By AthleteFIT (www.athletefit.com)

Woodway is the company name and treadmills are their game!  This company not only makes some of the highest quality products available but also delivers top notch programming solutions to its’ customers. Woodway has 3 manually powered treadmill options on the market today – the Curve, the Ecomill, but their Force started it all. Over the past 8 years, we have used the Force on daily basis for speed development, interval improvements, dynamic leg strength, lower body rehab, and even core training. We learned quickly that in dealing with the Force the users generally had a love-hate relationship with it….hated it during, but loved it after.

But like many other trends in the health & fitness world, people generally dislike the most what ultimately brings the greatest results.  The resistive properties of the Force allow clients to train in a highly eccentric environment (similar to sand training) in a controlled and monitored setting.  The manual powered aspect allows the trainer to both challenge & progress each client individually in a group or team based setting.  These qualities are unique to the Woodway Force and ultimately lead AthleteFIT to say – May the FORCE be with you!

Here is a sample Force workout designed to improve explosive power & overall athleticism-

8 Minute Leg Strength Program (80/20):

Target sprint is 80% of max speed with 20% of user’s bodyweight set as the “load”

The jog speed should be 50% of the target sprint speed

• Walk 10 secs
• Sprint 3 secs
• Jog 7 secs
• Repeat 3 times (1 minute of total work)
  
• Rest 1 minute
• Repeat 4 times

The coaching phrase we use is : “walk as slow as you need….but sprint as fast you can”

Product Applications:

• Dynamic Leg Strength & Power (On-court/field Acceleration)
• Anaerobic Fitness (Speed Training)
• Lower Body Power Endurance (Late Game Speed Endurance Simulation)
• Resistive Speed Training (Acceleration/Sled Work)
• Resistive Lateral Movement Training (Shuffle & Crossover)
• Technical & Postural Speed Training (Forward Lean & Acceleration Position)
• Return to Play ACL Programming (Resisted Backward Walking)
• Power Endurance Interval Training (RSA & Distance Tracking)
  
  

Suggested Users:

• Athletes (mainly power & power endurance based sports)
• Walkers (recreational athletes)
• Fitness Enthusiasts
  
  

Not Recommended For:

• Unsupervised Youth Athletes  – there is a learning curve attached to using the Woodway Force because the user is belted in with a forward lean position. If the client is new to the Force and looks down while running, then they will most assuredly fall!
• Unsupervised Novice Fitness Clientele – for the same reasons as above
• Runners & Endurance Based Workouts – the Force is ideal for leg power & postural sprinting improvements, but not a great choice for longer duration moderate intensity activities such as jogging. The weight of the belt will wear down the client’s legs and there by make the workout program ineffective.
  

By AthleteFIT (www.athletefit.com)

First of all the Curve is really turning heads in our facility! Every time someone starts warming up on the Curve there seems to be a crowd of 2 or 3 athletes watching and eagerly waiting to take a turn.

We really didn’t know what to expect when it first arrived, but over the last few weeks we have been able to integrate it into almost every speed and conditioning program we have. The quick learning curve, and ability to adjust your pace from sprinting to walking in seconds, really mimics our on-field training intervals while heart rate responses show that athletes are pushing themselves to very similar levels as on other devices.

Here is a heart rate view of a 90 second interval that we used to assess fitness, speed and heart rate recovery the Curve Treadmill. This interval is too complex to be integrated on the ground, and changes pace too frequently to be done on a motorized device. The freedom to change pace on command without delay from a motorized treadmill will take our speed and conditioning intervals to the next level!

Curve Treadmill (90 second Interval)

90 second Interval Protocol:

• Walk 15 seconds
• Jog 15 seconds
• Run 10 seconds
• Strong Run 5 seconds
• Walk 15 seconds
• Jog 10 seconds
• Run 10 seconds
• Sprint 5 seconds
• Decelerate and Rest for 30 seconds

Repeat 10 x

Product Applications:

• Aerobic Fitness (covering the entire spectrum – Aerobic High, Medium and Low)
• Anaerobic Fitness (Speed Training)
• Interval Training (Fartlek  Training, Change of Pace, Timed Intervals, etc)
• Technical Speed Training (Sprint Drills – Form Accelerations, Bounding, Leg Cycle Work)
• Youth Locomotor Patterning (Shuffling, Carioca, Backpedalling, etc)
• Max Speed (Overspeed) Training
• Decreased Ground Reaction Force Training:
  
  

NOTE: Individuals with knee, ankle and back issues may enjoy training on the Curve as the slightly elevated surface seems (initially) to keep the athlete in a state of dorsiflexsion at the ankle, while seeming to decrease the impact forces as the foot hits the ground. This needs to be studied, but athletes seem to feel better the following day after longer runs on the Curve as compared to ground based training.

