Gravity Boots

Back in July of 1982 I took a trip to California with my friend Marguerite.  We spent a week in the bay area and a second week in Los Angeles.  While visiting our friend Donnie in San Jose, he introduced us to gravity boots.  He asked if we wanted to hang, and naturally we thought he meant hang out.  But we soon learned a new meaning of hanging.

He took us to a nearby playground where there was a chinning bar.  He clipped these metal space-like contraptions to his ankles, jumped up to the bar, did a leg up, hooked his boots to the bar, and let go.   There he hung upside down from his ankles.  He stayed there for a few minutes, then lifted himself back up to the bar, unhooked, and came down.  Being a runner, one benefit he mentioned was that the stretching out of your back is great for runners since running does just the opposite.   I was excited to try it.

The first time I tried the boots, it was a little weird getting used to the blood rushing to your head.  I think I only stayed inverted for a minute or two.  You need to build yourself up to longer hang times.  But, I was hooked on how great I felt afterwards.  It was very relaxing and my body felt refreshed and revitalized afterwards.  So, I went and bought myself a pair.   

When I got back home after vacation, my parents and friends got a kick out of watching me at our local elementary school playground hanging upside down.  Some of my friends even tried it.  Heck, we even used to do inverted sit-ups back then.

Fast-forward three months...  I convinced Marguerite that we should move to Los Angeles and in October we packed both our cars with all we needed for our new lives out west.  We borrowed CB radios and started our 7-day journey.  The CBs were invaluable to communicate with each other, coordinate rest stops, and many times just to keep each other awake. By the end of each day, our backs needed a good stretching out after being compressed sitting for about 10 hours.

After we checked into the motel each evening, we asked the front desk clerk where the nearest playground was.  We got some strange looks, but imagine if we did this today?  The clerk would probably call 9-1-1 as soon as we left.  Anyway, once we found our chinning bar, we hung and stretched which revitalized our bodies in preparation for the next 10-hour day in the car.  

Without those boots, I know our backs would have been in bad shape after seven days of this routine.    

When we arrived in Los Angeles, I needed a job and wrote to the Gravity Guiding Systems in Pasadena, where the company that made the boots was located. I was so impressed with their product that I thought maybe they could use me somewhere.  I gave it a good shot, but there were no job openings.  In the end, it worked out for the best, since I got a great job close to where we got our apartment.  But I digress.

I continued using the gravity boots for many years.  I was a 36-mile a week runner for many years and my body told me when I needed a good ‘hang’ to decompress my spine. There are other devices that have since been invented to invert in a gentler manner, but I never bought one.  My chiropractor has long since taken the place of my boots.      

Although I no longer use the gravity boots, I still have them.  They are tucked away in their original box in a closet downstairs.  I don’t know why, but I have no intention to toss them, as I have tossed so many other items while lightening the material burden.  They are just one of the things I want to hold on to.

This is me 'hanging' in a park in San Jose in July 1982.