Padded Weight Lifting Short

Abstract

A padded clothing article such as a short has a pad positioned on the front of the clothing article where the position of the pad is such that the pad covers the pubic bone of the individual wearing the short for protection during athletic exercise such as a snatch lift or gymnastic exercise. The pad is flexible so as not to constrict movement during the exercise while still providing protection against contact with the bar or other object along the pelvic region of the wearer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A clothing article with a pad for protecting the wearer during an exercise comprising:
 a front face and a rear face located between two side sections;   a crotch section joining the front face and the rear face to define a closed crotch area adapted to cover a genitalia of the wearer;   a padding section disposed on the front face and terminating at left and right sides such that the left and right sides are located on the front face wherein the padding section is adapted to cover a region of the wearer defined between a waist and a pubic symphysis of the wearer such that a bottom of the padding section is located such that the padding section covers the pubic symphysis and the padding section extends towards the waist.   
     
     
         2 . The clothing article of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a width of said padding section smaller than a height of said padding section. 
 
     
     
         3 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said padding section is disposed between two layers of fabric and said padding section further comprising:
 a base section; 
 a plurality of pad elements extending from said base section such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void; 
 wherein the void is between said plurality of pad elements and further located between a top surface of said base section and a top surface of one of said plurality of pad elements. 
 
     
     
         4 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said padding section is disposed between two layers of fabric and said padding section further comprises:
 a plurality of pad elements joined to at least one of said two layers of fabric such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void; 
 wherein the void is between said plurality of pad elements the two layers of fabric. 
 
     
     
         5 . The clothing article of  claim 1  further comprising:
 two face sections respectively covering left and right front upper thigh regions of the wearer wherein the padding section is disposed between said two face sections and above the crotch section without covering said two face sections. 
 
     
     
         6 . The clothing article of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a waist section defined at an end of said clothing article and including a lower and an upper edge. 
 
     
     
         7 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said padding section terminates at the lower edge. 
     
     
         8 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said padding section terminates between the lower and upper edges. 
     
     
         9 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said front face is defined by a seam extending around an edge of said front face wherein said seam joins the front face to said two side sections. 
     
     
         10 . The clothing article of  claim 9  wherein said padding section is of an area smaller than the front face. 
     
     
         11 . The clothing article of  claim 9  wherein a second seam is disposed in said front face and located around said padding section such that an outer layer of fabric is joined to said front face at said second seam and said padding section is located between the outer layer of fabric and said front face. 
     
     
         12 . The clothing article of  claim 1  wherein said padding section includes a pad, the pad made of a compressible material having a glass transition temperature which is strain rate dependent such that when the pad is compressed, the glass transition temperature increases to thereby increase a rigidity of the pad. 
     
     
         13 . A method of protecting a weight lifter during a weight lifting exercise comprising:
 providing a clothing article with fabric adapted to be disposed over front, rear, side and crotch sections of the weight lifter;   providing a front mounted protective pad on said clothing article, the pad extending from the front of the clothing article and positioned over a location on the weight lifter such that when the weight lifter holds a bar with arms extended downward, the bar extends across a torso of the weight lifter and the pad is located between the torso of the weight lifter and the bar;   compressing the pad upon contact with the bar, the compression of the pad reducing a magnitude of a force impulse against the weight lifter at the location due to contact with the bar.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the weight lifting exercise is a snatch exercise and said compressing step occurs during a phase of the snatch exercise where the bar is closest to the torso of the weight lifter. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising:
 providing a waist band on the clothing article having upper and lower edges. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said front mounted protective pad extends from the location and terminates at the lower edge. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said front mounted protective pad extends from the location and terminates between the upper and the lower edge. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the contact with the bar occurs over a vertical contact line such that the location extends along the contact line. 
     
     
         19 . A method of protecting a human's pelvic region during an exercise, the method comprising:
 providing a clothing article with fabric adapted to be disposed over front, rear, side and crotch sections of the human;   providing a front mounted protective pad on said clothing article, the pad extending from the front of the clothing article and positioned over a location on the human such that when contact with a longitudinal object disposed across a torso of the human occurs during the exercise, the pad is located between the torso of the human and the longitudinal object;   compressing the pad upon the contact with the longitudinal object, the compression of the pad reducing a magnitude of a force impulse against the human at the location due to the contact with the longitudinal object.