Wearable exercise apparatus

Abstract

An accessory for facilitating upper body exercise of a user comprising at least one elongated resilient member for attachment on the body of the user for providing resistance to a natural forward arm swing of the user. Each resilient member has a securing member at one end and a user engagement at the opposite end. Each resilient member is sized to be secured to the user's clothing, to a detachable member, or to a loop on an optional belt, in a position on a first side of a midline of the user's body, to be engaged by the user's hand on a second side of the midline of the user's body, and to be guided by a second receiving member rearward of and on the second side of the user's body. A pair of resilient members may be packaged with the belt and a carrying case.

1 . An accessory for facilitating upper body exercise of a user, the accessory comprising: 
 a) one or more elongated resilient member adapted to provide resistance to a natural forward arm swing of the user, each elongated resilient member comprising a first end connected to a securing member adapted to secure the resilient member to a first receiving member connected to a user's body, and a second end having a user engagement adapted to be engaged by a user's hand or wrist, each elongated resilient member sized to be secured in a position on a first side of a midline of the user's body, to be engaged by the user's hand or wrist located on a second side of the midline of the user's body, and to be guided by a second receiving member connected to the user's body behind the user on the second side of the midline.    
   
   
       2 . The accessory of  claim 1 , further comprising a carrying case adapted to contain the one or more elongated resilient members when the members are not secured to the user's body, the carrying case comprising a securing member adapted to secure the carrying case to a third receiving member connected to the user's body.  
   
   
       3 . The accessory of  claim 2 , further comprising a belt adapted to be worn around the user's waist, the belt comprising the first, second, and third receiving members and comprising an adjustment mechanism adapted to allow the belt to adjust to a range of waist sizes.  
   
   
       4 . The accessory of  claim 1 , comprising two elongated resilient members, one adapted to be secured to the first receiving member and guided by the second receiving member, and another adapted to be secured to a fourth receiving member and guided by a fifth receiving member.  
   
   
       5 . The accessory of  claim 4 , further comprising a belt adapted to be worn around the user's waist, the belt comprising the first, second, third, fourth and fifth receiving members and comprising an adjustment mechanism adapted to allow the belt to adjust to a range of waist sizes.  
   
   
       6 . The accessory of  claim 5 , wherein the belt comprises a first end having a buckle, and a second end adapted to be threaded through the buckle.  
   
   
       7 . The accessory of  claim 6 , wherein the belt comprises a first region adjacent the second end comprising one portion of a microhook/microloop fastener, and a second region adjacent the first region comprising a mating portion of the microhook/microloop fastener.  
   
   
       8 . The accessory of  claim 5 , wherein the belt has a length, a lower edge and an upper edge, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth receiving members distributed along the length of the belt and positioned closer to the lower edge than the upper edge.  
   
   
       9 . The accessory of  claim 4 , wherein the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth receiving members comprise belt loops.  
   
   
       10 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the receiving members comprises a detachable receiving member.  
   
   
       11 . The accessory of  claim 10 , wherein the detachable receiving member comprises a pointed end for piercing a user's clothing, means for safely securing the pointed end, and means for receiving the securing member of the resilient member.  
   
   
       12 . The accessory of  claim 11 , wherein the pointed end of the detachable member comprises one end of a post member having an opposite flat end, the means for safely securing the pointed end comprises a cap member adapted to interface with the post member to removably secure the post to the clothing, and the means for receiving the securing member comprises a loop member adapted to be secured to the post member.  
   
   
       13 . The accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the carrying case comprises an enclosure defined by a front wall, a back wall, opposite side walls, a bottom, and an openable top, the case comprising a cover flap that extends from the back wall, wraps over the top, and is securable on an outer surface of the front wall.  
   
   
       14 . The accessory of  claim 13  wherein the carrying case cover flap comprises a first region comprising one portion of a microhook/microloop fastener, and the outer surface of the front wall comprises a second region comprising a mating portion of the microhook/microloop fastener for securing the cover flap to the front wall.  
   
   
       15 . The accessory of  claim 13 , further comprising a divider within the enclosure of the carrying case.  
   
   
       16 . The accessory of  claim 15 , wherein the carrying case divider extends from side to side and has an adjustable position relative to the front of the enclosure.  
   
   
       17 . The accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the carrying case comprises a first region on each of the opposite side walls of the carrying case enclosure comprising one portion of a microhook/microloop fastener and a second region on each side of the divider comprising a mating portion of the microhook/microloop fastener for facilitating the adjustable position of the divider.  
   
   
       18 . The accessory of  claim 13 , wherein the carrying case further comprises at least one pocket on an outer surface of at least one of the side walls of the enclosure.  
   
   
       19 . The accessory of  claim 18 , wherein the carrying case enclosure is sized to receive a compact disc player and at least one pocket on the side wall of the carrying case is sized to receive a cellular phone.  
   
   
       20 . The accessory of  claim 18 , wherein the pocket on the side wall of the carrying case further comprises a closure flap for securing an item within the pocket.  
   
   
       21 . The accessory of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one pocket on the side wall of the carrying case is sized to receive a water bottle.  
   
