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PARK CITY — They're in your local gym, they're in your basement, or maybe a corner of your bedroom. We're talking treadmills.
They are the most frequently used piece of exercise equipment. For this high-tech special we went out and found two unique treadmills at the Intermountain Park City LiVe Well center.
Jump into special neoprene shorts. Zip everything together. And hold on while this space age technology fills up with air, takes over and does the work. It's called the Alter-G, a zero gravity treadmill.
"I kind of think this is what the astronauts must have felt like when they landed on the moon," said runner Amy Roberts.
Developed by NASA engineers, it lowers the feeling of gravity and reduces the impact of weight.
"If someone weighs 100 pounds we can put them in the Alter-G and take their body weight down to 15 percent of 100 so 15 pounds," said physical therapist Marlene Hatch of the Park City LiVE Well Center.
"It feels like I weigh about 20 pounds less than I do. It’s a lot easier to run on the balls of my feet," Roberts said.
Patients rehabbing use it to exercise without weight or very little weight on their joints.
"It allows people to restore normal range of motion and normal mechanics faster because they're doing it in a safe environment without pain," Hatch said.
Runners like Roberts use it to get faster and stronger without getting injured.
Runners like Julienne West, who is training for a half-marathon, turn to this high-speed treadmill.
"It will go faster than any human has ever run," said Dr. Kelly Woodward, medical director at Park City LiVe Well Center.
That's 35 miles per hour; the fastest human can go is 27.
"It is a big, much more sturdy piece of equipment that allows us to take patients and athletes to peak performance," Woodward said.
"Woo-hoo it's hard. I could tell after about six seconds I was about to fall off regardless of how hard I was trying to run," West said.
The wider, longer treadmill also allows runners to train backward and sideways.
"It puts people again into motions that are unique and allows us to analyze muscles and nerve function beyond what any other piece of equipment will do," Woodward said.
Building muscle memory that hopefully translates to the solid ground.
