Breathable heavyweight garments for physical conditioning

Abstract

In some embodiments, a heavyweight jacket includes a main body configured to fit on the torso of a wearer and sleeves that are fully detached from the main body. The sleeves advantageously facilitate putting on the heavy jacket, while providing a jacket of high weight. To form the heavyweight jacket, a pre-bonded fabric may be used. The fabric is pre-bonded and may optionally be further layered to increase the garment's weight without sacrificing flexibility or breathability. The layered fabric distributes the garment's weight evenly and ensures that the garment does not excessively restrict a wearer's freedom of movement or cause the wearer to overheat. The weight of the fabric may be increased by using a heavyweight glue to bond various layers of material together.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A heavyweight sleeve configured to fit on an arm of a human wearer, the sleeve comprising:
 pre-bonded fleece fabric;   an inner face and an outer face, the inner face being thinner than the outer face,   wherein the sleeves taper from one open end to an opposite open end of the sleeves, and   wherein the sleeves are formed of fabric having a uniform density of 8 or more ounces per square yard.   
     
     
         2 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve comprises one or more patches. 
     
     
         3 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 2 , wherein the patches are located in one or more positions spaced apart from a location corresponding to a joint of the wearer. 
     
     
         4 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 2 , wherein the patches occupy about 50% or more of a surface area of the fabric forming the sleeve. 
     
     
         5 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 2 , wherein the patches are formed of heavier weight fabric than the fabric having the uniform density of 8 or more ounces per square yard. 
     
     
         6 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein neighboring layers of the fleece fabric are bonded together with adhesive to form the pre-bonded fleece fabric, wherein the adhesive provides at least 20% of the weight of the pre-bonded fabric per yard. 
     
     
         7 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the heavyweight sleeve is composed of pre-bonded fabric having three or more layers. 
     
     
         8 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein each of the layers is porous. 
     
     
         9 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve has a MVTR between about 100 g/m 2 /day and about 1,500 g/m 2 /day. 
     
     
         10 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric has a uniform density of 14 or more ounces per square yard. 
     
     
         11 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is a polyvinyl acetate-based adhesive. 
     
     
         12 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is a latex adhesive. 
     
     
         13 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , further comprising a releasable closure proximate a wider end of the sleeve, the releasable closure configured to retain the sleeve on the wearer. 
     
     
         14 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the inner face is formed by a single layer of fleece and the outer layer is formed by multiple layers of pre-bonded fleece. 
     
     
         15 . The heavyweight sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises nylon, spandex, or polyester.