Resistance garments
Resistance garments for providing increased benefits of physical exertion are described herein. The resistance garments provide for manual adjustment or automated adjustment of the tension in resistive elements and/or rods. Adjustment devices such as clam cleats, hooks, knobs, ratchet pulleys, spring loaded pulleys, automated resistance devices, and automated ratchet pulleys are disclosed.
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Application No. 60/750,432, filed Dec. 14, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUNDA resistance garment worn by a person during aerobic activity may provide greater muscle tone and increased caloric output than would otherwise be possible within a given time period. These increased benefits of physical exertion may, for example, be expressed as improved athletic performance, expedited recovery from injury, and/or maintenance of fitness and health.
Several resistance garments have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,814, titled “One piece elastic body suit”, discloses a jumpsuit having outer and inner cloth sections with elastic band members disposed between the cloth sections. A pair of elastic band members runs from the back of the ankles, over the shoulders, to the front of the ankles in a parallel fashion. Another elastic member encircles the waist.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,428, titled “Exercise device of adjustable resistance for flexing of muscles of the legs and torso”, discloses an elasticized garment having an inverted U-shape. The center of the garment is attached to a rear waist portion of the wearer. A pair of elongated, descending members falls over the hamstrings and attaches above each of the wearer's knees. The garment is especially designed for walking or running where the descending members resist the forward motion of the wearer's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,600, titled “Aerobic resistance exercise garment”, discloses a garment including stretchable, elastic webbing between each arm and the torso, and also interconnecting the leg portions with each other. The garment further includes a plurality of pockets to hold optional weights.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,701, 5,306,222, and 5,720,042, disclose garments having a compressive structure, for better muscular alignment and less muscle fatigue, combined with longitudinal resistive elements, such as elastic bands, strips or cords. The compressive structure may be a series of compressive cuffs, or a suit made in whole or part of a compressive material, such as Lycra®. Resistive bands may be attached to anchor points on the compressive cuffs, gloves or socks/shoes.
SUMMARYIn one embodiment, a resistance garment includes a first cuff and a second cuff, the first cuff and the second cuff circumscribing a portion of a wearer's body; an adjustment device fixedly attached to the first cuff; and a resistive element connecting the first cuff and the second cuff, wherein the resistive element couples with the adjustment device.
In one embodiment, a method of providing a resistance garment to increase the benefits of physical exertion includes applying a first cuff and a second cuff to a wearer's body, the first cuff and the second cuff circumscribing a portion of the wearer's body; providing an adjustment device fixedly attached to the first cuff; and connecting the adjustment device of the first cuff and the second cuff with a resistive element.
In one embodiment, a resistance garment includes at least one resistive plate device to be worn by a person, the resistive plate device having a plurality of baffles, wherein each baffle is secured to at least one neighboring baffle by a rubberized material.
In one embodiment, a resistance garment includes a first cuff disposed at a distal end of a body part; a second cuff disposed at a proximal end of the body part; and a rod connecting the first cuff and the second cuff.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Resistance garments may be worn by a person during exercise and/or during daily activities. For example, athletes may combine strength training with cardiovascular training by wearing a resistance garment during an aerobic activity. In another example, a form-fitting resistance garment may be worn under a person's everyday clothes, and the applied resistance may help a sedentary person, or a person experiencing reduced gravity (e.g., an astronaut), maintain muscle tone.
Reference will now be made to the attached drawings, where like numbers represent similar elements in multiple figures. Numbering without parentheses is used to denote a genus (e.g., resistive elements 110), whereas numbering with parentheses denotes a species within a genus (e.g., resistive element 110(2)). Multiple elements within a figure may not be labeled for the sake of clarity.
It may, however, be desirable to alter the level of applied resistance from day-to-day or even during the course of a workout. For example, as a person becomes stronger through the use of a resistance garment, it may be necessary to increase resistance in order to continue to provide the benefits of resistance training. In another example, a person may warm-up at the beginning of a workout using light resistance and then increase the resistance as the workout progresses.
In an alternate embodiment, shown in
Another adjustment device that is contemplated for use with the resistance garments described herein is a novel ratchet pulley.
The resistance of spring loaded pulley 800 may be manually set by twisting housing 505 in the direction of increasing spring tension. At the position of desired resistance, resistive element 110 may be anchored in an appropriate hole 502. Alternatively, resistive element 110 may be anchored to spring loaded pulley 800 prior to manually setting the tension of pulley 800 and a distal end of resistive element 110 may be anchored to an adjustment device 202, for example a clam cleat, when the tension of spring loaded pulley 800 is sufficient.
Spring loaded pulley 800 is able to take-in and pay-out resistive element 110 as movement progresses. Therefore, spring loaded pulley 800 may be used with elastomeric resistive elements 110, as described above, or with resistive elements 110 that are non-stretching, static cords, belts, cables, fibers, chains or straps.
It will be appreciated that pulleys for use with the resistance garments described herein may have one, two or more layers (e.g., 504, 506), and that each layer may anchor one or more resistive elements 110.
