Scary to use at first, but sturdy and trust worthy. They should come with a little extra padding in my opinion, but I just put my elbow sleeves on my calves with these around the sleeves and its a very tight fit. Hanging upside down to decompress my spine is my main use for these, but I do throw in some ab exercises as well. I have noticed its best (for me) to do the hanging after a workout or before bed, if I hang before a workout I experience some pretty bad back pain. I imagine decompressing before performing heavy lifts isn't the greatest idea, but I did try it out.