Exerpeutic Inversion Table with Comfort Foam Backrest

My first thought was that these things are stupid. I had a friend tell me for years that his inversion board, chirocrippler, and dead chicken ceremony were the greatest thing ever. I ignored him. Then my doctor actually started telling me to use an inversion table. I ignored him for a year too, but finally broke down. Laying there on the bed hurting again all I could think was, well I guess I could try it. I grabbed my handy iPad, read some reviews, and hit the super duper send it silly fast button.Big box arrived on time and in good condition. It was heavy too. I thought that was somewhat ironic, but hey better that than a box full of plastic. Opening it up I had some trepidation having just spent an eternity putting together a shed with half a billion screws, bolts, and pieces and the worst instructions known to man (like the one on the last page that says, "NOTICE: Before doing anything else..."). The device lay there in the box all wrapped in plastic, cardboard, and foam. In fact it was probably the best wrapped product I bought in a long time. None of the metal parts were rubbing against anything. The one place where metal was likely to rub they had carefully inserted a 1-inch square of cardboard to keep that from happening! Everything was well sealed and put into the package in a way that pieces wouldn't slide around. Obviously this is a company that actually cares about how the product looks when it gets to the customer.The instruction manual was (mercifully) thin and not printed in 18 dialects from inner Papua New Guinea. My sense of dread grew knowing that thin manuals usually mean frustration. A package of tools, screws, and bolts also came out of the box. Interestingly enough the tools were not the cheap pot metal tools so typical for installation. You know the kind, the bolt "wrench" becomes a "bent" and the hex tool strips and becomes a round tool on the second bolt. Nope, these are actually good steel. Moreover the screws and bolts were not just thrown in a bag together. Rather they were in separate compartments marked with which step they were to be used! Hmmm...could it be?Yep. Following the manual was simple and straight forward. The device went together quickly and without any missing parts, mis-fitting parts, or blood loss. More importantly to me I never once put a bolt or screw in and then found myself pulling it back out again because the directions misdirected me. Everything came with washers and the appropriate nuts had nylon inserts to keep them in place. The drawings in the manual were simple, but not too simple. At one point I commented to my son that we must have been doing something wrong because it all seemed to be going well. Once all the parts were on I adjusted the safety strap (intelligently designed to allow you to limit how far the device inverts), tightened the bolts, and got ready to climb on.Now here's the deal. I am a big guy. 6'4" and 270 pounds (but I've been on a slow weight loss plan for the last few decades...). The specifications for the device said it would handle me and being that I would prefer not breaking my back again I double checked everything to be sure it was going to hold. No worries. Solid steel, strong bolts, good design. I adjusted the foot rest (a very simple process) and proceeded to climb on and invert. The balance was good and the oversize handles were really appreciated. I went slowly not wanting to experience throwing up while upside down (think about it...). I experienced only minor dizziness and that only because I was laughing like an idiot while my son was making fun of my incredibly red face while all the blood flooded to my head.Coming back up to vertical was smooth, simple, and safe. No problems there either. I made a few more adjustments and started playing around with what would work best. A few observations: First, wear socks and preferably shoes. A towel set up to help cushion your feet might be helpful too. Hey, your feet aren't designed to hold you that way and the pressure can be uncomfortable. A little adjusting and working with it and you'll be fine. Second, go SLOW. Flipping up and down is good for a laugh (or a screech) but unless you are a 4-foot olympic gymnast you will not be used to it. Take your time. Third, similarly, when you come back up give your ears a half minute or so at vertical again before wandering around. Fourth, you do not have to go completely inverted to get the benefit of the device. You can go 20 degrees or 45 degrees for a week or two and still get a good stretch and a lot of benefit. I like to invert for a minute or so and then work back to a less severe angle which allows me to stay on the table longer. Fifth, if you just ate a huge spaghetti dinner (diet? what diet?) you may experience a tad bit of indigestion as your entire digestive track is turned upside down. Waiting an hour after eating before flipping upside down seems a wise precaution.So does it work? Well that depends. First, not all back problems are the same and so no treatment is a one-size fits all solution. If your doctor says it will work for you give it a shot. If you're making a wild shot in the dark then for the price it may be worth it for you. I have disc problems and muscle problems. In my case it's simply an issue of traction and fighting gravity to help relax the muscles, realign the bones, and let things slide back to where they belong. The board doesn't "fix" the problem for me, but it definitely helps alleviate the problem. I feel much better using it and it is destined to become part of my daily routine for the rest of my life. In my case a bit in the morning helps straighten me out and relax the muscles after a long night and another session in the evening helps make up for a day of abuse. I'd also say it's important to do basic exercises. There's an old book called "The Bad Back Book" which I'd recommend picking up that covers the exercises well without a lot of garbage.Last night was one of the big tests for me. I dread impending storms since apparently I am now a walking barometer. A storm was coming in and I jumped on the board for a 20-minute session hoping that I could keep from limping around for a day. Sure enough it snowed last night and this morning I feel amazingly well after my morning session.I can't imagine a better purchase. The price was one of the best. The features were all there. The company obviously cares about their product. It works for me. Honestly, I thought I would have paid twice as much for this good of a product. In case you're wondering, no I will not be performing the dead chicken ceremony too...

