Over the years, I have seen an evolution in massage chairs and the stretch programs available in those chairs. Each stretch offers a different physiological benefit to the user.
I have broken down the different stretches into 3 types: full body extension stretches, segmental stretches, and hip distraction stretches.
Segmental Stretch
Full Body Extension Stretch vs. Hip Distraction Stretch
The difference is that in an S-track chair, the chair back can move independently of the seat whereas in an L- or SL-track chair, the chair back and seat are always articulating/moving together, thus always keeping the body in the L-shaped position and not flat, like the S-track chairs. Because the S-track chairs can recline to close to horizontal, the full body extension stretch is provided. It feels like the full torso and hips are being pulled apart. Because the L- or SL-track chairs cannot full recline horizontally, when the ottoman drops it tends to pull on (or distract) the hips rather than extend the whole body, like the S-track chair does.
J-track configurations were created to try to get the best of both worlds…a full body extension stretch as well as a roller massage to the buttock muscles. Theoretically, the J-track chair would recline back with the seat being closer to horizontal than the L-track seat, thus facilitating a stretch that is more full body extension than a hip distraction stretch. In reality, however, it is still more of a hip distraction stretch.
Because of the physics of each stretch program, based on the design of the chairs that deploy them, you can expect a very different feel and result from each of those three stretch types. Folks sitting on an L-track chair expect the stretch to be the same full body extension stretch of an S-track chair. The industry has tried to replicate the full body extension stretch of an S-track in the L-track configuration, but it is virtually impossible to do that because of the physics of the two different chair types. As a result of the different builds of the S vs. L-track chairs, and the completely different feels of the stretch program in each, we need to develop a different nomenclature when it comes to naming and describing stretch programs. That is what I’ve tried to do with this article.
Rather than say that the stretch program of an L-track chair is “not as good” as the full body extension stretch of the S-track chair, since we do try to group them into the same description, it would be better to say that they are different stretches with different physiological stress points and benefits. One is not necessarily “better” than another…they are just different. That is why I have broken down stretch programs into these 3 types.
Dr. Alan Weidner
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