Patent Application
20240149093
The present invention relates to exercise equipment, and more particularly to rotatable strength training equipment.
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
It is known that resistance applied to a muscle during contraction causes micro-tears to form in the muscle fibers engaged. These muscle fibers are then repaired by the body and are then better able to handle the stimulus that caused the damage. This is known as hypertrophy, and it is how muscles grow and become stronger from strength training exercises.
Traditionally, weights have been used during strength training exercises to produce hypertrophy. These are not only heavy, but they are also large and cumbersome. As such, countless pieces of strength training equipment have been produced throughout the years with the aim of maximizing gains while minimizing wasted time, effort, expense and space.
An extremely minimalist approach to strength training was popularized in the 1920s. It is known as Dynamic Tension, and it requires only the user's opposing muscles pushing and pulling against each other for resistance. Though it reduces the space and expense of equipment, it maximizes time and effort required of the user to input the resistance themselves. As such, the force applied during each exercise is unknown and variable, which could result in workouts that do not produce the amount of hypertrophy desired.
Other means of resistance, such as springs, pneumatic resistance, hydraulic resistance, elastic bands, magnets, etc., have been utilized throughout the years in various pieces of strength training equipment. Though these means of resistance reduce the size and weight of the devises, the vast majority of the pieces of equipment lack efficiency due to their reliance on linear reciprocal motion for strength training. The apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,160 to Huang, 1997, July 1, requires the user to perform separate back and forth motions of each muscle in separate exercises to achieve a complete workout.
For strength training equipment to be truly both effective and efficient, it must be portable, it must save time and effort by engaging many muscles in a single repetition, and it must be able to change resistance quickly to avoid wasted time with adjustments. Our attention is therefore focused on strength training equipment without a base in order to ensure it is portable, and more specifically, rotatable strength training equipment with a resilient means of resistance in order to ensure many muscles are trained in a single repetition.
Several types of specific baseless rotational exercise equipment have been proposed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 9,492,706 to Turnbow (2016), U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,494 to Sandoval (2001), U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,102 to Gifford (1971), U.S. Pat. No. 8,915,828 to Stalnaker et al. (2014), U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,661 to Hansen (1970), U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,429 (1965) and 3,062,543 (1962) both to Shaboo.
All the baseless rotatable exercise equipment heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
In accordance with one embodiment, a strength training devise comprises a baseless means of resilient resistance that is oriented perpendicularly to two hand or foot pedals that are longitudinally and transversely offset from each other. Each hand or foot pedal has the ability to rotate about its axis and the axis of the means of resilient resistance to facilitate a tensioned cranking exercise. Other embodiments contemplated further allow each hand or foot pedal to rotate about a third axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each hand or foot pedal to facilitate the user being able to rotate their grip to perform exercises with their palms up, down or any degree in between without releasing tension on the devise
Accordingly several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provide a strength training devise that maximizes efficiency by being as compact as possible, capable of working multiple muscles in a single repetition, providing equal resistance to each extremity being exercised, able to adjust resistance without setting the devise down, and being able to change hand positions without releasing tension. In such a way the said devise will efficiently induce hypertrophy. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The resilient resistance means 38 in this embodiment is made up of a cylinder 22 with a first end 32 and a second end 34. The cylinder 22 is made of rigid metal with a length of around 12 inches. Varying lengths could be used that are compatible with the length of a user's outstretched arms or legs during use. Generally, the longer the cylinder is, the larger the range of resistance will be for the devise. The cylinder 22 has an axial hole 42 between the first end 32 and the second end 34.
As shown in
A first end bolt 18 passes through the bolt accepting end 40 of the piston rod 24 and threads into one end of the hand or foot pedal 10. A rotatable grip sleeve 12 with a strap 14 attached to it is placed over the hand or foot pedal 10. An end cap 16 threads into an opposite end of the hand or foot pedal 10 and helps to secure the rotatable grip sleeve 12 in place longitudinally. A second end bolt 18′ passes through the end plug and fixture 48 and threads into one end of a hand or foot pedal 10′. A rotatable grip sleeve 12′ with a strap 14′ attached to it is placed over the hand or foot pedal 10′. An end cap 16′ threads into an opposite end of the hand or foot pedal 10′ securing the rotatable grip sleeve from longitudinal travel.
