AlterG for knee rehab and building back leg muscle

btlinberg

I know these things probably aren't available in a lot of places but has anyone used an AlterG anti gravity treadmill for physical therapy to help rebuild atrophied upper leg muscle with knee injuries or knee problems?

I've seen a few in my area at PT clinics now renting by the hour for about $50 but wondering if it's worthwhile. My knee joints are definitely the stumbling block in regaining muscle in my legs due to some autoimmune related inflammatory arthritis. I find any type of exercise or movement that my knees will allow helps keep the stiffness at bay.

-brad-

LeanButNotMean44

I used one during my PT after a knee stress fracture a few years ago. Since it was part of my PT process, I didn't (directly) pay just to use it. I am not sure it would be worth spending the money to rent time on it; I think you could accomplish the same thing by doing other types of exercises (i.e. walking on a treadmill at an incline, leg presses, etc.). It was pretty cool to run on, though.

sofaking6

Would 'running' in a pool work similarly?

SonyaCele

i am not doing any treadmill type movements to rebuild my atrophied quad. A lot of the atrophy rebuild process is CNS and training your brain to fire up those muscles , You could do open chain leg exercises like leg lifts, etc for muscle work. My rehab is allowing me to do squats and deads and leg press, as well as all the open chain stuff. Depending on the condition of your knees you could do those. But i dont think that walking is a direct muscle building exercise, especially without gravity . its more of a mobility movement. sure it will build some muscle, but i think you will rebuild better with CNS training and the open chain stuff. Thats just what i've learned after having ACL surgery and going through this whole rehab/rebuild process. do you have a PT?

rdfaye

I am rehabbing a brand new titanium knee and also have RA. The PT has me doing leg lifts, long arc quads, and high step marching in place. She also puts me on a recumbent stepper for a warmup and last week cleared me to ride an upright stationary bike. I cannot do standard squats, but at PT I do them on a Total Gym, which is inclined and takes some of my weight off my knees. Protecting your joints is vital with autoimmune diseases. Both she and the surgeon say walking outside or on a regular treadmill is excellent, as long as I don't overdue it. All of these have improved my quad strength in the bad leg immensely.

But you definitely need to work with a physical therapist who can work on your specific problem.

btlinberg

Thanks for all the info. Yeah, I've been working with different PT's on and off. I did running in a pool for quite a while but don't have access to a good pool at the moment. Right now my PT has me doing light movements like lying leg lifts at various angles. My knee joints have limited movement - from full extension to about 90 degrees bent is all they will go so movement I feel is my sticking point. It's such a catch 22 because the more stress I put on the joints, the more they flare but I feel building up the muscle, tendons and ligaments surrounding the joints would help so they'd be less stressed from movement and exercise.