Exercise devices – User manipulated force resisting apparatus – component... – Utilizing resilient force resistance
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-23
2002-10-08
Brown, Michael A. (Department: 3764)
Exercise devices
User manipulated force resisting apparatus, component...
Utilizing resilient force resistance
C482S124000, C482S129000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06461283
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to exercise apparatuses, particularly plyometric exercise apparatuses, and specifically an apparatus for plyometrically exercising the muscles of the back, most notably the muscles of the lower back.
2. Background Art
For centuries, athletes have pursued techniques for improving body strength and quickness. Strength combined with speed results in power, and physical power is a principal goal of any athlete, regardless of the sport or game of interest. Strength conditioning (for example, many types of weight lifting) has been practiced since time immemorial. Exercises for improving speed and quickness have been practiced at least as long. Many “speed” exercises focus on the performance of exercises designed to enhance quick, explosive movements. However, only in the past thirty years or so has a training system emerged which emphasizes “explosive-reactive” power development. This comparatively modem athletic training system for boosting explosive-reactive power is known as “plyometrics.”
Generally, “plyometrics” refers to exercises characterized by powerful muscular contractions in response to rapid, dynamic loading or stretching of the involved muscles. Examples of plyometric movements include the sprinter launching from her starting blocks, a volleyball player leaping for the ball, the long jumper at the instant of take-off, the golfer during his swing, or the basketball player jumping for a rebound. Indeed, most sports involve movement requiring explosive bursts of effort, and participants in training can benefit greatly from plyometric exercise.
An excellent and comprehensive, yet manageably succinct, overview of plyometric exercise is provided by James Radcliffe and Robert Farentinos, in their book
Plyometrics: Explosive Power Training
(Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign Ill.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. According to Radcliffe and Farentinos, modem plyometrics originated with training exercises developed by athletic coaches in the former U.S.S.R. and Warsaw Pact nations of the mid-1960s. An early proponent of plyometrics was Yuri Veroshanski, the Russian coach whose remarkably successful training of jumpers is universally acknowledged. Veroshanski emphasized depth jumps as a valuable plyometric exercise, and an central aspect of his conceptualization of plyometrics was his assertion that plyometric training promoted development of the entire neuromuscular system for power movements, not merely the contractile tissue alone.
The “stretch reflex”, also referred to as the muscle spindle reflex or myotactic reflex, is the basis of the motor processes involved in plyometrics. The stretch reflex is an essential process in the nervous system's overall control of body movement. In many skilled athletic maneuvers immediately preceding an explosive-reactive movement, the muscles may undergo a rapid stretching, resulting from muscle loading. As explained by Radcliffe and Farentinos, this stretching has been referred to as the “cocking phase,” and occurs in such movements as the swing of a tennis racket or baseball bat. Unbeknownst (usually) to the athlete, during such a cocking phase the muscle fibers in the muscle groups responsible for the swing's power are rapidly but slightly lengthened in anticipation of the swing. This rapid stretching of the muscles activates the muscle spindle reflex, which in turn sends a strong stimulus via the spinal cord to the muscles, causing them powerfully to contract.
For example, when a right-handed golfer begins her back swing, the bicep muscle of the left arm contracts and the tricep is stretched. When the golfer begins the forward swing, the tricep contracts powerfully in response to its rapid stretching which activated the muscle spindle reflex. According to Radcliffe and Farentinos, various terms have been suggested to describe phases of this phase reflex. The rapid loading of the muscle fibers immediately prior to muscle contraction has been called the “eccentric” or “yielding” phase, the brief period of time between initiation of the eccentric phase and the reflex muscle contraction has been dubbed the “amortization” or “overcoming” phase, and the contraction itself is the “concentric phase.” It is believed that plyometric exercises promote various changes in the neuromuscular system, enhancing the ability of the muscle groups to respond more quickly and powerfully to slight and rapid changes in muscle length. An important feature of plyometric training evidently is the conditioning of the neuromuscular system to allow for faster and more powerful changes of direction, for example, going from down to up in jumping, or in moving the legs first forward and then backward while running. Reducing the time needed for this change in direction increases speed and power.
Much of plyometric training can be accomplished without the use of any exercises devices, such as through specially developed jumping, stepping, and hopping exercises. Others involve particularized uses of poles or weights, or controlled falling from specialized platforms. These exercises and aid devices commonly are used for plyometrically training the muscles of the limbs and abdomen.
Additional information about plyometric exercise can be found in Chu, D., National
Strength and Conditioning Ass'n Journal
, April-May 1984, pp. 20-25.
It is known, however, that properly exercising the muscles of the back can alleviate lower back pain. An aspect of the invention of the present invention is the determination that back muscle conditioning, and its role in back pain therapy, should be extended to include plyometric exercise. A need results for an apparatus adapted to permit the user to plyometrically exercise the muscles of the back, including the lower back. The disciplined use of such an apparatus, particularly with the assistance and supervision of a trained physician or therapist, may provide beneficial relief from lower back pain. The present invention fills this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION (DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION)
An apparatus for plyometrically exercising the muscles of the user's back. The apparatus includes a exercise panel connected parallel to a back panel, the exercise panel being movable in relation to the back panel. Springs are disposed between the exercise panel and the back panel, so that movement of the exercise panel in relation to the back panel requires compression or extension of the springs. A seat panel is provided, which is connected to the back panel and when in use is disposed about perpendicular to the back panel. Body straps are provided for comfortably securing the user's torso to the exercise panel. The user plyometrically exercises his back muscles by rapidly alternately pressing his back against the exercise panel to compress the springs, and then pushing forward against the body straps to pull the springs into tension and resist forward motion. Features are disclosed for enhancing the portability of the apparatus, and for removably attaching it to an ordinary chair when in use.
There is provided according to the invention an apparatus for plyometrically exercising the muscles of the user's back. The apparatus features a rigid seat panel, a rigid back panel connected to the seat panel and disposable approximately perpendicular to the seat panel, an exercise panel disposed generally parallel to the back panel, one or more springs for movably connecting the exercise panel to the back panel, and at least one body strap connected to the exercise panel. By this assembly, the user may sit upon the seat panel with the user's back in contact with the exercise panel and with the at least one body strap disposed around the torso of the user, and repeatedly and alternately first push against the exercise panel and the force of the springs, and then push against the at least one body strap and the force of the springs, and thus plyometrically exercise the muscles of her back.
The
Amerson Lori Baker
Baker Rod D.
Brown Michael A.
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