Exercise garment

Abstract

An exercise garment is in the form of pants having a high waist area which can be worn without the need for suspenders although suspenders can be optionally attached. Other forms of exercise garments include structure for specifically exercising the muscles in the abdominal region. The structure can include an abdominal panel made of resistance material arranged in the form of adjacent blocks.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An exercise garment comprising a pants section, said pants section including a body portion and leg portions, said garment being made of base fabric material and resistance band material secured to said base fabric material, said resistance band material and said base fabric material having different resistance characteristics to the stretching of the material and the material returning to its original condition, said pants being of a high-waist which converges inwardly and then outwardly at the top portion of said pants, and waist fastening structure for permitting the pants to be worn by the user without the addition of suspenders.  
     
     
         2 . The garment of  claim 1  including attaching structure at the waist area of said pants section to permit the optional attachment of suspenders to said pants section.  
     
     
         3 . An abdominal resistance garment made from base fabric and elastic resistance band material said elastic band resistance material, having greater resistance characteristics than said base fabric material, an elastic abdominal resistance panel in such garment connected to said elastic band material, and said abdominal resistance panel creating resistance on the muscles in the abdominal region in addition to resistance created by said elastic band material.  
     
     
         4 . The garment of  claim 3  wherein said abdominal panel includes a plurality of adjacent sections having the same geometric shape.  
     
     
         5 . The garment of  claim 3  wherein said abdominal panel includes a plurality of adjacent sections having different geometric shapes.  
     
     
         6 . The garment of  claim 3  wherein said abdominal panel is an X structure.  
     
     
         7 . The garment of  claim 3  wherein said garment includes a pants section having a pair of legs and a knee portion in each leg, said elastic resistance band material including a leg resistance panel on each of said legs being of one piece construction and extending from the calf up over the lateral surface and crossing on top of the oblique thigh/glut to form a loop which provides resistance in both the forwards and backwards leg position during walking movement, said resistance panel having a north to south warp direction, and when said panel crosses over the knee portion said panel having a twist to its warp direction to add more resistance.  
     
     
         8 . The garment of  claim 7  wherein said resistance panel extends from at least the calf to at least the thigh, said resistance panel crossing over and around the knee portion to lock on the user's knee and cause the thigh muscles to work harder during leg movement of the user.  
     
     
         9 . The garment of  claim 7  wherein said pants section is suspenderless.  
     
     
         10 . A resistance garment made from base fabric and elastic resistance material, said resistance material having greater resistance characteristics than said base fabric, said garment including a pants section having a pair of legs and a knee portion in each leg, said elastic resistance band material including a leg resistance panel on each of said legs being of one piece construction and extending from the calf up over the lateral surface and crossing on top of the oblique thigh/glut to form a loop which provides resistance in both the forwards and backwards leg position during walking movement, said resistance panel having a north to south warp direction, and when said panel crosses over the knee portion said panel having a twist to its warp direction to add more resistance.  
     
     
         11 . The garment of  claim 10  wherein said resistance panel extends from at least the calf to at least the thigh, said resistance panel crossing over and around the knee portion to lock on the user's knee and cause the thigh muscles to work harder during leg movement of the user.  
     
     
         12 . The garment of  claim 11  wherein said pants section is suspenderless.  
     
     
         13 . The garment of  claim 11  wherein said garment includes a shirt section having arms, an arm resistance panel on each arm extending from below the elbow of each arm to beyond the shoulder and being connected to a neck block made of resistance material, an abdominal resistance panel on at least the front of said garment, a waist panel, and said leg resistance panels extending to said waist panel.  
     
     
         14 . The garment of  claim 13  wherein each of said leg resistance panels and said arm resistance panels is made from material having north/south warp direction, and each of said neck block and said abdominal panel and said waist panel being made from material having east/west warp direction.  
     
     
         15 . The garment of  claim 14  wherein said base fabric material comprises a lower leg section below the knee portion of each leg and an upper leg section from about the knee portion to said waist panel and an arm section on each of said arms and a torso section below said neck block, each of said base fabric leg sections and said torso section being made of a base fabric material having north/south warp direction, and each of said upper leg sections and each of said arm sections being made of a base fabric material having east/west warp direction.  
     
     
         16 . A resistance band system for use at the joint of the limb of a user, said band system comprising a pair of spaced circumference bands disposed at an angle to lock in place using the wide points of muscles between the bands, and at least one vertical band connecting said spaced circumference bands to cross over the joint and apply resistance during movement of the limb.  
     
     
         17 . The band system of  claim 16  wherein said bands are intended to be worn at the elbow joint, and wherein there are two of said vertical bands.  
     
     
         18 . The band system of  claim 16  wherein said band system is intended to be worn at the knee joint and there is only a single vertical band which is located in the front portion thereof.  
     
     
         19 . In a method of manufacturing an exercise garment to control the aerobic performance of the garment wherein the garment includes base fabric and resistance band material, the improvement being in that the resistance band material is pre-stretched before being sewn to the base fabric.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  including controlling the characteristics of the resistance band by controlling one or more of the factors selected from the group consisting of the length of the band, the width of the band, the strength of the band material, the type of the band material, and the positioning of the band.