Adult Gait Trainers, Gait Trainer Walkers, and Body Weight Supported Treadmills for Training

An Adult Gait Trainer is traditionally used in conjunction with physical therapists to assist adult patients who are unable to put full weight on their legs or maintain their balance. Gait trainers for adults help safely support patients in an upright position and allow them to practice walking independently with the help of a physical therapist. In adult gait training therapy, the goal is to strengthen muscles and joints, build endurance, improve posture and balance, retrain legs for repetitive motion, and develop muscle memory. 

The use of a BWS (body-weight support) gait training system will help enable patients to walk safely with less effort. This gait trainer device does not use ceiling tracks can be moved freely within a facility. Body-weight supported systems assist walking over a treadmill to encourage gross motor function that will restore walking strength and balance. The BWS system may use a gait training harness over a treadmill to unweight the patient and help them balance. Over time as the patient can bear more of their own weight, the unweighting system can be adjusted.

The Single PneuWeight Unweighting Exercise System is a great example that is designed to remove weight from the individual’s legs and correct their gait posture while keeping the user safely upright and supported to prevent falls. This type of adult gait trainer system can be used over nearly any treadmill, vibration platform, balance equipment, or physical therapy equipment to enhance physical therapy.

An overground gait trainer is a type of adult gait trainer that will assist the user in transitioning from a sitting to a standing position and enable additional walking practice beyond the physical therapy session. One example is the PneuWalker3 Mobility Trainer. This type of overground gait trainer is mostly used during physical therapy to provide a firm and safe support system during gait training practice. Safely train the user’s lower body range-of-motion, increase strength, and bring walking confidence back to the patient.

An affordable overground gait trainer for adults is the Up N Go 100M Adult Gait Trainer, which is an adjustable partial weight-bearing device designed like a standing frame. This type of gait trainer promotes the user to walk on their own or with assistance from a caregiver. This lightweight gait trainer can simulate and maintain walking moves within a therapy facility or at home. Additional support features can include pelvic stabilizers, ankle prompts, padded supports, positioning bars, seats, and harnesses to ensure a safe and proper gait.

For more specific details on what would be the best gait trainer to be used in your facility or at your home, How to Choose A Gait Trainer will help you better understand assistive wheeled devices. As well, the article about choosing the 5 Best Gait Trainers can be very helpful in finding the best type of gait trainer that would most fit the user you have in mind.