NASA's Inflatable Treadmill Relieves Pain Of Working Out
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If losing weight is on your resolution list for 2014 but working out is painful or difficult, there's technology now available to the general public that may help you reach your goals.
NASA has created an anti-gravity treadmill called the AlterG, and WCCO-TV's Natalie Nyhus tested it out. It's a machine that is helping people rehab from injuries faster. It also helps those who want to exercise, but can't do it safely due to pain or being overweight.
The AlterG uses NASA technology to inflate and bear the patient's weight while still letting them exercise. It can take up to 80 percent of your body weight off your joints.
"It's almost like an air bubble or balloon. It blows up. Depending on how much weight you want to talk off, let's say we do 80 percent, that decreases some of the pressure through the joints, ankle, knee, hip. It allows you to move freer," said Josh Tanner with the Institute for Athletic Medicine.
With your weight decreased, do you get as good of a workout? No, you're burning less calories because you're moving less body weight.
But the goal for people who use this machine is to just get moving. Someone who's not able to walk far can now walk for 15 minutes.
So what did it feel like for Natalie? She said It inflated around her and the feeling was incredible. She felt the biggest difference when she was released and realized just how much pressure we put on our joints every day.