Patent Application
20200179750
The present invention is generally directed to fitness equipment, and more particularly to a resistance weight training machine for efficiently and effectively exercising a user's gluteus maximus muscles.
Resistance training is a popular form of exercise where a user moves his or her limbs against some form of resistance, such as weighted bars, dumbbells, or the like. Users ranging from recreational fitness enthusiasts to professional bodybuilders often use resistance training to become stronger, more flexible, more agile, and/or to increase overall fitness. Resistance training can also help reduce the likelihood of injury. Resistance weight training machines are fixtures at gyms and recreation centers across the world. Unfortunately, many systems currently on the market are not as effective as they could be at increasing muscle strength.
For example, in a traditional “cable lat pulldown exercise” where the latissimus dorsi muscles are exercised, a weight machine with a seat and brace for the thighs is typically utilized. A user begins in a seated position with his or her thighs braced, back straight, and feet flat on the floor. A user places his or her arms overhead at full extension in order to grasp a bar connected to the weight stack, for example via a cable and pulley system. A user may then pull his or her elbows downwardly and rearwardly to pull the bar towards the neck in order to lift the weight stack, before returning to the initial position. Throughout the exercise, the machine's seat remains fixed.
Because the machine's seat remains fixed, a user may be in an unnatural position during exercise. Moreover, a user may not carry out the exercise in a manner that sufficiently lengthens the user's muscles during exercise. Such traditional training machines are less effective at increasing muscle strength, and could even lead to injury.
The glute muscles are a well-known group of muscles that fitness enthusiasts and professionals alike work hard to strengthen. Because of the biomechanical positioning required to properly exercise the glutes, an increased muscle length has been difficult to achieve using existing equipment. Thus, an alternatively constructed multiple movement plane is desired that is able to still increase muscle path length and be an efficient and effective tool for strengthening the glutes.
A resistance weight training machine including multiple movement planes for effectively and efficiently exercising the glute muscles is provided. The resistance weight training machine, hereinafter referred to as the “weight training device” or “glute machine,” operates using a series of pulleys and cables. The weight training device includes a weight stack and a linear translating carriage member in order to allow for improved exercise. More particularly, the glute machine allows a user to extend his or her leg associated with the glute muscle being exercised to drive forward linear translation of the carriage member. At substantially the same time, the carriage member drives weight in the weight stack to be lifted, thus providing resistance to the glute being exercised.
The weight training device generally may include each of a weight rack assembly and a user operation assembly. The weight rack assembly, like prior art weight training devices, includes a weight stack that can be lifted when a user operates the machine in the manner described below to lift weight from, and subsequently return weight to, the weight stack.
The user operation assembly may be made up of a translating carriage member including a kneeling pad, handle assembly, and a foot press bar. The kneeling pad is preferably positioned such that when a user is either resting or operating the weight training device, he or she faces downwardly with his or her knee opposite the glute muscle being exercised preferably resting on the kneeling pad. As described below, when the user exercises using the weight training device, the carriage member including the kneeling pad may translate in a forward direction to increase exercise efficiency. When a user is mounted on the weight training device, he or she may also grip the handle assembly. The foot press bar is preferably attached to the user assembly behind the user's feet and is preferably in communication with a pulley system that controls the weight stack via the carriage member.
Various rigid structural components may fixedly attach the weight rack assembly and user operation assembly to one another. However, the two assemblies are also preferably in communication with one another via a cable and pulley system. More particularly, a first cable and the pulley system preferably connects the machine's foot press bar to the carriage member. Thus, when the user presses rearwardly on the foot press bar, a first cable and pulley system connecting the foot bar to the carriage member translates the movement to the carriage member such that the carriage member and knee pad are forwardly translated. Almost simultaneously, a second cable and pulley system that connects the carriage member and weight stack to one another preferably causes a portion of weight from the weight stack to be lifted.
When ready to operate the machine, the user should be face down. His or her first leg (not being exercised) rests on the kneeling pad associated with the carriage member, while his or her second leg (being exercised) extends rearwardly with his or her foot positioned on the foot press bar. Then, to operate the machine, the operator may press his or her foot rearwardly against the foot bar to set the foot bar in a rearward arc movement. This motion may drive the carriage member into forward linear motion via the first cable and pulley system. The carriage member may then drive the weight stack to be lifted via the second cable and pulley system, thus providing a resistance force against the user's glute associated with the second leg with which he or she is pushing.
