ElliptiGO - give your knees a rest with the ultimate cross-trainer

Just found the ultimate cross-training tool for those days when you want/need to run but want to spare your legs the impact stress: www.elliptigo.com - check it out.

It is just like running, but no impact - much better than the ellipticals in gyms AND it gets you outdoors!

In March, extreme endurance athlete Dean Karnazes (above) rode an ElliptiGO nearly 500 miles from San Francisco to the Los Angeles Marathon.

Bryan Pate came up with the idea for this machine when his knees told him he had to stop running. Like many an injured runner/triathlete, he was going crazy using the elliptical in the gym and had one of those “There has to be a better way...” moments.

But this is not a gym elliptical stuck on two wheels. When he put his head together with engineer Brent Teal, they tested every elliptical they could get hold of and realised that the motion was just not similar enough to running. So they’ve given the ElliptiGO a longer stride length (and it’s adjustable) AND got the platforms closer together so you’re not trying to “run” with your legs spread out too wide, like you have to in the gym.

I tried a machine on thre Creek Path here in Boulder and it performs justa s advertised: it feels ike running, but with no impact,; it’s easy to use; it cruises at a respectable speed and it goes up hills (in this case the climb up Canyon) at least as fast as a conventional bike – actually, I think it is faster.

I have a loaner bike arriving this week, so if anyone wants a go...

I’m just about to head back into a base phase and this is going to be my secret weapon to become an aerobic machine without wrecking my legs.