IdealStretch

You need some steady arm strength to use this device, but even if you don't have that strength starting out, as I didn't, you will have it after a week of two of use. You can see from the picture what the concept is. One strap just below your knee and one just behind your ankle, and a place to grip and pull back. It works exactly as it appears it will work, and it's excellent. I had some hesitation at first because of the angle and the strength of the pulling and holding that's required to do it properly - I don't mean yanking, but do this at all seriously, you have to hold it in position for at least a minute or longer, and you have to stretch in steps, so you hold it for a while, extending and breathing into it and relaxing your hamstrings as they're stretched, then work a little deeper, hopefully intelligently and thoughtfully so nothing is forced in the wrong way, and that's actually a strength thing to be able to do it steadily for a long enough period of time. The first week I found it a bit more than I enjoyed, arm-wise, but as things do go with exercise, even stretching, the body is made to evolve and develop strength as you use it, and now, during the second or third week, my arms are enjoying it just fine, and they can pull and hold in that position comfortably, which actually surprised me, in a positive way. Most people who exercise much at all won't find it a problem at all. And now I guess I'm one of them. I'd suggest this as a purchase if you're trying to stretch your hamstrings intelligently. I've tried it every other way - for decades. Yoga quite extensively, and I just hit a plateau. The problem with stretching the hamstring if yours are as tight as mine is that the pressure goes into the lower back before it reaches deep into the belly of the hamstring muscle, and even if you try it on your back using a strap, that's still a problem. Sitting and reaching forward or standing and reaching down are even worse. Some people probably never had that problem because they have hamstrings that were either stretched and elongated when they were young or they just aren't fundamentally tight. But for those of us who begin with tight hamstrings as adults, it's very difficult to stretch this muscle without some kind of an apparatus of a massage person helping. This device, though I've only had it a few weeks, is clearly a solution. I tried a different device as well, but I can't continue using it because it is bruising the entire area around and underneath my lowest rib to a degree that was scaring me before I figured out what was happening. And it is pushing more and more on the front inside of my hip in a way that is also more and more painful. But the bruising on and under my rib - I don't know exactly what's there, but it feels like actual organs are being compressed when I use it and the growing soreness that is getting worse and is likely to continue worsening isn't something I'm willing to go through. That soreness is there all day long and even at night when I move in bed. It's pretty awful. That device is done for me. This device is the one for me. This is the one that is left, and I look forward to continuing to use it.

Roughly 2 years ago, I ended up in an orthopedic clinic and physical therapy to treat IT band syndrome in my knee. While the therapy (and in turn lots of stretching), my issue resolved with help of this device. Fast forward and my issues are returning, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this medieval torture device. Without question, my hamstrings are guitar string tight which is part of my problem. This product helped IMMEDIATELY and loosened up my IT Band to boot. This was 100% worth the purchase and saved me a trip back into physical therapy. Buy without hesitation. Item came boxed and packaged well. 5 out of 5 stars.

I got a back injury back in 2007 at work when I didn't bend my knees to lift heavy items that I normally lift. As a result, I sprained my lower back and ever since had trouble lifting and sitting. When I went to physical therapy, the number one exercise to help heal the lower body is stretching. Especially the hamstring stretch. They told me, if I did more of that stretch, it'll give me relief and less pain. Though, at the time, I didn't know if devices like this even existed. I went here on Amazon and purchased this. Very easy to use and put together. Great fit for my legs. The quality is excellent. Within minutes of using it, I felt the stretch and found less pain in my lower body. I also have pain in the tail bone because I sit for a long time in chairs. Using this device, stretching out the lower back and legs, I can now sit with less pain in the body. I don't seem to have back aches and muscle pain like I used to. It is expensive, but, I think, it's worth it if you want real relief. Taking medicine will temporarily make the pain go away, but the pain does come back. The doctors said, doing the Hamstring Stretch will help relief pain throughout the lower body and that pain will be less common over time. I usually do the exercise on my bed or gym mat. It takes about five to ten minutes. However, you can do it as much as you want. The more, the better, and finding less pain in your body. You can keep the thing in the corner of your room, in a closet, or take it with you in your vehicle. I wish I had known about things like this years ago, then I wouldn't have to be going occasionally to physical therapy and complaining about having pain.

This product works really well for stretching your calves and ham strings. It feels a little flimsy when I think about the amount of force I'm putting on it to get a good stretch, but so far it has held up. My main issue, as others have said, is the additional wedge that can be added to get a better calf stretch. The issue is that the velcro strap for attaching the wedge is WAY to short. It needs to be about 2 or 3 times as long to be able to wrap around the strap that it attaches to. I'm not sure why the wedge was designed with such a short strap, but I found a simple solution. I took a pair of scissors and cut a slit in the strap on the frame so that I could run the strap on the wedge through this slit, effectively shortening the distance that the velcro end had to go before folding back and attaching to the other end. The main problem with this is that now the slit has fraying edges that the velcro will stick to, so if you want to keep adding and removing the wedge piece, it will slowly unravel the toe strap, and will also clog up your velcro with the threads that came off of it. I'm just leaving the wedge in place so this doesn't happen. I hope they fix this flaw in the future, but in the meantime, I'm taking off one star for this reason. It is a great product though and would strongly recommend it.

Well made. I have two of them. One at work and one at home. It gives an excellent stretch. It’s very easy to use and can be easily taken anywhere.

The product was as advertised and was received in tact!!! No issues!!! 👍

It’s really been helpful with my knee recovery. It was recommended by a physical therapist and was helpful with my knee extension. It’s painful, but no pain no game!!

Really works well you can set it up several different ways to help mine for my knee surgery and it is helping my knee immensely

Really helped my husband after total knee replacement. He'd lift his leg up in this and rest it on top of the sofa to help with swelling and get it straightened. Wasn't cheap but worth every penny for him. Added his recovery as he already had tight hamstrings pre op so he used this before and after op.

Very happy with this stretcher device! I find I get a much deeper stretch quicker than I would without this device. Worth the money! Exactly matches the photo as well.

This product is too expensive for what it's worth

Not what I expected

Great for stretching while watching tv etc. Provides a very deep stretch to tight hamstrings. Definitely not comfortable but legs and tight lower back feel great after a few minutes of therapy