Physical training equipment

0001The present invention relates to equipment for use in performing physical training exercises. The features of the preamble of claim 1 are know from the document <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="US4332379A"><text>US-A-4 332 379</text></patcit>.

0002It is known to exercise by lifting weights usually constructed as barbells or dumbbells consisting of metal disks secured to a metal bar. The present invention seeks to provide a weight for use in performing physical exercises that is a both safer and more versatile than conventional weights.

0003According to the present invention, there is provided a weight for use in performing physical training exercises, comprising an elongate cylindrical flexible-walled bendable bag filled with a flowable solid and having at least two handles that are flexibly attached to the bag and project from the cylindrical surface of the bag at points that are axially spaced from one another, wherein the packing density of the flowable solid within the bag is such that the maximum sag at the centre of the bag when it is supported by its ends does not exceed 5% of the length of the bag.

0004The flowable solid is made of incompressible particles, and in this respect, the bag differs from punch bags, such as described in <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="US6261210B"><text>US Patent 6,261,210</text></patcit>, which are filled with a compressible material such as rubber. The flowable solid is preferably sand but may alternatively use pea gravel which comprises rounded particles having a maximum diameter of around 5 mm. The flowable solid may comprise less coarse material with a particle size as small as 1 mm but very fine materials would prove difficult to contain effectively within the bag.

0005The bag is preferably also padded. The thickness of the padding is preferably such as to permit the surface of the bag to be depressed by 5 to 25 mm. The padding softens impact with the bag and allows the bag to be carried comfortably across the shoulders of the user.

0006When exercising with conventional barbells or dumbbells, exercises are designed to work on one or only a few muscles through movements in only one plane. If a bag of the invention is used in the same way as conventional dumbbells, the instability resulting from the bendable nature of the bag and the movement in the handles requires the athlete to use many more different muscles to control the movement of the bag.

0007The bag of the invention can additionally be used to perform many exercises that are not safe or comfortable with dumbbells. For example, the bag can be carried across the shoulders while performing such exercises as jumping, running, climbing up and down stairs, bending forwards, bending sideways and rotating about the hip.

0008The padding of the bag also permits it to be thrown and caught safely in the same way as a medicine ball.

0009The handles of the bag may extend either parallel to its axis or circumferentially. In the latter case, it is preferred that the handles form part of a continuous web that passes round the entire circumference of the bag to provide additional strength and place less reliance on the stitching of the handles to the material of the bag.

0010Preferably, the bag is of several skins. The inner skin is conveniently a polypropylene fabric as commonly used for sacks used to package and store heavy building materials such as sand and gravel. Such a fabric is inexpensive and well suited to the task of containing the flowable solid. The outer skin may suitably be formed of a plastics material or of leather. Between the two skins, a compressible layer may be used to provide the desired padding. The compressible layer may be a felt or a closed cell foam.

0011To permit the bag to be filled with the flowable solid, it is preferred to provide the outer skin with an opening having a resealable fastener, such as a zip fastener, a lace fastener or a hook and eye fastener (Velcro^®).

0012The opening may extend parallel to the axis of the bag or circumferentially. As a further alternative, the bag may be formed with a removable end cap that is held in position by means of a suitable resealable fastener.

0013The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> is a perspective view of a first bag, embodying the invention,</li><li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 2</figref> is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention, and</li><li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref> is a transverse section through the bag of a still further embodiment of the invention.</li></ul>

0014The exercise bag 10 shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> has an outer casing 12 made of a suitable plastics material or leather onto which are sewn two handles 14. The casing has an opening 16 closed by a resealable fastener, such as a zip or Velcro^®, through which the bag is filled with a flowable solid, preferably sand or pea gravel. As will be described in further detail by reference to <figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref>, the bag 10 may have an inner casing or bladder for increased strength and better containment of the flowable solid.

0015The bag 20 of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 2</figref> has an outer casing 22 and differs from the bag of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> in two respects. First, the handles 24 extend axially rather than circumferentially and second, in place of an opening, the bag 20 has a removable end cap 28 attached to the body of the bag by a resealable fastener.

0016The size of an exercise bag will of course depend on the desired weight and the diameter of the bag can be increased as necessary to accommodate greater quantities of the flowable solid. The length of the bag should preferably be greater than 600 cm in order to afford sufficient space for two handles and less than 1200 cm to avoid it becoming unwieldy.

0017The packing density of the pea gravel or sand is important because the bag should be slightly bendable but should not sag in the middle under the weight of the contained flowable solid. The maximum sag at the centre of the bag when it is supported by its ends should not exceed 5% of the length of the bag. Thus it should be possible to raise one end of the bag when lying on a horizontal surface by a distance equal only to about one tenth of the length of the bag before its opposite end commences to tilt. The bag is thus able to bend sufficiently to rest on a user's shoulders without applying pressure directly to the spine.

0018The flexibility of the bag and the fact that the handles can flex relative to the bag have the effect that its centre of gravity will move around as it is lifted and will call upon the user to use a larger range of muscles to control the movement.

0019<figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref> shows a section through an alternative embodiment of the invention. The bag 30 of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref> has an outer casing 32 made of a suitable plastics material, such as high density of polythene. The outer casing is lined with a padding 36 which is preferably a resilient closed-cell foam. The bag 30 has an inner skin 40 and is made of a woven polypropylene fabric, such as used in the building trade to carry sand. The inner skin 40 is filled with sand 42 of which the particle size is about 1 mm. It is possible to use finer material in addition but if the particle size is too small it may bleed out of the bag. The use of particles larger than 5 mm, on the other hand, would make the bag uncomfortable to carry across the shoulders.

0020In the embodiments of <figref idref="f0001">Figures 1 and 2</figref>, the handles 14 and 2 are sewn to the outer casing, which is not preferred because the stitching will be subjected to severe stresses and may give way. Instead, in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref>, the gripped part of the handle 34 (which is itself suitably upholstered) passes through slits in the outer casing 32 and the padding 36 and is attached to a web 38 that encircles the entire girth of the bag 30. For additional strength, it is possible to sew the handle 34 to the casing. Though <figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref> shows the web 38 inside in the outer casing 32, it is further possible to place the web 38 outside the outer casing 32, this being the construction that offers the maximum strength.

0021The outer casing can be formed by folding over and sewing or welding the opposite sides of a flat sheet or it may be formed from a seamless extruded plastics tube. The opening 16 in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> is better suited to the former method of construction of the casing, while the end cap 28 of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 2</figref> is better suited to an extruded tube and makes for an inexpensive construction in that it can totally avoid the need for sewing.

0022The padding of the casing makes the bag more comfortable to carry and reduces the risk of injury by impact, which is ever present when using barbells or dumbbells. The padding may be between 5 mm and 25 mm in thickness to permit a similar degree of flexibility in the surface of the bag. Thus the padding is sufficient to prevent the individual particles of the flowable solid from being discerned.

0023The ideal separation of the handles of the bag will depend on the size of the user and the exercise being performed. To enable the bag to be used in different ways and by different users, it is possible to provide more than two handles and these may either be axially aligned with another or they may be staggered around the circumference of the bag.

0024An elongate padded and slightly flexible bag as described above has been found to provide a significant advantage over dumbbells and other devices used in the prior art for resistance training in that it allows exercise regimes to be designed to improve the performance of all the muscles that are used by a particular athlete rather than just a few of the relevant muscles. The exercises can be tailored to the sport in which the athlete specialises and can involve a wide range of body movements as earlier described.