Hang Ten

Flipping over Gravity Boots

Stephen Baron, 27, suffers from a ruptured disc that can cause him excruciating back pain. But Baron, an international management consultant in Washington, D.C., has found a topsy-turvy way to get relief. Four times a week he dons a pair of steel and foam-rubber Gravity Boots that each weigh three pounds and dangles from his heels from a chinning bar for five minutes. Says he: "It's a very restful, relaxing experience that eases the pressure off my lower back for hours. I can even hear my vertebrae clicking while I'm upside down."

As a result of such enthusiastic endorsements,...