Gravity boots
Encyclopedia
Gravity boots are ankle supports designed to allow a person to hang upside down. Thanks to exposure in television dramas and movies in the 1980s, gravity boots became a common fitness tool in homes across the United States
.
Today, gravity boots are used by the U.S. Army and have experienced a surge in popularity in 2006 with Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown
praising them as well. In addition, in several episodes of Gilmore Girls
, Luke is shown working out by using gravity boots. Several companies manufacture and market gravity boots under various trade names.
The purported benefits of gravity boots range from the relief of back pain
and headaches to increased oxygen flow to the brain. Some people use gravity boots to add an extra challenge to workouts, doing inverted crunches
or squats
, while others such as Uri Geller
use them increase blood flow the brain, in the belief that it facilitates thinking.
physician
, osteopath and chiropractor
Robert Martin, Sr. The Gravity Guidance System was an inversion therapy system that allowed patients to hang upside down with the help of gravity boots and a metal bar wedged within a doorframe. The system gained widespread fame after it was used by Richard Gere
in the 1980 movie American Gigolo
. The company benefited from this exposure and in 1983 was listed second among Inc. Magazine's Inc. 500 fastest-growing companies. However, the success was short-lived, as both lawsuits over injuries and the concerns expressed in medical publications about stroke
risk and ocular
pressure made the public wary of the health risks of inversion therapy. The system was probably no riskier than other exercise equipment, but consumers had lost confidence in the system and Gravity Guidance Inc., defaulted.
In 1984, Tim Elam, then a sales consultant for Gravity Guidance Systems, developed an inversion device that allowed for the user to get into the inverted position without the use of gravity boots. The Skyhook inverter marketing rights were sold to Universal Fitness Products and rolled out into the marketplace in the spring of 1984. Sales were brisk until concerns expressed by the medical industry lowered sales to the point that Universal also went out of business, along with several other companies who were promoting inversion and oscillation equipment.
Elam retained the patent pending and the marketing rights of the Skyhook Inversion and Oscillation System and continues to be a proponent of the benefits of oscillation therapy.
Gravity Boots still are manufactured by Teeter Hang Ups http://teeter-inversion.com/teeter-doorway-inversion.asp, a company that has been making inversion tables and other inversion equipment since 1981.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Today, gravity boots are used by the U.S. Army and have experienced a surge in popularity in 2006 with Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown
Dan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
praising them as well. In addition, in several episodes of Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
, Luke is shown working out by using gravity boots. Several companies manufacture and market gravity boots under various trade names.
The purported benefits of gravity boots range from the relief of back pain
Back pain
Back pain is pain felt in the back that usually originates from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine.The pain can often be divided into neck pain, upper back pain, lower back pain or tailbone pain...
and headaches to increased oxygen flow to the brain. Some people use gravity boots to add an extra challenge to workouts, doing inverted crunches
Crunch (exercise)
The crunch is one of the most common abdominal exercises. It primarily works the rectus abdominis muscle.-Form:A crunch begins with lying face up on the floor with knees bent. The movement begins by curling the shoulders towards the pelvis. The hands can be behind or beside the neck or crossed over...
or squats
Squat (exercise)
In strength training, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quads , hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body...
, while others such as Uri Geller
Uri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
use them increase blood flow the brain, in the belief that it facilitates thinking.
Manufacturers
One manufacturer was Gravity Guidance, founded by Robert Martin, Jr. Their "Gravity Guidance System", which was developed by the founder's father, AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, osteopath and chiropractor
Chiropractor
A Chiropractor, according to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges , "focuses on the relationship between the body's main structures – the skeleton, the muscles and the nerves – and the patient's health. Chiropractors believe that health can be improved and preserved by making adjustments to...
Robert Martin, Sr. The Gravity Guidance System was an inversion therapy system that allowed patients to hang upside down with the help of gravity boots and a metal bar wedged within a doorframe. The system gained widespread fame after it was used by Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
in the 1980 movie American Gigolo
American Gigolo
American Gigolo is a 1980 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is informally considered the second installment in his "lonely man" trilogy, following the Martin Scorsese directed Taxi Driver and preceding Light Sleeper .-Plot:Julian Kaye is a male prostitute in Los Angeles...
. The company benefited from this exposure and in 1983 was listed second among Inc. Magazine's Inc. 500 fastest-growing companies. However, the success was short-lived, as both lawsuits over injuries and the concerns expressed in medical publications about stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
risk and ocular
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
pressure made the public wary of the health risks of inversion therapy. The system was probably no riskier than other exercise equipment, but consumers had lost confidence in the system and Gravity Guidance Inc., defaulted.
In 1984, Tim Elam, then a sales consultant for Gravity Guidance Systems, developed an inversion device that allowed for the user to get into the inverted position without the use of gravity boots. The Skyhook inverter marketing rights were sold to Universal Fitness Products and rolled out into the marketplace in the spring of 1984. Sales were brisk until concerns expressed by the medical industry lowered sales to the point that Universal also went out of business, along with several other companies who were promoting inversion and oscillation equipment.
Elam retained the patent pending and the marketing rights of the Skyhook Inversion and Oscillation System and continues to be a proponent of the benefits of oscillation therapy.
Gravity Boots still are manufactured by Teeter Hang Ups http://teeter-inversion.com/teeter-doorway-inversion.asp, a company that has been making inversion tables and other inversion equipment since 1981.
Further reading
- "Hang Ten" TIMETime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
; May 2, 1983 - "Selling Relief" TIME; September 19, 1983
- Buchanan, Leigh. "Products of Their Times" Inc.com; September 2006
- Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA): "Warning given about fad of hanging upside-down – Using gravity boots may aggravate eye diseases", by Rex Dalton, Copley News Service, April 22, 1985.
- Detroit Free PressDetroit Free PressThe Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
: Couple Sues Over Boots Injury", February 10, 1984. - Klatz RM, Goldman RM, Pinchuk BG, Nelson KE, Tarr RS: "The effects of gravity inversion procedures on systemic blood pressure, intraocular pressure, and central retinal arterial pressure"; J Am Osteopath Assoc. 82(11), pp. 853–857 (1983). PMID 6885535
- Goldman RM, Tarr RS, Pinchuk BG, Kappler RE, Slick G, Nelson K.: "More on gravity inversion"; West J Med 141(2), p. 247 (1984). PMID 6238484
- Friberg TR, Weinreb RN: "Ocular manifestations of gravity inversion"; JAMA 253(12), pp. 1755–1757 (1985). PMID 3974054
- History of Inversion