The idea of getting inversion boots , which allow you to hang upside-down, intrigues me. Here’s one version, not endorsing the particular brand, but as an example.
It makes sense to me, that as I have a body that’s endured gravity for over 40 years, a little reverse stretching might do the old back some good. As a kid, I was a monkey tomboy, and hung by my knees upside-down all the time on whatever was available, and loved that. Call me shy, but I don’t think I can now head over to the local playground and hang on the monkey bars of yore.
So, anyone have any experience with inversion boots, or know of a better means to anti-gravity stretching? I can do headstands fine, but it doesn’t really stretch the back the way that hanging upside-down might do.
I did do a SD search, and there was a slight post in 2003, so thought there might be some new experience here.
How do you get up there? Looks like fun to me, and you could do some nice stomach workouts. The whole rack thing looks like it would take up a lot of space, though, and won’t look good in your living room. I would just rig up a couple of 3" steel pipes–knees over one, and feet under the other, build your very own jungle gym. If you get one, let us know how it goes.
Sorry for the late response but I just came across the thread. Unless you have a prexisting physical condition then there’s no reason not to try inversion training. My inversion equipment comes with a caution in the instructions which advises against not using inversion products if you have any of the following: hiatal/ventral hernia (due to abdominal balance required), glaucoma/retinal detachment/conjuctivitis (due to the blood pressure in the head and behind the eyes which occurs when inverted), high blood pressure, hypertension, recent stroke, transient ischemic attack, heart or circulatory disorders, middle ear infections, spinal injury, cerebral sclerosis, swollen joints, osteoporosis, orthopedic supports or meduallary pins. They also advise against it if you are using anti-coagulant medication or high doses of aspirin. As icing on the cake, they also list extreme obesity at the end of this very long list of no-nos. Kind of an obvious one, you’d think …
I picked up on inversion training from a friend of mine who was a trainer and had always had an interest in it ever since seeing Michael Keaton hanging upside down and swinging in Batman. While you could certainly do as Renee suggested and hang from the inside of your knees, it isn’t quite the same as hanging straight down. The effect on stretching the spine is not as pronounced. The idea behind proper inversion therapy is to keep body weight centered along a single axis without putting too much weight on the ankles. The boots that you happened to list in your OP are by one of the market leaders in inversion equipment and are widely available. They’re the ones I use, and if you use them properly, they are designed to reduce the load on the top of your feet and ankles, in addition to putting a slight (two degree) bend in the knees which is more comfortable than hanging with completely straight legs. The rack and boots that you linked to are designed to be simpler to use for people with limited flexibility and abdominal strength because the grabbing points are easy to reach and pull yourself up on.
Sure, when you do inversion, you feel yourself stretch, you feel the blood go to your head, you feel … uncomfortable. But guess what? Most people who are out of shape find exercise or conditioning of any kind uncomfortable. The only reason people talk others down from things is because they can’t do it theirself or are too afraid to try. Once you get to know the practice of it, it becomes addictive and you want to do it more because you’ll find the re-orientation of your body to be therapeutic. Any kind of exercise is uncomfortable if you don’t do it regularly, particularly stretching, and this is a form of that which is effective for neck and back pain, abdominal conditioning, and leg/foot strength. It is a great way to increase blood flow to parts of the body that get poor circulation, which in turn also helps to cleanse the blood more effectively. I feel relaxed after doing it, get fewer headaches (I don’t get that many to begin with), less back and neck pain which is definitely the biggest reason I do it, and … TMI warning … I’ve actually had better sex because of the improved blood flow. Nature’s Viagra, if you will.
Do not start out by your self. You can get in a fix really easy. We have an table that tips. this way you can sneak up on being fully inverted. Also better for over weight folks.
For those with a fear of falling or other fear, the table also lets you learn to relax in gradual stages.
