When you trace back the history of stretching rack, you are sure to get astounded and writhe in pain because of the purpose for which the stretching rack was put to use in those days. In olden days, the mere word of stretching rack is enough to send shocking waves amongst accused and convicts because the stretching rack was used as a torturing machine to make the prisoners speak up. The stretching rack was also used to punish convicts and other small time offenders and the stretching rack has gained its ill-famed recognition as a torture tool.

The stretching racks of olden days were made of wood and the shape will be similar to a bench with rollers on either side. The suspects or the prisoner will be made to lie over the stretching rack with his hands and legs positioned over the rollers in a stretched fashion. Then with the help of rollers, the prisoners limbs will be stretched in slow and steady manner and as when the stretching increases a point will come when the prisoner s muscles, tendons, and ligaments will start breaking and this most painful state will make the prisoner to talk and confess.

Sometimes the stretching will get extended beyond the limit for few adamant prisoners and hence there will be a possibility of the prisoner s joints and bones getting torn apart and sure this can even make the spectators writhe in pain. The design of stretching rack is so meticulously done so that it will help the torturer to make the prisoner suffer from pain for any extended period of time and if need be the prisoners can even be left over the stretching rack for days together so as to get the vital clues or confession from the prisoner.

How the Stretching Rack can Help you in your Stretching Exercise

Before a perfect stretching rack is made, its predecessor namely the Hippocratic bench came into being and this was put into use for certain medical purposes. On those days it was believed that if certain level of tension is applied on ligaments, muscles, tendons and joints, then the same can have a curative effect on many of your chronic aches, including backaches. Hence this Hippocratic bench was used to cure people who suffer from aches and they were made to get their limbs stretched on the hippocratic bench.

In today s modern world, the stretching rack has undergone many changes and after various avatars now it has earned the name VAX-D that stands for Vertebral Axial Decompression now. This is nothing but the same stretching device, but with modern controlling devices. It normally comes with computer aided controls with which you can control the level of pressure or stretch required depending upon the need of the person and there are also provisions to provide stretching effect to the whole body including the spinal column. When it comes to the provision for stretching spinal column, you can find it very useful for treating herniated discs, sciatica and any other degenerative disc diseases.

Today s stretching rack has totally transformed from its original torture machine avatar and now it helps you to get many of your muscle-related diseases cured. Further, you can also use a stretching rack as your personal stretching machine for doing your favorite stretching exercises.

[tags]Stretching Rack, Torture Machine, Medicinal Treatment[/tags]