Inversion Tables - Worth it?

[John Izzo]

Two of my clients swear by their inversion tables. I swear by the foam roller and a good massage, but they still take the inversion table to alleviate disc compression. I have never used one and I am wondering if anyone on here has and do they swear by them also?

Should I spend the $300 and forgo my Bowflex Adjustable Dumbbells for the table?

Thanks.

[kmfisher]

It seems like these come up on craigslist all the time for pretty cheap. You may want to look there.

Also, look at the Ironmaster adjustable dumbbells instead of the Bowflex ones. Sturdier and support more weight.

[UpNorth]

Here is my cheap version of an inversion table. I use my queen size bed. I'm 5'9" and if I lie sideways on the bed I can hook my feet over one side, my chin and arms over the other. Then all I need to do is pull with my feet to stretch my back.

It feels pretty good every now and then, but I would never spend $300 for that feeling.

[laxcdn]

Arnie use to use them, so they must be great I was thinking about using my chin station to do that.

[tonymcclellan]

Originally Posted by kmfisher

It seems like these come up on craigslist all the time for pretty cheap. You may want to look there.

Also, look at the Ironmaster adjustable dumbbells instead of the Bowflex ones. Sturdier and support more weight.

What about the powerblock ones?

[Funk]

Inversion tables are a waste of money. Point being, there's too much to screw up decompressing the spine because of all the parts in between the feet and the area they are "decompressing" due to hip tilt (lateral, not ant./post.), leg length differences, blah, blah, blah. The best thing on the market are Back Revolutions. The set-up is more effective, easy to use, SUPER effective by eliminating any movement/variance in the legs and hips and takes up less space. Obviously, clients with glaucoma should avoid any inversion. The website has a ton of helpful information and if you want to know more about my experience using a backrevolution or exercises to do with one- ask away.

http://www.backrevolution.com/

You're welcome for saving you time and money while making you a better trainer.

-Dustin

[Eric Cressey]

I would say no. I recalled Ryan Smith and Michael Hope discussing these on the EliteFTS Q&A over the past few months, so I looked around a bit for ya:

http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=45478&tid=