Patent Application
20210402242
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The present invention relates to weightlifting machines with weight stack systems to provide an increasingly variable load over the concentric range of the exercise and provide assistantship to perform a variably decreasing overload over the eccentric range of the exercise.
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
Muscle groups have strength curves in which they can exert a maximum force output due to a mechanical advantage at a particular position or range along its motion. Resistance applied to the strong range of an exercise motion or muscle group will allow for the greatest amount of resistance to be used and it will develop the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones at a faster rate than if the resistance was only applied to the weak range of an exercise motion or muscle group. The amount of resistance capable of being handled over the strong range of an exercise motion or muscle group is disproportionately greater than the amount of resistance capable of being handled over the weak range due to a mechanical advantage of the limbs involved during the exercise. As such it is desirable to increase the amount of resistance applied over the strong range of motion for an exercise motion or muscle group during the concentric phase of the exercise as well as the eccentric phase of the exercise. Moreover, yielding isometrics in which you withstand a heavy resistance preferably as you hold a strong position for time is desirable for producing a high force output. Lastly, overcoming isometrics allows for the maximum force possible to be generated for an exercise motion or muscle group because you attempt to overcome a high level of resistance such as an immovable object as you assume a strong position preferably. This is true because of the inverse relationship between the force developed by a muscle or group of muscles and the velocity of an external load. Simply, the faster you move an external load the less force you can develop and the slower the external load moves the more force you can develop. In view of the above it is desirable to vary the resistance increasingly along the concentric and eccentric ranges of the exercise to match the strength curves of the muscle groups involved as many existing weightlifting machines with weight stack systems do not provide this benefit as the primary source of resistance. There are weightlifting machines with secondary sources of variably increasing resistance, but they are limited as they are called supplementary for a good reason. For example, secondary sources of variably increasing resistance will usually provide a low amount of resistance to supplement the primary source of resistance to allow for an incremental progression for the total amount of resistance selected. As such the weightlifter must handle the fixed amount of primary resistance throughout the range of motion which does not allow the weightlifter to handle their maximum amount of resistance during the strong range of motion. Usually, the resistance is increasingly varied over the concentric and eccentric phases of an exercise by using a gravitational mass such as a weight stack system and resilient materials such as elastic bands or torsional springs in combination or alone. Sometimes electromechanical devices are used to provide increasingly variable resistance. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,971 to Paul Raasoch (1985) a user exercises the muscles of the human body by movement through an exercise stroke in which concentric and eccentric weights are selected to provide exertion to a bodily muscle function. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,429 to Potash et al. (1994) an attachment for a weight stack provides a downward force to the weight stack during the eccentric portion of the exercise through the use of a drive motor and an eccentric force control cable adopted to be coupled between the drive motor and the weight stack. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,861 to Lanny J. Toups (1997) a weight device creates a controlled and infinitely variable resistance by multiplying the weight selected on a weight stack over the concentric portion of the exercise. The device provides isokinetic and isotonic resistance. A device that multiplies the selected weight amount on the weight stack to provide increasingly variable resistance over the concentric portion of the exercise. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,855 to William D. Shields (1990) a split phase cam machine uses a cam split into two distinct phases and an independent weight stack for each phase of the cam. The weight stacks are labeled “starting” and “finishing” to allow for the performance of the “peak contraction” technique where a user selects less weight for the “starting” weight stack and more weight as needed to the “finishing” weight stack to forcefully squeeze the muscles when fully contracted and to hold this position for a few seconds. In U.S. Pat. No. 9,656,116 to Giannelli et al. (2017) a first and second force resistance device is provided. The first being a weight stack and the second being a rotating wheel as an actuating device that is acted upon by the first resistance and the user's speed, velocity, force, energy, or power thereby causing the second resistance device to exert a second resistance that is non-linear (geometrically or exponentially) in proportion to the degree of effort done by the user. