AlterG Anti-Gravity experience



Defying Gravity while running



I met up with Kev Balance, EJN, Victoria Barnaby, and Joe Navas at Fitzgerald Physical Therapy in Woburn on Friday evening. Thus LevelRenner was in full representation and got the skinny with a plethorah of video, stats, and interviews over the course of the next few hours. Sean and Holly Fitzgerald have state of the art services, therapy rooms, massage, and an AlterG Treadmill. I have always been curious about the treadmill that defies gravity since hearing Nate Jenkins running a sub 4 minute mile a few years ago. Sean gave us the tour of his facility before we hit him with questions on the AlterG for which we'd all have a go at. I was amazed what it was like to run on the treadmill at 80% of my body weight. Speed, incline, and percentage of body weight are adjustable on the fly. I ran for about 1.5 miles from 8 mph to 10.5 mph. My legs did not feel like they were working too hard but I was certainly breaking a sweat after a few minutes. I adjusted the percentage of my body weight while running and it was hilarious to feel what it is really like to be "light on your feet." I got some video of Kevin for about a minute while he was zipped in below. Joe is taking video in the background. Check out LevelRenner here which will soon feature high quality video of our visit and an inteview with Sean Fitzgerald at the end of the night.

Each of us walked away with a better idea of what the treadmill was all about and the benefits it has for athletes either recovering or to gauge, specifically measure, at what point pain comes into the picture. Sean and Holly were great for keeping the lights on after hours and giving us their time. They offer all sorts of services at their facility in Woburn and have an additional office in Malden. The running services include: full extremity biomechanical assessment, video running analysis, functional movement screen, expert footwear recommendation, assesment of need for orthotics, therapeutic excercise prescription, and instruction for running technique. As for the AlterG, it can be rented by the minute with various programs that are reasonably priced if you purchase bulk minutes.