CN101015734A - Inflatable exercise device - Google Patents

Abstract

An inflatable one-piece hemispherical or dome shaped flat bottom exercise device similar to an exercise ball and having a flat and relatively stable surface that improves utility for persons who cannot control the prior art perfectly round exercise ball.

Description

inflatable exercise device

technical field

The present invention relates to an exercise device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an inflatable exercise device for activating various muscle groups and promoting core stability.

Background technique

Existing exercise balls are inflatable balls with relatively large diameters (12-42 inches), which are strong enough to support the weight of a human body while maintaining a generally spherical shape.

Exercise balls are useful for specific targeted muscle groups. Sit-ups and other abdominal exercises are much more effective when performed with an exercise ball. Limited studies in the scientific literature propose that exercise training on unstable surfaces results in greater muscle activity as a way of providing systemic (human) stability during exercise.

A problem with prior art exercise balls is that they tend to roll and wobble during exercise. In fact, the tendency of prior art exercise balls to tilt and roll makes exercising with exercise balls more difficult because the ease of tilting and rolling The exercise ball requires more muscular control from the person using the exercise ball (to control the movement of the ball and the exercise performed). For those who need or want an exercise ball that provides more defined muscle movement, rather than those who cannot control the tilt and roll of prior art exercise balls, there is a need for a method that reduces or eliminates roll. exercise equipment.

Existing dome-shaped inflatable balance trainers, such as the BOSU ^(R) balance trainer, have a hard plastic base and are large and heavy, weighing up to 14 lbs. These devices are not designed to provide a comfortable fit between the user and the ground when the user is in a generally supine position.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides an inflatable hemispherical exercise device that reduces or eliminates the tilt and roll of prior art round exercise balls. Because the device is hemispherical, the flat surface on which it rests on the ground reduces or even eliminates the extra tilting and rolling that occurs with some prior art devices. Furthermore, the monolithic structure of the present invention limits additional instability of the expanded substrate under load while maintaining a small profile for ease of use and storage.

Description of drawings

For reasons of brevity, like elements are designated with like reference numerals throughout this disclosure.

1 is an overall perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an exercise device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the bottom view of device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view;

Figure 4 is a side view of the device showing the deformation under load and the resulting local deformation of the planar surface due to exercise using the device;

5 is a perspective view of an exercise device according to the present invention, wherein the user is shown in a first exercise position;

Figure 6 is a view of a preferred embodiment of an exercise device according to the present invention, wherein the user is shown in a second exercise position;

7 is a view of a preferred embodiment of an exercise device according to the present invention, wherein the user is shown in a third exercise position; and

Fig. 8 is a view of a preferred embodiment of an exercise device according to the present invention, wherein the user is shown in a fourth exercise position.

Detailed ways

Figure 1 shows an exercise device 10 made from a flexible bladder that has a hemispherical shape when filled with air or other gas. As is well known, a hemisphere is half a sphere, and therefore, exercise device 10 shown in FIG. However, the flat surface 12 prevents the device 10 from rolling or tilting like known prior art round exercise balls.

As shown in Figure 2, the flat bottom 12 of the exercise device 10 includes an inflation port or valve 14 through which a "air needle" known in the art can be inserted to inflate the bladder. Since the device is made of a relatively flexible material, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the stiffness of the device 10 will be directly related to the amount of air or gas filled in the device 10 .

In one embodiment, the flexible bladder is made of a flexible polymer or vulcanized rubber. In another embodiment, the flexible bladder is made of relatively thin polyvinyl chloride or "PVC". A preferred embodiment uses PVC with a thickness of about 2-3 mm.

By using thin and light flexible materials, the weight of the exercise device can be kept at less than about 1200 g (1.2 kg), making the device easy to move and store.

In a preferred embodiment, the size of the hemispherical exercise device 10 shown in FIG. 1 should be set so that when the user uses the device 10 to perform various exercises in a generally supine position, the device 10 can be placed on the user's back, buttocks, etc. or the underside of a small portion of the foot to comfortably support a human body relatively close to the ground or other support surface. In a preferred embodiment, the device has an inner radius of about 5 inches and a flat bottom diameter of about 15 inches. "Inner radius", as used herein, is considered to be the distance from the geometric center of the flat bottom 12, i.e., the distance extending from the center of the bottom 12 to the inner surface of the bladder when the device 10 is fully inflated and not supporting a load. distance.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , there is shown a side view of device 10 with flat bottom 12 having diameter "D" as shown. FIG. 3 also shows the user's body part 16 , which is located above the device 10 .

In FIG. 4 , device 10 is shown bearing a load, wherein the load is represented by the weight of a user using device 10 . When the weight of the user is pressed onto the device 10 by the body part 16 placed directly on top of the hemispherical capsule, the body weight causes the device to deform, ie become non-hemispherical.

As shown in Figure 4, when a load is pressed to the top of the device 10, the resulting increased internal pressure causes the flexible base of the device to expand. The peripheral edge 18 of the bottom 12 rolls or curls upwards, thereby reducing the stability of the device. In other words, when exercise device 10 supports a load, it becomes slightly unstable, slightly increasing the difficulty of exercising with device 10 .

5 and 6 depict apparatus 10 for performing an abdominal crunch exercise. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, placing exercise device 10 below the spine reduces the potential for injury. By reducing the air pressure in the device 10, its deformation can be increased during exercises such as sit-ups, thereby improving its comfort.

7 and 8 illustrate the use of device 10 to support the lower back during sit-ups. By positioning the device on a small portion of the lower back, the user is able to more effectively work the abdominal muscle groups.

The purpose of strengthening the muscles is to move freely through a full range of motion, and the present invention allows a greater range of motion of the torso, which in turn allows more muscle activity during repetitive movements. Use of this device results in an exercise that requires greater trunk range of motion and greater muscular activation of the rectus abdominis (upper) and external obliques. A variety of factors contributed to the greater muscle activity measured using this device compared to traditional ground-based exercises.

The device described allows the user to exercise through a greater range of movement. Thus, the moving muscles need to work over a greater range of muscle motion. Due to this greater range of motion, the muscles of the anterior trunk are engaged as the trunk is in the extended position (starting of the sit-up exercise) as well as in the flexed position (termination of the sit-up exercise, i.e., rolled up position) sports. The extended position is achieved by placing the center of gravity of the upper body at the greatest distance from the axis of rotation (pelvis); thus, the external effort arm is large early in the sit-up exercise. As the crunch motion continues, the center of gravity of the upper body moves closer to the axis of rotation (pelvis), causing the outer moment arm to decrease. The device positions the torso in a more extended position, lengthening the overall outer moment arm to a greater extent than traditional floor exercises.

Various modifications to the apparatus 10 described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1, a kind of exercising apparatus comprises:

Flexible pocket, when described capsule was inflated at least in part, its size, shape and layout were configured to hemispherical, and the hemispheric capsule of described cardinal principle has smooth substantially surface, to be placed on ground or other flat surfaces.

2, device according to claim 1, wherein, described flexible pocket further comprises: at least one charge valve, it is used for described capsule is filled with air or other gas.

3, device according to claim 1, wherein, described flexible pocket is made by polymer or vulcanized rubber material.

4, device according to claim 1, wherein, described flexible pocket is made by polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

5, device according to claim 4, wherein, the thickness of described PVC is about 2mm.

6, device according to claim 1, wherein, the weight of described device is less than 1200g.

7, device according to claim 1, wherein, the inside radius of inflation and unloaded described hemisphere is less than 6 inches.

8, device according to claim 1, wherein, the diameter of the flat surfaces of described device is less than 17 inches.

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