Like many people in these weird, isolated, times I’ve dropped $100 on a cheap walking pad. Working from home makes it hard to get your steps in, and the weather in upstate New York is pretty awful a lot of the time. So something I can put a few miles on while watching TV and staying dry, warm, or air conditioned as needed is ideal.
The problem is, there’s a definite limit to what a walking pad can do. Especially if you’re trying to add a lot of zone 2 cardio to your fitness regimen. My particular walking pad caps out at 4 mph (allegedly) and is slightly shorter than my preferred stride length at that speed. So it’s somehow both slow and a bit of a deathtrap. To make matters worse, I can stride along at 4 mph without an incline all day long without my heart rate getting north of 105 bpm.
Luckily, I recently encountered a device that can get a bit more out of a limited walking pad.
What is a Hypershell?
The Hypershell is a carbon fiber “exoskeleton” designed to help people move their legs. You strap it around your waist, cuff it to your thighs, and it allows you to run further and faster. In its standard modes, it’s great for people working their way back from injury, the elderly, or out of shape folks trying to keep up with their fitter friends.
Hypershell’s X Ultra also has an experimental “fitness” mode, which essentially makes the device work in reverse and fight your legs along the way. You set the level of resistance you want, and it makes your workout harder. Which is pretty much exactly what I need if I want to make my evening strolls more challenging.
As a bonus, while using the Hypershell normally drains the battery, “fitness mode” apparently trickles some charge back into the power cells. So you can torture yourself indefinitely with this, probably.
I should point out the particular Hypershell I’m using costs just under $2,000. And while it can do an awful lot more than what I’m using it for here, there is a bit of an elephant in the room. Yes, you can get an actual treadmill for far less than $2,000. And if you can’t do Zone 2 exercise on a standard treadmill you are likely a freak athlete.
But treadmills take up tons of space. I need the little tiny deathtrap walking pad to fit in my little tiny deathtrap apartment. I could maybe get one that can work on an incline, but there’s a good chance I’ll eventually cap that out too without adding some additional stress to my workout. So I went ahead with my Hypershell test.
There is a limit to how much you can use the Hypershell Exoskeleton
I’m not a doctor, or a physiotherapist, but I do know you should probably do at least some research before embarking on a new exercise routine. Now, this information may be incorrect, but it does err on the side of caution.
I assumed that I wasn’t the first person to use a Hypershell or similar device in this way, so I looked on the internet for information on the safety of it all. There is a slight worry that overuse of the Hypershell’s resistance setting could alter your gait, which makes sense when you think about it. If your body gets too used to struggling against the Hypershell, you’ll naturally start walking in a similar manner without it.
Apparently it’s more of an issue if you’re running with a Hypershell, and stride dynamics are definitely more important when moving at pace. But again, I decided to proceed with caution, even when literally “power walking.”
Starting slow was another important precaution. No matter what shape you’re in, a brand new exercise can hit you in a weird way and carries a higher injury risk. After a single hour-long session with the Hypershell, I was really feeling it in my hip flexors. That particular group of muscles is a bit delicate, and also contains plenty of connective tissue you can damage. So I started by doing this once a week for a couple of weeks before increasing the frequency to twice and then three times per week.
I decided to cap it at three, and do a little “indoor rucking” on the alternate days. Rucking is another great way to up your heart rate without picking up the pace, and works many underused muscles in your core. But as with the Hypershell, it’s something you probably don’t want to do every day.
How did it work out?
After again reiterating that this is all a bit anecdotal and not an actual scientific study, I can say it worked out well. My legs, particularly my quadriceps and hip flexors, feel more powerful. My cardio base has improved. And I’ve gotten a few extra months of use from a cheap walking pad.
With that being said, I may have hit the Hypershell’s limit. It wasn’t long before it was unable to raise my heart rate above 11 bpm at 2.8 mph, even on the device’s max resistance setting. With rucking, I can pile on more weight (up to a point) and theoretically a software update might give the Hypershell a bit more resistance, but those motors can only pop out so much force.
So I’m back to speed walking on the walking pad with the Hypershell on. But it’s getting back to the 4 mph cap, and as I’ve mentioned, moving that fast on a postage stamp sized belt isn’t exactly safe. Logically, I could do a light jog with the Hypershell on and extend the benefits even further. But it’s probably just time to buy a walking pad with an incline setting.
