We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.
JEREMY: As someone who’s collected more bone injuries than your average klutz, I’ve practically become a connoisseur of the “rest, recover, rebuild” lifestyle. This April introduced the latest chapter of silly injuries when I tripped on a staircase and twisted my ankle. It turned out I had actually fractured the anterior process of my calcaneus bone, sidelining me from running on solid ground for a couple of months.
In my quest to mend, I’ve previously used the Alter G and Boost treadmills — those high-tech machines that make you feel like you’re running on the moon. But let’s talk turkey — $50,000 is just a tad beyond my price range. Accessibility is also a huge issue, as I’ve found only one physical therapist in Baltimore who provides access to these bodyweight reduction treadmills for a fee.
So, what is the Lever Go+ Scale? It’s the latest version of the Lever movement system, which functions kind of like the Alter G or Boost by suspending up to 45 pounds of your body weight via a metal frame you attach to any compatible treadmill. It does this with elastic bungee cords suspended from a carabiner on the frame and looped through pulleys in the Lever Pro Shorts. I talked with Brad, a co-founder of Lever, about the company’s background and its newest product, the Lever Go+ Scale, which left me really excited to try it out.
The Lever Go+ Scale is an update to the original design, and it’s full of minor changes that add up to a pretty major improvement (see Meg and Thomas’ review from 2022). The most notable features are new shorts, a precision scale to measure weight reduction, and a collapsible design of the Lever itself that fits into an included portable backpack.
JEREMY: Treadmills are damn expensive — weight-modifying ones even more so. Enter the Lever Go+ Scale, a contraption that’s far more economical than the Alter G or Boost at $1,449 to purchase or $139/month to rent. While it’s still not exactly cheap, when the chief competition costs 35 times more, it suddenly becomes an amazing deal. The rental price is pretty much what I would end up paying for five Alter G sessions at the physical therapist’s office.
And, unlike the PT’s office, I can take the Lever Go+ Scale on the go with me. It fits into a convenient backpack that comes with the product, and it turned out to be so portable that I took it on a two-week trip to Japan followed by a four-day camping trip. My wife loved it, trust me. The backpack fit inside my carry-on bag and worked well as a gym bag as I took bullet trains and buses all around, running through day passes at the gym like they were going out of style.
Overall, it’s an A+ for the simplicity of transporting the Lever Go+ and ease of setup, which only takes 3-5 minutes.
In addition to being easy to set up and transport, the Lever Go+ Scale has a precision scale that tracks your current weight reduction down to the pound in the Lever app. It’s a fitness nerd’s dream come true — knowing exactly how much weight you’re not putting on your bones. You’re welcome, sore, hurting bones. Using the Lever with this much data feels like being a scientist, but instead of a lab coat, you get a funky-looking pair of shorts with pulleys and cables attached to them (and yes, you’ll get some questions at the gym).
But the good news is that Lever’s new Pro shorts are made of more breathable material and fit true to size (at least for me) in a Medium. The lower-leg hook-and-loop straps around the thighs do a great job of keeping things snug and supported, too. I’d probably recommend a pair of half-tights or shorts underneath the Lever Pro shorts to keep you from having to wash them as often, though.
JEREMY: Although I’ve since become a pro at it, the initial setup of the Lever Go+ Scale was a little complicated for me, and it took some trial and error to figure out how to attach the carabiners properly. A few YouTube videos and a careful read through the instructions got me back on the right track, though, and I haven’t had issues since. I managed to shorten the average set-up time to about 3 minutes from opening the backpack to starting the treadmill run from the second use onwards.
Unfortunately, the small pocket zipper on the Lever Go backpack broke within about 20 uses, which isn’t great. I’ll admit that I was putting the backpack through the wringer while traveling, but you should still expect a zipper to, well, zip.
Shop The Treadmill
JEREMY: The Lever Go+ Scale, in my opinion, is a complete game-changer for injury recovery, reducing the load on occasional runs to prevent injury and even for gradually introducing faster running and workouts as you increase the intensity of your runs. In my early return to running, I was removing the full 45 pounds for each effort, and further along in recovery, I have been fluctuating between trimming 15-20 pounds. For every 5% bodyweight removed, I have noticed a roughly 7-second-per-mile difference based on heart rate curves recorded. This observation opens up some interesting training ideas for workouts improving biomechanics and the neuromuscular elements of speed, while keeping effort more manageable, with lower heart rate and less wear and tear on your legs.
The major complaints Thomas and Meg had with the first iteration — uncomfortable shorts and imprecise weight measurement— have been 100% addressed with the addition of the precision scale that displays exact body weight and newly designed Lever Pro shorts that are much more comfortable and fit true to size.
The foldable design and portable backpack make the Lever Go incredibly easy to bring with you to the gym or on a trip across the world. As someone who doesn’t own a working treadmill (I got a free one, but it broke within 2 weeks and is accumulating dust in my basement), the portable design and backpack are key since I always have to take the Lever to the gym. While $1,449 to buy or $139/month to rent isn’t inexpensive, it is still drastically lower than the alternative body weight reduction treadmills, and the rental cost is still below what I would spend on booking time on an Alter G or Boost.
So, whether you’re recovering from a quick tumble down the stairs or just looking to reduce the risk of injury by occasionally reducing impact levels on runs, the Lever Go+ Scale is absolutely worth it. I’ve been incorporating the Lever Go into my rehab routine as I built up to full-body weight running and more recently have been using it to increase my mileage while reducing the risk of reinjury.
You can pick up the Lever Go+ Scale for $1,449 or rent it for $139 per month using the button below.
Have something to say? Leave a Comment