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,431 to Millburn et al. (2002) a device for retrofitting onto or incorporating into a conventional weightlifting machine is provided. A load tank replaces or supplements a number of weight plates in a conventional weight stack, while a charge tank rests on the floor proximal to the weightlifting machine. A fluid control means is provided for alternatively filling the load tank with water stored in the charge tank and draining the fluid back into the charge tank from the load tank, as desired in proportion to the muscle fatigue of the weightlifter. This invention is based on the premise that weightlifting machines are commonly used in resistance training, where the amount of weight is fixed at an amount less than the weightlifting capacity of the weightlifter. As the weightlifter progresses through his repetitions, the muscles eventually fatigue. The muscles generally reach their capacity only during the last few repetitions. Thus, several sets of repetitions can be necessary for appropriate muscle building, making the first few repetitions wasteful. Therefore, this invention attempts to reduce or eliminate the initial, inefficient repetitions by employing a system that begin at a weight at the weightlifter's capacity, and reduce the amount of weight throughout the exercise. In U.S. patent application publication 20060252611 to Quick et al. (2006) an exercise machine with bench press, weight stack, and elastic bands provide variable resistance during the concentric contraction. Pushing motion on the bench press bar transmits the force to a series of wheels connected by flexible bands and to a pair of weight stacks positioned behind the bench press. The weight members of the weight stack are connected by pins such that an upward movement of the uppermost weight members causes a pulling force to be applied to successive lower weight members one at a time, thereby allowing incremental increase in the resistance force to the lifting motion of the user. Depending on the strength of the user, elastic bands are used because weight plates often jump from 5 to 10 pounds without the possibility for an increment in weight in between. In U.S. Pat. No. 10,369,398 to Lagree et al (2019) an improved exercise machine with a variable resistance system to provide increasing resistance over the concentric portion of an exercise is provided. The improved exercise machine improves upon Pilates apparatuses by making the selection of variable resistance level clear to the user for continuous uninterrupted exercise. In addition, the direction of variable resistance can be changed immediately to provide the exerciser with another exercise to perform for circuit training benefits. The variable resistance system can be applied to strength training machines such as a pull down and shoulder press combination to optimize the circuit training benefits because of time saved from having to move from one apparatus to another and selecting the desired resistance level which often requires set up time. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,615 to Nurkowski (1986) a progressive resistance mechanism suitable for use with a weightlifting machine provides increasingly variable resistance over the concentric portion of the exercise. The progressive resistance mechanism uses two or more weight stacks that are selectively and independently engaged having a selector post through each weight stack. Each selector post has a first pin for selecting a subset of weights and at least one selector post has a second pin for locking a slidable collar at selected distances along the post above the carriage. The upward-travelling carriage engages the various pre-set collars in sequence to lift the associated selector posts. The weight stacks depending from the selector posts are thus serially engaged during the course of a single user repetition. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,704 to Shifferaw (1986) an exercise machine for muscle building uses resilient rods which are flexed and resist movement of a person using the machine to provide increasingly variable resistance over the concentric portion of the exercise. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,375 to Richard E. Connelly (1985) an exercise apparatus provides variably increasing resistance to the concentric range of the exercise by using elastic bands or torsional springs. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,171 to Clark et al (1985) an apparatus for muscular exercise is provided where the user conducts a repetitive motion under load with the eccentric range of the exercise being loaded with more load than the concentric range of the exercise.
For Raasoch's disclosure, it requires more weight stack space, more weight stack plates, and cannot be incorporated towards existing weight stack systems found on weightlifting machines without a significant change to the mechanical parts and/or its assembly. For Potash's et al. disclosure, it does not provide increasingly variable resistance over the concentric portion of the exercise. For Toups's disclosure, it requires weight stack plates as the primary source of resistance. For Shields's disclosure, it requires at least two independent weight stack plates to create an increasingly variable resistance over the concentric range of motion. For Giannelli's et al. disclosure, it requires weight stack plates and a rotating wheel device as an actuating device to create the variable resistance in proportion to the degree of effort done by the user. For Millburn's et al. disclosure, it does not provide increasingly variable resistance over the concentric portion of the exercise. For Quick's et al. disclosure, it applies to a bench press machine with a free moving barbell and it does not apply to strength training machines with moving handles that move in a fixed path with a weight stack and cable pulley system. For Lagree's disclosure, it does not provide supplementary resistance in 5 Pound increments or any amount of resistance between 0 and 10 (i.e. 0.5 lb, 2 lbs, 1 lb, etc). So, incremental progression of 5 pounds are not possible and it will cause a significant limitation for a weightlifter's progress with the resistance level used. It cannot be incorporated towards existing weight stack systems found on weightlifting machines without a significant change to the mechanical parts and/or its assembly. For Nurkowski's disclosure, it requires at least two or more independent weight stacks to provide increasingly variable resistance over the concentric range of the motion. For Shifferaw's disclosure, it cannot be incorporated into the existing weight stack housing frames of weightlifting machines. For Connelly's disclosure, it cannot be incorporated into weightlifting machines utilizing a weight stack with cable pulley system along with the other mechanical parts known in the art. For Clark's disclosure, it does not provide variably increasing resistance over the concentric range of the exercise.
