Inversion machine
Benefits:
RELIEVE BACK PAIN
Gravity is the culprit of most kinds of back pain; due to its compressive force the discs in the back lose moisture, like squeezing out a sponge the discs dehydrate and allow the vertebra to move closer to each other. This increases the chance of pinching nerves, decreases flexibility, allows for misalignment and restricts the disc’s ability to absorb nutrients. You don’t just feel this compression, it actually can be seen, in fact; the force of gravity is so powerful that it can result in two-inches of height loss by the time you reach seventy.What can be done to fight back against the long terms affects of gravity? One option is inversion therapy. Hanging upside down at as little as twenty degrees or as much as ninety for just a few minutes allows the spine and weight bearing joints to decompress. The user is held onto the table via a comfortable ankle clamp system, which allows the user to relax and stretch, and since the traction applied is the users own body weight they are receiving a stretch that is customised for their body.Inversion helps in the relief of back pain in four ways:
- Discs hydrate: Clinical studies show that when inverted the separation between the vertebrae increases, this allows for moisture to be absorbed into the soft tissue of the discs, increasing the nutrient content as well as plumping the discs for better shock absorption and flexibility.
- Pressure is taken off of nerve roots: The height of the discs relates to the size of the passageway for the nerve roots to exit from the spinal column, so a plump hydrated disc creates maximum clearance, helping to alleviate any pressure or pinching of the nerve root.
- The spine is encouraged to realign: The traction applied also decompresses the spine to create an environment where misalignments can naturally fall back into place.
- Muscles are gently stretched as circulation is increased, helping to reduce tension.
REDUCE MUSCLE TENSION, STIMULATE LYMPH FLOW
Inversion [stimulates] the flow of lymphatic fluid which, flushes out the wastes and carries them to the blood stream. And the lymphatic system needs all the help it can get. Unlike the cardio-vascular system, the lymphatic system has no pump. Only the alternate relaxing and contracting of the muscles moves the lymphatic fluid through the capillaries and the one-way valves pointing towards the major lymphatic ducts in the upper chest. Even in healthy relaxed muscles, the lymphatic fluid moves very slowly. Where muscles are in spasm, the fluid does not move, the carbon dioxide and lactic acid remain in the muscles and you experience pain. Inverting, or tipping the body so that gravity works with, not against one way valves, helps the relaxed, expanding and contracting muscles to push the fluid up to the chest where it is then dumped into veins of the cardio-vascular system to be cleansed.
REDUCE EFFECTS OF AGING
Our discs have the ability to absorb and give-up moisture over the course of a day. As we start the day our discs, like squeezing out a sponge, will compress and dehydrate. In fact a healthy disc will shrink down around 20%, which in turn can result in a daily height loss of ½” to ¾”. As we sleep and decompress our spines, our discs swell with nutrient rich fluid and expand back to a hydrated state. However, there is more permanent shrinking occurring. By age 70 the water content of the discs is reduced on average to 70%, equaling a height loss of ½” to 2″.Height loss due to dehydration and thinning of the soft tissue in the joints causes decreased shock absorption and flexibility, and contributes to body shape changes. As the spinal column shortens the mass of the body remains unchanged, resulting in a thickening of the waistline. Think of a column of clay, if you pat it down on the top so that it loses height it bulges out to the sides. An active program of inverted decompression can help maintain more of a person’s original height by reducing the pressure on the intervertebral discs1, allowing for fluid movement back into the spongy disc tissue.
INCREASE FLEXIBILITY
Stretching in the inverted position maximises effectiveness, because it utilises the user’s body weight to realise maximum decompression, achieving a greater degree of intervertebral separation. The net result lengthens muscles, and hydrates the soft tissue in the weight bearing joints helping them to rejuvenate naturally and maintain healthy mobility. It is vital to have proper joint support, through strong ligaments and muscles, in order to maintain an active lifestyle and prevent injury. Ligaments are flexible but not very elastic, and can tear when their tensile strength is weakened or brought to failure by sudden or chronic lengthening or strain. Mobilisation and gentle loading of ligaments can help to increase the collagen content of the tissue, which has been found to increase ligament strength in subjects1. Inverted stretching and exercise provides gentle decompression and mobilisation of the spine and weight-bearing joints, which can stimulate strengthening of ligaments.Regular mobilisation of the joints, stretching and relaxing of the muscles and loading of the ligaments, which can be accomplished with inversion, can help attain functional fitness. Functional fitness is defined as a state of flexibility, strength and balance that supports youthful movement and activity. Inverted decompression is a way to keep joints healthy and flexible as the body ages, which translates to an active way of living throughout a lifetime.