Ok, so I searched everywhere for an inversion table being tired of constant back pain. I searched online at a popular listing site my friend Craig made, hint hint, and basically used ones ran between $80 and $250 dollars. My girlfriend suggested a popular sporting goods store and I found this same unit with some good reviews so I quickly went to amazon.com to read more/all about it. What's there to say? Amazon had it at the same price as the popular sporting goods SALE price and both had to be ordered by mail so I went the amazon way with free 2 day shipping. It arrived 3 days after I ordered it.Before I get into the review, I used it for 5 minutes, pain left! I used it again, it left again. I just finished it and im so excited im doing this review. I'm going to use it regularly and I'm sure I will continue to improve.1) Extremely well built. Rock solid large square steel tubing, why get one made with thin 1" tubing? Notice the round tubing models have squared plactic corners riveted on. When the pop rivets get loose and plastic corners wear and pop off, you will regret it.2) $109.00 delivered, why buy a used one made of round tubing?3) Nice padded table not cheap fabric or plastic.4) Extremely well packed. Took me 25 min to assemble. Very easy. 10 bolts with nuts and washers.Assembly in short! Pull the frame out, open it, slip in the removable lock pin to lock it in place. This pin is the one you pul later out to fold it. Pop in two rubber bumpers. Slide in the left handle bar, two bolts & nuts, right handle bar, do same. Pop the table on, 4 bolts nuts washers. One person can do it. Just have two bolts ready. Slide table on, insert bolt on one side, forget the nut and washer, it's just temporary to hold it in place. Wiggle table to get bolt in other side, pop that in place. Now put the remaining bolts in completely and securely with nuts and washers. Go back and put the first two bolts in with washers and nuts. Pull out the foot rest, pull out the t bar and turn 1/4 way aligning the lock holes with lock pin and pop back down. Slide foot rest bar which slides in and is held in with 1 bolt nut and washer. Slide ankle bar and again 1 bolt nut washer and spacer. Slip ankle rests till it snaps in its groove, lock tabs outwards. Slide foam pads and pop in plastic end caps. Now slide completed assembly into the table and lock.That's it!Now , should the pop in plastic buttons that keep the foam rollers from sliding out come off, the foam rolless can slide out causing foot to come out. The foam fits snug but in time can loosen. If you wrap the tube with cloth friction tape (hardware store) then slip the foam rollers, I can assure you they never will slip off. When you pop your feet in, use sneakers, pull pin and pop the foam rolllers down tight! To release it, pull the lock pin and tilt your feet up as if you are trying to tip toe, this will easily pull the foam rollers away since they are spring loaded, then release the lock pin holding them away. Slide feet out!In response to another reader and his comments of not going fully inverted, here is my response.If you built it wrong by putting the handle bars and table backwards yes, it won't go inverted, heck no where near inverted. I don't think you did that. But sorry, correctly built the table does go 180. Now the bar is needed simply because if it weren't there, and the foot height set up incorrectly, putting the user too high on the table, then it could swing fast, way past inverted which would cause the user to swing past 180, dropping lower and hit his head causing injury. So the bar is needed for safety. Now could it have been designed to go just a few degrees past fully inverted, yes, is it needed, NO! At full inversion I can twist fine, the table slightly touches my back but that makes no difference in the way it helps or workout. You cutting that bar and reweld in it made the table potentially unsafe if set up wrong and you basically hacked it. You're picky and basically foolish on an otherwise perfect table. The strap is not needed as I don't want to stop before going inverted. Again set up right, you can limit how much you swing by moving your arms. The foam slip on pads can slide off when worn or should the plastic end caps pop off, wrapping some sticky friction tape on the bar before sliding the foam pads on will definately prevent this.

