knitsnbytes's Full Review: Teeter Hang Ups F5000 Inversion Table
We like to incorporate back exercise in our workout routine, and after trying out a friend's inversion table, we decided to get one for our home gym. After considering various brands, we settled on the Teeter Hang Ups, convinced by their ad showing extensive stress and strength testing. If you are hanging by your ankles upside down, you want the best inversion table there is, no doubt about it.
Why Invert
The reason to use an inversion table is to stretch your spine. Normally, you stand and your legs and pelvis and stomach support the spine. When you sit, you increase the pressure on the spine by resting on your coccyx (tailbone). So for people who sit all day, inversion can actually act like traction, using gravity to pull the vertebrae and decompress the spine.
As you hang or lean at various angles from 20 degrees to 90 degrees -- totally upside down, your head gets more blood, your stomach muscles lengthen and stretch and your shoulders relax because you put your arms fully over your head.
You can gradually build up your angle from 20 degrees, allowing you to adjust to the new feeling in your head and spine. You can use the table to do rocking (down to your set angle, back up to level or vertical) or you can do intermittent traction (1-2 minutes down, 1/2 minute up.) In the fully suspended 90 degree position, your body is literally hanging by your ankles and you can do twists, sit-ups, squats and back arches. This is not possible in the shallower angle positions as you are lying on the table in those positions as opposed to freely hanging with spine straight.
You may not use any bands, weights or other equipment while on the table. You MUST wear tie shoes with flat, even soles (no thick soles, no high tops.) A standard pair of trainers (running or walking shoes) with ties works just fine.
What you get
The table is a flat, nylon bed resting on a steel A-frame. The bed rotates like a teeter-totter. There is an ankle clamp on the bottom to hold your feet securely, and a pin lock height adjustment to set the table to the right height for you, which may be 1 or 2 inches above or below your actual height, depending on your center of gravity. There are handles (extended or normal) for the arms. There is an "anti-rattle" adjustment screw to prevent unwanted shimmy.
The table is not powered; you operate it with your body weight, using your arms to add upper body weight to take you down to your desired position.
The unit is based on an A-frame that collapses for folding and storage, the hinges lock (like on a folding table) and there are clips on the base to stabilize the base on the floor. The 5000 has optional "over-easy" extension arms, longer arm pieces that allow the user to move their hands and arms up and down to move to inverted more easily. Mine were included in a promo.
A safety strap can be used to limit inversion to set degrees such as 20, 40 or 60 degrees. The table will automatically stop and the maximum degree you set and prevent you from inverting more than is comfortable for you.
When starting out, have a friend to stay with you in case of dizziness or other discomfort.
The Teeter Hang Ups comes with a 90 page book (Better Body) on inversion (ours turned up missing and we had to call customer service) and a 14 minute video on set up, safety and recommended use. This is a must-watch. If you do not have a way to play a DVD, you should find some way to do so as the information is vital to adjusting the table to your height and the safety information tells you how to secure your ankles against falls which, head-down, are very dangerous. Needless to say, children should be monitored closely while using the inversion table.
The unit also comes with a laminated use guide that clips to the table with a chain. This is a nice touch, and important, as safe usage is paramount when inverting.
The table weighs 62 pounds and measures 45 inches x 28 inches x 58 inches. The maximum height for any user is 6'6", the minimum is 4'8". Maximum weight: 300 pounds.
There are accessories available such as gravity boots that allow full inversion to be more comfortable on the ankles. The standard ankle clamp is a soft rubber cup in back of the ankle, with a pin-lock rubber padded bar for the top of the instep. When locked into the clamp, your foot is secured above the ankle bone by firm pressure. It seems you have to add a t-bar to use the gravity boots. The boots also afford a gentler angle to the joints, so if you have joint problems and find the ankle clamp uncomfortable, you might want to spring for the extra $100 it costs to upgrade to the boots.
Assembly was just a few pieces, it took longer, actually, to watch the DVD.
We don't bother to fold it up, because it's in our basement gym, but it would fit in the corner of a master bedroom and if you lived in a small apartment, it can be folded for under-bed or against a wall.
How does it feel?
I am SO happy with my table. While I normally don't like to be upside down, I love the feeling of stretching my spine while I hang downwards. I have not achieved the 90 degree setting yet but I am confident I will do so. I use the table first thing in the morning to stretch after sleeping and it makes me stand up, after I get off, like I had a ballet workout; stomach relaxed, shoulders down, chest out and relaxed. Five minutes literally feels like I had an hour nap, so I do this when I come home or at lunchtime (BEFORE EATING) if I am working at home. I don't do it after I eat. I never do it with a full stomach, right after eating.
I do the intermittent traction most of the time. When I get up to the full inversion at 90 degrees, I plan to try some of those crunches, which are said to be equivalent to 10 regular crunches.
Warranty Information
Teeter Hang Ups home-use inversion products are backed with a full 5-year warranty. During the period starting with the day of retail purchase and continuing for 5 years, STL International, Inc. extends to the original consumer purchaser a warranty against defects in materials, workmanship, fabrics, and padding.
Note that commercial use of home equipment voids all warranties. Teeter Hang Ups commercial line is backed with a full 2-year warranty.
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