Another device that is contemplated for use with the resistance garments described herein is a resistive plate device. FIGS. 17A-B shows exemplary resistive plate devices 1700 which may be worn on a joint, e.g., an elbow. Resistive plate devices 1700 contain baffles 1702 that are relatively stiff and may, for example, be made of plastic or metal. Each baffle 1702 is able to partially slide over or under a neighboring baffle, which allows the resistive plate device 1700 to compress and expand. A cuff 102 may be worn under the resistive plate device 1700 to prevent friction with or pinching of the skin. Cuff 102 may be made of a compressive material, as described above, and may be fixedly attached to resistive plate device 1700 in order to keep device 1700 from becoming displaced. In some embodiments, it may be desirable for baffles 1702 to be disposed on only one portion of resistive plate device 1700. For example, cuff 102 may circumscribe a wearer's joint and baffles 1702 may be attached to only the front or back of cuff 102, to reduce production costs and/or to provide greater comfort to a user.
Mechanical friction may result from contact between neighboring baffles 1702 when they slide over and/or under one another. However, resistive plate devices 1700 may also contain mechanical elements that provide resistance. FIGS. 18A-C show such mechanical elements in longitudinal cross-sectional views of resistive plate devices 1700. A flexible, rubberized material 1802 may secure baffles 1702 to one another, as well as inhibit compression and extension of resistive plate device 1700.
Automated resistance device 2102 may also measure the load on motor 2212. For example, circuitry 2210 may operate to keep the load on motor 2212 constant. Signals containing information about the load and motor compensation pattern may be sent by antennae 2214 to a central processing unit that evaluates and learns the resistance patterns of a person wearing a resistance garment. The data may then be used to customize a resistance training program for an individual wearing an automated resistance garment. This type of evaluation and customization are particularly useful for activities that involve repetitive motion, e.g., running, cycling, cross-country skiing.
It will be appreciated that the number and positioning of elements described herein may vary from what is expressly shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the resistance garments described herein.
The changes described above, and others, may be made in the methods and systems described herein without departing from the scope hereof. It should thus be noted that the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The following claims are intended to cover all generic and specific features described herein, as well as all statements of the scope of the present method and system, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall there between.
Claims
1. A resistance garment comprising:
- a first cuff and a second cuff, the first cuff and the second cuff circumscribing a portion of a wearer's body;
- an adjustment device fixedly attached to the first cuff; and
- a resistive element connecting the first cuff and the second cuff, wherein the resistive element couples with the adjustment device.
2. The resistance garment of claim 1, wherein the adjustment device is selected from the group consisting of a clam cleat, a hook, a knob, a ratchet pulley, a spring loaded pulley, an automated resistance device, and an automated ratchet pulley.
3. The resistance garment of claim 1, further comprising a second adjustment device attached to the second cuff, wherein the resistive element couples with the second adjustment device.
4. The resistance garment of claim 4, wherein the second adjustment device is selected from the group consisting of a clam cleat, a hook, a knob, a ratchet pulley, a spring loaded pulley, an automated resistance device, and an automated ratchet pulley.
5. The resistance garment of claim 4, wherein one or more of the first cuff and the second cuff includes a resistance plate device.
6. The resistance garment of claim 1, wherein one or more of the first cuff and the second cuff includes a resistance plate device.
7. The resistance garment of claim 1, wherein the cuffs form part of an article of clothing.
8. The resistance garment of claim 7, wherein the article of clothing is selected from the group consisting of a one-piece suit, pants, a shirt, a glove, a foot covering, and a harness.
9. The resistance garment of claim 1, further comprising webbing, the webbing resisting abduction of an appendage.
10. A method of providing a resistance garment to increase the benefits of physical exertion, comprising:
- applying a first cuff and a second cuff to a wearer's body, the first cuff and the second cuff circumscribing a portion of the wearer's body;
- providing an adjustment device fixedly attached to the first cuff; and
- connecting the adjustment device of the first cuff and the second cuff with a resistive element.
11. A resistance garment comprising:
- at least one resistive plate device to be worn by a person, the resistive plate device having a plurality of baffles, wherein each baffle is secured to at least one neighboring baffle by a rubberized material.
12. The resistance garment of claim 11, further comprising one or more resistive elements connecting a pair of the resistive plate devices.
13. The resistance garment of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of springs that link neighboring baffles.
14. The resistance garment of claim 11, further comprising one or more elastomeric lines.
15. The resistance garment of claim 11, further comprising an adjustment device mounted on the resistive plate device.
16. The resistance garment of claim 15, wherein the adjustment device is selected from the group consisting of a clam cleat, a hook, a knob, a ratchet pulley, a spring loaded pulley, an automated resistance device, and an automated ratchet pulley.
17. A resistance garment comprising:
- a first cuff disposed at a distal end of a body part;
- a second cuff disposed at a proximal end of the body part; and
- a rod connecting the first cuff and the second cuff.
18. The resistance garment of claim 17, wherein the rod is a flexible rod.
19. The resistance garment of claim 18, wherein the flexible rod comprises a material selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, carbon fiber aid carbon nanotubes.
Type: Application
Filed: May 26, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 14, 2007
Inventors: Peter Purdy (Bend, OR), Luke Purdy (Bend, OR)
Application Number: 11/441,568
International Classification: A63B 21/02 (20060101);