I have been using the table sporadically for almost three weeks now and it seems to be solid and generally of good quality. Assembly was relatively simple - although it would have been a bit difficult with only the crappy tools supplied (not that I expect any better for in-the-box tools). I'm not 100% convinced it cured my back issues (sciatica and lower-back pain from bulging disk) but I was up and around for the first time in 7 weeks after using this product for only two days - this could be a coincidence but it certainly didn't hurt the situation. I'm 6' tall and about 240lbs and have no issues with the adjustments. Regarding others' comments about head extending over end of board - yes my head does overhang a little in that the top of the board is about half way down the back of my head when hanging nearly vertical, but I don't find this particularly uncomfortable. The issue others have mentioned with comfort (or lack thereof) of the foot-holders, I also feel that there is room for some improvement there. If I keep my feet flexed it feels fine but doesn't allow full relaxationThe balancing takes a little getting used to, especially descending past vertical where you can start to rotate quickly if you don't adjust your arm position to slow down as you rotate downward. But once you get a feel for it you can easily control the speed of movement and overall position. I like to hang upside-down for a few minutes then return to horizontal and gently rock back and forth a few times, feels great.

This table is well built and I found it to be good value for the money. I have a slightly herniated disc in my lower back, which caused a lot of pain in my right leg. The table provide some relief right away and I now use it on a regular basis as part of a physio-therapy program. Just leaning back 15 degrees from horizontal provide some relief and helped me straighten out my leg again. It went together pretty well and the instructions are not hard to follow.

I am so pleased with this inversion board. It was not too tricky to set up, however, if you are small and doing it alone, you may need help with positioning the board before attaching it to the frame. An instructional video I found on YouTube helped me greatly, as I positioned the board incorrectly the first time. I must have looked pretty silly trying to lay back because no matter what I did, the board stayed upright. LOL! I have always been a little mechanically challenged, but once I got it, it really IS a simple assembly.I love the sturdiness of the frame, and the ankle holders are quite comfortable. If you find them uncomfortable, padding around the ankles with a thick pair of socks works great. The board itself is nicely padded and very comfortable, and the movement is very smooth and easy to control.All in all, a 10/10 for this product.

Pretty decent to build. Installing the foam rollers on the bottom is a bit of a pain. The little clips on it scratched up the bar that they fit onto. I also suggest wearing socks and shoes when using this. This helps create a better seal and holds you in place. I am 5'11 and if I don't do this, my head starts hanging off the end. Overall the table works good. I would suggest starting off at a slight incline and work your way up to Batman. I also replace the safety cable with a chain. It is a pain to change the length using the adjuster on the belt. It started to fray and pull at the cordage in the belt each time I changed the incline.

Works just as good as that brand name table. I have had 3 neck and 1 huge back surgery and I swear by this. Take it slow and gradually tilt back more and more at a time or you may end up stretching out beyond what you are ready for,TRUST me on that one.This is very stable and will flip you over the entire way if you want. The rush of blood to your head is good for you and carries oxygen as well. This will help straighten you out BUT not in a few days. Take your time since your going to have this a long time. Be patient with progress if you have a bad spine or had surgeries like me.