Flexible exercise hoop apparatus and method

Abstract

A flexible exercise hoop apparatus, and methods of using same, being a material formed of a pliable, flexible, resilient hollow loop. The hollow loop is a continuous closed loop of rubber silicone, the invention having an internal hollow tubed cavity around its circumference, said cavity being dimensioned so as to receive a liquid, such as water or other dense liquid or ballast such as brine or beet juice.

I claim: 
     
         1 . An exercise apparatus, comprising:
 a pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop with a radius R having an internal tubed cavity with radius r;   an aperture in a side wall of the pliable flexible material providing an ingress into the internal tubed cavity;   a closure mechanism dimensioned to seal the aperture;   the aperture dimensioned to receive a liquid within the internal tubed cavity; and   the exercise apparatus operable to provide a user a cardio-based workout.   
     
     
         2 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pliable, flexible, resilient material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of plastisol, poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, thermoplastic rubber silicone, natural rubber, neoprene, polychloroprene, silicone rubber, Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM), and nitrile rubber. 
     
     
         3 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , in combination with a liquid within the internal cavity. 
     
     
         4 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the liquid is water and the quantity of water within the internal tubed cavity, is of a volume less than the volume of the fully inflated internal tubed cavity. 
     
     
         5 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising ribs or ridges integrally molded into a portion of the side wall of the continuous loop but around the entire circumference R thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the exercise apparatus is structurally a hollow ring torus having the surface generated by the revolution of a circle around a line of its plan with a tube with constant diameter and circular bore. 
     
     
         7 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the ring torus has 2 primary measurements being R which is the distance from the center of the circular tube to the center of the torus, and r is the radius of the circular hollow tube. 
     
     
         8 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein R is in the range of between 8 inches and 36 inches corresponding to a circumference of between 50 inches and 226 inches. 
     
     
         9 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein r is between ½ inch and 5 inches corresponding to a circumference of 3.14 inches and 31.4 inches. 
     
     
         10 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein R is in the range of between 8 inches and 36 inches and r is between ½ inch and 5 inches. 
     
     
         11 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an accelerometer module embedded into the outer wall of the pliable, flexible, resilient material. 
     
     
         12 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the accelerometer module further comprises an accelerometer submodule operable to sense motion and generate signals corresponding thereto;
 a processor, the accelerometer submodule coupled to the processor along a bus for conditioning the signals and converting into data units; and   a transmitter for transmitting the data units to a receiver coupled to a cellular device having an application thereon for receiving and storing the data units and mapping the data units to parameters associated with the use of the exercise apparatus.   
     
     
         13 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the transmitter submodule transmits the data units according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, WiFi, Low Power Protocol for IOT, NB-IOT, Zigbee, LoRaWAN, LoRa, LPWAN, LTE or 5G standards. 
     
     
         14 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the closure mechanism is one selected from the group consisting of a push-in plug, a screw-in plug or cap or a one way valve. 
     
     
         15 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one-way valve is operable to release air from the internal tubed cavity while retaining the liquid therein. 
     
     
         16 . A hooped exercise apparatus operable to provide a user a cardio-based workout, comprising:
 a pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop with an internal tubed cavity wherein the pliable, flexible, resilient material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of plastisol, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, thermoplastic rubber silicone, natural rubber, neoprene, polychloroprene, silicone rubber, Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM), and nitrile rubber;   an aperture in a side wall of the pliable flexible material providing an ingress into the internal tubed cavity, the aperture dimensioned to receive a liquid within the internal tubed cavity; and   a closure mechanism dimensioned to seal the aperture.   
     
     
         17 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 16  manufactured using a slush molding process. 
     
     
         18 . The exercise apparatus of  claim 16 , in combination with a liquid within the internal cavity wherein the liquid is water and the quantity of water within the internal tubed cavity, is of quantity of between 1 ounce and 50 ounces. 
     
     
         19 . A method of cardio-based exercise comprising the steps of:
 providing a pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop having an internal tubed cavity around the circumference thereof and an aperture in a side wall of the pliable flexible material providing an ingress into the internal cavity and a closure mechanism dimensioned to fit within the aperture, the aperture dimensioned to receive a liquid within the internal cavity;   partially filling the pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop having an internal cavity with a liquid;   placing the pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop having an internal cavity with liquid therein around a midsection of a human body;   imparting a rotational motion in a horizontal plane in relation to the human body to the pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop so that it begins to rotate around a substantially vertical axis; and   gyrating the midsection of the human body in a circular motion so as to continually induce a corresponding circular motion along a horizontal plane of the pliable, flexible, resilient material forming a continuous loop so as to substantially maintain the position thereof relative to the human body.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the imparted circular motion to the invention generally flattens the pliable, flexible, resilient material such that an upper half of the interior wall contacts a lower half of the interior wall with a film of liquid therein-between and the bulk of the liquid is collected in other portions of the hollow loop due to the circular motion.