Suggested Users:

• Athletes (speed or endurance)
• Runners (Recreational Athletes)
• Fitness Enthusiast
  
  

Not Recommended For:

• Unsupervised Novice Fitness Clientele (it gets up to speed so fast that client may not be able to cycle the leg fast enough to keep up with the belt, forward torso lean – looking down at feet – may cause client to have a exaggerated posterior leg cycle – not picking knees up – which will cause them to fall forward.
• Heavy Athletes not used to Speed (because of the quick increases in speed that the user can create, risk of hamstring or hip flexor/groin injury is increased)
• Lower Extremity Injury – Return to Sport (too difficult to control speed, speed increases at too fast a pace, may risk aggravating the injury).

Aveda Institute Corpus Christi (AICC) today announced the installation of its own 60' Skystream 3.7 wind turbine on the north side of La Palmera. It is the first wind turbine to be installed at an Aveda Institute and believed to be the first at a U.S. mall.

Coupled with the installation of four kinetic to direct current exercise machines, which will also provide power, Aveda Institute Corpus Christi is dedicated to providing a socially and environmentally conscious education facility. The Institute will open November 9th with a grand opening event planned for November 12th – 14th.

The fitness machines will be available to La Palmera shoppers at the Aveda Institute's upper level location during mall hours. Aveda Institute will provide discounts for services for every 30-minute workout, which adds 50-watt hours of clean, carbon-free electricity to the Institute's power supply. A 30- minute workout on either an elliptical or treadmill is enough to power a laptop for one hour.

"No two ideas prevail more in our current global culture than 'getting fit' and 'going green' and Aveda strikes chords for many with this installation in Corpus Christi," said AICC Director of Operations, Chase Thalman.

Of the exercise machines installed, one is a Woodway EcoMill treadmill, which uses zero electricity enabling all energy generated to go directly to the AICC grid and three are PreCor EFX556i Experience™ elliptical machines. The company helping Aveda Institute Corpus Christi to capture this energy is ReRev™.

ReRev, a division of SunQuest Energy in Clearwater, Florida, retrofits cardio equipment to capture the human kinetic energy from workouts and convert it to utility grade electricity for use by the facility. Read entire article

Runners require a lot out of a treadmill. A good treadmill is easy on the joints and meets runners' needs for speed and variability. Runners need a treadmill that allows them to maintain and improve their sport from the comfort of their own home. The amenities included with this type of treadmill come at a price, however, with top-of-the-line treadmills going for $5,500 to as much as $12,000.

Woodway Curve

Treadmill Doctor has rated the Woodway Curve a 10 out of 10 in the following categories: walking area, cushioning, reliability, and noise level.

Read more at livestrong.com

Zephyr technology was used throughout the daily life and rescue mission to monitor miners heart rate, breathing rate and core temperature. Zephyr is taking heart rate monitors to a whole new level. For more information on Zephyr view our Zephyr page. Click here

Click link below for video of the rescue and Zephyr's role from New Zealand television station.

Youtube video of the EcoMill in ReRev's booth producing electricity.

Gunnar shows the host what it takes to get into shape like an A-list celeb, which includes a CURVE workout!

WOODWAY and SwimEx have joined forces to provide the ultimate in underwater training and rehabilitation with the addition of a specialized WOODWAY treadmill able to be installed in SwimEx pools.

To learn more about WOODWAY underwater treadmills and SwimEx visit SwimEx' website click here

WOODWAY Treadmill at the Senators		Ottawa Senators Installation

The Gatorade Quest for G searches for America's undiscovered athletes. In this video, during day 2 of boot camp, the athletes begin their evaluation with includes VO2 testing with the iMETT on a Desmo treadmill.

Watch the video at gatorade.com

Peak Performance - Reach Your Peak

Introducing Peak Performance: A Higher Level in Fitness

Athleticism.  Strength.  Confidence.  Sexiness.  Fitness.  Vitality.  At Peak Performance, New York City’s premiere private training facility, looking good isn’t just a mindset; it’s a way of life.

Nestled in a 10,000 square foot sun-drenched loft high above the streets of Manhattan, Peak Performance takes fitness back to the basics… with forward-thinking motion.  The experts at Peak Performance have distilled fitness down to it’s simplest, purest form – reconnecting people to their bodies and educating them about what their bodies are designed to do: run, jump, climb and lift. Go to Peak Performance - WOODWAY featured facility page.

I have long been a fan of the Woodway FORCE treadmill.  It is a self propelled treadmill. This has been for several reasons;

• Encourages FOOT CONTACT under COG
• Encourages HORIZONTAL PROPULSIVE FORCES
• Allows VIDEO ANALYSIS of multiple strides easily
• Provides easier accel bounding learning and resisted bounds
• …and in the case of a FORCE 2.0 or 3.0 provides data on actual forces and gait analysis between left and right legs

Last year Woodway introduced the CURVE.  We  had the chance to recently evaluate it with athletes of different calibers and experience. 

