Stretching machines keep your body in the correct alignment for stretching exercises and can take you deeper into a stretch than you might go on your own. Stretching machines are popular in gyms, physical therapist offices and martial arts schools, but they work just as well in your home. Athletes who need to stretch daily may find having on in their home convenient and sensible, yet everyone may enjoy improving their flexibility from daily exercise on their machine.
SP1000 Stretch Partner
The SP1000 stretch partner allows you to stretch your whole body with one machine. The SP1000 consists of an adjustable seat, handlebars and two straps. An accompanying guide book illustrates stretching exercises for 18 of the major muscle groups in your body. One such exercise for the chest and shoulders involves kneeling on the bottom seat pad with your buttocks on the seat back as if sitting in a massage chair. You sit up straight and place your hands behind your head, the elbows bent. The chair tilts your pelvis forward so you can comfortably arch your back and pull your arms back to open your chest. To perform another simple exercise, this one for stretching the whole back, sit with the seat tilted back so your buttock is on the seat back and your shins press against the seat bottom with your hands on the handlebars and wrists through the straps. This causes you to fully extend your arms and round your back slightly to lengthen your back muscles. These are just some examples of exercises possible on the SP1000 Stretch Partner. The machines costs around $600 and has a weight limit of 300 lbs.
Range 3D
The Range 3D machine increases flexibility and range of motion for six muscle groups of the lower body. These muscle groups include the hamstrings, adductors, abductors, hip flexors, medial rotators and lateral rotators, which make up the thighs, hip and glute muscles. You can stretch all these muscles without the machine, of course, but the Range 3D puts your body in the correct alignment and keeps you from cheating. For example, when performing the lying hamstring stretch without the machine, the bottom leg that is not stretching may move out of place and lift up. The Range 3D inhibits this movement to make the stretch more efficient. To perform this stretch, simply lie face up strapped into the machine and use the side ratchet mechanism to raise your left leg up as far as is comfortable. The right leg cannot move without your right hand moving the corresponding ratchet mechanism. The ratchet mechanism controls all the body movements so that your muscles stay relaxed while stretching. This makes all the stretches with this machine passive stretches.
Martial Arts ProForce Stretcher
The ProForce stretcher works well for martial artists to increase flexibility that allow for low stances and high kicks, but everyone can use this machine to stretch out their hamstrings, lower back, groin and hip flexors with one simple movement. You just sit on the machine with your legs straight, feet flexed and lower back against the back rest and then you turn the self-locking wheel to open your legs up to 180 degrees. The wheel can be taken off if you wish to hinge forward at the waist to further stretch the back and hips. The ProForce Stretcher retails around $250.
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