Materials for Physical Activity & Sports : Alter-G

The Alter-G is a recent ergometer which is use for many athletes in the injuries’ recovery. Why is it utilize in this period? Because its main characteristic is that the running is done without or less gravity than in normal situations. The anti-gravity system was developed by the NASA. This fact is a good choice to decrease or omit the impacts in the joints of lower limbs for avoiding stress in them. So, the athlete can improve his or her aerobic fitness in a secure way. Besides, the gravity can diminish its value according to the state of the recovery. Also, this machine can be used for recovery session post-match or -competition to reduce the energetic demands thanks the no existence of impacts. Nevertheless, this machine is too expensive for current people and sportive centres. For this reason, it is only seen in athletic performance centre or in elite clubs of different sports. Therefore, the main characteristics of Alter-G are:

Expensive
Omit or reduce the value of the gravity
Omit or reduce the impacts
Be part of training material in performance centres
Used in recoveries’ period or post-match/-competition

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Where can it get?

Instead of the fact that these machines are in performance and rehabilitation centres, it can get them online in different webs. The main brand which commercialise this machine is Alter-G. Its price is around 30.000€, so its use can only allowed clubs with high budget. In the next URL you can see the Alter-G and his characteristics (http://alterg-com-backup.azurewebsites.net/products/anti-gravity-treadmills/m320-f320/professional-pt)

How it has said in the first paragraph, the function of reducing the gravity in running mechanics in the Alter-G is its only function, but it has an important role in the recovery of an injury or post-match. Besides, according to the state of a rehabilitation’s injury the conditioning coach can program the lack of gravity to progress in the recovery. In order to see how the machine works, this fact can be seen in the following video.