Attachment for Exercise Bench

The present invention relates to exercise equipment and more particularly to weight training equipment for exercising the stomach muscles.

Conventional exercises for the stomach muscles include sit-ups and leg lifts. Multiple repetitions and the recommended performance of sit ups in association with a partner make these exercises unacceptable to many persons.

Appliances used for exercises of this sort include spring devices, rope and pulley systems and rubber tubing. These are all based on the leg raise and sit-up exercises and suffer from many of the same disadvantages. In addition, the exercises carried out with these devices are not specifically intended to exercise the stomach muscles. Sometimes only the the upper stomach muscles are developed. This has a negative effect in that it produces a rounded upper stomach.

Weight training can show the most rapid and thorough results, but to exercise the stomach specifically, several different exercises are required, with as much time and risk as some of the non-weight methods.

The objective of the present invention is to provide an economic exercising apparatus that can be used for weight training the stomach muscles.

According to the present invention, there is provided an exercise apparatus comprising:

a bench;

at least one arm pivotally mounted on an end of the bench for pivotal movement upwardly from an at rest position projecting substantially horizontally from the end of the bench;

means for resisting the upward pivoting movement of the arm;

a tension link connected to the arm at a position spaced from the end of the bench for free pivotal movement with respect to the arm; and

a link crossbar connected to the link remote from its connection to the arm.

The apparatus may be provided as a tension link attachment for a conventional weight bench with a leg curl accessory. The tension link attaches to the horizontal arm of the curl accessory.

The stomach is exercised using a leg lift in which the user lies supins on the bench with the link crossbar engaged by the legs just above the knee.

The legs are raised about the hips.

In another upper body exercise that can be performed with some embodiments of the invention, the user lies supine on the bench, head towards the attachment. The crossbar is grasped with the hands and pulled over the head towards the hips. The movement in both the arm pull-over and the leg lift is a horizontal movement that acts, through the tension link to pivot the horizontal arm upwardly. The exercises performed are two-way exercises, with effort being required in both the contraction and extension phases.

It is preferred that the bench is provided with a belt attachment for restraining the waist of the wearer against the bench to keep the back supported and flat on the bench surface.

An apparatus of this sort may be used to provide a good cardio vascular activity. In exercising the stomach, few repetitions are needed as weights may be added to the leg curl part of the apparatus to provide the required resistance to muscle contraction. In the same way, adjustment of the weight applied to the leg curl accessory will suit the apparatus for persons of different fitness and strengths.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a prior art exercise bench and an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a prior art exercise bench with a leg curl accessory;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 modified by the incorporation of an apparatus according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2A is a detail of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic side elevations showing the use of the present apparatus in leg raises;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevation showing the use of the present invention with the arms; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view showing an alternative use of the invention with a single arm leg curl accessory.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a prior art weight training bench 10 consisting of a bench top 12 supported at one end by two legs 14 that also carry adjustable bar supports 16 in the conventional way. At the other end of the bench are two legs 18 that support the bench and also carry brackets 20 that are fixed to the legs and have upper ends offset outwardly to the opposite sides of the bench. Near their upper ends, the brackets 20 are connected to a pair of generally L-shaped arms 22 by pivot pins 24 that are aligned on a common axis X--X laterally of the bench. In the at rest position illustrated in FIG. 1, each of the arms 22 has a part 23 that projects downwardly from the pivot 24 and a second part 25 that projects substantially horizontally from the end of the bench at a level slightly higher than the bench top.

Near the ends of the first parts 23 of the arms, there is a crossbar 26 that extends across the arms and is bolted to the them by bolts 28. The centre section of this crossbar carries a tubular pad 30, while its ends project beyond the arms to carry weights 32. At the outer ends of the arm parts 25, there is a second crossbar 34 that is connected to the arms by bolts 36. The centre section of the crossbar 34 is also provided with a tubular pad 38.

A bench of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 is conventional in nature and may be used for carrying out a number of exercises, including various leg curls using the curl accessory consisting of the brackets 20, arms 22 and the crossbars 26 and 34.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated an attachment according to the present invention that is associated with a bench such as that illustrated in FIG. 1. The attachment includes an upper crossbar 40 that replaces the crossbar 34 of the prior art structure. This has an offset centre section 42 offset in a direction away from the adjacent end of the bench. The centre section carries a pair of legs 44 that slope upwardly out of the plane of the offset centre section. A tension link 46 is connected to the lugs 44. The tension link includes a bar section 48 with an offset end 50 projecting between the lugs and connected to them by a pin 52. The pin is readily removed without the use of tools so that the attachment is readily removed when desired. This can be achieved with the use of a wing nut or a spring clip retainer. A second bar section 54, aligned with the offset end 50 of the bar section 48 is connected to the first bar section through the use of aligned holes 56 in the bar sections and bolts 58 through the aligned holes. This system allows the adjustment of the length of the tension link as desired to suit different exercises and different users.

The end of the tension link 46 remote from the crossbar 40 carries a crossbar 60 that projects to opposite sides of the link and carries two tubular pads 62 on opposite sides of the link.

The bench is also equipped with a waist belt 64 that is fastened to the bench in any suitable way and may be closed by any suitable buckle mechanism 66.

FIGS. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings show the use of the bench in a leg raise type of exercise. In FIG. 3, the user is shown lying supine on the bench top 12 with the waist belt 64 strapped around his waist. The legs are raised slightly, with the padded crossbar 60 resting on the legs, just above the knee. In performing the exercise, the legs are raised about the hips as illustrated in FIG. 4. This applies tension to the link 46 and pivots the arms 22 about their pivot pins 24 to raise the weights 32. This exercise is specifically directed at the development of the stomach muscles. The waist belt 64 retains the back on the bench to keep the back from arching, which diminishes the exercise effect on the stomach muscles. It also prevents the back curvature that can lead to severe lower back pain. The belt is adjustable along the bench to accommodate persons of different statures.

FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the use of the attachment in arm pullover type of exercise where the user is again supine on the bench, but this time with the head towards the leg curl accessory. The ends of the crossbar 60 are grasped with the hands and pulled along the torso, again pivoting the arms 22 and raising the weights 32.

FIG. 6 illustrates the attachment of the tension link and crossbar assembly to a bench with a single arm leg curl attachment, centrally located at the end of the bench. In this case, the tension link is connected to a pair of lugs 68 that project vertically from the single central arm. An apparatus of this sort cannot be used for the arm pullover exercise of FIG. 5, but it functions in the same way for stomach exercising.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiment are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be construed as limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.