Patent Application
20060270537
A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains in general to the exercising devices, and more particularly to a system that incorporates a portable and removable device and increases the range of exercises that can be performed with said exercise device.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Exercising has become a favorite pastime not only in the United States but all over the world. More people are engaged in this activity then any other types of leisure. Of course most exercises performed today require various types of devices. Initially most devices, such as for example, the jumping rope, were quite simple. Another simple exercise device consisted of a bar with a single elastic rope three or four feet long and extending between the two ends so that a person could hold the bar and push down on the rope with his feet. A variation of this device consisted of the elastic rope with two handles at the ends of the rope replacing the bar.
However none of these prior art devices were very versatile since they could be used only for a very limited number or kinds of exercises. Slowly, exercising devices progressed to a point were many of them are very complicated, hard to use, expensive, and generally uncomfortable to use. Many of the present day devices consist of various combinations of mechanical devices such as support surfaces, seats, chairs, wheels, chains, ropes, pulleys, weights, bar bells and oddly shaped rods. A person from the Middle Ages would immediately recognize these devices for what they really are: torture tools.
As the size and complexity of these devices increased, they became more and more complicated to use, require a large space, special instructions, and very often should not be used without the supervision of specially trained professional personnel. Moreover, the devices may also require electrical power and are hazardous.
All these factors increase the cost of the devices to the point were they can be afforded only by very rich persons, and/or can be used only in gyms or health spas. Moreover, despite of, or possible because of their complexity, these devices can be used to perform only one exercise, or even if they are adaptable to more than one exercise at a time and require extensive and time consuming changes in configuration before they can be switched over to a different exercise. However, performing the same exercise over and over again is extremely monotonous and takes a lot of perseverance to continue More importantly, a single exercise is beneficial only to a limited number of muscles, and at the same time. Performing the same exercise for a long time is detrimental because it tires the addressed muscles, while other muscles are neglected.
In my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,776,041 and 6,048,291 I described an exercise device that consists of five major components: a bar and four flexible, elastic members made of a pliable material. Preferably the flexible members are provided at their ends with loops or other limb engaging elements for engaging the foot or the hand of the person as shall be described in more detail below, depending on the type of exercise that is to be performed. Preferably a sheath covers the bar and the elastic members are all attached to the sheath. The sheath and the elastic members can be molded from a rubber-type material to form a single integral unit. Two of the members may be elongated and have a cross section which changes gradually from the bar to the handles. Preferably this cross section gradually increases thereby providing an increased resistance generated by the two members when they are partially rolled on the bar.
Since I have developed these devices I have discovered that while they are very useful in performing many exercises, they are difficult to use to perform certain stretching and other types of exercises that require the devices to be held stably from a stationary structure. Therefore I have developed a system for facilitating these types of exercises using my device.
Briefly, an exercise system constructed in accordance with this system includes a lattice of vertical members, arms secured to the bars and spaced and arranged to selectively and removably hold exercise devices of the kind described above. Brackets may be used to secure the lattice to a wall and/or ceiling. The exercise devices can be placed on different sets of arms at will to allow a user to perform a selected exercise. At the completion of the exercise, the devices can be removed and placed on a different set of arms, or used freely, without the need for the arms
In order to provide a better understanding of the invention, a simplified description is first provided of my original exercise device in conjunction with
The complete exercise system is shown in
It should be noted that several people can exercise on the system at once, each being positioned between two uprights 32. Once each person completes his set of exercises, he can remove the exercise device 12 and due other exercises with it.
While most of devices 12 are shown in the Figures as being mounted horizontally, they can be mounted vertically as well, as shown in
Numerous modifications may be made to this device without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
