Patent Application
20210177684
This disclosure relates to a bench assembly for stretching the quadriceps femoris and or hip flexors muscle groups of a client under the direction of a therapist.
The quadriceps femoris a group of muscles located in the front of the thigh. www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/quadriceps#1. The group has four separate muscles: the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and the rectus femoris. Each of the vastus muscles originates on the femur bone and attaches to the kneecap. Id.
The quadriceps are used for cycling, walking, running and other physical activities, but are prone to such injuries as strains, tears and fractures.
A traditional quadriceps stretch, often called a “runners stretch” stretches only the smaller rectus femoris part of the quadriceps. That represents about 10% of the muscle tissue in the group. Conventional stretching methods tend to omit a significant percentage of the quadriceps muscle mass. https://www.painscience.com/articles/spot-08-quadriceps.php.
Combined hip and knee extension exercises (like the squat) are likely to be necessary for full quadriceps development.
Against this background, a need has developed for suitable equipment each which efficiently and safely enables a trainer to apply suitable therapy to a client's quads and hip flexors.
Following is a simplified overview of representative embodiments and implementations. Its primary purpose is to convey a basic understanding of the subject matter for which patent protection is sought. This summary is not a detailed description of all contemplated embodiments. Nor is it intended to convey all key or critical elements of all inventive features or aspects.
To meet the shortcomings of conventional stretching methods described above, in one embodiment a bench assembly is provided that stretches and develops the quadriceps femoris and/or hip flexors muscle groups of a client with the help of a therapist or trainer.
The bench assembly has a basal subassembly with a front member that faces the therapist. Extending rearwardly from the front member is a first side member. A rear member extends laterally from the first side member.
Each of the front and rear members have an upwardly oriented column that extends from a bottom rail of the associated member. The columns underlie a client support pad on which the client may lie recumbent and face upwardly with his/her legs positioned towards the front member.
The client support pad has a front edge that faces the therapist. That edge is a knee-hinge edge which is adapted to receive the back of the client's knee.
In use, the therapist bends and holds a lower leg rearwardly underneath the client support pad on one side of the column according to a stretching regimen. Thereafter that leg is released and a stretching regimen is applied to the other leg according to the same or another stretching regimen. Benefits include progressive extension of the quads.
Optionally, while the client is lying recumbent, a hip flexure regimen is applied to either or both of the client's hips.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
A longitudinal direction corresponds to the “Z-axis”. This axis is oriented perpendicularly to a vertical XY-plane. Another direction, referenced as “transverse”, is perpendicular to the Z axis. This transverse direction is also referred to as “X-axis”. A respective XZ-plane is formed by the X and Z axes. It is considered to be horizontal and is the plane in which a client's upper torso and thighs may lie recumbent. The XZ-plane corresponds to a top view of the bench assembly.
A third direction is oriented vertically to XZ plane and is referred to as the “Y-axis”. A respective YZ plane is formed by the Y and Z axes. Together, the YZ plane is the plane in which a trainer moves the lower legs of a client who is recumbent on the bench assembly.
Turning first to
Each of the front and rear members 14, 16 have an upwardly oriented column 24, 26 in the Y direction that extends from a bottom rail 20,22 of the associated member. The columns 24,26 underlie a client support pad 36 that lies in the XZ plane on which the client may lie recumbent and face upwardly with his/her legs positioned towards the front member 14.
The client support pad 36 has a front edge 38 that faces the therapist. That edge is a knee-hinge edge in the XZ plane which is adapted to receive the back of the client's knee.
In most embodiments, the bench assembly 10 has a basal subassembly 12 that is tubular. Usually, the first side member 16 (
Advantageously, the client support pad 36 has a lower surface 42 and a pad connecting feature 44,46 (
Referring to
In alternative embodiments, the bench assembly 10 is formed from welded, brazed or otherwise joined components and is thus monolithic. Preferably, the bench assembly has component parts including the basal subassembly 12, the front and rear members 14,18, the first side member 16 and the client support pad 36 that can readily be assembled for client and therapist use and disassembled for portability.
The bench assembly of claim 1, wherein the front and rear members 14,18 each have a brace 54,56 (
In some embodiments, the bench assembly 10 has front and rear members 14,18 that are provided with a pair of upper shoulders 58,60,62,64 (
Referring to
Alternative embodiments include flanges 72,74,76,78 projecting from a lower surface 80,82 of the bottom rails of the front and rear members 14,18 for added stability and to provide a means for securing the bench assembly to a flooring surface 84 on which the bench assembly 10 is positioned.
Preferably, tubular front and rear basal members 14,18 the first side member 16 and the columns 24,26 have a quadrilateral cross-section.
Optionally, the bench assembly 10 further comprises a second side member (not shown) that extends between the front and rear members 14,18 for added stability.
This disclosure also includes a method of assembling a bench assembly as described above. The assembly steps include:
providing a basal subassembly with front and rear members and a first side member extending between the front and rear members;
mounting on each of the front and rear members an upwardly oriented column; and
securing a client support pad on which the client may lie recumbent, the client support pad being attached to the upwardly oriented columns, the client support pad having a knee-hinge edge that is adapted to receive the back of the client's knee.
Also included in this disclosure is a method of using the described bench assembly for stretching and/or developing the quadriceps femoris and/or hip flexors muscle groups of a client under the direction of a therapist. The method of use steps include:
positioning the client on the client support pad in the XZ plane so that the client faces upwardly with his/her legs positioned towards the front member;
Representative stretching regimens of the quad extension and hip flexor movements will now be described.
The client climbs onto the bench assembly. The client sits in an upright position and slides his/her (hereinafter “his”) glutes to the front edge of the pad facing the trainer. Once the glutes are on the front edge of the pad with his legs hanging down in a relaxed position, the client will lay his upper body back and relax on the supporting pad.
In the description below, it is assumed that the first leg to be stretched/strengthened is the right leg. But it will be appreciated that the invention is not so limited.
Right Leg
Left Leg
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
