The performance technology used by many elite athletes is becoming more accessible
Lifting your one-rep max and testing your vertical jump height are no longer the only methods of evaluating just how strong and powerful you are. Elite athletes like Patrick Mahomes, Damian Lillard, Justin Verlander and Bryson DeChambeau have all used
Proteus Motion, an innovative fitness system designed to measure physical strength and power during functional movements. is now being tested at Equinox Flatiron. The device also has the ability to assess non-linear patterns or multi-planar movements. Developed by Sam Miller, the company’s technology serves as both a training tool and a performance tracker, offering five-minute fitness assessments that lend highly personalized insights and quick, low-impact workouts. Proteus Motion is now being tested at the Equinox Flatiron location in NYC.
Here’s what to know about the system and how it can improve your everyday functioning and performance.
The Technology Behind Proteus Motion
Prior to the creation of Proteus, physical strength was generally assessed by measuring how much weight you could deadlift, squat, or bench press — movements that occur in just one plane of motion (read: direction of movement), says Miller. The problem: “[That method] doesn't typically address functional strength, rotation, and moving through multiple planes, which is effectively how humans move and is arguably more important than how much you can bench or squat,” he adds.
Proteus, however, is designed to test and measure strength and power in multiple planes of motion and throughout the entire range of motion via a patented technology called 3D resistance. “It feels like you're training underwater,” says Miller. “[The resistance] is constant in all directions and planes.”
Consider a standing trunk rotation. Perform the exercise with a cable machine, and the resistance will reduce throughout the move, with the least amount of resistance at the endpoint. But with Proteus’ system, which looks similar to a robotic arm, the resistance remains even throughout the movement, providing a more accurate gauge of strength and power.
As you perform your reps, the machine will measure your velocity (how quickly you’re moving from one point to another), distance, acceleration, deacceleration, and other metrics to calculate your strength and power output, notes Will Waterman, PT, DPT, CSCS, the head of performance and sports science at Proteus Motion.
“[Proteus] basically reacts and responds in real time to match the direction of your movement, which enables measurements throughout the range of motion in a way that's never before been possible,” says Miller. “So we can quantify rotation and multiplanar movements, which are essential for human performance.”
How Proteus Motion Can Improve Your Functioning and Fitness
Proteus was designed to be a training and assessment system for everybody, regardless of age, fitness level, goal, or ability; it’s safe and effective to use in post-operative rehab, during peak performance training, and for every need in between, says Miller. Here’s what you can gain from training with the system, athlete or not.
Increases Muscle Activation
When used as a training tool, Proteus’ 3D resistance challenges your muscles throughout the entire range of motion and provides twice the neuromuscular stimulation as cables and free weights, according to the company. “You're going to get peak activation for a longer period of time during the movement,” says Waterman. “Not only do you get higher activation, [but] you're actually doing more work and therefore burning more calories, which is why the [system’s] HIIT sessions and conditioning is very intense.”
That said, you don’t need to worry about potential injury if you fail a rep. Proteus is concentrically biased, says Waterman. So if your muscles were to give out when you’re fully extended in that standing trunk rotation, the handle won’t spring back to the starting position — and pull your arm along with it — as it would with a cable machine.
Improves Movement Efficiency In All Planes of Motion
Since Proteus provides resistance in every direction, it trains you to move more efficiently through space in everyday activities and sports, says Waterman. In your daily life, you move in multiple planes of motion — the sagittal (forward and backward), the frontal (side to side), and the transverse (rotational) planes. It’s generally easiest to train and load in the sagittal plane, with exercises such as squats, lunges, and biceps curls, says Waterman. In turn, the other planes are often overlooked in training programs.
“If you're not moving in all those different aspects, you're potentially leaving a lot on the table as far as athleticism, health, and [reducing] injury risk,” says Waterman. Not to mention, skipping out on frontal and transverse movements (such as side lunges and woodchops, respectively) can reduce your efficiency during everyday movements.
What’s more, Proteus’ system can teach athletes how to use their power effectively. During a trunk rotation on the machine, you’ll need to ground your body more than you would on a cable machine to prevent yourself from stumbling backward, notes Waterman. “Then after you do a few more reps, your brain learns how to transfer that force through your body better, which is why [Proteus] has worked so well with professional athletes, particularly rotational athletes,” he says.
Tests and Trains Power
Unlike strength and cardio, power training is often overlooked in fitness routines. But power — or the ability to generate as much force as possible in the least amount of time — is one of the first fitness metrics to decline as you age, and it enables you to react fast enough to prevent injury and boost performance, says Waterman.
If you were to trip on a curb, for example, power is what equips you to step your foot right in front of your body and catch yourself before you tumble to the ground, he notes. It’s also what helps you suddenly sprint to catch a ball in the outfield or your dog that escaped off its leash mid-walk. “Power is really the currency of sport, but it's also a currency of life that we don't spend enough time training,” adds Waterman.
Proteus’ 3D resistance is generally safer than traditional methods of power training, such as plyometrics and explosive, loaded exercises, he says. “If you do an explosive movement with a free weight and you let go, it's gonna fly off and hit somebody or hurt your shoulder [for example],” explains Waterman. “It's just a much riskier method. And with Proteus, we've eliminated those risks by using this 3D resistance — if you let go, it just stays there [in the air].”
Although Proteus can help you move with ease and improve your fitness in all planes, it’s not meant to replace your Equinox trainer, says Waterman. Instead, you and your trainer could work together with the system to assess your current strength and power levels and devise a personalized training plan that helps you meet your goals.