AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill vs Lever Movement At Home

Have you heard about the treadmill that can make you weightless? Yup, an anti-gravity treadmill and you don’t have to go to space! Meet the AlterG treadmill and the new Lever Movement system for at home usage.

Zero gravity treadmills have actually been in the elite physical therapy space for many years, but are slowly becoming more available. Exciting for most of us are new at home options, because the AlterG cost is far beyond other treadmills.

For many injured athletes, amputees, obese individuals and military vets the AlterG has become one of the best recovery tools available.

It allows anyone with an injury to resume or continue activity at their previous level of intensity with reduced impact to hips, knees and ankles.

In fact, Amby Burfoot a well respected runner and author said, “The Alter G is the most significant advance in training equipment for distance runners in the last half century.”

This of course peaked my curiosity and in 2013 it lined up with some knee pain I was having. So I went in search of a facility. A great place in Orlando provided me a chance to test out the Alter G treadmill and learn more about this fancy, and very expensive, machine.

I was literally swept off my feet {come on that’s funny!}. That’s lead to more years of testing and researching at home anti-gravity options. Here I’ll breakdown more details about the AlterG, cost, usage, benefits and options for at home running.

What is an AlterG?

In the 90’s, NASA began looking for a pressurized method that would allow astronauts to maintain fitness during space missions because without the movement they were at risk for bone mass and muscle loss due to gravitational forces.

The result was the anti gravity treadmill®, now sold as the AlterG.

The AlterG anti-gravity treadmill is found in physical therapy offices or University sports facilities, as opposed to say my home gym. Due to the location in a physical therapists office, many patients are able to use the machine as part of a normal visit covered by insurance or for their normal co-pay amount.

What is an Anti-Gravity Treadmill?

The treadmill reduces the amount of weight being placed upon the legs, ankles and feet while moving. In the Alter G system you step in to a pair of shorts with a larger zipper around the top.

Then you stand in the machine and that zipper is connected to a thick outer plastic. From there the machine will calibrate your weight and then utilizing air pressure you can remove 20% to 100% of your weight in 1% increments.

The amount used varies based upon the usage and ideally is slowly lowered over time, so that you can get back to full weight bearing.

This NASA differential air pressure technology is still considered leading edge technology.

A few others have come on the market, but AlterG still seems to be the gold standard for most rehab facilities.

How much does an AlterG Treadmill cost?

At a cost of $35,000 to $75,000 it’s not so much a home option. Which is why they’re often hard to find and can have wait times to get in on them once you find a facility that has one.

🤯MIND BLOWING RIGHT?? Checkout the new device below that I have started using at home with the same results!!

Do you need your own AlterG shorts?

A local office here Orlando allows patients to purchase their own shorts (see below) and simply schedule runs like gym access. They also have ones available in house that are cleaned and sanitized after usage, which is the case in most rehab centers.

Benefits of An Anti-Gravity Treadmill?

During a test run of the treadmill, I learned some great information from the technician about the wide variety of uses for the AlterG and thus why I personally got extra excited about the Lever Movement at home system I describe below!

The benefits of reducing the weight bearing load can be seen in a wide variety of situtations

• Amputees learning to move more quickly on their new limb
• Injured soldiers utilize it during rehabilitation
• Seniors needing to work on strength and balance in a fall-safe environment
• Assists people with traumatic brain injuries in relearning gait
• Elite athletes looking to increase foot turnover and training volume without the impact
• Athletes returning from stress-related injuries, knee surgery, hip surgery or any other lower extremity injury
• Assists with obesity by helping to increase mobility and natural gait for longer sessions thanks to the impact of gravity being reduced

The AlterG is a chance to practice increased walking speed or running without the fear of falling. This is a common issue for seniors and new amputees. It allows them to practice the movements and slowly gain confidence in their ability to move.

Does an Anti-Gravity Treadmill Work?

I loved hearing some of the amazing stories the team was able to share with me about patients who returned to a complete active life after being able to use this machine post injury.

On the other end of the spectrum are the elite athletes who have begun to gravitate {pun intended} to the AlterG. So let’s look a little more at some of these examples.

• For the elite endurance runner a frequent concern is the impact of pounding the pavement for so many miles every single week. This machine allows them to maintain mileage on easy runs with a slight relief on their joints. It was widely reported when Kobe Bryant used it in 2013 and the McMillian Elite running team.
• Pro-athletes looking to increase their speed have found this tool allows them to replicate a much faster leg turn over for a longer training session because it doesn’t stress their heart as heavily.
• Athletes returning from injury are able to more quickly return to their old levels of fitness by starting with workouts on the AlterG.
• Athletes can practice a better range of motion by reducing body weight, the legs will naturally extend farther. Practicing better alignment and technique without fear of injury.

How Does An AlterG Treadmill Work?

We’ve talked some about what anti-gravity means, but here’s a full rundown of using the AlterG specifically.

AlterG’s treadmill looks like something from the future. A vacuum sealed bubble encompassing your lower body and the treadmill belt.

A technician is required to help you utilize the AlterG treadmill. You’ll also need specific shorts, which you pull on over whatever you’re wearing. I recommend wearing spandex to make this easy and chafe free.

