Leg stretching machines

[Bulltahr]

Anyone had any experiance with the mechanical stretchers, the ones with the wheel in the middle????? Any preferred brand/model???? Are they efficient? Do they work ? I'm a 50+ yr old with concrete joints.............

Any comments welcome.

Thanks,

Bull

[Hawkmoon]

hmm ...bit of mixed bag on this subject in our dojo.

Some of the guys love 'em, others not so much!

Speaking from my own experiences with them, yes they work, very good in general!

A type I like are the ones that you 'ratchet' up no medical or sudo science reason, just that I like them, that type feel good to me. Then when I reach 'that' point in my stretch to hold and relax in that posture to get what I want.

Example:

Century Versaflex Stretch Machine

(eBay or amazon)

The three bar types that you pull in on yourself never felt right to me, to me the posture they created was wrong!

The wind up type, like the ratchet type I rave about, are fine, and if I'm to honest are less dramatic when you release the stretch ... you wind up and wind down.

The ratchet type work up and some ... well they just release!

Choose carefully to get what you want!

[sensei8]

I've used machines of this type, but they're not my cup of tea. I'm more of a rope-and-pulley type of practitioner as well as a stretching bar as well as partner stretching too. Besides, I'm not trying to change the light bulb with my feet...I'm just saying.

[JR 137]

I've wanted to try them, but they seem very expensive for an apparatus that only stretches one way. Seem very limited in versatility, yet very effective in what they do.

Maybe I'm getting cheap, but it just seems everything in MA is getting expensive. I think I said stuff was too expensive in the last 3 threads in this section now. Maybe I need a better paying job.

[Bulltahr]

Yeap they aren't cheap and if I add shipping and maybe duty I'm in the hole for around $400, so I want to get it right. They look the ducks nuts for solo stretching. with the goal being getting closer towards splits.

[sensei8]

Yeap they aren't cheap and if I add shipping and maybe duty I'm in the hole for around $400, so I want to get it right. They look the ducks nuts for solo stretching. with the goal being getting closer towards splits.

Yeah, I think a rope, a pulley, and some hardware to mount the pulley, is much cheaper, even with that, performing the old fashion stretches will be even cheaper than the rope and pulley method.

[Bulltahr]

Yeah, I think a rope, a pulley, and some hardware to mount the pulley, is much cheaper, even with that, performing the old fashion stretches will be even cheaper than the rope and pulley method.

Yeap I agree, been doing the old fashion stretching for a while now and progressing, but......... it is 2015, and I have been greatly influenced by the attitudes of today's society, so I want results faster (AKA NOW!).

[IcemanSK]

Yeap they aren't cheap and if I add shipping and maybe duty I'm in the hole for around $400, so I want to get it right. They look the ducks nuts for solo stretching. with the goal being getting closer towards splits.

Yeah, I think a rope, a pulley, and some hardware to mount the pulley, is much cheaper, even with that, performing the old fashion stretches will be even cheaper than the rope and pulley method.

I've found that the rope & pulley system requires a great deal of balance that I didn't have as a beginner. I've found that wall & a friend helped a lot more than the stretching machines ever did for me (& I've cheap ones & expensive ones). The other issue with the stretch machines that you sit down & crank, is that it's only one stretching position. It's, therefore, very limiting. We all know from our many years of training that we need to streth several different ways & different muscle groups to achieve split. We want to be well-rounded in our flexibility.

I'd recommend a book called "Ultimate Flexibility" by Sang H. Kim http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Flexibility-Complete-Stretching-Martial-ebook/dp/B001GCUM72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451370711&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ultimate+guide+to+flexibility

I wish you well.

[bushido_man96]

I'd recommend a book called "Ultimate Flexibility" by Sang H. Kim http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Flexibility-Complete-Stretching-Martial-ebook/dp/B001GCUM72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451370711&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ultimate+guide+to+flexibility

I wish you well.

Good book. Very informative. I have it, as well.

[Alan Armstrong]

From a 50 plus ma point of view, not with stiff joints.

Having listened to every stretching theory, and tried the machines, stretching exercises books and videos, gimmicks, fads, sports medicine pnf. something to keep in mind when stretching.

There is alot of talk and help about stretching but the information might not be so accurate as one might expect.

Warm up before stretching and cold stretching; such a contradiction!

How about tiring the muscle out before stretching it. This has nothing to do with hot or cold muscles.

More to do with over tensing a muscle that has difficulty staying tense and the only option it has left is to relax. Then you can stretch the muscle because it hasn't the strength to fight your will anymore.

Stretching is more like trying to tame a wild stallion, once it stops fighting with you and you with it, there will be a mutual understanding that the both can live with.

Personally I use and wear heavy weights (while laying flat on my back) to wear out the muscles that I want to stretch, others use weights, cables and pulley setups attached to ankle straps; same difference.

Springy flexible trees and vines attached to ankles was how it was done in the past and not the torture chamber stretching machines used today. Good luck!