The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for training the muscles of the upper torso and/or for relaxing the spinal column of a person, with a movable carriage for receiving the person, and with a guide path along which the movable carriage with the person is guided and moved in such a way that kinetic energy is applied at least intermittently to the person for distraction of the torso or of the spinal column of the person. According to the invention, provision is made that the person on the movable carriage is received on the support lying in a substantially horizontal position, that the hips, legs and/or feet of the person on the support are fixed with a fixing arrangement, and that the movable carriage, with the person lying on it, is moved substantially horizontally along the guide path.
