Astable Exercise Seat With Adjustable Bladder for Core Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing abdominal exercise devices do not effectively engage the user's core muscles during workouts, leading to a less comprehensive muscle workout experience.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable, unstable seating device with a fluid-filled bladder and a stiff foam cover that can be attached to exercise machines, providing adjustable instability to require users to engage their core muscles for balance, featuring a recess for comfort and a raised ridge for secure positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a stable seat is used during exercise, then the user can maintain a comfortable seated position, but the core muscles are not sufficiently engaged
Solution Approach 1:
The seat transitions from a static, stable configuration to a dynamic, unstable configuration through adjustable components. The instability can be modified by changing the position of support rollers or adjusting the rigidity of support legs, allowing the seat to adapt between stable and unstable states based on exercise requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameters of the seat are changed to control stability. By adjusting the rigidity of support legs or repositioning rollers, the seat's structural parameters are modified to create varying degrees of instability, thereby controlling the level of core muscle engagement required
2Productivity
If an unstable seat is used to engage core muscles, then the core muscle workout effectiveness increases, but the user loses seating comfort and stability
Solution Approach 1:
The seat provides dynamic stability adjustment, allowing users to transition between stable and unstable positions. Support legs can be adjusted from an extended stable position to a retracted unstable position, enabling users to modulate comfort versus core engagement based on their needs
Solution Approach 2:
The support system is divided into separate adjustable components (support legs with rollers). Each component can be independently positioned to provide either stability or instability, allowing the user to segment the function between comfort and exercise effectiveness
3Productivity
If the bladder is made very stiff to increase instability, then core muscle engagement increases, but pressure on soft tissue and bones increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed with non-uniform thickness, creating different local qualities. Thinner regions provide flexibility and pressure relief over bony areas, while thicker regions provide structural support where needed. This localized variation in material properties reduces pressure on soft tissue and bones while maintaining overall seat stability
Solution Approach 2:
The seat combines a fluid-filled bladder with a foam cover to create a composite structure. The fluid bladder provides adjustable instability for core engagement, while the foam cover provides pressure distribution and comfort, reducing harmful pressure on soft tissue and bones
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the engagement of core muscles during exercises by requiring users to maintain balance, providing a more effective core muscle workout and comfort through adjustable stiffness and secure positioning.
Implementation Method 1
The bladder is an air-filled bladder, and has an air valve so that the user can adjust the pressure in the bladder for the weight of the user, and to a desired stiffness.
Implementation Method 2
a hook-and-pile fastener such as Velcro®
Data Source
AI summary
A seating device for increasing use of a user's core muscles includes an adjustable air-filled bladder having generally flat top and bottom surfaces, and a significantly stiffer but resilient foam cover that fits over and matingly engages to the bladder. The cover is contoured, having both a central groove or recess that partially receives and accommodate male genitalia, and a raised ridge toward the front of the device to help keep the user properly positioned on the cover. The fluid-filled bladder is astable or wobbly, requiring the user to use his core muscles to maintain an upright, seated position, while the cover provides a comfortable contoured seat. The device can be used with an exercise device in which the user sits on the device, including on an abdominal exercise device, thus increasing both the abdomen strengthening action of the exercise as well as providing increased comfort for the user.