Squat Towel

Abstract

The towel of the present invention is designed to securely wrap around a barbell to protect the user from abrasion and injury when performing various exercises such as squatting, hip thrusters, and deadlifts. The towel of the present invention comprises a front face with a plurality of female attachment mechanisms, a back face with a plurality of male attachment mechanisms for mating with the female attachment mechanisms, gripper dots located on the back face of the towel, and padding located throughout the towel.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/037,624, filed Aug. 15, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing additional support and protection while performing various exercises using a barbell or similar exercise equipment. The apparatus can also be used as a towel for absorbing fluids and perspiration during exercise.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A general objective of the present invention is to provide an exercise aid that can be securely wrapped around a barbell to provide support and protection while performing exercises. Barbells commonly found in gyms and athletic clubs often have gnarling to help the user grip. However, while performing certain exercises, the movement of the barbell or the placement of the barbell may cause the gnarling to come into contact with the user either by compression or impact. This compression/impact can cause skin abrasions or injury. To prevent this occurrence, many users wrap a common hand towel around the barbell to provide cushioning support and protection from the gnarling on the barbell. However, this solution is not ideal since the hand towels often slip off and require constant readjustment after every movement. Additionally, hand towels are thin and do not provide sufficient cushioning support and protection. While there are specialized products commercially available such as foam covers or manta-shaped support pads, these products are cumbersome and not versatile. For instance, foam covers can be wrapped around the barbell; however, they can only be used for squatting and potentially for hip thrusts if the cover is long enough. Manta shaped pads can only be used for squats. Accordingly the user is required to carry an extra piece of gym equipment for only one exercise. Therefore, the objective of the present invention is to provide a towel able to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art by that can be securely attached to any barbell in a plurality of configurations to offer the user cushion support and protection from impact/contact with the barbell used during a wide variety of exercises. Additionally, the towel of the present invention can be used in place of common towels which users already bring to the gym.

The towel of the present invention comprises a front face with a plurality of loop patches, a back face with a plurality of hook patches for securely and releasably attaching with the loop patches, gripper dots located on the back face of the towel, and padding located throughout the towel. More specifically, on the front face of the towel there are (1) a first set of two loop patches located on opposite edges at the top of the towel and (2) a second set of two loop patches located on opposite edges in the bottom half of the towel. On the back face of the towel there are (1) a set of two gripper dots located on opposite edges at the top of the towel, (2) a first set of two hook patches located on opposite edges at the top portion of the towel, and (3) a second set of two hook patches located on opposite edges at the bottom of the towel. In some embodiments, the hook patches are provided with a loop flap adjacent to an edge of the hook patch which is used to cover the hook patch when the towel is not being used with a barbell. This is to prevent the hook patches from snagging the towel or scratching the user's face when the towel is not engaged with a barbell. Alternatively, instead of hook and loop patches, buttons, snaps, magnets, clips, clasps, ties, drawstrings or any other securing fasteners or male/female attachments known in the art can be used. Additionally, the towel of the present invention can also be provided with additional padding in the form of denser toweling sections, foam/neoprene padding attached to the towel, or sealed compartments containing air, fluids, or gels affixed to or incorporated within the towel.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a towel that can be securely and releaseably wrapped around itself to cover a barbell. To attach the towel to a barbell, the user places the top back face of the towel against the barbell. The user then wraps the towel once around the barbell and engages the first set of hook and loop patches. The remaining length of the towel is then wrapped around the barbell and the second set of hook and loop patches are engaged so that the towel is securely wrapped around the barbell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the front face of the towel.

FIG. 2 depicts the back face of the towel.

FIG. 3 depicts the first step in engaging the towel with a barbell.

FIG. 4 depicts the towel fully engaged with a barbell.

FIG. 5 depicts an alternate embodiment using male and female snaps.

FIG. 6 depicts the snap embodiment partially wrapped around a barbell.

FIG. 7 depicts the snap embodiment completely wrapped around a barbell.

FIG. 8 depicts an alternate embodiment of the towel using snaps arranged along the top and bottom edges of the towel.

FIGS. 9 and 10 depicts the alternate embodiment horizontally wrapped around a barbell.

FIG. 11 depicts the towel engaged with a barbell used for squatting.

FIG. 12 depicts the towel engaged with a barbell used for front squats.

FIG. 13 depicts the towel engaged with a barbell used for lunges.

FIG. 14 depicts the towel engaged with a barbell used for deadlifts.

FIG. 15 depicts the towel engaged with a barbell used for hip trusts.

FIG. 16 depicts the towel with a plurality of cushioning strips to improve padding.