The carriage member and kneeling pad, as described above, is linearly translatable. More particularly, the kneeling pad is attached to the user operation assembly by a track system that allows the kneeling pad to linearly translate from the rear portion to the front portion (and vice versa) of the user operation assembly. When the user pushes rearwardly against the foot press bar as described above with the second leg, the carriage member and thus the first leg resting on the kneeling pad (as well as the rest of the operator's body) are driven forward to counter the push with the second leg. Thus, the kneeling pad translates along a linear path to allow the user to lengthen the muscle path when he or she is operating the machine by pressing rearwardly on the foot bar.
Not only will the kneeling pad slide forward, but the user's upper body as a whole will also preferably slide forward along with the kneeling pad and the handle assembly attached to the kneeling pad. When the operator brings his or her foot operating the foot bar back toward his or her body, his or her upper body, and thus the kneeling pad, may translate back toward the rear of the device as the weight stack returns to its unlifted position. This process may be repeated for each repetition of exercise that the operator completes within a set. The linear movement of the carriage member during the rearward extension of the leg associated with the glute being exercised allows for the elongated muscle length path that improves the exercise's efficacy.
Because the machine may be used to exercise each of the right and left glute, the knee pad may be adjustable to allow either knee to rest thereon when the other leg is being exercised. While many mechanisms may be used to adjust the kneeling pad to either of the right or left leg, in a preferred embodiment, the kneeling pad may be attached to the operation assembly by a post on which the kneeling pad may swivel to be in either of the left or right position. Other mechanisms are foreseeable, but in any event, the mechanism should be one that is simple and effective such that any operator may quickly and easily adjust the kneeling pad from one side to the other with little interruption to his or her exercise routine.
The present disclosure is directed to resistance training exercise equipment, and more particularly to a resistance weight training machine for efficiently and effectively exercising a user's gluteus maximus muscles, referred to herein as “glute machine” 1. Turning first to
In the start position, the person 5 is facing downwards. In a preferred embodiment, a resting leg, in this case the right leg 10 of the person 5, may rest on a kneeling pad 15 of the glute machine 1. An active leg 20 of the person 5, which is associated with a glute muscle to be exercised, may be substantially free to move. At least one foot 25 of the person 5 may be placed so that it abuts a foot press bar 30 of the glute machine 1. In the start position, hands 35 of the person 5 preferably grasp a handle assembly 40 associated with the glute machine 1.
When the person 5 is ready to commence exercise, he or she pushes rearwardly with the active leg 20. As the person 5 pushes rearwardly with the foot 25 of the active leg 20, the foot press bar 30 is similarly pushed rearwardly and upwardly in an arc-like manner. This motion initiates two mechanical processes. First, weight associated with the weight stack 45 of the glute machine 1 is lifted or otherwise activated, thus providing resistance to the glute muscle being exercised. Second, a carriage member 50 on which the person 5 is resting (via the kneeling pad 15) is linearly translated in a forward direction. The specific mechanisms that allow for the weight stack 45 to be lifted and the carriage member 50 to be linearly translated are described in greater detail below.
Turning now to
In the end position, the carriage member 50 has also been forwardly linearly translated. With the foot press bar 30 rearwardly extended by the active leg 20, and the person 5 forwardly linearly translated via the carriage member 50, the muscle path length of the glute muscle being exercised is greater than if only the foot press bar 30 were rearwardly extended.
The embodiments illustrated in
Moreover, it should be noted that the person 5 may perform the exercises described above and below (in greater detail) for the opposite leg (the resting leg 10) by switching the relative positions of the legs 10, 20. More particularly, the active leg 20 may be placed on the kneeling pad 15, while the resting leg 10 is left free to move and subsequently be rearwardly extended. This would of course cause what was originally the rest leg 10 to become the active leg 20, and vice versa.
