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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-Built, Basic Inversion Table - Assembly and First Use Review, August 13, 2008
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...
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good balance point and responsiveness. Ankle clamps do not hurt!, May 23, 2008
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to invert 90 degree, May 21, 2008
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.
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