Muscle training apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two muscles of a person swinging the trainer, wherein, if the two muscles were of appropriate strength, the two muscles would desirably apply forces in substantially opposite directions to an implement being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining the implement in a desired swing path, the muscle trainer comprising:
- a body having a grip surface located thereon; and
a force generator positioned at a prescribed location on the body, which is spaced from the grip surface, for urging the prescribed location of the body in a direction away from a force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the implement in the swinging thereof by the person.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a muscle trainer and method for exercising a weaker of two opposing muscle groups of a person swinging an implement, such as a golf club, wherein, if the two opposing muscle groups were of appropriate strength, the two muscle groups would desirably apply forces in opposite directions to the implement to assist in maintaining the implement in an ideal club shaft plane. The contemplated muscle trainer of this invention includes a body having a grip surface located thereon, and a force generator positioned at a prescribed location on the body, which is spaced from the grip surface, for urging the prescribed location of the body in a direction away from a force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the implement in the swinging thereof by the person. The invention further contemplates a method exercising at least a dominated muscle of two opposing muscles typically used by the golfer when attempting to swing a golf club in an ideal club shaft plane, where the dominated muscle applies a first swing force to the golf club in a non-dominating swing force direction, and a dominating muscle applies a second swing force in a dominating swing force direction to the golf club which is opposite the direction, and exceeds the force, of the non-dominating swing force.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two muscles of a person swinging the trainer, wherein, if the two muscles were of appropriate strength, the two muscles would desirably apply forces in substantially opposite directions to an implement being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining the implement in a desired swing path, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a body having a grip surface located thereon; and
a force generator positioned at a prescribed location on the body, which is spaced from the grip surface, for urging the prescribed location of the body in a direction away from a force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the implement in the swinging thereof by the person.
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2. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two muscles of a person swinging the trainer, wherein, if the two muscles were of appropriate strength, the two muscles would desirably apply forces in substantially opposite directions to an implement being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining the implement in a desired swing path, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a body having a proximal end and a distal end spaced from the proximal end;
a grip portion formed on the body closer to the proximal end than to the distal end thereof; and
a force generator located on the body, closer to the distal end than to the proximal end, and positioned for urging the distal end of the body in a direction away from the force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the implement in the swinging thereof by the person.
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3. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two muscles of a person swinging the trainer, wherein, if the two muscles were of appropriate strength, the two muscles would desirably apply forces in substantially opposite directions to a golf club being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining the golf club in a desired swing path, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a body having a grip surface located thereon; and
a force generator positioned at a prescribed location on the body which is spaced from the grip surface for urging the prescribed location of the body in a direction away from a force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the muscle trainer in the swinging thereof by the person.
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4. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two swing muscles of a person swinging the trainer, wherein, if the two swing muscles were of appropriate strength, the two swing muscles would desirably apply forces in substantially opposite directions to the muscle trainer being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining the muscle trainer in a desired swing path, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a body having a proximal end and a distal end spaced from the proximal end;
a grip portion located on the body closer to the proximal end than to the distal end thereof; and
a force generator located on the body, closer to the distal end than to the proximal end, and positioned for urging the distal end of the body in a direction away from the force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the muscle trainer in the swinging thereof by the person. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A muscle trainer for exercising a weaker of two rotational muscles of a person swinging the muscle trainer, wherein, if the two rotational muscles were of appropriate strength, the two rotational muscles would desirably apply rotational forces in substantially opposite directions to the muscle trainer being swung by the person to assist in normally maintaining desired rotation of the muscle trainer during the swinging thereof, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a body having a first section and a second section extending from the first section at a juncture of the first and second sections; and
a force generator located on the second section and positioned for urging the second section of the body in a rotational direction away from a rotational force direction which the weaker muscle would normally apply to the muscle trainer during the swinging thereof by the person. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A muscle trainer for exercising at least a non-dominating swing muscle of two opposing swing muscles typically used by a person when attempting to swing the muscle trainer in a desired swing path, where a dominating swing muscle of the two opposing swing muscles applies a swing force to the muscle trainer in a dominating swing force direction that exceeds a swing force applied by the non-dominating swing muscle, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a simulator swingable by the person; and
