What do physical therapy, athletic training and walking on the moon have in common? Okay, it’s a bit of a stretch, but the AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ brings all three of these concepts together. Patients and athletes from all over the valley seek out the state-of-the-art anti-gravity treadmills to experience the unweighted technology that can be described as ‘training on the moon’. Patients use it in their rehabilitation to support getting back to the activities they enjoy, and athletes utilize it to enhance their performance.

What Is AlterG - the anti gravity treadmill What Is The AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill™?

The AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ looks like a regular treadmill, only the bottom half of it—from your waist down—is encapsulated in a big, plastic bubble. With the assistance of a Spooner physical therapist or team member, the client will be fitted with a pair of neoprene shorts which will allow the user to be zipped into the chamber. The chamber will then fill with air – triggering the unique technology of altering the feeling of pressure similar to ‘walking on the moon’. The unweighting technology can reduce the amount of pain felt in the lower extremity joints and muscles in comparison to a traditional treadmill and offers an enormous range of flexibility for a training or rehabilitation program.

How Can It Help Patients and Athletes?

For athletes interested in rehabbing faster, training while protecting or recovering from an injury or surgery, or increasing training volume while minimizing stress-related injuries, AlterG® allows you to achieve your goals sooner and smarter.

For patients who are recovering from an injury or recent surgery, the AlterG® treadmill allows them to quickly kick off their rehabilitation at just a fraction of their body weight. They get all the benefits of movement and therapy, with far less strain and pain. Spooner physical therapists can closely monitor a patient’s progress and adjust the treadmill to increase weight over time.

Athletes come to Spooner Physical Therapy to utilize the AlterG® treadmill for a completely unique, high-tech training experience – a secret weapon for many elite athletes. Imagine if you’re a long-distance runner who needs to quickly ramp up their miles before a big race. Pounding the pavement (literally) is bound to cause enormous stress on your legs and hips and negatively effect your ability to quickly recover and continue adding miles. You’re less likely to be fresh and healthy come race day with a traditional build phase. However, adding miles in an anti-gravity environment enables athletes to quickly scale their training and rapidly add miles, with a significantly decreased risk of injury.

Sports Performance & Orthopedic Applications

  • Increased training volume with less injury risk
  • Post-fracture
  • Post-operative rehab
  • ACL reconstruction
  • Meniscectomies & meniscus repairs
  • Microfracture
  • Total hip & total knee replacement
  • Achilles reconstruction
  • Post-injury rehab

Use An Anti-Gravity Treadmill to Improve Fitness and Stay Healthier

  • Unweights you from 100% to as low as 20% of your body weight in precise 1% increments for low-impact, pain-free movement.
  • Supports normal gait mechanics and avoids development of compensatory strategies – unlike conventional body weight support alternatives such as hydrotherapy.
  • Real-time gait data and video monitoring help you use visual feedback to get better results faster.
  • Limit downtime by training through injuries and enabling a return to sport in better condition.
  • Enables earlier post-surgery training.
  • Increase training volume while minimizing stress-related injury.
  • Encourage range of motion, shown to improve patient outcomes.
  • Reduces further risk of injury or aggravation of current injuries

AlterG® at Spooner

We offer a FREE 30-minute trial to let patients experience the unweighted technology of the AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill®!

Spooner has AlterG® treadmills at the following locations:

Learn more about the AlterG®Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ at Spooner Physical Therapy. Ready to schedule an appointment? Click Here to schedule an appointment or complimentary movement screen with a Spooner physical therapist at one of our locations throughout the valley.