RG3's underwater treadmill is big draw among athletic trainers

Gary Mihoces | USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS -- Hundreds of firms have thousands of products to show at the annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, including ice bags with team logos, ice tubs that need no ice and lightning detection for fields of play.

HydroWorx, maker of underwater treadmills, stole the show Wednesday by bringing in Robert Griffin III.

The star quarterback of the Washington Redskins is familiar with HydroWorx pool therapy because he has been using it in his rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery. He also used it after having knee surgery as a sophomore at Baylor.

"I believe in this product, and that's why I'm here today," Griffin told hundreds of attendees while standing poolside on an elevated deck in the exhibit hall at the Mandalay Bay convention center.

HydroWorx, based in Middletown, Pa., uses an automated system that raises and lowers the level of the treadmill floor. Rehabbing players start off with a higher water depth to provide more buoyancy. When they initially step onto the treadmill, it's at an even level with the poolside, then they are gradually lowered. The 2000 Series pool is 8 feet by 12 feet.

After surgery in January done by James Andrews, Griffin used the system at the Andrews Institute in Pensacola, Fla. Most recently, while waiting to get his own HydroWorx treadmill, he has used one courtesy of a fellow Virginian.

"I used it at a guy's house in Leesburg, Va., that these guys helped hook me up with to be able to have that access to it. Now, the Redskins are getting one," Griffin said. "I'm also getting a HydroWorx pool in my house. ... I know what it can do for you, and it's helped me (accelerate) my rehab process."

HydroWorx said its system was also used by Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in his remarkable recovery from knee surgery after the 2011 season. The systems range in price from $33,000 to $270,000.

Griffin, well acquainted with athletic trainers, got a big cheer when he mentioned them. "It's not just the pool itself; it's the athletic trainers I've worked with. So I thank all you guys," said Griffin, who posed for pictures with attendees but was not made available to the news media.

Michael McHugh, co-owner of HydroWorx, says there's a "big difference" between just running in a pool and using his device.

"The underwater treadmill closely replicates how you move on land," he said. "Once (users are) lowered down in and that floor starts moving ... the medical staff can look at how they're planting their foot on the underwater video, but we're taking the pain away. We're taking the body weight away."

Looking on at the exhibit was Karl Kapchinski, assistant athletics director for athletic training at Texas A&M. He said his school had two of the treadmills. Big football linemen run in the pool because it causes less wear and tear on joints.

"We have to book people getting in and out of them, not only for rehab but just for training alone," Kapchinski said. "Some of our cross country kids will get in ... because they can run longer and train harder."

Griffin said Mike Sims, head athletic trainer at Baylor, could attest to his use of the system. He said Sims was "out there in the crowd."

Sims was several booths away representing Cold Daddy, a product that uses a unit the size of a big air conditioner to chill tubs of water in which players can immerse themselves, without the need to keep adding bags of ice. They're made by Innovative Recovery Systems of America, which, like Baylor, is in Waco, Texas.

"No matter what uniform you wear, Cold Daddy is there," said the booth signage.

"It keeps the water about 55 degrees," Sims said. "They get in there for about 10 minutes or so after a workout. It helps with recovery. It helps somebody with an injury, or if they just get fatigued, to try to get them ready for the next practice."

The units sell for $6,995. Sims said they pay for themselves: "We were having to haul ice. We were spending $250-$300 a day with ice. ... It's also labor intensive. This thing, you plug it in and turn it on and it's ready for you to start using."

Athletic trainers know it's everybody out of the tubs when there's lightning.

Campbell Scientific markets a lightning detection product mounted atop a galvanized steel tripod that uses a computerized system to measure the electronic field in the atmosphere. When there's danger of lightning, it's designed to flash a red light and set off a siren.

Alan Hinckley, a meteorologist with Campbell Scientific, said the product sells for less than $10,000.

"When the electric field exceeds 1,000 volts per meter, it will go into a caution (yellow light). And when it exceeds 2,000 volts per meter, we'll go to an alarm ... and the siren would go off," Hinckley said.

He said three high schools use the system in Logan, Utah, the company base.

"We've sold (overall) probably 250 to different other entities — schools, soccer fields, emergency response places and the government on some of their military bases."

Frank Trent was at the product show to pitch plastic bags that are used in applying ice packs for M.S. Plastics of Butler, N.J. He had bags that displayed logos of many teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, New York Giants and Penn State.

"We make ice bags for all sports medicine applications," Trent said. "Many of the bags we make are made for the NBA, Big Ten schools, NFL teams, NHL, all the way down through high schools."

About 380 firms were exhibiting everything from athletic tape to braces, pads, helmets, therapeutic devices, head-impact sensors, sports drinks, drug testing systems for schools, baseline concussion tests and more.

Shock Doctor signage said "#1 Mouth Guard in the World." Rapid Deployment Products of Ivyland, Pa., had on display 7-foot long boards for transporting athletes with potential spine injuries.

The booth for Gladiator, maker of custom mouth guards, had signage that said, "Protect Your Game Face."