Some health gear is price your cash; others are gimmicks that ought to keep on the shelf. It’s not at all times simple to know which is which. For instance, at first look, the Sanddune Energy Stepper is a squishy platform that, for $280 a pop, leaves you questioning why you’ll be able to’t simply run and soar on flat floor.
After all, you’ll be able to, however as Muscle & Health’ Zack Zeigler and Frank Sepe lately realized whereas touring The Energy Membership (situated in New York, NY), the Sanddune is a power coach-approved software for decreasing joint affect and bolstering stability. And that, of us, is why M&F’s Fitness center Excursions sequence exists—to study new coaching instruments that we (and also you) would miss out on in any other case. Maintain studying for extra in regards to the Sanddune.
What’s it?
The Sanddune Energy Stepper is a foam field that mimics the texture of shifting on sand. It options two particular person platforms, so your toes and palms work independently of each other. Each platforms are additionally barely angled to put your palms or toes on a decline or incline.
You may run, soar, and push off of the Sanddune, which offers extra cushion to your joints whereas additionally difficult your stability. It’s sometimes used as a warm-up and conditioning software. Frequent actions on the Sanddune embrace excessive knees, strolling in place, vertical jumps, and push-ups.
What We Like
- The Sanddune is joint-friendly. It mimics a sandy floor, coaching on which has been proven to cut back muscle soreness and stress. A examine printed within the Journal of Human Kinetics in contrast the outcomes of seashore handball gamers, half underwent regular preseason coaching; the opposite half added plyometrics carried out on the sand to their protocol. Within the textual content, the researchers write, “A sand floor is related to a higher diploma of shock absorption and decrease stress to delicate tissue and bones on the decrease limbs throughout plyometric train.” (1)
- It’s a superb warm-up and conditioning software. The Sanddune’s inherent instability offers advantages to your conditioning and warm-ups which can be laborious to copy on steady floor. For one, the stabilizing muscle tissues surrounding your ankles, knees, wrists, and shoulders will fireplace constantly whereas utilizing the Sanddune. In consequence, your muscle tissues ought to turn out to be extra steady over time. You’ll additionally enhance your means to stability and produce extra pressure.
- It has a small footprint. The Sanddune is 26” extensive, 22” lengthy, and weighs 12.5 kilos, so it doesn’t take up a lot area in your health club. Whereas it gained’t match comfortably in your bag, you’ll be able to simply toss the Sanddune in your automobile and haul it into your native health club.
What to Contemplate
- It prices $280. That’s a reasonably steep value to pay for a chunk of apparatus that we’d hardly name important. Contemplate the Sanddune a nice-to-have, assuming you already personal free weights, a rack, and a weight bench.
Its purposes are comparatively restricted. You’ll get probably the most mileage out of the Sanddune leaping, squatting, and operating on high of it. That’s about it, which is ok when you routinely carry out plyometric exercises. There are a number of different makes use of for the Sanddune, however they aren’t widespread data. For instance, you need to use it as a knee pad for Nordic curls or lay on it for dumbbell pullovers. By itself, the Sanddune is an adjunct, so take into consideration the way you practice and the way usually you’ll use it earlier than clicking “purchase now.”
