If you've ever sustained a major injury you know how difficult it can be to maintain your fitness during the recovery. AlterG's Anti-Gravity treadmill is billed as the best way to train with an injury, and avoid getting one altogether. It does this by taking weight off of a runner's injured leg and creating a weight-less state within the treadmill's air tight chamber. The applications can be staggering, and the result is a disruptive technology for a device that's seen little innovation since it was first invented in 1952.
Sean Whalen's father was a NASA scientist and created a machine in the 90's to be used in space to help the astronauts by creating a negative pressure reducing bone density lose while in space. Sean saw this machine at his house and had an idea to reverse the technology to help him train after sustaining injuries playing soccer.
The first six or seven units were built in Sean's parents garage, and the company has now built more than 1,000 units since 2005 when the company was founded. As of 2010 the company had raised $13MM and had customers ranging from with pro athletes and teams, to seniors, to the obese. There are two models of the treadmills including the M320 ($32,000) shown below and the P200 ($75,000) used for the higher end athletes.
The use cases for the device are fascinating. For instance an obese person who is unable to walk and support their own body weight long enough to exercise, can get into a machine and walk for two miles at 50% of their body weight. The treadmills even sit in the gym of the Biggest Loser TV show. A paraplegic patient who can't support their own body weight can get in and workout at 20% of their body weight. I told about an older woman who got in the machine and as she started to run she became crying saying, "This is the first time I've run in 10 years."
On the professional side the use case makes the $75,000 machine seem like a bargain. Athletes making millions of dollars can rehab faster and maintain conditioning while their injury continues to heal. One elite NFL quarterback uses the machine to warmup and cool down every single day before and after practices and games. His reasoning is why risk an injury? There is absolutely no way to fall while running on an AlterG machine. When a player is making millions of dollars it makes total sense to pay the cost to completely eclipse that risk that they get hurt while training.
AlterG's does their best to repair any broken machines within 72-hours, meaning they will fly someone out from the Bay Area headquarters to repair the machine onsite. This is done for the sports teams, celebrities, and clinics that own them across North America. The well patented company has been growing quickly going from 50 employees in 2010 to more than 100 now.
The only way I can describe running in the machine is that it feels you're running in a road runner cartoon, or like you're running on the moon. Once your weight is taken off you feel a dramatic difference in your ability to run faster and longer. I can only imagine how someone that's 300 pounds feels getting on the treadmill and going down to 150 pounds or 100. It has the potential to be life changing.
Most people obviously can't afford them, but the machines are now FDA approved and are used in a variety of physical therapy clinics, hospitals, and training rooms across North America. At these clinics they can be rented out at 30-60 minutes at a time. As the price drops and word spreads, I think we'll see more and more of these machines in the future.
