Customer Reviews

Paradigm 500 Inversion Table System

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first Inversion Table, so I came into this with what little info I gleaned from other Amazon reviews, as well as understanding that it might provide relief from occasional sciatica problems.

About Inversion Tables...
These devices have been around for a long time to provide traction for your spine (to stretch it) without a lot of hospital-grade equipment. Anecdotal reports claim that it can provide relief from a variety of back-related pains - feel free to Google their usage on the interwebs to learn more.
You climb on board by stepping onto the foot platform and clamping your ankles between very nice pads - the clamp swings open and closed using a button. The table moves like a teeter-totter. As you lean back against the webbed bed, arms at your side, you should remain upright (tilted back a bit.) As you pull your hands to your chest, the board will slowly tilt to horizontal. Raise you arms over your head to tilt the table backwards, head below feet. To return upright, slowly move your arms back to your sides (to avoid head-rushes). Hands holds are available to assist - since you're pivoting around a balance point, it's not difficult to pull yourself upright if needed.
The user's guide gives recommendations for how to use the table. They recommend tilting 2-3 times a day for 5-10 minutes. Start at a shallow angle - about 20 degrees or so, and work up to more vertical after a few days or weeks of use. Many will find that they don't have to "get vertical" to get good benefits - figure out what works best for you (I'm going to do that myself.) They also recommend small movements while inverted - don't stay still - to get nutrients in towards the spine. Also, don't get on after eating to avoid nausea.

Putting the table together...
The box is big and heavy - 69 lbs. or so - and suggests a "team lift". I moved the box to the room I wanted the table in and assembled it there. I spent about 10 minutes reading the instructions and about an hour putting it together and cleaning up the packaging. The exploded diagram of the table is just for reference - the table comes in big, mostly assembled pieces: The "A-Frame" base, the table bed, and the extendable foot boom, along with a small assortment of other pieces and a few screws and bolts. It also includes the two tools you need to put the thing together - very nice touch, especially since the bolts are metric.
The parts are very solid and seem well built. Assembly was easy for the most part - all the parts fit together well and screw holes lined up. The only tricky part is mounting the pivot arms to the table (this won't make sense unless you actually assemble one) - to keep them in place while I set table into the pivot slots, I wrapped a short bungee cord around both of them. Once installed they are very secure. In fact, these pivot arms did not seat easily into the slots - I had to seat the first one then force the other into its slot. The bed pivots smoothly, however.

First-Time Usage Notes...
Before the first use, the telescoping foot boom needs to be set to place your body's center of mass around the pivot point. The instructions tell you how to do this. There is a height scale on the boom arm to make setting the boom position easier by giving a starting point.

Tilt angle is limited by use of a tether - without it, the table tilts all the way back. This is awkward to adjust but probably doesn't need to be set often - we'll see. Also, there is no tilt angle guide - some marks on the handlebars would have been nice, and I may do just that to my table.

Once I made these adjustments, I tried it out for about 7 minutes. I find the ankle cuffs to be comfortable enough - my feet do not go numb. I was in socks, so I slid back a bit when I tilted back - I'll have to try it in shoes to see if I stay put. The webbed table board is high quality and comfortable, and I felt a good stretch in my back. Returning to upright was as easy as moving my arms back to my sides.

The "pivot arms" that connect the table board to the A-Frame can adjust for a greater or lesser degree of inversion. The manual seems to indicate that this is easily done, but on my unit I will have to remove at least one bolt to free up the pivot arm to make this adjustment. It doesn't look easy, but it's not something I'd do regularly. Still...

Also, as mentioned in another review, the unit is not easy to fold up for storage. You have to remove a couple of bolts (get the metric tools) and disassemble the bed from the A-Frame base. This will give you two ~30 lb. parts to stash, rather than a 60+ lb. unit. Still, you will end up with a few small, loose parts to store as well.

About the Manufacturer...
Good luck finding information about the maker. The company is Paradigm Heath and Wellness, based in Southern California. Their URL is paradigmhw.com, but there is no webpage currently (An older page featured two indoor saunas they made.) More weirdly, it looks nearly identical to the Ironman Gravity 4000 (different bed, though), which (curiously) doesn't appear on IronMan Fitness's website. As I said, the quality of the Paradigm table seems quite good, but I'm not sure if customer support would be easy...

I have tried inversion tables from several different manufacturers. The main problem I've had is that the ankle supports with rollers hurt my Achilles tendon and feet (I'm 6'4", 225lbs); this is even the case with tables from the top-of-the-line inversion table manufacturer. This has prevented me from getting more than 45 degrees of inversion. I have tried wearing sneakers, thick boots, shower shoes, and even going barefoot but there was always pain.

