Scourge of the ArcTrainer

So, as you may know if you read my post earlier in the week, my love of running and excess body weight had conspired to give me a case of Plantar Fasciitis. It is a condition that can become a prolonged and painful ordeal if you ignore it and is, at least on paper, easy to cure if you catch it early.

If you feel the symptoms early, all you have to do is this: Nothing.

Don’t run on it, don’t jump on it, just take it easy on your feet for a week or two.

But to someone like myself who tends to have high energy, that’s easier said than done. So I headed to gym yesterday looking for a cardio machine that wouldn’t impact my feet or put strain on my Plantar tendon.

That is when I discovered this hellish new contraption: The ArcTrainer.

Image taken from Cybex Promotional Website

This machine is essentially what would happen if an elliptical machine had a baby with a stair stepper. It has the kind of low/no impact circlar motion you usually associate with an elliptical machine, but rather than your feet traveling forward and back, the travel path is much more up and down, like climbing stairs.

40 minutes on that machine, and I can barely walk today. I feel like it hit the same muscles I’m used to activating when I do squats, but obviously over a much longer period of time, something those muscles are not used to.

I guess to anyone out there who needs some low impact cardio due to foot, ankle, or knee injury, but wants something a little more challenging than the trusty ole elliptical: Give the ArcTrainer a try, but have ice packs for later.

NOTE: I am not a spokesman or affiliate of Cybex, just a fella complaining about a new machine kicking his butt.
.
.
.
What is your least favorite Gym machine, the one you dread? Leave it in the comments. Follow me if you want to watch a fat guy struggle with fitness!