Mark was plagued by neck and back problems. He had very little range of motion, little strength, and a lot of pain. He ended up having neck surgery, went through physical therapy, and after he was finished he began training at our facility on our MedX rehabilitative exercise equipment.
One of the features of the MedX equipment is that the resistance is provided in an arc. Bow your head and then lift up and look at the ceiling. Your neck follows an arc. The same if you bend over or if you flex the lumbar region. Your body follows an arc.
All barbells and many types of equipment provide linear (straight line) resistance. The MedX low back machine provides resistance in an arc congruent with the arc created by the motion of your back. This makes for a much safer exercise. You don’t have weight bearing down on your back from above, so there is no vertebral compression.
We restrict the range of motion to a pain-free range of motion. With our equipment we are able to restrict the resistance to just a few degrees of motion if need be. Overtime that range will likely increase. It is a wonderful feeling when over time that range increases without pain. For safely we are able to make very small increases of weight as strength improves; over time you will dramatically increase your strength. More motion and more strength mean better circulation and better lubrication of the discs resulting in a healthier back.
I had once lived in constant back pain for two years. I first started the MedX equipment in a doctor’s office 25 years ago. That pain is gone now. Others report similar results. Now Mark reports greater range of motion and more strength which have enabled him to purchase a treadmill and walk at an incline daily. He has a better quality of life, and his wife, also a client, is very happy to see her husband return to "himself". At our Austin Fitness Trainers facility we have had success working with those who have back problems. Come see us.