In hopes of keeping my running days not as numbered as they already are due to some advanced ankle arthritis (and I'm only M40-45, numerous sprains from my basketball days and now they hurt even if I run a few miles), I tried using one of the newer ellipticals in the gym today.
I never thought I'd get to this point honestly - the last time I used an elliptical was years ago, once ,and I hated it and swore I'd never be one of the lazy elliptical users in the gym. Couldn't get my HR up, and felt nothing like running. I totally didn't get the point of it, when you could hammer the treadmill.
Now that I see that I likely won't be running much longer or farther, I'm getting why these nonimpact machines are popular at the gym.
I was using a Precor Adaptive Motion Machine - doesn't lock you into one motion, so you can sort of bound along like running with an exaggerated slower stride with it. Felt weird at first but after 5 minutes of sticking with it, got it down. And I actually liked it! Managed to get my HR to LT zone, 157, which was surprising to me as it didn't feel that hard, but apparently, like x-country skiing, your HR gets even higher when you're pumping the arms in addition the legs. (On a bike, 157HR for me is faster than race pace and feels terrible!)
Will it get me back to running? Def not on its own. But was it weirdly fun and did it work my legs and cardio? Surprisingly, yes! I think the part I was most surprised with was how much I liked using a machine that didn't squash me into an aggressive aero position like my TT bike, or have me gasping for air like I do in the pool when I'm hitting 157HR. After all, humans are built to run upright, so it's always invigorating to be able to get upright without joint pain and still work plenty hard.
Too bad things like this device or the Octane ZeroRunner cost $4k+ and take up a fair amount of room. After this experience though, I'm going to go to my local home gym supplier and try out that Zerorunner for real and see if it's the same or better.
Hoping I can squeeze a few more years of sprint tris in without undue pain or damage, but it's not looking good for me right now. =(
I never thought I'd get to this point honestly - the last time I used an elliptical was years ago, once ,and I hated it and swore I'd never be one of the lazy elliptical users in the gym. Couldn't get my HR up, and felt nothing like running. I totally didn't get the point of it, when you could hammer the treadmill.
Now that I see that I likely won't be running much longer or farther, I'm getting why these nonimpact machines are popular at the gym.
I was using a Precor Adaptive Motion Machine - doesn't lock you into one motion, so you can sort of bound along like running with an exaggerated slower stride with it. Felt weird at first but after 5 minutes of sticking with it, got it down. And I actually liked it! Managed to get my HR to LT zone, 157, which was surprising to me as it didn't feel that hard, but apparently, like x-country skiing, your HR gets even higher when you're pumping the arms in addition the legs. (On a bike, 157HR for me is faster than race pace and feels terrible!)
Will it get me back to running? Def not on its own. But was it weirdly fun and did it work my legs and cardio? Surprisingly, yes! I think the part I was most surprised with was how much I liked using a machine that didn't squash me into an aggressive aero position like my TT bike, or have me gasping for air like I do in the pool when I'm hitting 157HR. After all, humans are built to run upright, so it's always invigorating to be able to get upright without joint pain and still work plenty hard.
Too bad things like this device or the Octane ZeroRunner cost $4k+ and take up a fair amount of room. After this experience though, I'm going to go to my local home gym supplier and try out that Zerorunner for real and see if it's the same or better.
Hoping I can squeeze a few more years of sprint tris in without undue pain or damage, but it's not looking good for me right now. =(