When we talk about the air pressure technology in the Boost Treadmill, the conversation generally revolves around how it can be used to aid in the walking/jogging/running of an athlete or patient. But an air pressure treadmill is capable of much more than running. Let’s look at some of the other ways the Boost technology can be put to work.
Rehab Progressions
The Boost technology can be a great tool to help in many lower extremity rehab progressions. It can be a great place to start with some exercises while only bearing a portion of your body mass. For the calf, Achilles, and ankle/foot injuries, you could get the athlete started on concentric and eccentric calf raises by placing a small board in the unit to provide a full range of motion during the exercise. The patient could begin performing lunges in the unit while making progressions in the amount of their body mass the are working with. Or basic double and single leg hops while at 50% of their body mass. The options are pretty vast, the only limit is how creative you want to be as a clinician.
Dynamic Mode
Two very unique features of the Boost (and the only air pressure treadmill to offer this) are Dynamic and Dynamic Braking modes. This allows the treadmill to become a non-motorized or free-wheeling, meaning that the athlete or patient is required to make the treadmill move. In Dynamic Braking mode, you are able to add resistance to increase the intensity of the exercise. These can be done in both forward and reverse, adding a lot of variability to the activity. These are great features to be able to help activity and develop the posterior chain while managing the load forces through the lower extremity.
Along the same lines, you can add lateral shorts to the protocol and work on lateral movements. This can be done both with Dynamic mode or with motorized in either direction.
Upper Body Rehab
Another area that the Boost can be of a huge benefit is in upper extremity injury and surgery recovery. In a lot of these cases, trying to maintain an athlete’s or patient’s cardiovascular fitness can be difficult with the limitations of the injury/surgery. Concern over falling during running/agility is often a reason most physicians will not allow this until a certain point in the recovery. With the Boost, the individual is safely secured in the unit, and also benefits from the decreased impact of each foot strike while running. This reduces the likelihood of pain at the upper extremity injury site as well as illuminating the risk of the individual falling on the injured area if a fall occurred.
How the Boost can be a benefit is really only limited by the creativity of the clinician when thinking of how to use the technology.
We would love to hear more about how you use air pressure technology outside of just walking/running if you have some creative ideas drop us an email at info@boosttreadmills.com and we will send you some swag in return.