In
The glute machine 1 generally may include a user assembly 60 and a weight rack assembly 65. User assembly 60 and the weight rack assembly 65 may be assembled such that they are attached to one another in a side by side configuration. Each of the assemblies 60, 65 may include leg members and foot members to act as a base for the glute machine 1, but alternative embodiments may be constructed using other known or foreseeable structures. More particularly, the legs of the user assembly 60 are provided as angled leg members 70 each having a foot 75, while the leg members of the weight rack assembly 65 are embodied as upright, vertical leg members 80 each having a foot 85. The feet 75, 85 may be level with one another so that when the glute machine 1 is placed on a level surface such as those commonly used in exercise rooms and facilities, the glute machine 1 is level. In alternative embodiments, the feet 75, 85 and/or leg members 70, 80 may be adjustable to change the height of the glue machine 1, or may take any other form.
Preferably, the user assembly 60 and the weight rack assembly 65 are connected at a lower portion 90 of the glute machine 1, although other structures are envisioned. More particularly, in the embodiment of the glute machine 1 illustrated herein, the user assembly 60 and the weight rack assembly are connected by a central cross brace 100 (see
An upper portion 95 of the glute machine 1 as shown does not include any direct connections between the user assembly 60 and the weight rack assembly 65. With no connections between the user assembly 60 and the weight rack assembly 65 at the upper portion 95 of the glute machine 1, it is often easier for a person such as the person 5 to mount and unmount the glute machine 1 to exercise. However, an upper direct connection may be used where desired or useful for more stability.
Turning to the weight rack assembly 65, the weight stack 45 associated with the weight rack assembly 65 may be substantially similar to weight stacks that are commonly used and well understood in the art of exercise equipment. However, other suitable resistance structures are also envisioned. As will be described in great detail herein below, when the foot press bar 30 is pressed rearwardly, a portion (embodied as portion 55 in
The carriage member 50 may be linearly translatable such that it is in a more rearward position (closer to the foot press bar 30) in the start position and more forwardly (closer to the front cross brace 105) in the end position. The carriage member 50, as referenced above, preferably includes each of the kneeling pad 15 as well as the handle assembly 40 for gripping by a person 5. Moreover, the carriage member preferably includes optional wrist or forearm pads 108 upon which a person such as the person 5 may place and rest his or her forearms when using the glute machine 1.
In the embodiment illustrated in
An articulating arm member 110 may be positioned between the carriage member 50 and the weight stack assembly 65. The articulating arm member 110, as shown, preferably extends upwardly and rearwardly from the front cross brace 105, though other paths for the arm member 110 are foreseeable. In a preferred embodiment, the articulating arm member 110 preferably includes each of a first arm section 115, second arm section 120 and a third arm section 125. The first arm section 115, which is rigidly attached to the front cross brace 105, may extend upwardly therefrom. In this embodiment, the first arm section 115 preferably remains fixed during use of the glute machine 1. The second arm section 120 is then preferably hingedly attached to the first arm section 115 and extends rearwardly therefrom. Similarly, the third arm section 125 is preferably hingedly attached to the second arm section 120 and extends rearwardly therefrom. Moreover, the foot press bar 30 would preferably be perpendicularly attached to the third arm section. It may project inwardly toward the carriage member 50 so that when a person has mounted the glute machine 1 to exercise, and his or her legs such as the legs 10, 20 of
In a preferred embodiment, the second arm section 120 of the articulating arm member 110 also includes an extension arm member 130 that is located near a middle section 135 of the arm section 120. The arm extension member 130 preferably is fixedly attached to the second arm section 120, for example by bolts 140, though other attachment means are contemplated herein. Motion of the articulating arm member 110, its sections 115, 120, 125, and the extension member 130 are described in greater detail herein below when also describing in greater detail the underlying cable and pulley system that together with the articulating arm member 110 and the carriage member 50 generates the movements of the glute machine 1.
Turning to
When the glute machine 1 is activated by a person such as the person 5 (not illustrated in
In a preferred embodiment, two cables preferably operate together with various pulleys and guides to drive the motion of the carriage member 50 and the weight stack 45. More particularly, a first cable member 160 drives the carriage member 50 upon activation of the foot press bar 30 by a person. A second cable 165 may then translate the movement driven by the foot press bar 30 to the carriage member 50 from the carriage member 50 to the weight stack 45.
