flexibility has never been my strong point !! was wondering if anyone has got any advice on these things ? weather they any good or not ? or do they put unnecassery strain on your knees ? advice would be appreciated !!

You can save thew money and sit on the floor and do the same stretch.

i got mine off blitz and cost £15 but you can get them for about £12-ish at other places.
they stretch ur hips & groin area rather than ur actual legs so you kind of go into a straddle.
i havnt used mine in a while but if you are going to use them a lot its worth getting one i think.

do thay work someone gave me one about 5 years back and its still in the cupboard

p.s

phil get kev watkins to tie a bit of rope to a tree and do it van damm style like in kickboxer

lol only kidding

Thats not a bad idea craig!! lol :):)

the 3 bar stretchers are ok but there is one i would recomend...
its a bit like a bow (as in bow & arrow) and you sit with it behind you and put your feet in these loops in a piece of rope and pull the other end of the rope and you get a fantastic stretch, no matter how flexible you are!

they cost about £110 so there not cheap and i dont kno what they are called but i think Emma Elmes has/uses one and you get an amazing stretch!!!

ive got one but never really used it much due to fact im not sure the best way to do it.
doing it right is a lot more complicated than you first think,do you sit all night in it..do you do high reps..how far do you stretch ...how often...do you force against it.
ive always stuggled with flexibility and the fact is its a very complex subject,by doing what you think is right you cuold be doing more harm etc. ive got a book on scientific stretching and its mindblowing.
you need to know what stretches to do for a specific outcome ie high kicks,static flexibility,speed etc.
So really the quick fire answer would be yes they are good if used correctly to achieve a specific goal they are created for.
But how to do it aint got a clue :-)

The way i do it is just to sit in a straddle position with my feet in the black padded feet supports and pull the middle bar as far towards me as i can get it.

i never thought about safe ways to do it :S

Hi everyone and cheers for the feedback !! i actually bought one after i put this post on . The thing is i have been getting sore knees and shins since i started using it !! does anyone else have this problem or did they have this problem upon starting using it?

Yea i get sore knees sometimes after using it. I dno if its me not using it safely or if its something i can't avoid.
I actually haven't used it in a while...
I will find out if there is a safe way to use it bcoz i really want to know now :D

the sore knees thing could be because of the position of the supports for you legs....if it isnt far enough up the leg, it is putting stress on the knee. If you can, have some solid support at the knee (mine had "L" shaped supports that both my feet and knees rested on)....this *should* stop the soreness. Worked for me when i used one.