[caption id="attachment_628" align="aligncenter" width="513" caption="The RunBike (Picture from Runbike.com)! It allows a person to run as if they weighed 2/3 to 1/2 of their weight!"]
[/caption]Now many of the comments on the Facebook page for Runners World were less than complimentary, and many of them I can understand. If it is used simply for an overweight person to be able to run, with no changes to diet - then it serves no real purpose to me. However, if you step beyond that initial impression, some new possibilities come out!
As he advertises, for people who have medical issues - making it low impact has added benefits. But Think of this.. If a person weighed 300 pounds, they CANT run. It will destroy their joints. But if you could remove 1/2 or 1/3 of their weight - they won't do as much damage to their joints. This allows them to gain the benefits of running (as far as calories burned is there a better form of exercise?) with out the damage. It could really allow someone who had hit that dreaded level (Obese) to lose the weight far more quickly than walking. I think it's a pretty remarkable idea..
