- All right Bob,
and our viewers we will show you a quick step by step
safe and proper use of the inversion table.
This is for beginners or a review,
or if you've using it
and you can't figure out if you're doing it right or not,
we'll show you.
- Let's, let's get to it.
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapist on the internet. ♪
- Okay, number one Bob,
make sure that you get this cleared with your doctor first
particularly if you've had any joint replacements,
heart conditions,
eye problems, - Right.
- Those are precautions that you do not wanna
invert your body to go through.
So make sure that's clear.
We're not gonna go through the details on this video.
Okay, the first thing you wanna do
after you have your inversion table assembled and everything
is the way it needs to be per the instructions,
is we need to set the heist.
Now we're using a Teeter table,
this is per their instructions.
They're all pretty similar,
but there may be differences,
but you need to adjust the height
that matches your body.
I'm five, 10,
I'm gonna look on this bar right here,
I can pull this out and move this up and down,
and I'm gonna set it for five, 10.
- And it's got numbers in metric and in English.
- Right, now this is not precise,
you're gonna put it to your height
and then you have to test it,
and we're gonna show you that in just a little bit.
So here I am, I'm locked in,
and we'll go to the next step.
- That's the slide bar.
- Okay, Bob, before you even get on your unit
make sure that the limitation of the safety strap
is adjusted properly.
Now they can vary, but I would not go more than 60 degrees,
you don't have to measure it exactly,
but that's about even with the back brace pole here,
and you may actually wanna adjust it which you can hear.
So it goes, maybe
(indistinct)
45 to start out with.
- It can go 90, right?
- Right, if you don't have this on complete inversion
will occur they are made for that,
however,
- We don't recommend it,
- Particularly if it's the first time (indistinct) for sure.
Okay, okay.
Now this may or may not be the case on all tables
but there's actually a foot or an ankle setting
where you rotate this 180 degrees.
And what that does,
it positions your ankle in the proper position.
These cushions should come down
on the narrowest part of your ankle.
So for example, on this one,
if I rotate it this way,
it moves my foot up about an inch pull.
- Closer. - Yep.
When I pull this lock and goes down
the pressure is on the top of my,
which is not the right location,
- So you need to rotate back down,
right? - Exactly.
Bob, so I'm gonna go like that,
and I know this cause I've practiced with this one
and now I know it locks in on the small part of my ankle,
the padded area.
And that's what you want, make sure.
- So it's one or the other - Right.
And again, look at your specific table
and see if that option's available.
You really wanna make sure it's into your ankles well,
for obvious reasons.
Number five, once you're in,
secure it into your ankles
you'll want to just lean back
and take your time with this,
- Give it a little test. - Yep.
Go to the horizontal position,
and with you relaxed, you should feel very confident
that you're balancing here.
It's kinda like a level, - Right.
- If you move your hands up towards your nose
or your face, you should slowly go back with good control,
if you put your hands this way,
you can get level,
when you wanna go all the way up,
you simply, go like that.
(indistinct)
You do not want to have to depend on the handles for pulling
and pushing yourself off,
if you do you're not adjusted in in the proper spot.
- That makes look easy but it does take some practice,
right? - Yeah.
You know, you adjust your body in here
and just play with it,
and it may take you, you know,
a few minutes or a couple times to get comfortable
but you need to get comfortable and relaxed
otherwise the unit won't be effective.
Okay Bob, next, I feel very comfortable here,
I'm relaxed,
I can control myself. - Yourself.
- Yep, and now I'm gonna go back
and start initial traction or decompression,
I'm back to here and I feel pretty comfortable.
I'm gonna go back up to here.
I'm gonna go back to here.
I'm gonna go further,
I'm gonna bring my hands back.
Oh, this feels weird,
I'm gonna come back up,
and just do this a few times until you
can go all the way back and you're back to position.
Now, if you get back and you can grab these bars right here,
then you know,
and I'm pulling against the strap is stopping me,
that's a good home base if you will.
