Weight Lifting Sandals

Abstract

A weight lifting system consisting of thin light-weight sandals to be strapped to a person's shod feet, the sandals having additional parts that are designed to attach to and detach from corresponding hardware on weights and weight holding devices. The sandals are designed and built so they will not interfere with walking or other exercises. The hardware works quickly and easily and a plurality of different weights is preferred with the net result being that the user can quickly and easily pick up and put down weights with their feet, change the amount of weight, and change weights from foot to foot and, hence, can easily move from one exercise to another, and there is no need to remove the sandals when performing other exercises.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 400,463 for Weight lifting sandals and their weights filed on Jul. 27, 2010 by Thomas Jay Zeek[0002]This application claims an invention that is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 583,854 filed on Aug. 26, 2009 for “Weight Lifting Shoes” from Thomas Jay Zeek, and uses much of the same hardware that is shown and claimed in that application. The invention claimed herein first appeared in Provisional Application for Patent No. 61 / 191,171 filed on Sep. 4, 2008 for “Weight lifting shoes and their weights” from Thomas Jay Zeek.FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0003]Not Applicable.SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM[0004]Not Applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0005]This invention pertains to weight lifting, specifically to a device that improves the quality and number of exercises that a person can do with their legs. It is a pair of sandals that enable t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0039]FIG. 26 shows the short sandal correctly strapped to a user's shod foot.

Problems solved by technology

While exercises for the upper body have always been easy to do and plentiful, exercises for the legs have been fewer and much more difficult to coordinate.

This problem is normally addressed by the use of large expensive weight lifting machines.

Machines called leg curl or leg extension machines take up a lot of room in the user's house and are only good for a couple of exercises.

Other weight lifting machines such as donkey kick machines are more expensive and for most people require a gym membership.

Weighted shoes have been invented which don't hurt the ankles like ankle weights but they make changing and removing weights difficult, and they hamper walking and other exercises because they remain heavy.

In both of those inventions changing weights is time consuming and difficult.

All of these inventions are hampered by the limited amount of weight they can employ.

They all accommodate heavy weight and in one case the ease of changing weights rivals my own invention, but all have the same drawback, namely that they interfere with walking and doing other exercises.

The thickness of the sole plates makes walking awkward and makes other exercises awkward and dangerous as the user could easily “fall off their heels.” They would have to be removed when the user is switching between upper body and lower body exercises.

The sole plate is very rigid and flat and not at all conducive to walking.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,927 to Catanzano describes a similar device in which the sole plate is made up of a plurality of weights which can be thin but it is rigid and still awkward and is limited in the amount of weight it can incorporate.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,052 to Good refers to an exercising boot “preferably made by casting suitable metal in a shaping form or mold.” It is intended to be worn in place of shoes and not over shoes and therefore will be difficult to fit properly.

Its rigid design again makes walking and other exercises difficult and dangerous.

The first drawback of Vaile's invention as well as my own weight lifting shoes is that the shoes must be replaced as often as a person's shoe size changes, which can be very expensive for a person whose feet are still growing.

Vaile's design also has the drawback of having the weight over the toes of the user's foot.

Being forced to exercise too many muscles at the same time reduces the effectiveness on the target muscles because the user will get tired before the target muscles have been fully worked.

The weights will also have a tendency to hit the floor when the user is doing donkey kick exercises.

They would have to be offered in a variety of odd widths which few retail stores would want to stock, and they still wouldn't offer a proper fit for everyone.

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