A ground-effect footplate against which a user applies plantar force and moves their foot in 3D across all seven lower-extremity biomechanical axes to accomplish specific as well as global ambulatory objectives related to lower extremity performance improvement, injury prevention and rehabilitation. A device comprising at least one articulating leg connected to a ground-effect footplate and a surface for a user to position against. The device can be used in conjunction with software to create virtual ambulatory environments that mimic GRFVs and cause moments of force that initiate muscular activations that substantially mimic human ambulation, and can couple those movements with non-functional movements in order to improve ROM, speed, strength, and proprioception.

A Twisting Stepper Apparatus comprising a Frame Structure Member, a Foot Engagement Member, and an optional Resistance Member. The Frame Structure Member is comprised basically of a Base Frame Member and a Guide Platform Member. The Foot Engagement Member is pivotally mounted to the Base Frame Member and mainly comprises two Foot Support Members pivotally coupled together by a lever assembly such that they move in reciprocating upward and downward motions. The lever assembly is a dual lever assembly which keeps the Foot Support Member in a relatively horizontal positon while moving upward and downward. The Foot Support Members operatively engage the Guide Platform Member, with the upward and downward movements of the Foot Support Members create the twisting movement of the Foot Engagement Member, and vice versa. The optional Resistance Member provides resistance in the twisting motion of the Foot Engagement Member, and thus also in the upward and downward movements of the Foot Support Members.

A hydraulic resistance exercise apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus has a frame adjustably supporting at least one drum body. One of an arm bar and a leg bar pivotally attached to the at least one drum body. A hydraulic vane cylinder is carried in each the at least one drum body. The hydraulic vane cylinder has one or more hydraulic channels and at least one vane coupled to one of the arm bar and the leg bar, such that operation of one of the arm bar and the leg bar urges a hydraulic fluid contained within the hydraulic vane cylinder under a resistance by passage of the hydraulic fluid through the one or more hydraulic channels.

A hydraulic resistance exercise apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus has a frame adjustably supporting at least one drum body. One of an arm bar and a leg bar pivotally attached to the at least one drum body. A hydraulic vane cylinder is carried in each the at least one drum body. The hydraulic vane cylinder has one or more hydraulic channels and at least one vane coupled to one of the arm bar and the leg bar, such that operation of one of the arm bar and the leg bar urges a hydraulic fluid contained within the hydraulic vane cylinder under a resistance by passage of the hydraulic fluid through the one or more hydraulic channels.

A four-bar linkage assembly exercise station that can be adjusted to various configurations to create various exercise motions having at least one adjustable operational pivot that is movable prior to operation of the machine and stationary during operation of the machine and at least one stationary adjustment pivot operatively connected to the at least one adjustable operational pivot. The stationary adjustment pivot is also operatively connected to an adjusting and latching component or assembly that can be engaged by a user prior to operation of the machine to adjust the four-bar linkage assembly exercise station to a desired configuration to create a unique exercise motion and secure the desired configuration of the adjustable four-bar linkage assembly.

A portable exercise device includes a pedal spaced away from and pivotably connected to a base and having a neutral position relative to a pivot axis. The pedal is configured to rotate about the pivot axis in a first direction toward the base and in a second direction, opposite the first direction, toward the base. The device also includes a resistance mechanism configured to exert a force on the pedal about the pivot axis in a direction opposite to the respective direction of rotation of the pedal. The device is movable between an open, in-use configuration, where the pedal is disposed in the neutral position to receive a foot and spaced away from the base, and a closed configuration, where the pedal is adjacent the base.

A device for acclimatising at altitude comprising a breathing mask defining a confined air space when it is placed on the face of a user. The mask comprising a suction valve to let the surrounding air enter inside the confined space when breathing in; an expiration valve to let air exit with a determined resistance, so as to create an overpressurisation of air in the confined space, when breathing out; and a sensor to establish information about the pressure of the confined space behind. The acclimatisation device in addition comprises a unit for processing the pressure information configured to establish a breathing characteristic of the user and compare it to at least one target value, in view of recommending to them an adjustment of the breathing mode thereof. A method for functioning this device is also provided.

The invention is embodied in an exercise system that can allow its user to counterbalance the effects associated with a predominantly sedentary lifestyle though a fitness device that comprises a combination of (a) supporting the lower body in a manner that permits a user's upper body to act as a third class lever with the user's hips operating as fulcrum and (b) engaging in resistance exercises with the upper body in a horizontal position, unsupported above the greater trochanter.

Apparatus for back improvement and lower-back pain and knees relieving, the apparatus including, for each foot of a user, a pedal shiftable along a linear axis, for allowing a foot of the user to exert force on the pedal, a sensor, for continuously sensing a force exerted on the pedal by the foot, a linear actuator having a longitudinal bore in a piston thereof, the linear actuator being configured to move the piston away from the pedal when the force on the pedal exceeds a first threshold, and a controller for reading a sensing of the sensor, the controller being adapted to instruct the mechanism to move the piston away from the pedal such that the pedal retracts in response to pressure exerted by the foot.

Apparatus for back improvement and lower-back pain and knees relieving, the apparatus including, for each foot of a user, a pedal shiftable along a linear axis, for allowing a foot of the user to exert force on the pedal, a sensor, for continuously sensing a force exerted on the pedal by the foot, a linear actuator having a longitudinal bore in a piston thereof, the linear actuator being configured to move the piston away from the pedal when the force on the pedal exceeds a first threshold, and a controller for reading a sensing of the sensor, the controller being adapted to instruct the mechanism to move the piston away from the pedal such that the pedal retracts in response to pressure exerted by the foot.