And I may hang out here for 20 seconds,
I can feel blood going to my head.
Nothing unusual, no unusual pain,
no dizziness - No dizziness, right.
- However, if your eyes feel funny,
your dizziness or anything that's not comfortable,
get yourself back up to this position, okay?
Now, if you do that zero symptoms,
I would go back with a timer and a partner,
you're not gonna do this by yourself
for the first time. - Right.
- Go back, okay?
I'm gonna get back to here, timer's on.
- For how long Brad?
- One minute to start with.
- Gotcha. - Okay?
Zero symptoms,
even if it feels good, you're gonna stop at one minute.
- Right, this is the first day one.
- Yep, and get up to here,
see how your back feels.
See how things are going and actually
get you yourself.
- Lock it out. - Yeah.
- And walk around a little bit.
- And assess your back,
if you're having pain down the leg, see how that feels.
If you inverted and things felt better
and the pain down your leg improved,
good sign. - Yep.
- Then you get up and see if that stays better
with weight brain.
Sometimes it changes and that's okay.
- Right?
- The big thing is you don't want it to get worse,
once you get up and walking around.
If that's the case, then you're not gonna use this,
you may come back the next day.
- Well, you don't feel worse on here either.
- Yeah, exactly.
So one thing with this, you may do it one day,
the first day or two, and it may not make it worse,
or it may not make it better,
if that's the case, it feels the same.
Keep working with it.
- Right.
- You may have to work with it a week
before you get those discs and vertebrate.
- Really learn to relax your abdomen and,
- Exactly, right. - Full effect.
- That is really a key.
- Okay, so you've got on, you're on there for 20 seconds,
you got up, walked around,
everything either did not get worse.
- We're on there for a minute.
- Oh, I'm sorry, thanks Bob for correcting my memory.
And you got up, you walked around,
everything either got better or no change,
then you can get back on and continue your,
- Right, for how long Brad?
- Maximum of five minutes.
- Gotcha.
- Now I wouldn't do that the first day.
- First day, right?
- Maybe two or three days into it,
you can progress a minute.
- First day maybe a two minutes.
- Yep. - Right?
- The next day, go to three minutes.
I max out. - Slow.
- Yeah, max out at five minutes.
So you'll be hanging back here.
Now, Bob you wanna, (indistinct)
- Wanna make this point that it's really important to relax
when you're on the machine.
That's how it gets a full effect.
Really relax your midsection.
- Yep, so if my stomach is tight,
and you might have tight core muscles
without even being aware of it,
just because you're anxious,
you're uncomfortable in an upside down position,
but after you get used to it by the third, or fourth day,
or whatever, everyone's different, then relax.
- Right, as you become more comfortable with it,
you'll be able to relax more.
- And now I am relaxed and I can definitely
feel my spine getting a little more traction.
- Elongating.
- Yep, and it feels good.
It feels very relaxed,
I'm happy with it.
Again no more than five minutes, no more,
you know, you need to stop any kind of negative symptoms,
dizziness, pain, or whatever.
And we'll come back up.
(indistinct)
There we go.
All right.
Now, I do wanna mention,
you will find on the internet and some sites and channels
where they talk about full inversion.
- Right.
- All the way upside down. - 90 degrees.
- Yep. - Right.
- And what happens there is
it'll go like this and you're hanging upside down,
we do not - Right.
- Promote that at all.
- We don't recommend it.
- Some people do it and they have success of it.
So they claim, but it's pretty aggressive.
- And you get adequate traction at 60 degrees.
- Exactly as far as your spine.
The other thing that we do not promote is
when you're tilting back is twisting
- Right. - of the spine,
we just want straight direct traction
as we had demonstrated.
- Yep.
- So good luck with your inversion table.
Take it step by step,
be safe, be careful, and good luck again.
- And be cool.
- Yeah, be cool.
I'm cool, Bob.
Yeah, I remember when cool wasn't cool.
- Really?
- Oh, that was a long time ago.
(laughs)
(upbeat music)