After 2 days of using an inversion table I started to get really excited about the therapy/training and how I was feeling.  I basically couldn’t wait to invert again on day 3.  However, I finally ran into one issue that I have with inversion therapy - congestion.

After fully inverting on day 2 I was completely ready to do the same on day 3, and I was going to incorporate slightly swinging back and forth into the routine to better stretch my hips and lower back areas.  However, I didn’t realize how hard it is to hang upside down while congested and stuffed up.  Even though I felt fairly comfortable on my Teeter F7000S inversion table, I still didn’t want to go fully inverted without having about 2 minutes to allow my body to slowly adjust to the change.  It was in those two minutes that I realized this was not going to be as easy as it was the previous two days.

I found it much more difficult to breath while congested and hanging upside down, and I may have decided to skip the day except for the fact that I felt so great after my first two days (in other words I was very lucky this didn’t happen to me on day one).  So I powered through it - breathing slowly and only out of my mouth I fully inverted and hung for a total of 5 minutes.  While this was a little bit less than what I wanted to do, I was glad I at least got five minutes of inversion table use in.  

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Using an inversion table the first day can be a little intimidating…but it can also be an amazing experience if you know what you are doing.  My goal in these mini series of articles “Using an Inversion Table” is to help you see exactly what it is like to implement inversion table therapy into your everyday routine.  There are many benefits of an inversion table, but frankly you won’t ever be able to enjoy those benefits if you are too nervous to try or because you don’t know what you are doing and have a terrible experience during your first week of the therapy.  Hopefully you can learn from my experience as I learn how to use an inversion table and write about it each day during the first week of trying it out.

How To Use An Inversion Table Starting Day 1

First of all, you need to get your doctor’s approval.  I had recently undergone a physical and knew I was good to go.  However, that did not prevent me from taking things slowly the first day.  It is very highly recommended to take things slow to let you adjust to handing upside down.  Basically, after  I set up the inversion table (the Teeter F7000S is extremely easy to set up - anyone can do it) I read through all the instructions, which are attached to the inversion table.  This part is very important, as there are different settings for each table that need to be adjusted according to your height and weight. 

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With a bit of research, good quality cheap inversion tables can be found online. Inversion therapy works by lengthening and decompressing the spine, thereby counteracting gravity forces on the back. Effects are relaxed muscles and less pressure on the nerves and ligaments of the spinal cord. If you are thinking about buying one of the inversion tables for back pain, the question everyone will want answered is “Do they work?”

The answer is yes, and this is backed up by testimonies from back pain sufferers and research. Many studies conclude that inverting yourself just by 25 degrees for only a few minutes every day can be extremely beneficial.

There are many inversion tables to choose from. The Body Champ IT8070 Inversion Therapy Table (retailing at $99 on www.amazon.com) is an easily adjustable model with a height range of 4′7″ to 6′8″. It is easy to use simply by leaning against the chair pad and hooking your feet behind the ankle rests and then raising your arms above your head. Your body will slowly turn as your arms move up until you are nearly totally upside down. Features on this model include a spring-loaded pull pin facilitating easy ankle movements, four comfortable and secure foam rollers, U-shaped handrails, a safety strap for controlling the required angles of inversion, and a strong lock for when it isn’t in use. The IT8070 folds up to be stored away, and can support a maximum weight of 250 pounds. It is a well made, reliable cheap inversion table compared to some others.

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There are many advantages of inversion tables, which is why so many people are beginning to incorporate inversion therapy into their everyday fitness routine. If you are still wondering if inversion tables do work, then consider the following advantages of such exercise:

Inversion Tables May Help Reduce Back Pain

Over time your muscles, ligaments, and joints are very succeptible to joint pressure created by gravity and by you simply walking around and working out. This pressure builds over time, compressing your discs, ligaments, and muscles into something similar to a big rubber band ball that envelopes your spine. This compression makes it more difficult for your discs to rehydrate and put unwanted and painful pressure on your nerve roots (which run towards the spine through the space between your vertabrae–if that space is compressed then the nerve roots will be affected). There have been many studies that indicate that such issues are factors in the back pain that millions of Americans are forced to deal with each and every day.

One of the biggest advantages of inversion tables is that they can help reduce and relieve these problems caused by the compression of your discs, ligaments, and muscles. By inverting as little as 60% on an inversion table can effectively relieve 100% of the pressure inside your discs (as 60% of your body weight is required to achieve such relief), which is amazing considering that even laying down only relieves 75% of that pressure. This relief in turns helps your discs to recover from the daily stresses of compression and increases that space in between them.

Inversion Table Exercises Can Help Increase Your Overall Health

Inversion therapy helps tremendously in the following:

• Help Stimulate Circulation of both your blood flow and your lymphatic system.  Inverting helps make it easier for your heart to pump blood from your lower body to the heart and then to your brain.  This increases oxygen to your brain and may help slow the deterioration of your brain.  It also helps even more with the circulation of your lymphatic system, which has no pump like your heart and depends 100% on the contractions of muscles and gravity to flush out harmful toxins from your body.
• Helps improve posture by putting your body in line with gravity
• Help get rid of vericos veins by helping to remove the blood from extremeties  and increase blood flow.
• Can increase your flexibility
• Can help build and develope your core muscles

Finally, one more advantage of an inversion table is that using it can help you reduce stress levels significantly.  By inverting, you allow your whole body to stretch very effectively while relaxing, allowing you to concentrate or even meditate and truly relax after a stressful day or workout.

Using inversion tables has many benefits and can be one of the best things you can do to reduce back pain, stretch out your whole body, and reduce the effects that gravity has on your body. However back inversion tables can be difficult to get used to. Some common complaints are:

• Inversion Tables hurt the ankles
• Inversion tables make you dizzy as a result of increased blood flow to your head

Essentially, inversion tables can be hard to get used to for some people. This fact leads many to ask the question of do inversion tables work.  However, inversion tables do work and there are simple tips for using inversion tables that can make the ‘getting used to’ much, much easier.

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