How natural does it feel compared to a treadmill you find at a gym or a running track?

strunberg

When you watch people use it it looks very awkward and unnatural looking. So how natural does it feel compared to a treadmill that you find at a gym or a running track when you walk & run?

sutekiB

When I watch videos of people who have had some practice, I think it looks pretty natural - it certainly feels very close to running in real life for me. Understandably, if you see someone using it for the first time they may not be quite as elegant as someone who's spent a few hours on there, but that is true of many things - dancing, driving, riding a bike. Honestly, the more skill you build up, the more natural it will feel!

GreyAcumen

the gate itself feels very natural, but I'm left feeling disproportionately sore (just a little) along the outside of my calves compared to the inside of my calves. Maybe this is just me being out of shape, but it feels like the dome shape does forces you to distribute your weight from heel to the outside of your foot, instead of the proper heel-ball-big toe transition that is supposed to happen with proper running.
This might be fixable if the shoes had a minor slope (thicker sole along the inside arch of the foot) to compensate for this, but I'm not sure if it would interfere with being able to turn the foot properly.
I feel like this is really something that needs to be studied by a proper orthopedic specialist, and I'm hoping that Virtuix already has, or is getting, one on their payroll.

sutekiB

It does work your calves. Everyone's built a little different, but I imagine the soreness is because you're working muscles that haven't seen much action. I get that when I play squash for the first time after a few months break - very sore in certain places the next day. If I've been playing regularly, I don't get that. As with anything, if it hurts - stop and rest!