The shorts have small skirt around the waist with a zipper. After stepping in to the center of the machine you pull up the bars which have the opposite side of a zipper.

Once zipped, you’ve completed the“bubble”, aka the seal. Now you can see what it’s like to run with less and less gravity!

The treadmill measures your weight {but doesn’t shout it to the world, no worries}. Then using this information the machine calibrates what is 100% pressure for your body. In other words, normal running.

At 20% the machine is fully supporting your body. Your legs mostly feel like they are free flying through the air. It’s a very odd sensation and obviously not beneficial for training, but great for recovery from a serious injury.

The machine can make you feel up to 80 percent lighter.  A basic example would be someone who weighs 100 pounds, could feel as light as 20 pounds on the treadmill.

The the machine uses “unweighting technology” to remove pressure from your body. This makes it feel as though you are running on air. Using controls similar to incline, you can decrease the amount of weight on your body.

You don’t feel like the machine is raising and lowering you, rather you notice the weight on your feet becoming more or less.

Due to the neoprene shorts, you’re going to work up a hot sweat. But being in Florida this wasn’t really anything new to me!

You’ll also note in the images that some have a mounted camera by the feet which is great for reviewing your foot strike.

It’s immediate feedback while you are running to see what might need to change about your gait or where you need extra strength work.

Unfortunately in my case, it turns out knee extension was one of my major issues and running with less weight allowed my leg to fully extend, which HURT. I wasn’t quite aware of my lack of extension until seeing how the different levels actually made my knee worse, rather than better.

Lever Movement System

The price tag is so high that very few places even have these machines, but a company out of Boulder is fixing that! Meet the new tool that I’ve been testing out, alongside some SERIOUS Olympic and elite runners.

LEVER SYSTEM is a portable setup that can be used on your home treadmill, at the gym or a PT’s office. For just $1000 it fits on nearly any treadmill. And because it’s easy to set up, you can put it on when needed then take it off. Or even travel with it.

I’ve already put it on and taken it off dozens of times, so I can vouch for it being truly easy to do and light weight.

LEVER Running Review

It seems almost impossible that something 1/30th the cost could work so well, but it does! You won’t be able to lift off 100% of your weight, but you can take off up to 45lbs. For many top-level athletes that’s over 30% of their bodyweight.

It’s not the same as an anti-gravity treadmill, instead it’s simple lift harness devices reducing your weight. But it’s exactly the same concept! Just with a much broader application thanks to home use.

I’ve actually been using the Lever for a few years now, so I’m pretty excited to see them continuing to grow and get more attention. Personally, I like this so much better than the AlterG for most of us dealing with recovery because you can use it consistently and that’s how we make progress!!

Initially, I wanted this post knee surgery to help with the healing process. We so badly want to get back out there, but tissue, bone, muscle all need time to recover. Following a really smart return to run plan, I was doing a lot of walking. But when I was ready to test out running, Lever gave me an edge.

I returned to running faster than expected!

In the years since surgery, I’ve used Lever to increase my mileage while ultra training and currently to work on leg speed as I focus on my mile time.

Checkout the full Lever Movement System >>

Lever Movement Discount Code: RuntotheFinish for 20% off a Lever Pro package (SWEET SAVINGS).

How to Use Lever at Home?

OMG talk about being a fun way to play with speed. Imagine taking 20lbs off the load your body is handling and thus making it easier at a lower heart rate to run faster.

• Gives you an opportunity to practice holding race pace without overtaxing your body
• Allows you to practice faster foot turnover
• A great option as you are building mileage to prevent overuse injuries
• Feels so awesome the day after a long run to put in some miles with just a little less effort

Eulid Kipchoge is asking to get one of these in Africa for training…I mean…I feel faster already!

As always you should follow specific conditioning programs to deal with injuries. But I have outlined how the Lever could help with a few common issues: Achilles Pain and Plantar Fasciitis.

Does it change your gait?

This question has come up a lot, so I wanted to address it. No.

Really it’s a change in how much pressure there is when you land, which could allow you to more easily increase your knee drive or your cadence, but it won’t fundamentally change anything about your gait. Really you need drills and practice to do that.

What about your arm swing?

I will admit this is something that takes a little getting used to. Meaning like the first few minutes of a run. Then you’ll naturally adapt and your arms will continue to pump forward and back in a strong motion like the should.

How to Set Up the Lever?

I’ll fully demonstrate this in the video below. You’ll notice it takes only a minute or so to get ready.

• Put the pulley system on the treadmill. You’ll attach it to the treadmill arms with tight straps.
• Pull on the shorts. You can wear them along, but I wear them over tight shorts as I seem to chafe easily.
• Loop the bungee like cord through the shorts, pulleys and to the front – creating a full loop.
• You can then pull the cord tighter to lift off more weight.

It’s really pretty darn easy and fast to set up. And while you’re running it’s easy to pull the cord down farther if you want to take off additional weight.

Hopefully this gave you some new ideas about how anti-gravity treadmills and at home systems could benefit you. We know I’m a geek for all things running, but I also don’t recommend things that I don’t find valuable.

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