An Inversion Table is an excellent way to help treat back pain, get your spine in proper alignment and improve your flexibility, but if you haven’t used one before, you’re likely wondering how long you should stay on it.

Here’s what you need to know about the length of time you should stay on an Inversion table, whether you’re a beginner or you have some experience with them.

It can be an adjustment to start using an inversion table, as it’s not a natural feeling. To ease yourself into it, you should only stay on your inversion table for about one to two minutes each session. Stick with sessions of this length for the first one to two weeks that you use the inversion table.

As far as how you can keep track of your time, the best option is to have someone watching you and watching your time with a stopwatch as you invert. Not only will this be the easiest and most accurate timekeeping method, but it’s also wise to have someone around when you’re on the inversion table for safety reasons. If you get stuck and need a hand, you’ll be happy you have someone there.

As you go on the inversion table more, you’ll get to the point where you don’t need anyone watching. If no one is there to track your time, you can set an alarm.

It’s not all about how long you’re staying on the inversion table when you’re starting out. The angle of the inversion is also an important factor. Many people don’t feel comfortable inverting very deep the first few times, and that’s fine. You can start by inverting only about 20 to 30 degrees.

Instead of increasing your time on the inversion table to start, increase how deep you invert and stick to one or two minute sessions. Once you’ve inverting all the way, you can stay on their longer.

As you become more comfortable hanging from your inversion table, you can spend more time on there to allow your muscles to relax more. You should obviously avoid any major increases from session to session. It’d be a bad idea to jump from two minutes to 10 minutes, but going from two minutes to three or four would typically be fine.

Once people have some experience on their inversion tables, they usually stay inverted anywhere from five to 15 minutes. However, the duration you choose is completely up to you and depends on what you feel like you benefit from.

If you’re noticing that you feel better after spending only a few minutes on your inversion table, you don’t need to stay on it longer. Or, if you feel like you get more benefits the longer you invert, you could certainly stay on it for longer than 15 minutes.

The most important thing is that you do what feels comfortable for you and listen to your body. If you start feeling uncomfortable while you’re inverting, then it’s time to stop your session.

Whether you’re on your first few days of using an inversion table or you’ve been doing it for months, keep in mind that the frequency of your sessions is more important than their duration. You get the best results when you go on your inversion table multiple times per day.

You’re better off going with shorter sessions on your inversion table if it means that you’ll be able to fit more sessions into your daily routine. Try going on your inversion table after you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night to get into a good routine. It’s also a good activity to do immediately after workouts.

Your time on the inversion table doesn’t always need to be you lying there completely static. With your feet secured, you can reach your hands over your head towards the ground to help give your back a nice stretch. If you feel like getting an ab workout in, you can try crunches while you’re on your inversion table. If you try either of these options, you may want to reduce the duration of that session.

There’s an adjustment period when you first use an inversion table. Don’t push yourself too much to start, and stick to shorter sessions. Keep yourself comfortable and focus on both the frequency and duration of your inversion sessions.