Site News  |   Monitor Keywords  |   Monitor Archive  |   Organizer  |   Account Info  |

Vertical lumbar stretching machine and method

Vertical lumbar stretching machine and method description/claims

This application is based upon provisional application 60/880,338, filed on Jan. 12, 2007, the priority of which is claimed.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a device or machine for stretching, exercising, and strengthening the human body. Specifically, the invention relates to a device or machine for exercising and strengthening the lumbar muscles while remaining in an upright position.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Weakness of the back muscles, and particularly the lumbar muscles, which are responsible for proper posture, may lead to increasing muscle weakness and even muscle atrophy over time. In order to maintain their strength and conditioning, the lumbar muscles must be exercised through stretching and conditioning.

Prior art devices for stretching and strengthening the human frame, including the lumbar muscles of the lower back, have included numerous medical and non-medical mechanical devices. These mechanical devices include both motorized and non-motorized movement, and employ weight stacks, plyometric resistance and/or gravity to accomplish the goal of stretching, flexing, or strengthening the human frame. Purely medical devices have included over-the-door and power-controlled traction devices, among others, arranged and designed to decompress the spine. Non-medical devices have typically included gym-type stretching equipment including, but not limited to, gravity balls and Pilates machines, arranged and designed to improve flexibility and range of joint motion. However, Pilates equipment, MedX exercise equipment, and other fitness-oriented exercise and stretching units are often uncomfortable, cumbersome, and/or difficult to operate. Furthermore, fitness-oriented exercise and stretching units are not necessarily directed at strengthening and conditioning the user's lumbar muscles.

Among the more common types of prior art devices for stretching and conditioning the human frame are “inversion” devices which operate by inverting the human body. These inversion devices suspend the user in an upside down position by the ankles or knees so that the spine and associated structures that produce vertical pressure while upright can be unloaded and stretched. While inverted, the user may also twist, bend, and otherwise stretch and exercise muscles along the torso, including the lumbar muscles. However, a major drawback of these inversion devices and their method of operation is that the user's cardiovascular system must operate in an abnormal state thus potentially causing the user to feel ill effects from the inversion. Furthermore, typical inversion devices provide little, if any, of the proper back support needed to isolate and safely strengthen and condition the user's lumbar muscles.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,656,098 and 6,749,548 issued to Hoffman disclose a restraint and exercise device comprising a restraint, e.g. two straps, connected to a support structure. The straps help to restrain a portion of a person's body, such as the pelvic region, in a substantially pain-free position so as to reduce the pain that would otherwise be felt during exercise. A ratchet mechanism is used to adjust the tension in the two-strap restraint. However, for a user in pain, mechanical self adjustment of a non-actuated, two-strap restraint can prove difficult, if not impossible.

3. Identification of Objects of the Invention

An object of the invention is to accomplish one or more of the following:

Provide a machine that limits or restrains the movement of the user's pelvic region thereby isolating the lumbar muscles of the lower back for exercise by the user;

Provide a machine, operable by the user without assistance, that limits or restrains the movement of the user's pelvic region while permitting exercise of the torso; and

Provide a machine that limits or restrains the movement of the user's pelvic region without twisting or otherwise radially moving the user's torso.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the following specification and drawings.

An exercise machine and method are disclosed for stretching and strengthening the human body, particularly the lumbar muscles of the lower back, to enhance postural balance. In the upright position, the movement of the lumbar muscles (i.e., the muscles supporting the lumbar vertebrae) results in simultaneous movement of the pelvis. To effectively exercise the lumbar muscles, they must be isolated by a device or machine which limits or restrains movement of the pelvis. The user-controlled machine limits or restrains movement of the pelvis using a single restraint strap that wraps around the user's pelvic region and connects to the support structure. The single restraint strap may be positioned high or low about the user's pelvic region while the user faces forward or backward relative to the support structure. The machine preferably has a user-controlled, powered actuator which draws the single restraint strap tight around the user's pelvic region thereby restraining the user's pelvic region against the support structure. This isolates the lumbar muscles and permits the user to conduct specific lumbar muscle conditioning and strengthening exercises while remaining in an upright position. Thus, the exercise machine enables quick, simple, and safe operation but also permits the user, without the aid of another, to isolate the lumber muscles and perform specific lumbar exercises in an upright position.

The objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings which are appended hereto, and wherein by way of illustration, and not limitation, implementations of the invention are described, of which:

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

• What Is a Patent?
• What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
• What Is a Copyright?
• Patent Laws