue repair (surgeries) after hip, knee and ankle injuries.”
But could the AlterG help a slightly over-the-hill fitness writer who has had one-too-many knee surgeries?
“The first thing we'll do is watch you run,” Gillooly said as he helped me slip into some neoprene shorts and zipped me into the machine. It took him about 60 seconds to diagnose my problem. “You have had quite a few injuries, haven't you?”
About 70 percent of the people who use Morton Plant's AlterG machine do so for fitness. About 30 percent use it for therapy. I was somewhere in between.
I started out at about 70 percent of my body weight, running an 8:15 mile. Gillooly slowly lightened the load and I picked up the speed — 8:00, 7:30, 7:00 ... then a 6:30 mile, something I hadn't done since high school. “You can really push it and not have to worry about the wear and tear on your body,” he said.
Gillooly said he has about 15 athletes who regularly run and walk on the AlterG. Runners can use the treadmill for 45 minutes three times a week for $100. Gift cards are also available.
Gillooly encourages runners to come in and try it before signing up for regular sessions.
“It's not for everybody,” he said. “Some people get claustrophobic.”
But for an elite athlete like Whaley, who wants to keep training even when her body tells her otherwise, the AlterG is a game changer. She called Gillooly and the antigravity machine a “godsend.”