Each rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′ closely surrounds circumferentially its respective hand or foot pedal 10 and 10′, and is free to rotate coaxially around it with minimal axial/longitudinal shifting of the rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′ relative to its supporting portion. Any means known in the art for providing coaxial rotation, while preferably limiting axial shifting, may be used. Separate ball bearing or bushing assemblies may be provided.
Regardless of the selected means for providing the connection between each rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′ with its respective hand or foot pedal 10 and 10′, the rotatable grip sleeves 12 and 12′ are adapted to be engaged with the user's feet or hands, and thus preferably have an axial length slightly greater than the lateral width of a human hand or foot. The axial length of each hand of foot pedal 10 and 10′ that mounts a rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′ accordingly is at least as long as its corresponding rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′. Rotatable grip sleeves 12 and 12′ are provided with an exterior grip composed of any suitable composition known in the art for providing a comfortable non-slipping contact with a user's grasping hand. Likewise, rotatable grip sleeves 12 and 12′ are provided with a strap 14 and 14′ composed of any suitable material known in the art for being able to secure the user's foot between it and the exterior of the rotatable grip sleeve 12 and 12′. It could be an elastic material that would not require any means for tightening, or it could be a non-resilient material that would necessitate a means for tightening known it the art.
In its initial and most rudimentary use, the rotational strength training devise can be picked up, with each hand positioned about rotatable grip sleeves 12 and 12′, and held so that the hand or foot pedals 10 and 10′ are oriented longitudinally and transversely offset from each other. In this manner the means of resilient resistance 38 will be oriented substantially vertically held at a comfortable height off the ground and distance away from the body. The devise can then be rotated in a cranking fashion by pushing with one hand while pulling with the other hand on the respective hand or foot pedals. In such a way, the devise allows the user to warm-up and stretch their muscles prior to introducing a load. Because the devise is baseless and narrowly constructed, the user can change the position of the devise during rotation to engage many different muscles. Moving the devise up, down, left, right, further away, closer, or any combination of these movements while rotating the devise will produce different effects on the muscles engaged.
Once the user is warmed up and ready, they can begin introducing a load, without stopping their rotational movements, by simultaneously attempting to separate both hand or foot pedals 10 and 10′ by pushing and pulling them in opposite directions along the axis of the resilient resistance means 38. Because the resilient resistance means 38 is positioned between the hand or foot pedals 10 and 10′, the user is able to engage two opposing muscles at the same time with evenly applied force throughout the entire rotation of the exercise. By enabling the user to complete a full rotation with evenly applied force radiating from the axis of rotation, the devise is able to engage many muscles in a single repetition with evenly applied resistance. The speed of rotation is determined by the user. For prolonged contraction of a particular set of muscles, the user may decide to stop rotation for a length of time while holding tension.
Moving the devise up, down, left, right, further away, closer, or any combination of these movements while rotating the devise, and holding tension throughout, will produce different effects on the muscles engaged.
It is to be recognized that the user may practice these methods with the resilient resistance means orientated horizontally, or any degree in between horizontal and vertical as well. Likewise, it is to be recognized that the user may practice these methods with the palms and wrists facing outward or inward. Rotation can be reversed at any time during exercise as well.
Furthermore, it is recognized that the user may practice these methods with each foot secured to a hand or foot pedal 10 and 10′. The same variety of rotation amongst and between the various spatial positions described above is available to the lower extremities when the user secures each foot into a hand or foot pedal 10 and 10′.
Additional embodiments are shown in
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From the description above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of my rotatable strength training devise become evident:
Accordingly, the reader will see that the rotatable strength training devises of the various embodiments can be used to efficiently produce hypertrophy throughout the body. Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments. For example, the resilient resistance means 38 can have other shapes, such as oval, triangular, etc.; the internal resilient resistance means 38 can be replaced by one that is external to the telescoping members; etc.
Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
