The Zebedee Workout!
Tuesday, December 5th, 2006Forget bikram yoga, boxercise and circus acrobatics: the latest way to get fit is to strap on a pair of Powerisers and start leaping down the street.
Powerisers are spring-loaded boots (imagine a cross between stilts and pogo sticks). They strap on to normal shoes and give users almost superhuman powers — enabling them to jump up to six feet in the air, take nine-foot strides and run at more than 20mph.
Powerising comes with a whole host of health benefits, from aiding weight loss to strengthening the body’s core muscles and lowering cholesterol.
It also burns more calories in less time than running, and the poweriser springs cushion your joints from injuries associated with running, such as stress fractures and shin splints.
Many devotees also admit they enjoy the attention they attract when wearing Powerisers.
It’s already a huge craze in Korea and looks set to become one here, too. They’ve appeared on a television advertisement for Zurich Insurance and Wicked Vision, the only distributor of the boots in the UK, has already sold 25,000 pairs - at £199 — in the past three months. Their youngest user is six, their oldest 53.
“It’s not just extreme sports types who are buying them,” says David Strang, managing director of Wicked Vision.
“It’s also older, health-conscious men and women who are bored of the gym and are looking for novel ways of exercising.”
Powerising was developed in Germany, with kangaroos reputedly the inspiration.
Research by Korea’s Hanlim Inforbecause mation Industrial University found that people lost an average of seven pounds after five weeks of using the footwear.
They also shed nearly an inch from their waistline and half an inch from their buttocks - something I’m particularly enthusiastic about.
In addition, levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) increased, while bad cholesterol decreased, so they can help protect against heart disease, too.
Before trying the sport for myself, I spoke to Dave Sturtridge, 43, a locksmith from Lyme Regis in Dorset who has been poweris-ing for three months.
“I haven’t looked back since,” he says. “Strapping them on for the first time was a little daunting, but it took me only 15 minutes to learn to walk in them and before very long I was running.
“They’re a great fitness aid. I didn’t do any sport before: I can’t jog any distance because it hurts my heels and my right knee. But I find powerising very comfortable the spring takes the impact off the joints, and it’s fun rather than being a chore.
“I use the boots for about 15 minutes a day and I feel so much fitter. I’ve already lost a stone and my calves, buttocks and abdominal muscles are firmer.”
Dr Polly McGuigan, a biomechanics lecturer from the University of Bath’s sports science department, explains how Powerisers work.
“We have springs in our bodies already. The Achilles tendon that runs from halfway down the calf muscle to the heel bone is a much smaller, less powerful version of what animals like kangaroos and ostriches have.
“They use their springy legs to run long distances because it reduces the metabolic cost on their bodies. Powerisers have the same effect.”
However, she warns, people using Powerisers are more likely to fall over than runners, which could cause serious injury. It’s essential to wear protective gear.
And Dr Jonathan Folland, an exercise physiologist from Loughborough University, is far from convinced by powerising.
“It’s hard to see why it would be better for the heart than running,” he says. “And gym work - using a leg press for example - would definitely be better for the muscles.”
I have to admit that I’m a little apprehensive at the prospect of powerising. The boots will add 2ft onto my diminutive 5ft 4in frame, and the only thing between me and concrete will be a curved, carbon fibre spring and a rather insubstantial footpad. Dave has warned me I’ll spend the first half-hour falling over.
I meet David Strang at a park in South London. I sit on the top of a children’s climbing frame while he fastens the straps around my feet and knees and I put on elbow, knee and wrist pads and a helmet.
Gingerly, I stand up. It’s an extraordinary sensation - in my Powerisers I’m a dizzying 7ft 4in and the springs are making me bounce with every step.
I’m terrified I’m going to fall over. It seems I’m a terrifying sight, too - a toddler points at me and bursts into tears.
The parents are equally perplexed by this dinosaur-like creature tottering between the swings, and I hear one man say he thinks my Powerisers are designed for amputees.
Just shuffling around with David, who is on firm ground, lending support, is exhausting: my thighs, back and buttocks are already aching and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this bizarre Zebedee bouncing act going.
But gradually I take slightly longer steps and increase the bounce. It feels as if I’m walking on a trampoline. I do this for about another 15 minutes before he suggests we venture outside the playground.
After I’ve walked a few metres down the path, I realise that David is no longer supporting me. I’m going it alone, bouncing along quite happily.
Then it all goes wrong: my knee supports brush against each other, I look at my feet and I’m over. David catches me before I hit the ground.
The next time, I manage to pick up the pace. I’m not exactly bounding, roo-like, across the South London savannah but I’m jogging unaided at a respectable speed - and enjoying it.
Fortunately, I’m too absorbed in trying to retain my balance to care about the stares from passers-by.
This is definitely a sport for exhibitionists.
I’ve got a long way to go before I can jump six feet in the air, but it’s a start. All too soon it’s time to take them off.
I can definitely feel the effects of the Powerisers. I’m sure my muscles have had more of workout than running for half an hour would have given them - and the next morning my bottom and lower back still ache.
It’s an outlandish method of exercising, and it doesn’t come cheap, but the obvious benefits are, in my opinion, worth making a spectacle of yourself for.
