The new toy: ElliptiGO

I have tried bike riding several times post-op and I've found that it's too much hip flexion and just not comfortable.  It also leaves all my hip flexors unhappy for days afterwards.  So that means that I was limited to walking/hiking and the elliptical.   In New England, we have a good six months of true "outdoor" weather and the thought of hammering away indoors this summer on the elliptical to get a good workout in was just unappealing.

I knew I could handle the elliptical motion.  So I did some reading and research and there are a lot of hippie people really happy with their ElliptiGOs.   Yeah, it's not the coolest looking piece of equipment but it seemed like a lot of fun and everyone online said they enjoyed riding it.  

My new ElliptiGO!

From their website:  We got the idea to build the ElliptiGO really out of necessity. In 2005, Bryan lost the ability to run for fitness because of hip and knee injuries. Basically, a lifetime of contact sports and endurance athletics had caught up with him and by the age of 32 he was forced to engage in low-impact exercise. As a former cyclist and Ironman triathlete, he seriously considered returning to cycling to stay fit. However, he had always found the bicycle saddle and riding position to be really uncomfortable and cycling workouts to require too much time. As a result, he started using the indoor elliptical trainer. Although he liked the exercise, he hated being locked in a gym. To solve this problem, he decided to buy a low-impact running device he could ride on the street. 

The first ride on it seriously kicked my butt.  I had to stop a mile in to catch my breath!  Most importantly, there was no hip pain at all.   I am up to almost 4 miles now and am signing up for a 10 mile charity ride in a week.

People report riding bike-like speeds -15-18mph - and distances of 50, 60, 100 miles.  Right now, this seems completely nuts!  

There are quite a few elite athletes who use the ElliptiGO for cross-training purposes.  Here's a really interesting video showing how the elliptical motion is similar to running (but obviously without the impact):