Hey everybody, I'm back!
So, all of this arc trainer talk, plus my recent forays back into my gym have raised a lot of questions in my mind. The last time I belonged to a gym before just recently, was three years ago. The place I go to is a branch of 24 hour fitness which means it has about an acre of cardio machines. Joking of course, but actually there are 90 of them. Things of changed a little since the last time I was there but it's pretty close to what I remembered. There's a row of various and sundry recumbent and upright bikes, two long rows of treadmills, and the rest is split up into five rows of varying styles and vintages of ellipticals. One row of the ellipticals is all new to me. There are about 15 of something I'm not even sure I can describe, I will have to get back to you on what they even are. They are made by Cybex and are some kind of a cross between an elliptical and a stairmaster, making the person using it look like a very small human trapped in a large cyborg device.
Then there are six of what I have now identified to be one of these mythical ARC trainers. Since I wasn't quite sure what everybody was talking about with these, and I have now used one of them a few times, I thought I would put in a video by Cybex explaining the difference between an elliptical and an ARC in case there's somebody else here who, like me, didn't really understand what was going on.
The one demonstrated in the video is the same as the one that I use at my gym from the waist down. From the waist up mine has short throw moving arms also. I just tried to put a picture of it here, but I cannot link to the URL because of the length. You get the idea.
So a couple of things that I have noticed about the famous arc trainer. In the video above when they show the comparison to the elliptical they show the elliptical user flexing and lifting the back of their foot while using it. When I was introduced to them and using it three years ago I had seriously damage in both feet. The elliptical is one of the very few things in the gym that I could use because I just kept my feet flat on the platforms and was able to use it that way without flexing my feet. This is the reason I thought the arc trainer looked like a good idea to try also, I no longer have problems with my feet, but it looked familiar and relatively safe.
The other reason that I chose it was because of some of you will recall, a while back I was having a bit of trouble with the tendons in one of my ankles. I found that on the arc trainer not only does it keep your feet flat on platforms which might help people with arch problems, but it also keeps ankles in a relatively static position and fixed angle. It provided me a way to get in my cardio without putting undue pressure or stress on my ankle, and it helped me a lot. I think these arc trainers could be a good alternative for folks if they have not tried it yet if they're experiencing problems with arch, ankle, or knee problems. Obviously under the advice of your PT if you're working with someone.
One last thing to note; as someone who is used to walking long distances in semisoft sand with poles, it KICKED MY ASS!!
