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Programmable adaptable resistance exercise system and methodRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, Having Specific Electrical Feature, Monitors Exercise ParameterProgrammable adaptable resistance exercise system and method description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070202992, Programmable adaptable resistance exercise system and method. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] Embodiments of the invention relate generally to the field of exercise equipment and the methods of use thereof. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a programmable adaptive resistance system and method based on present and past training information for a particular user. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] There are many health benefits associated with exercise. The health and fitness industry offers a wide variety of products and services designed to improve these benefits. One theory of muscular development is that muscles must be contracted past their normal range of capability in order to improve the fitness gains afforded by general exercise. [0005] In order to stress a muscle, contraction is performed against some sort of resistance. Theoretically, by increasing the resistance against which the muscle is contracted, any desired amount of stress may be achieved. A wide variety of techniques, schemes, and systems are used in various forms and combinations to provide and quantify the resistance used to oppose the muscle contraction. If the level of stress applied is greater than that which the muscle can readily tolerate then the muscle is said to be overloaded. [0006] There are several types of resistance that may be employed for stressing and overloading muscles. The simplest form of resistance that can be applied to an exercise is that of employing a user's own weight in a way that causes the muscle to contract against that weight so that stress (and possibly overload) may be achieved. Examples of such exercise would be a push-up, a sit-up, or a deep knee bend. By using the body's own weight, the need for additional equipment is avoided. However, such exercises are very limited in scope and therefore overall effectiveness. [0007] By the addition of other weights, for example free weights, many more variations of movement can be performed. Because the muscle contraction is exerted against these external weights, more stress may be applied to a given muscle than would normally be applied by simply doing the same movement without the extra weight. The first form of resistance would then be called the dead weight (or free weight). Here, the force applied is that of gravity against the mass of the weight itself in a downward direction. If the range of motion is up and down, the resistance force is constant throughout the range of motion. An example of such an exercise would be a bench press of a barbell weight. As the amount of free weight is increased, control becomes more critical. The weight must be moved safely in order to apply a safe and proper amount of overload. Excessive overload can cause failure of the muscle and injury to the body. One of the features of using free weights is that exercises using free weights engage stabilization muscles in addition to the muscle being exercised. This feature becomes a limitation when an injured muscle is called upon to stabilize a free weight movement when exercising a desired muscle. Thus, it is important to limit the use of free weights when working muscles near injured muscles. For example, when performing bench press a shoulder injury may prevent a person from overloading the pectoral muscles since the injured shoulder may generate great pain and not allow stabilization to be provided for the exercise. [0008] In order to afford large amounts of resistance while more easily maintaining control of an exercise, existing solutions have also employed spring resistance. This form of resistance allows larger amounts of force to be applied in the direction of movement regardless of whether that movement is up and down or in some other direction. This advantage allows greater resistance and greater safety, as well as greater flexibility in machine design because the resistance can be applied without regard to the orientation to the floor. However, the resistance of a spring weight is variable, increasing linearly as the distance of spring stretch or "displacement" is increased. In many movements, the variation in resistance that is lower at the beginning of travel and ever increasing as the displacement is increased, imposes an additional limitation to the design of the exercise. The particular profile of increasing resistance with displacement is not optimum for most normal body movements. [0009] In the 1970's, the concept of variable resistance became widely accepted. Unlike free weights with fixed resistive force or springs with ever increasing force, the variable resistance machine employs a cable and cam system to produce a variable resistance profile. As the muscle moves throughout its range of motion, the changing radius of the cam adjusts the effective weight and thereby the level of resistance. The variable cam may produce virtually any resistance profile as long as the resistance increased, or only slightly decreased over the range of motion. Any particular exercise would always have an associated variation in strength throughout the range of motion. The cam (and resulting resistance variation profile), is generally matched to the relative strength of the muscle under load. This variation affords greater stress to the muscle for a given duration of movement cycle repetition resulting in improved exercise efficiency. These machines, marketed under the trade name Nautilus.TM. have gained acceptance and many variations built using this technique are still in fairly wide use today. [0010] A second form of variable resistance is provided by the hydraulic cylinder. Similar to a shock absorber in a car, this simple and inexpensive device offers resistance to motion in proportion to the speed of the motion. If used in an exercise machine, the hydraulic cylinder causes the resistance to increase if the exercise movement is done at greater speed. The operator can, after much practice, create a varying resistance of complex nature by simply moving the device at greater or lesser speed at different positions in the exercise cycle. Unfortunately, because the actual resistance is difficult to control and quantify, the amount of actual stress (and therefore overload) is difficult to predict or measure. Additionally, such motion that is resisted in proportion to velocity of travel is very unnatural. Some users do not accept this type of resistance as an alternative to the more natural feel of free weights or spring systems. [0011] Regardless of the type of resistance used, the actual amount of stress experienced by the muscle is determined by the contraction force of the muscle and the amount of time during which the force is applied. The concept of force-time (the product of force and time) as a measure of muscle stress is somewhat controversial. For example, it is not clear whether force-time is a linear product. For example, it is not clear how a 100 lb force for 4 seconds of muscle stress differs from a 50 lb force for 8 seconds. Although there is disagreement as to the actual quantification, most do agree that if the resistance level is reduced, that resistance must be applied for a longer time to achieve the same level of muscle stress. [0012] The amount of stress required to overload a muscle is proportional to the capacity (size and fatigue level) of the muscle. A larger, stronger muscle that is well rested will require a greater amount of applied stress (resistance force-time) to produce a given amount of overload. It is believed that overload, not stress, is the critical factor in determining the level of growth benefit of a particular exercise to a particular muscle. [0013] Conventional exercise systems monitor the amount of force which is exerted by user and employ a feedback loop to provide a proportional amount of resisting force to custom configure the resistant force to the individual and to