Turning first to the first cable 160, the cable 160 is attached to the arm extension member 130 at a first attachment point 170. The attachment point 170 is located at a distal end portion 175 of the arm extension member 130 opposite from where the arm extension member 130 is attached to the second arm section 120. However, other attachment points are envisioned. In a preferred embodiment, the first cable 160 is fixedly or semi-permanently attached to the arm extension member 130 at the first attachment point 170. At a second attachment point 180, the first cable 160 is preferably fixedly or semi-permanently attached to the carriage member 50.
The second attachment point 180 is preferably on a disc member having two attachment points as shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
The second pulley member 210 may be fixedly attached to the front cross brace 105. The second pulley member 210 helps redirect the first cable member 160 so that it is no longer traveling downwardly and instead is traveling outwardly in the direction of the carriage member 50 as well as the legs 70. In doing so, the first cable 160 remains contained in an interior of existing structures of the glute machine 1 and thus is guided from within the arm section 115 to within the front cross brace 105. The first cable 160 continues in the outward direction toward the leg members 70 until it reaches a third pulley member 215 located at a distal end 220 of the front cross brace 105.
The third pulley member 215 may then redirect the first cable 160 rearwardly toward the foot press bar 30. The first cable 160 may continue in this direction until it is attached to the carriage member 50 at the second attachment point 180 on the disc member 190.
With the first cable 160 fixedly attached to the carriage member 50, when the foot press bar 30 is extended rearwardly, the first cable 160 preferably acts on the carriage member 50 and causes it to translate forwardly. More particularly, a track system on which the carriage member is arranged allows the carriage member 50 to translate forwardly in a linear manner, as described and illustrated in greater detail in the figures that follow.
Turning now to the second cable 165, when the carriage member 50 is linearly translated via the first cable 160 in the manner described above, the second cable 165 is also preferably pulled. Like the first cable 160, the second cable 165 is guided and leveraged using a number of pulleys. The pulley system that guides movement of the second cable 165 is described below in one embodiment, but alternative embodiments that guide the cable 165 are also envisioned herein.
A first pulley 225 is provided that is attached to rear leg 70A of the user assembly 60. The pulley 225 preferably redirects the second cable 165 downwardly and toward the front direction until reaching a second pulley 230. In the distance between the first pulley 225 and the second pulley 230, the first cable 165 is preferably guided within the interior of a cross bar 235 connecting the rear leg 70A to a front leg 70B. The second pulley 230 may redirect the second cable 165 toward the weight stack assembly 65 by directing the second cable 165 through the central cross brace 100.
A third pulley 240 may be located at the intersection of the central cross brace 100 and a cross bar 245 that connects the legs 80 to one another. The third pulley 240 redirects the second cable 165 upwards along the weight stack 45 until reaching a fourth pulley 250 attached to an upper cross bar 255 connecting the legs 80 at their upper portion.
The fourth pulley 250 may redirect the second cable 165 downwardly until it is attached to the weight stack 45 at the attachment point 195. Thus, the second cable 165 may act to lift the weight stack 45 (or a portion thereof depending on a user's preference) when the carriage member 50 is linearly translated in a forward direction by the foot press bar 30.
In
When the first cable 160 is activated by pushing rearwardly on the foot press bar 30, the carriage member 50 is put into motion in the manner described above. The carriage member 50 is preferably mounted on a track system 260. The track system 260 may be comprised of two substantially straight and bar members 265 that are parallel to one another and indirectly attached to the legs 70A, 70B via bracket members 270A, 270B, respectively (see
Preferably, the sleeves 280 have a diameter just greater than that of the parallel bars 265 that make up the track system 260. Thus, the sleeve members 280 which are rigidly attached to the carriage member 50 are preferably able to slide the length of the track system 260 by sliding along the bars 265 that make up the track system 265 when the first cable 160 drives movement of the carriage member 50 by way of the foot press bar 30. Other mechanisms for substantially linearly translating the carriage member 50 that are known or foreseeable in the art are also contemplated herein.
As shown and illustrated, the bar members 265 are substantially straight. Thus, when the carriage member 50 is driven to translate by way of the first cable 160, the carriage member 50 preferably travels in a substantially linear path along the track system 260. The person 5 (and more particularly, an upper body 285 of the person 5) translates linearly forward with the carriage member 50 when in use. This motion preferably places the person 5 in the start position, end position, and positions in between illustrated in
With the carriage member 50 linearly translated forwardly in the manner shown in
As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
