Modern toning tables owe their heritage to the original design developed by biochemist Bernard H. Stauffer in America in the 1930s. He used his knowledge of the physiology, anatomy and movement patterns of the body to develop the Induced Rhythmic Motion (IRM) tables.

IRM was soon termed "stress free exercise" not simply because it is the antithesis of the traditional sweating and straining of vigorous exercise regimes, but because it re-engineers the body's posture relieving stress on joints and muscles.

Toning tables allow a person to participate in a series of more than a dozen exercises that have been carefully designed to:

• Relax over-used muscles and tighten the under-used muscles through the equal stimulation of deeply positioned postural control muscles 
  
• Tone and tighten stomach and shoulder muscles to re-position the rib cage, pelvis and shoulders
• Tone outer muscles to give the body improved form and shape

Regular use of the toning tables stimulates increased blood, lymph and general body fluid circulation, which can be a serious problem for people who find normal exercise and even walking difficult.

Improved blood circulation means that blood returns to the heart to be re-oxygenated more quickly and that boosts the body's metabolism. The benefits of improved lymph fluid circulation are less well known.

The lymphatic system relies entirely on muscle contraction to move the lymph fluid. Lymph vessels, which run almost parallel to the blood vessels, carry toxins away from the cells and into the lymph nodes, which act as a type of filtration plant and remove toxins from the lymph fluid. These toxins then leave the body via the kidneys as a natural waste product.

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