The Water Walker–It’s Exactly What It Sounds Like

The New-And-Improved Underwater Treadmill

Earlier this year, right as spring was preparing to surrender to summer, a company in Osaka, Japan called Water Walker and Spa unveiled its latest fitness technology: the Water Walker Underwater Treadmill. It’s just what it sounds like, but with all the lighting and water level options you don’t realize you need until you see it in action. Fill the transparent-sided tub with water that reaches your knees or your chest, adjust the speed to a comfortable (or difficult) walking or running pace, climb in and away you’ll pretend to go.

While the Water Walker is billed as a resistance builder, creating a water-based training experience that athletes can enjoy from the comfort of their own homes, it can also be useful for injury recovery. As the company explains in this video demonstration, running in water reduces the shock of impact on joints and affects a weightless quality, making a person’s actual body weight feel 80 percent lighter. Running in water allows the muscles to strengthen without having to deal with the full impact that running on dirt, concrete or even a synthetic track requires.

It sounds great–but there’s one big hitch. Priced at £69,000, or nearly $82,000, this product is way pricey. If some of our local gyms start installing these, we’ll be thrilled to test them out. Until then, it’s something we’ll be drooling over as we hit “replay” on the YouTube video.

Related:

Why You Should Run In The Pool Once Every Week

5 Ways To Cross-Train That You Haven’t Thought Of

5 Fun Races That Combine Swimming And Running