FIG. 17 depicts the towel with a gel pad to improve padding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, the towel 1 comprises a front face 1a with a plurality of loop patches , a back face 1b with a plurality of hook patches for securely and releasably attaching with the loop patches 2, optionally, gripper dots 4 located on the back face of the towel to prevent the towel from slipping along or spinning around the barbell, and optionally additional padding 8 located throughout the towel. FIG. 1 is an illustration depicting the front face 1a of the towel 1 comprising: a first set of two loop patches 2a-b located on opposite edges at the top of the towel and a second set of two loop patches 2c-d located on opposite edges at the bottom half of the towel. FIG. 2 is an illustration depicting the back face 1b of the towel 1 comprising: two sets of gripper dots 4a-b located on opposite edges at the top of the towel, a first set of two hook patches 3a-b located on opposite edges at the top portion of the towel, and a second set of two hook patches 3c-d located on opposite edges at the bottom of the towel. In the present embodiment, each hook patch is provided with an additional loop flap 6a-d attached along an edge of the hook patch; the dotted, unfilled boxes show other possible locations for the loop flaps 6a-d. These loop flaps 6a-d are used to cover the hook patches when the towel is not being used to wrap around a barbell. This prevents the hook patches from snagging the towel or scratching the user's body. Additionally, the towel can be made of microfiber material or material that is designed to not catch with the hook patches wherein the fibers are cut and do not form loops. This non-catching material may be used on only one face of the towel or both faces.

FIG. 3 depicts the first step in wrapping the towel around a barbell. First, the top back face 1b of the towel is placed in contact with the barbell and wrapped so that hook patches 3a-b on the back face 1b engage with the loop patches 2a-b on the front face 1a. Additionally, the gripper dots 4a-b should be in contact with the bar to keep the wrapped towel from sliding along the length of the bar or spinning around it. Next, the remaining length of the towel is wrapped around the bar and the remaining hook patches 3c-d located at the bottom of the towel should be engaged with the loop patches 2c-d. FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of the present invention fully engaged with a barbell.

While hook and loop patches are disclosed in the embodiment above, any type of attachment means can be used such as: buttons, snaps, magnets, clips, clasps, ties, or drawstrings. FIG. 5 depicts an alternate embodiment using male 7a and female 7b snaps in place of the hook and loop patches respectively. FIGS. 6 and 7 depict the towel with snap embodiment engaged with a barbell.

FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment in which another set of snaps are provided along the top and bottom edges of the towel such that the towel can be wrapped horizontally around a barbell. FIGS. 9 and 10 depict the towel horizontally engaged with the barbell. This horizontal configuration can be preferred for certain exercises because it provides a greater amount of coverage on the barbell.

The towel can be used for a variety of barbell exercises, some of which are depicted in FIGS. 11-15: squat, front squat, lunge, deadlift, and hip thrusts.

Additionally, the towel of the present invention can also be provided with additional padding in the form of denser toweling sections, foam/neoprene padding attached to the towel, or sealed compartments containing air, fluids, or gels affixed to or incorporated within the towel. FIG. 16 depicts the towel of the present invention with a plurality of foam strips 8 affixed to the top and bottom portions of the towel. Alternatively, FIG. 17 depicts the towel with a single gel pad 5 affixed to the top portion of the towel. This gel pad can be substituted with any other type of pad, foam, neoprene, fluid, or cushion device. It can also be affixed to the bottom portion of the towel or extend the full length of the towel.

Claims

1. A towel comprising:

a front face with a first set of female attachment means located at opposite edges at the top of the towel;

a back face with a first set of male attachment means located at opposite edges at the top portion of the towel.

2. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the front face further comprises a second set of female attachment means located at the bottom portion of the towel.

3. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the back face further comprises a second set of male attachment means located at the bottom portion of the towel.

4. The towel according to claim 1, wherein a back face further comprises a first set of gripper dots located on opposite edges at the top of the towel.

5. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the attachment means are selected from the group consisting of hook and loop fasteners, snaps, buttons, magnets, clips, clasps, ties, and drawstrings.

6. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the towel further comprises additional padding that is affixed to the top portion of the towel.

7. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the top portion of the towel comprises at least one section of material that is denser than the rest of the towel.

8. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the towel further comprises additional padding that is sewn into the bottom portion of the towel.

9. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the bottom portion of the towel comprises at least one section of material that is denser than the rest of the towel to provide additional padding.

10. The towel according to claim 1, wherein additional attachment means are placed along the top and bottom edges of the towel.

11. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the female attachment means are loop patches and the male attachment means are hook patches.

12. The towel according to claim 11, wherein there is an additional set of loop flaps attached at the edge of each hook patch.

13. The towel according to claim 1, wherein snap fasteners are placed along the short sides and long sides of the towel to enable the towel to become secured to barbells of various diameters.

14. The towel according to claim 1, wherein the front of the towel can be made of non-hook catching or snagging material.