View entire piece on comparing sprint training on the Curve to overground artofcoachingspeed.com.

One of the gyms where I do my training has a new member; a Woodway Curve. It caught my eye today after I completed my 10k run on the elevated running track, otherwise I would have taken it for a spin right away. However, I am going to be testing it out personally tomorrow. Before today I had not seen a curve yet, so it peaked my interest. Read the entire article

The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Human Performance Lab presented a posterboard at the NSCA National Show that compares heart rate, oxygen uptake variables, muscle oxygenation and blood lactate values of runners on the Curve and a motorized treadmill. The results show there is significantly more energy expenditure on the Curve. View the NSCA Posterboard

The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Human Performance Lab presented a posterboard at the NSCA National Show that compares energy expenditure while walking on the Curve and a motorized treadmill. The results show there is increased energy expenditure on the Curve. View the NSCA Posterboard

Gunnar demonstrates a unique use for the CURVE. He "burns the hammies" using a single leg to power the belt in a skating type style.

Go to Muscle & Fitness Magazine to view Gunnar's Blog.

UFC President Dana White introduces Rich Franklin to the new TUF Gym with special mention of the WOODWAY Desmo treads.

Abstract

Since the mid 1980’s, high speed treadmills have been steadily gaining popularity as a tool for increasing running speed for speed and power sports (i.e. football, soccer, basketball, etc.). It has been used in a variety of settings with mixed results. Vibration training has also gained a great deal of popularity with this population. Vibration has been an effective tool for increasing power output because of the neurological activation that takes place during weight bearing activities on a vibration platform. This study looked at integrating the technology of vibration with highs peed treadmill methods into an established strength and conditioning program. A group of 21 high school athletes(16 male and 5 female) between the 9th and 12th grade (mean = 10.5) participated in an 8 week offseason strength and conditioning program which consisted of linear speed, minor lateral speed and agility, strength training, and the EX Speed™ PRO treadmill program. Athletes were grouped into the control (PRO) and experimental group(PROVibe) which integrated vibration training. Mean improvements for the PRO group were 0.15s in 40 yd dash,1.08in. in the Vertical Jump, and 0.07s in the 20 yard Shuttle Test. Mean improvements for the PROVibe group were 0.27s in the 40 yd dash, 0.55in. in the Vertical Jump, and 0.18s in the 20 yd Shuttle Test. The study showed that both programs were highly effective for speed and agility training, but the PROVibe group showed itself to be a more effective means of increasing speed and quickness. Read entire case study.

Government Recreation Fitness Magazine Article highlighting the use of WOODWAY FORCE and DESMO treadmills in the multiple performance training areas at Camp Pendleton Read Article

Last week, a team of engineers of the Flemish space company QinetiQ Space (formerly known as Verhaert Space) have successfully tested a new fitness device for astronauts in zero gravity, on board of the Airbus ZERO G, stationed in Bordeaux (France).

The ZERO G is a specially equipped passenger aircraft (based on an Airbus A300) that performs a series of special parabolic flights, creating zero gravity for short consecutive periods of 22 seconds. The team made 31 parabolic flights per day and the tests lasted a whole week. This way the QinetiQ Space engineers had the chance to test their device in an environment comparable to the one on board of the International Space Station (ISS). The Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne, who stayed on board of the ISS for 6 months last year, was a member of the QinetiQ Space team.

“We develop this device for ESA and NASA (respectively the European and the American Space Agency)”, says engineer Luc Vautmans, Project Office Manager at QinetiQ Space. It is the intention to allow the astronauts to run on a treadmill in space (in weightlessness) without floating through the cabin after taking 1 step. Until now this was realized with elastic bungees, fastened at the height of the hips, that held the astronaut and pulled him down during the running.

Astronauts train a lot and very intense during their stay on board of the International Space Station (ISS) because the negative effects of weightlessness are very pernicious for their muscles and bones and because of course they have to keep their body healthy in view of their return to earth. However, according to the astronauts it is not very comfortable to run on a treadmill while you are being pulled down with stiff rubbers. This week we have proven, on board of the A300 zero G in weightlessness, that we can safely and carefully pull down astronauts of different sizes with their own weight, independent of their running movements
and displacements.

Because of this they will be able to run in weightlessness condition on board of the International Space Station as if they are running on earth with normal gravity. Upon request of NASA our team is working around the clock to get this new system before the end of this year on board of one of the last Space Shuttles to the ISS so that they can enjoy this new Belgian technology.