a force generator located at a prescribed location on the simulator and developing a force generally in the same direction as the dominating swing force direction. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A muscle trainer for exercising at least a non-dominating rotational muscle of two opposing rotational muscles typically used by a person when attempting to rotate the muscle trainer through a desired rotational distance while swinging the muscle trainer in a swing path, where a dominating rotational muscle of the two opposing rotational muscles applies a rotational force in a dominating rotational force direction to the muscle trainer that exceeds a rotational force applied by the non-dominating rotational muscle, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a simulator swingable and rotatable by the person;
the simulator having a first section and a second section, the second section having a segment which is spaced from the first section; and
a force generator located at a prescribed location on the segment of the second section of the simulator, the force generator oriented to develop a force substantially in the same direction as the dominating rotational force direction. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A muscle trainer for exercising at least a non-dominating rotational muscle of two opposing rotational muscles typically used by a person when attempting to rotate the rotational muscle trainer through a desired rotational distance, where a dominating rotational muscle of the two opposing rotational muscles applies a rotational force in a dominating rotational force direction to the muscle trainer that exceeds a rotational force applied by the non-dominating rotational muscle, the muscle trainer comprising:
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a golf-club simulator rotatable by the person and having a first section and a second section, the second section having a segment which is spaced from the first section; and
a force generator located at a prescribed location on the segment of the second section of the golf-club simulator, the force generator oriented to develop a force generally in the same direction as the dominating rotational force direction. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
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46. A method of exercising at least a non-dominating swing muscle of two opposing swing muscles typically used by a golfer when attempting to swing a golf club in an ideal club shaft plane, where the non-dominating swing muscle applies a non-dominating swing force to the golf club in a non-dominating swing force direction, and a dominating swing muscle of the two opposing swing muscles applies a dominating swing force in a dominating swing force direction to the golf club which is opposite the non-dominating swing force direction, and exceeds the non-dominating swing force, the method comprising:
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swinging a golf-club simulator by the golfer in a swing path normally swung by the golfer when swinging a golf club;
determining whether the swing path of the golf-club simulator is outside of a desired swing path due to the non-dominating swing muscle allowing the dominating swing muscle to pull the simulator in the dominating swing force direction away from the desired swing path;
applying an external force to the golf-club simulator independently of any force applied by the golfer to further urge the simulator in the dominating swing force direction; and
using the non-dominating swing muscle to pull the golf-club simulator against the external force in the non-dominating swing force direction toward the desired swing path to thereby exercise the non-dominating swing muscle. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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48. A method of exercising at least a non-dominating rotational muscle of two opposing rotational muscles typically used by a golfer when attempting to rotate a golf club through a desired rotational distance, where the non-dominating rotational muscle applies a non-dominating rotational force to the golf club in a non-dominating force direction, and a dominating rotational muscle of the two opposing rotational muscles applies a dominating rotational force to the golf club in a dominating rotational force direction to the rotate the golf club, which is opposite the non-dominating force direction, and exceeds the non-dominating rotational force, the method further comprising:
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rotating a golf-club simulator;
determining whether the rotational distance of the golf-club simulator is greater than a desired rotational distance due to the non-dominating rotational muscle allowing the dominating rotational muscle to rotate the simulator in the dominating rotational force direction further than the desired rotational distance;
applying an external force to the golf-club simulator independently of the golfer to further urge the simulator in the dominating rotational force direction; and
using the non-dominating rotational muscle to rotate the golf-club simulator in the non-dominating rotational force direction to thereby exercise the weaker muscle.
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49. A method of exercising two human-anatomy muscles which typically cooperate to perform a prescribed task, which comprises the steps of:
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exercising, at a prescribed level, one muscle of the two muscles; and
simultaneously with the exercising of the one muscle, exercising another of the two muscles at a level greater than the prescribed level. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 57, 59, 61)
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52. A method of exercising two groups of human-anatomy muscles, where the two groups of muscles typically cooperate to perform a prescribed task;
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exercising, at a prescribed level, one of the two groups of muscles; and
simultaneously with the exercising of another of the two groups of muscles, exercising the another of the two groups of muscles at a level greater than the prescribed level. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 62)
- which comprises the steps of;
Specification