   
       22 . The accessory of  claim 21 , wherein the carrying case pocket sized to receive the water bottle is elastic to accommodate water bottles of multiple sizes.  
   
   
       23 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the securing member comprises a clip.  
   
   
       24 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated resilient member comprises surgical tubing.  
   
   
       25 . The accessory of  claim 24 , wherein the surgical tubing has a 3/16 inch outside diameter and a 1/16 inch inside diameter.  
   
   
       26 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated resilient member has a ratio of stretched length to unstretched length of in an approximate range of 3:1 to 2:1.  
   
   
       27 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated resilient member has an unstretched length in an approximate range of 12 to 24 inches.  
   
   
       28 . The accessory of  claim 27 , wherein the elongated resilient member has an unstretched length in an approximate range of 16 to 18 inches.  
   
   
       29 . The accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the elongated resilient member, the carrying case, or both comprise reflective or luminescent materials.  
   
   
       30 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the user engagement on the elongated resilient member is adapted to be engaged with an open, loose grip.  
   
   
       31 . The accessory of  claim 30 , wherein the user engagement comprises a padded loop, a flared grip, or a mitt.  
   
   
       32 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein both the first end and the second end of the user engagement comprise clips and the user engagement is adapted to be clipped to the second end of the user engagement.  
   
   
       33 . The accessory of  claim 32 , comprising a plurality of interchangeable user engagements adapted to be clipped to the second end of the user engagement.  
   
   
       34 . The accessory of  claim 33 , comprising a plurality of interchangeable elongated resilient members adapted to provide variable resistance.  
   
   
       35 . The accessory of  claim 5 , wherein the belt comprises a plurality of receiving members distributed about the circumference of the belt adapted to provide at least two receiving members suitable to be the first receiving member and at least two receiving members suitable to be the third receiving member, to enable provision of different degrees of resistance to the user's forward arm motion depending upon to which receiving member the securing member is attached.  
   
   
       36 . The accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated resilient member comprises a strengthening feature at each end.  
   
   
       37 . The accessory of  claim 36 , wherein the elongated resilient member comprises surgical tubing and the strengthening feature comprises an overlap construction.  
   
   
       38 . An accessory for facilitating upper body exercise of a user, the accessory comprising: 
 a) two elongated resilient members for providing resistance to a natural forward arm swing of the user, each elongated resilient member comprising a first end connected to a securing member and a second end having a user engagement adapted to be engaged by a user's hand or wrist, a first elongated resilient member sized to be secured to a first receiving member connected to a user's body on a first side of a midline of the user's body, to be engaged by an hand or wrist of the user on a second side of the midline of the user's body, and to be guided by a second member connected to the user's body behind the user on the second side of the midline, and a second elongated resilient member sized to be secured to a third receiving member connected to a user's body on the second side of the user's midline, to be engaged by the user's hand or wrist on the first side of the user's midline, and to be guided by a fourth receiving member rearward connected to the user's body behind the user on the first side of the midline;    b) a carrying case adapted to contain the elongated resilient members when the members are not secured to the user's body, the carrying case comprising a securing member adapted to secure the carrying case to a fifth receiving member connected to the user's body; and    c) a belt adapted to be worn around the user's waist, the belt comprising the first, second, third, fourth and fifth receiving members and comprising an adjustment mechanism adapted to allow the belt to accommodate a range of waist sizes, the belt comprising a plurality of receiving members distributed along a length of the belt and adapted to provide at least two receiving members suitable to be the first receiving member and at least two receiving members suitable to be the third receiving member, to enable provision of different degrees of resistance to the user's forward arm motion depending upon to which receiving member the securing member is attached.    
   
   
       39 . A method of exercise, comprising performing a lower body exercise while wearing an accessory for providing upper body exercise, the accessory comprising at least one elongated resilient member, the elongated resilient member comprising a first end having a securing member and a second end having a user engagement, the method comprising: 
 a) securing each elongated resilient member to a first receiving member on a first side of a midline of the user's body and using a second receiving member as a guide for receiving a portion of the resilient member intermediate the first and second ends on a second side of the user's body midline and behind the user;    b) engaging each elongated resilient member user engagement with the user's hand or wrist on the second side of the user's body;    c) performing the lower body exercise while swinging the arms such that the resilient member provides resistance to a natural forward arm swing.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the lower body exercise comprises walking, jogging, running, aerobics, or a workout on a lower body exercise machine.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 39 , comprising securing the resilient members to one or more pre-existing receiving members on the user's clothing.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein the pre-existing receiving members comprise belt loops, the method comprising using a first belt loop as the first receiving member and using a second belt loop as the second receiving member for each resilient member.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 39 , comprising securing the one or more receiving members to the user's clothing prior to attaching the resilient members, each receiving member comprising a pointed end for piercing a user's clothing, means for safely securing the pointed end, and means for receiving the securing member of the resilient member.  
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the accessory further comprises a belt adapted to be fixed to the user's body and comprises an adjustment mechanism adapted to allow the belt to be fixed around a waist of the user's body within a range of waist sizes, the belt comprising a plurality of belt loops, the method further comprising the steps of affixing the belt around the user's waist and using a first belt loop as the first receiving member and using a second belt loop as the second receiving member for each resilient member.