the actual muscular strength available at each point over a given range of movement. Such systems have conventionally employed a current controlled torque motor under direct program control of a computer to precisely vary the force of resistance to muscular movement. [0014] Conventional systems require that a user follow preselected patterns of routines, including speed, force, and rates of variation therein, which may not be best suited for user training goals and performance history of a user. The main problem with conventional exercise systems available today is that they do not provide a way to automate the process of providing customized exercise program and tracking individuals over time and adapting the workout program as a user's physical condition and/or strength changes. [0015] No known strength training exercise system or method uses historical performance data from a user to adapt a workout session. In addition, no known system or method automatically calculates rest times based on present and past personal training information. The methods in use generally rely on manual efforts and guess work that are external to an exercise apparatus. The manual steps comprise various combinations of testing and experimentation, mostly hit or miss, trial and error, resulting in greater or lesser levels of training success. As these manual techniques are applied, there are inevitable tradeoffs between efficiency and complexity of execution. [0016] U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,770 to Baker describes an exercise apparatus that varies resisting force by position using a variable torque motor. This apparatus does not contemplate use of historical and present performance data to adapt the exercise. [0017] U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,694 to McIntosh describes an exercise apparatus with an improved variable force exercise system that uses a current mode switching technology to accurately control the motor torque using only electrical signals, which thereby increases the response time of the system by a large factor. The system sets a preprogrammed variation in motor torque over a range of movement of an exercise member into rotation of a motor driveshaft, by setting a preprogrammed range of motor current variations. The system allows for adaptive response of changing the resisting torque automatically by the system due to the decrease in performance by a user. The system does not contemplate an automated process of recording a user's performance data and automatic analysis of the user's historical performance data for the design of subsequent workout sessions. [0018] U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,604 to Panagiotopoulos, et al., describes an exercise apparatus with a DC torque motor which is electronically controlled to provide the exact amount of force necessary to permit the user to exercise past the point of initial muscle failure. The device including means for continuously sensing the condition of the user, and substantially adjusting the degree of torque to respond to the sensed condition. This patent has only one mode of operation, which is to automatically adjust and decrease the resistance as the user progresses through a set of exercises and gradually begins to approach muscle failure. This patent does not contemplate use of a historical performance data for the design of subsequent workout sessions. [0019] Therefore there is a need for a system and method that automates the training process to provide new levels of performance efficiency which is based on the user's current and historical performance data. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0020] One or more embodiments of the invention enable a programmable adaptive resistance exercise system and method. This new type of resistance allows a user to maximize the amount of muscle growth or endurance or allows a user to perform fitness maintenance or injury recovery while minimizing the effort expended to attain the desired level of benefit. The resistance force level is programmable in that the force applied by the system can be adjusted dynamically under computer control. For example, the resistance force level may be controlled via a computer based on position or any derivate thereof with respect to time such as velocity, acceleration, jerk, etc. The resistance force level is adaptive since embodiments of the invention provide a resistive force level throughout the range of an exercise based on current and past historical performance data associated with a particular user. Past historical performance data is also known as past personal training information. The force versus displacement and/or time profiles used with embodiments of the invention are user specific and may be applied at different force levels to attain the type and quantity of resistance desired (growth, endurance, maintenance, injury recovery, etc.). Rest periods may be calculated based on the current and past personal training information to further optimize growth benefit while minimizing the effort expended. Embodiments of the invention may utilize hardware comprising a motor, an exercise interface, a position sensor, a force sensor, a digital input device, a computer configured to control the motor and hence the exercise interface (such as an bar or handle for example) using current and past historical personal training information and calculate an exercise program based on a user preference. Methods of embodiments of the invention may also include notifying the user of a rest time and optionally alerting a user when it is time to begin a subsequent workout. [0021] In one or more embodiments of the invention the system measures a user's performance, for example the user force applied through a displacement and time, at the start of a training program. The system measures the initial performance using a standardized set of movements against a resistance force level and generates a profile of the resistance force level with respect to displacement of the exercise interface. The system adjusts the resistance level for each muscle movement to stress the muscles in a way that allows the system to measure and record the particular level of fitness (capacity) for that particular movement and that particular user. The system is configured to accurately measure the position and derive or measure force and obtain the force versus time and the force versus displacement curves of a particular exercise movement. The system measures force versus time and force versus displacement using a position sensor (that may be integrated with a motor) and measuring current used by a motor to deduce force, or optionally using a force sensor to directly measure force. [0022] Once the initial fitness level is quantified, the first workout session begins. The system provides customized sets of exercises with customized resistance force levels, i.e., profiles of programmable adaptive resistance for a given user. The programmable adaptive resistance levels generate the optimum level of stress for the first exercise session for that particular user. The system monitors the performance level during the first workout and determines when the workout should end. Performance data known as present personal training data is stored and automatically analyzed by the system to be used in the design of subsequent exercise programs or workout sessions. Since a first workout session may make a user sore, individuals that may have never worked out before may be given a gradual increase in resistance level over an extended number of workout sessions so that the user's connective tissue can strengthen before overstressing or overloading the muscles. Any algorithm may be used that adapts the resistance level based on current and past personal performance information related to the particular user. Continue reading about Programmable adaptable resistance exercise system and method... Full patent description for Programmable adaptable resistance exercise system and method Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Programmable adaptable resistance exercise system and method patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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