This Paradigm table uses an ankle clamp with molded pads. The ratchet system lets me clamp it down nice and tight. When inverted, there is still a little pressure on my ankles, but it isn't painful. I can even use it without any shoes on. This table has let me be fully inverted without wincing in pain. My other table (the 3rd I've owned) is going back and I will be keeping the Paradigm.

If you have problems with rollers hurting your feet or ankles, try a table with molded ankle pads. It works for me.

Staying at 90 degree inversion: After get the bed to 90 degree inversion, user needs to keep the back off the bed (curve body a little) to keep the bed stay at 90 inversion (given that the bed is at the top hole and the boom adjusted to correct person's height). As soon as user straighten the body (back against the bed), the bed will return. This is a safety feature to prevent passing out and prevent new user to accidentally inverts to 90 degree and can't get out of it.



90 degree locking: This table does not "lock" at 90 degree inversion. User can keep the bed at 90 degree as described above



Ankle holders hurt: This ratchet system has two positions to install the foot platform. If user has small feet (shoes) and the platform installed at below hole, the ankle holders won't secure at the smallest part of the leg (ankle).
As a result, ankle holders are free to rotate and ankle holder metal plate squeezes. For user with small feet, foot platform should be installed at top hole.

This is my 1st Inversion table thus I will stick to facts and not give my opinion. Here are my findings.

-The heel holders don't grip tight.
-I am 6foot and on the 6foot setting my head hits the bed's frame, thus I must use the 6'3 setting and this disrupts the balance.
-To adjust the pivot arms is very time consuming and takes you all the way back to step 3 of initial setup!
-A plastic part fell of the square bracket.
-The pad (part no.46) looks like a piece of the packaging.
-Customer service is clueless.

Otherwise I am happy.

The inversion system arrived very quickly and was assembled within 2 hours. My husband has used it daily since receiving it. We would highly recommend this inversion system for anyone who has back problems. It was well worth the money.

I've read a few reviews mentioning problems with this table, which I could not observe. For example, the table CAN be folded without dismounting the handles. And yes, you CAN invert all the way, head down
Altogether, very good product, easy to mount and to use.

I have suffered with chronic lower back pain for the past 20 years. I've tried all sorts of treatments including chiropractic, physical therapy, and injections. I have been diagnosed with arthritis and told that I'll just have to live with the pain. This summer, as I attempted to golf 5 or 6 days a week, the pain became unbearable. I had to take major dosages of pain killers. I couldn't sleep very well because I couldn't find a comfortable position to lay in. I had to try something or give up golf.

I decided to try inversion therapy. I purchased the Paradigm 500 because of it's price and what looked like a good quality table. When the table arrived, I was very pleased with the quality and the ease of assembly.

I began using it immediately. I use it 2 or 3 times a day, for 10 minutes each session. It relieved my severe pain almost immediately. I'm back up to golfing 6 days a week, mostly 18 holes at a time. I'm not needing pain killers any more. Many times I walk the courses. I would never been able to do this before the inversion therapy. Sure, my lower back feels tired after walking 18 holes of golf, but when I get back on the inversion table, it relaxes my back.

I don't know if this sort of treatment will work for everyone, but it sure has for me!

My Chiropractor strongly suggested I purchase an inversion table to help with my disc problems. After reading several reviews on Amazon I decided on the Paradigm 500 Inversion Table with some trepidation since I didn't have the opportunity to actually try it.

It arrived in less than 24 hours, assembly was extremely easy (even with current back issues) and I was on it for the first time in less than an hour.

A couple reviews admire the ratcheting ankle brackets which was ultimately what made up my mind. After using them I am extremely glad I went with the ratcheting version. My feet are held firmly in place without any discomfort allowing me to invert to a full 90 degrees and still feel comfortable and secure.

The entire system is well built, stable and comfortable. If I didn't know how much I paid for this table I would have thought it was in the $500 range that's how well it's built.

My back loves the relief I get from using the table, even my Chiro has noticed a significant difference in just a week. Granted I feel like a bat hanging upside down but I'm loving it.

If you are looking at inversion tables you can't go wrong with this purchase.

I purchased the table to help with some lower back pain relief. I have found that as I start to feel some tightening up that a few minutes on the table helps. Not a permenate fix at this early time but some pressure relief for a while. Looking for future improvements in lower back relief as with more use.

I had looked at several different tables in our sporting goods stores around home as well as on line. I chose this one because of the way people had told me you want one that has good feet straps that do not hurt while inverted. This table is very strong and very comfortable. It is really not bad at all to put together, yeah 2 people would be great but I put it together myself in about an hour. I am very very pleased with this item and would highly recomend it to any one.