These disclosures heretofore known suffer from a few disadvantages:
In accordance with one embodiment a resistance band exercise machine comprises a cable-pulley variable resistance system housing, a cable-pulley variable resistance system, a pair of uprights with a safety bar inserted into a safety bar hole, and a training partner assistantship cable-pulley system or a training partner assistantship feature of having an input lifting arm with a handle grip and/or a shoulder padding for a user to perform various exercises against a primary (resistance band) and secondary (springs) sources of variably increasing resistance, resistance band with isometrics using safety bars, and perform more full/partial range of motion negative repetitions through variably decreasing resistance with the help of a training partner.
Accordingly, several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provide a resistance band exercise machine with a cable-pulley variable resistance system that enables a user wearing a harness or belt to perform push-up exercises in the prone position with their hands on the platform with primary variably increasing resistance and to quickly change the resistance independently, that enables a user to perform push-up exercises with primary variably increasing resistance using partial range of motion, that enables a user to perform push-up exercises with primary variably increasing resistance through a range of motion and perform isometrics against a safety bar, that enables a user to perform push-up exercises with primary variably increasing resistance through full/partial range of motion negative repetitions using a training partner, that enables a user to perform push-up exercises with primary source of variably increasing resistance from start to end position of an exercise and secondary source of variably increasing resistance towards end position of an exercise. These advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing descriptions.
In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs.
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The resistance band exercise machine includes, but is not limited to, exercises from U.S. patent application publication 20190374814-A1. The resistance band exercise machine applies to all other exercises targeting different muscle groups in the human body.
The exercise from U.S. patent application publication 20190374814-A1 is shown in
The user performs the exercise with their hands on a platform 154 through full range of motion for a number of repetitions on the resistance band exercise machine against the resistance band that is variably increasing in resistance from start to end position of the exercise by wearing a harness or belt 164 having snap link hook suspended from it and configured to connect to a cable 142 as shown in
The user can add the springs by placing them on the top plate into the recessed spring pocket to perform the exercise through a full range of motion from start to end position contracting against the resistance band then the springs approaching the end position of the exercise as shown in
The user can perform full range of motion negative repetitions (lowering phase of an exercise; eccentric muscle contraction) only using training partners. One training partner lifts the user using a strap 138 with a strap handle grip 140 in this particular exercise because it's a bodyweight exercise while the other training partner assists by performing a much more powerful exercise than the exercise the user is going to perform to set the user to the end position of the exercise in order to perform full range of motion negative repetitions only. The powerful exercise the training partner performs in this scenario is deadlifts using an input lifting arm 122 with a handle grip 124 like one performing deadlifts using a trap bar or also known as hex bar as shown in
When the user cannot perform another full range of motion negative repetition only as shown in
When the user cannot perform another full range of motion negative repetition only as shown in
After the user is done performing partial range of motion repetitions and isometrics against the safety bars, the training partners can assist the user to perform negative partial range of motion repetitions as shown in
From the description above, a number of advantages of my resistance band exercise machine become evident:
Accordingly, the reader will see that the resistance band exercise machine allows a user to perform exercises including exercises from U.S. patent application publication 20190374814-A1 through dynamic motion (full range motion and partial range of motion), full/partial range of motion negative repetitions only using training partners, and static position (yielding isometrics and overcoming isometrics) using primary and secondary sources of variably increasing resistance as well as safety bars in one machine. Also, the user can quickly change the resistance level and multiple users can perform push-up exercises in the prone position together assisting one another with no muscular effort lost. In addition, the user can perform more repetitions in the strong range of motion (from mid to end position of an exercise) using primary and secondary sources of variably increasing resistance with the help of training partners. Furthermore, the resistance band exercise machine has the additional advantages in that:
The above described embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, as one skilled in the art can, in view of the present invention, expand such embodiment to correspond with the subject matter of the present invention claimed below. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
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