Calf exercise system

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

A portion of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does not hereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintained in secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §1.14.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains generally to an exercise device, and more particularly to an exercise device for training and building lower leg muscles.

2. Description of Related Art

The use of exercising equipment is well known in today\'s health-conscious world. When training (e.g. strength training, muscle building, etc.) a particular body part or muscle group, it is generally desirable to isolate a particular muscle or group of muscles to concentrate development on the target anatomy.

Generally, calf exercise devices fit into two distinct groups. A first group generally comprises calf extension/press machines (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,590) that are seated or standing and use weights and/or cables to deliver resistance against the sole of a person\'s foot when extended from a platform surface. A second group comprises a single step (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,417) that is typically square or rectangular, having one raised platform or surface, and that allows a person to begin a series of step up and step down motions (aerobics) or raises (anaerobic) from the floor.

All of the above devices generally assume a simplified anatomy and motion of the foot and ankle (e.g. a single articular mode) that results in building/training of the calf muscles in a generic and non-isolated fashion. However, the foot and ankle anatomy and articulations are in actuality quite intricate, and slight variations of different articular modes of the ankle joints can result in large variations in the distributions of load to the muscles in the lower leg.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a calf exercise system that provides different platforms to vary the articular modes of the ankle and foot to isolate development and training of the calve/lower leg muscles.

An aspect of the invention is an exercise apparatus having a base configured to lie flat on a floor surface, and a first elevated platform surface coupled to the base, wherein the first elevated platform surface is configured to slope at an angle with respect to the floor surface when the base is positioned on the floor surface. The apparatus further comprises a second elevated platform surface configured to slope at an angle different than the first platform surface, wherein the first and second elevated platform surfaces are configured to individually support at least a portion of the person\'s foot.

In one embodiment, the first and second platform surfaces terminate at a front face configured to allow clearance for the heel of the foot to hang over and under the platform surface on which the foot is disposed. Also, the first platform surface may be sloped to orient the person\'s foot in dorsi flexion when the person is standing upright.

The second platform surface may be parallel to the floor surface when the base is positioned on the floor. Alternatively, the second platform surface is sloped laterally in a direction perpendicular to the slope of the first platform surface. Under this configuration, the foot may be subjected to eversion or inversion when positioned on the second surface substantially perpendicular to the upper edge of the front face. In one mode, the second platform surface is adjacent to the first platform surface and slopes away from the first platform surface.

The apparatus may further comprise a third platform surface adjacent to the first platform surface and opposite the second platform surface. In one embodiment, the third platform surface is sloped away from the first platform surface at the same angle as the second platform surface.

The apparatus may further comprise a fourth platform surface laterally adjacent to the third platform surface, wherein the fourth platform surface is substantially parallel to the floor surface when the base is positioned on the floor.

In one embodiment, the apparatus includes notches in a bottom surface of the base, wherein the notches are configured to accommodate placement of one or more resistance bands.