Abstract: An abdominal bench having an extendable and retractable assist and resist assembly that will, depending upon how it is connected, provide variable levels of assistance forces to help pivot a torso section of the bench into an upright position and/or variable levels of forces that will resist the pivoting of the torso section. The extendable and retractable assist and resist assembly can include one or more elastic members that can work solely or in tandem to provide the assistance and resistance forces.

Abstract: A swing trainer composed of a handle, pulley, and cord connected to the handle and passing through the pulley permits a user to freely move the handle in any direction as well as rotate about its longitudinal axis so that he or she can engage in movement specific resistance training in a muscle memory fashion. The swing trainer preferably includes all or portion of a golf club (e.g., golf grip), tennis racket, baseball bat, hockey stick, or other piece of sporting equipment which the user will be training on. Because the handle is connected to the cord, the user can turn, rotate, and swing the handle in the same manner as he or she will when engaged in a sport, and the cord will slide on the pulley during this motion.