Alter G Running - does it help with leg strength, not just cardio?
Looking at old discussions on Alter-G running. This is @Coach Patrick from 2016
I rolled my ankle seven days ago. Though it's better I'm losing run time. I am considering doing this. I've done it before. It's not particularly fun but if it truly can be effective I'll do it.
For those of you who have used alter G running - was it worth it?
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I haven't used one but Gwen Jorgensen, ITU/Olympic Champion turned marathoner recently used it during her recovery. Check out her youtube page. It seems to be an alternative to pool running.
I've never used it, nor pool running. But I don't see how anything other than actually slamming your body down on your feet/knees/hips/lower back 180 times a minute can replicate the impact effects of running. For a single sport athlete who is worried about maintaining neuro-muscular memory and cardiac fitness, then pool running or elliptical or alter-g might be useful. But for a triathlete, I think there are other ways to maintain heart fitness. And a veteran athlete like @Sheila Leard needn't worry her neuro-muscular memory will deteriorate while recuperating from ankle sprain.
Leg strength can be maintained to some extent via leg (hamstring) curls, leg extensions, hip flexor and core exercises, none of which would impact the ankle. Swimming and (soon) cycling can help with that cardiac fitness.
This is just my bias, maybe because I think pool running is simply silly, and I'm always skeptical of gadgets which are purported to replace sport-specific activity. So I'm a Luddite when it comes to Vasa, and even treadmills. JFT.
Well @Sheila Leard , I'm all for better living through science...even though @Al Truscott has a ton more bad-ass mojo than I could even hope for.
I used an Alter-G as part of my PT protocol back in 2012 when I was rehabbing from a fractured metatarsal that occurred while running back in May 2012. I think I started the Alter-G protocol about 8 - 10 weeks after the fracture, but I can't remember for certain. I do recall loving the feeling of weighing 50% less and felt it helped get me back to the actual pavement pounding sooner (and IMWI in September 2012) -- though I have no real quantifiable data to back up that assertion. I've heard these machines are common in nursing homes for use with older patients.
Anyway, having the lower extremities adapt to percentages of real running force over time was used by my PT to get me running while the fracture was simultaneously doing its last bit of healing and I believe helped hasten my overall rehab and getting back to actual running, and it got me to IMWI that September 2012. I have no data to show it is more effective than pool running or other gadgets, but I believe it helped me.
@Al Truscott You described what I was thinking. I'll hit the weights harder. The alter G sessions are a huge inconvenience. It's time that could better on the bike.
@Tony Ledden Thanks for the feedback. A part of me wants to believe it could help. Maybe the psychological side of running fast helps. Lord forbid I ever need it in a nursing home 😫 But if the day comes I'll wear my EN shirt.
@Derrek Sanks I think Al makes a good point of if we were single sport athletes it could make some sense.
@Sheila Leard Having ramped up the bike much sooner than the run on several occasions I'd agree that more time on the bike / weights is better option. Now if you had limited running then the altered g could be useful. I have similar experiences to Tony building up with walking and found my running easier to ramp up than just coming from nothing. Seeing as you have been running this is different.
@Gordon Cherwoniak Voice of reason. Thank you.
When I’ve been unable to run, I use the elliptical. I’ve tried pool running- it’s boring and doesn’t get my HR up and doesn’t feel like I’m doing work. Don’t have access to Alter G. But easy access to elliptical. I used it the entire time I had PF bc no pain on it. This past spring, I used it after a bad ankle sprain 2 months before a 50K. I gave the ankle total rest for two weeks and then gradually tried the elliptical, and then treadmill, and then outside.
That worked well for me.
Reading Leslie Knight's post, I do remember and admit that in 2006, when I had foot surgery, I did use the elliptical for about 2 weeks before I could start risk walking and then running. Again, it does not replicate the actual impact of running, but it is less boring/geeky than pool running and easier to access than Alter-G (which I would need to get through my PT at $100 a session!)
So, for @Sheila Leard maybe 10-14 days after the sprain, starting out on an elliptical might be part of the return to running plan.
thanks @Al Truscott My office is in a PT clinic so I am fortunate to be getting ultrasound and electrical stim therapy (on the side). It's really helping. I'm determined to pull off IM LOU.
The frustration is mentally dealing with detours when I get close to racing. You know how it goes ... "the darkness is always before the dawn" Crosby-Stills-Nash & Young
I don't know.
But I do know that pool running should not be overlooked. Very useful tool if done properly. During a time of injury, I was able to maintain. Led to my fastest Ironman marathon.
I used a music device. Stomped grapes. Did intervals per time and perceived exertion level to match the run workouts I was missing. Got heart rate up fine.
I think a lot of folks get back on their feet too soon not allowing the full healing that needs to happen.