Body Blog

BENEFITS FOR ACTIVE PEOPLE: Inversion Enables the Body to Stretch and Align Itself

Nearly every physical activity involves some form of compression of the spine. The compressive effect of gravity is compounded by activities such as running, weightlifting and aerobics, which can exact an incredible toll on your back. One-sided activities like golf and tennis can be particularly troublesome because the strong-side muscle groups that develop while performing such activities pull the spine out of alignment, and these one-sided activities usually involve rotation of the spine, often under incredible loads. Still other physical activities, like bicycling and rowing, tend to create tension in the muscles due to a contraction of the major muscle groups for long periods of time. Even simple daily activities, if performed in the wrong way, can create skeletal misalignments. Most often these misalignments are nominal and will readily correct themselves given the opportunity. Inversion with movement (such as side-to-side bends and back arches) provides that opportunity.

Inversion Can Help with Workout Recovery

The process of building muscle occurs when muscle fibers are torn down and replaced with more and better cells. After a workout, thousands of destroyed cells need to be trucked away to make room for new growth. Inversion helps to increase lymph flow, which gets rid of the wastes more rapidly and allows the body to focus on building new muscle tissue.

Athletes prone to stiffness or muscle spasms after a workout can benefit from the lymphatic wash provided by inversion. Intense muscle activities cause a build up of large amounts of lactic acid and carbon dioxide, which results in sore muscles. The faster this waste is cleared, the faster the pain and stiffness disappear.

During a high-impact workout, your joints and especially discs will lose fluid, resulting in a temporary height loss of up to 0.5" - 0.75"! Inversion has been proven to increase intervertebral separation, which reduces the pressure on the discs and helps them to re-hydrate. Decompressed joints are able to recover faster for better shock absorption and reduced pain.

Inversion Helps Strengthen Ligaments

Ligaments are fibrous, collagen-filled strips of tissue that hold your bones together. Ligaments are flexible but not very elastic, and can tear when they endure sudden strain or are stretched too far. Mobilization and gentle loading of ligaments can help to increase the collagen content of the tissue, which results in increased ligament strength7. Inverted stretching and exercise provides gentle reverse loading and mobilization of the spine and weight-bearing joints, helping to strengthen the fibrous structure encasing these joints. Strong ligaments and muscles are vital for proper joint support, helping to protect the athlete from injury.

A Final Thought

The constant pull of gravity has the single most harmful effect on the joints and spinal discs. Used sensibly, inversion is extremely beneficial, and no more dangerous than many other popular and widely practiced fitness activities. Sometimes there's an explanation for why inversion works and sometimes there isn't.

The experience of thousands of people who invert regularly is that it gives them the relief from back pain they've been looking for. Just as important, they gain the rejuvenating effects of inversion on the entire body, providing health benefits far beyond the relief of back pain.

Inversion Helps Reduce the Effects of Aging Caused by the Force of Gravity



Achieve Functional Fitness: This term is defined as a state of flexibility, strength and balance that supports youthful movement and activity. Inversion is a way to keep joints healthy and flexible as the body ages, which translates to an active way of living throughout a lifetime.

Maintain Height: Most people will lose from 0.5" - 2" (1.3-5.1 cm) in height during their lifetime due to thinning discs. As a baby, your discs are 90% water. However, the water content in the discs decreases to 70% by age 70. An active inversion program can help maintain more of your original height.

Decongest Internal Organs: As the body ages, internal organs (kidneys, stomach, intestines) begin to prolapse. Middle age spread, apart from weight gain, is due to the relocation of internal organs. Digestion and waste elimination problems are also common symptoms. Inversion helps these organs resume their normal shape and place in the body.

Increase Oxygen to the Brain: Your heart must work against gravity to pump blood up to your brain, which is the body's largest consumer of oxygen. Although it is only 3% of the body's total weight, the brain consumes 25% of the body's oxygen intake. Peter Russell notes in The Brain Book that the deterioration of the brain is not directly linked to age alone. Rather, this deterioration is caused by hardening arteries and high blood pressure, both of which decrease the supply of oxygen to the brain. Thus a major step in reducing mental deterioration over time may simply be increasing the oxygen supply to the brain. (NOTE: If you have high blood pressure, consult your physician before starting an inversion program.)

Relieve Varicose Veins: When inverting, you are helping your heart to clear the blood from your feet, legs, and lower body. This allows the blood in your limbs to circulate more easily, which may help to drain blood from varicose veins.