Patent Application
20240335696
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to exercise mats and more particularly pertains to a new exercise mat for improving neck alignment. The present invention discloses a mat with an integral pad that is configured to provide support to and alignment of a neck of a user.
The prior art relates to exercise mats, which may comprise cushions that are positionable upon surfaces to provide neck support and mats to which one or more cushions are selectively attachable. What is lacking in the prior art is an exercise mat comprising a mat with an integral pad that is configured to provide support to and alignment of a neck of a user.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a mat, which has a lower face that is configured to be positioned upon a substantially horizontal surface. The mat is configured to cushion a body of a user who is performing an exercise upon the mat. A pad is attached to an upper face of the mat proximate to a top end of the mat. The pad is formed so as to engage an upper portion and opposite sides of a neck of the user when the user is lying supine upon the mat. The pad thus is configured to cushion, support, and align the neck of the user during performance of the exercise.
Another embodiment of the disclosure includes a method of cushioning, supporting, and aligning a neck of the user during performance of an exercise. Steps of the method include positioning a mat upon a substantially horizontal surface, assuming a supine position upon the mat, positioning oneself so that a pad attached to the mat so that it engages an upper portion and opposite sides of one's neck, and performing an exercise.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The exercise mat assembly 10 also may comprise a strap 18 and a pair of fasteners 20. The fasteners 20 are attached singly to opposed ends 22 of the strap 18 and are configured to selectively attach to the mat 12, with the mat 12 in the rolled configuration, proximate to a respective opposed side 24 of the mat 12. The strap 18 is configured to be positioned over a shoulder of the user to facilitate carrying of the mat 12. The fastener 20 may comprise a loop 26 that is formed by attachment of a respective opposed end 22 of the strap 18 to the strap 18. The mat 12 in the rolled configuration thus is insertable into the loop 26, as shown in
The mat 12 may be substantially rectangular, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The pad 28 also may comprise a third section 42, which is attached to and which extends from the first section 34 equally distant from its opposite ends 38. The third section 42 is configured to tilt a head of the user upwardly relative to the mat 12. As shown in
In use, the exercise mat assembly 10 enables a method of cushioning, supporting, and aligning a neck of the user during performance of an exercise 52. A first step 54 of the method 52 is positioning a lower face 14 of a mat 12 upon a substantially horizontal surface 16. A second step 56 of the method 52 is assuming a supine position upon the mat 12. The mat 12 is configured for cushioning a body of the user. A third step 58 of the method 52 is positioning oneself so that a pad 28 attached to an upper face 30 of the mat 12 proximate to a top end 32 of the mat 12 engages an upper portion and opposite sides of one's neck. The pad 28 is configured to cushion, support, and align the neck of the user. A fourth step 60 of the method 52 is performing an exercise, an example of which is depicted in
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
