Patent Application
20080200311
The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region through the use of a gymnastic implement. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region through the use of a gymnastic implement, provided with a control device effectively usable to evaluate and if necessary to correct the methods of use and of interaction with this implement.
Each human activity is linked with the adoption of postures and with the execution of movements, some of which are executed more frequently than others and are therefore learned easily starting from infancy, so that they can even be executed absentmindedly in a substantially automatic manner and such as to distinguish the style of a person. On the other hand, it can occur that postures and movements are not always learned in the correct manner and therefore it may be necessary to execute corrective exercises to modify one's postures and the methods with which the movement must be performed. Naturally, among the postures and the movements that it is advisable to learn and assimilate correctly there can also be those that are adopted/performed while training on gymnastic machines. It is known that these machines were originally produced for training given muscle regions through the repetition of given gestures, which are normally illustrated by trainers during the first training sessions on the machines, minimising the probabilities of injuries and which, at times, are learned by users directly with use. It should be noted that in the last years the development of the so-called functional machines has introduced training to the execution of complex movements, of the type used in sport or which simulate movements typical of given working activities, with which there is associated the involvement of a plurality of muscle regions. Naturally, these machines are particularly useful in the last phases of rehabilitation therapy following a traumatologically relevant event.
In all these cases, the effort of imitating a movement learned watching a video or by consulting specialised texts, or recommended by a physician or a specialised paramedic, or through the continuous presence of a trainer, ensures that the gymnastic exercises executed on the machines described above are performed correctly, coherently with the types of articulations and muscle regions involved, and subjected to the application of efforts that one is capable of balancing. It is easily understood that only in the case in which a trainer is constantly present it is possible to minimise and substantially eliminate the risk of torn muscles and injuries in general. On the other hand, the continuous assistance of a trainer or of an assistant is very costly and at times is unavailable for objective reasons; therefore, not everyone is able to benefit from the vigilant monitoring of an expert.
The need to rethink the prevention of injuries among the users of gymnastic machines has led to a solution with minimum economic impact which allows these users to monitor their methods of executing each exercise, and therefore makes them more responsible, reducing learning times; this solution provides for the installation of mirrors on the walls of gyms, to allow monitoring of one's postures and of the movements executed, and the consequent feedback, in real time. On the other hand, this choice appears unsatisfactory, mainly due to the fact that in gyms the intensive use of the space available must be maximised, and therefore the gymnastic machines must be positioned both in the neighbourhood of the walls, and therefore directly facing the mirrors, and toward the centre of the fitness rooms, therefore side by side with other gymnastic machines and therefore only partly facing these mirrors, with the result that the users of these machines are decidedly at a disadvantage, and that these machines are normally avoided by those who have only recently started to train on gymnastic machines. In any case, it should not be underestimated that, at times, the orientation of the gymnastic machines is influenced by the plan shape of the machines and by the methods of access, as well as by the degree of saturation of the available space; therefore, there are frequent situations in which the mirrors facing the machines are not accessible to the view of a user training due to a lack of relative orientation.
In view of the above description, this situation also seems susceptible to improvement: furthermore, the problem of how to set up gymnastic machines inside fitness rooms to facilitate monitoring of the training methods cannot be an acceptable limitation, given that the cost of these implements is unrelated to the possibility of placing these machines in front of a mirror.
The solution of the problem described represents an interesting challenge for the applicant in order to make the positioning of gymnastic machines unrelated to the type of machines and to the installation limitations correlated with the availability of space in each gym.
In view of the above description, it would be desirable to have available a gymnastic machine which, in addition to enabling to limit and possibly to overcome the typical drawbacks of the art illustrated above, could define a new standard for the gymnastic machines and, in particular, make it possible for the users of each machine to monitor the method of execution of the gymnastic exercises and release the managers of gyms from the need to equip the walls of the gyms with mirrors and to position the machines as much as possible in proximity to these mirrors.
The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region through the use of a gymnastic implement. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine for training at least a muscle region through the use of a gymnastic implement, provided with a control device effectively usable to evaluate and if necessary to correct the methods of use and of interaction with this implement.
The object of the present invention is to provide a gymnastic machine which allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and which is suitable to satisfy a plurality of requirements that to date have still not been addressed, and therefore, suitable to represent a new and original source of economic interest and capable of modifying the current market of gymnastic machines.
According to the present invention a gymnastic machine is provided, whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring device for gymnastic machines, which is effectively usable to allow users to monitor their methods of using these gymnastic machines.
According to the present invention, a monitoring device for gymnastic machines is also provided, which is effectively usable to allow users to monitor their methods of using these gymnastic machines, and the main characteristics of said monitoring device will be described in at least one of the appended claims.
Further characteristics and advantages of the gymnastic machine according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate at least one non-limiting example of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:
In
To this end, the monitoring device 50 comprises a display tool 52 carried by the frame 10 in a position facing the body region B, and in
This display element 54 comprises a reflecting body 54, which can be easily constructed through a mirror or a mirror polished metallic foil, if necessary provided with a visual reference 55, for instance a grid as shown in
The bracket 12 may or may not be orientable, and this allows users of different sizes to adjust the orientation of the reflecting body 54/of the grid 55, so that the given body region B is effectively visible during execution of the gymnastic exercise. Furthermore, it should be specified that also falling within the scope of protection of the present invention are mirrors 54 carried laterally, relative to the face of a user, by the frame 10 or by a fixed projecting part applied to this latter, provided that each mirror 54 is usable to view body regions of the user in training that are relevant in order to increase the efficiency of this training.
Lastly, it is apparent that modifications and variants can be made to the gymnastic machine 1 and to the respective monitoring device 50, without however departing from the protective scope of the present invention.
For example, according to an easily constructible variant visible in
In view of the above description, availability of gymnastic machines provided with the monitoring device 50 allows to solve the problem of how to set up fitness rooms and allow each user to monitor his or her method of training on gymnastic machines and to learn more rapidly the correct methods of using these machines and of stimulating the different muscles regions. Furthermore, it should be kept in mind that the possibility of checking the method of execution of the movement and the correct positioning of the articulations with respect to the pivots of the machine is known to increase the level of gratification and motivation of the users of gyms, and in particular of body building enthusiasts.
It is well understood that the installation of such device could define a new standard for the gymnastic machines that would allow the managers of gyms to personalise the walls of these gyms as desired without however limiting the contents made available to the users. Moreover, it should not be underestimated that the installation of mirrors of adequate size on the walls presents high costs which the use of fitness machines such as the gymnastic machine 1 described above would allow to reduce considerably.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA2007A000010 | Feb 2007 | IT | national |
