Abstract:
An exercise system and method are provided. The system comprises a set of exercise cards. The set of exercise cards includes a plurality of exercise cards each having an exercise indicated thereon. The exercise cards also include a repetition number indicating a number of times a user needs to repeat the exercise indicated on the exercise card.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates generally to cards, and more particularly to an exercise card system.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     Currently, many individuals are concerned with health and exercise. A large number of people are members of gyms or own and utilize home exercise equipment—both of which may be expensive to maintain. For example, in order for an individual to have a unique exercise regiment, the individual may need to employ a personal trainer; which is extremely expensive. Alternatively, the individual may have more than one piece of home exercise equipment.  
         [0005]     Additionally, individuals who are members of a gym may find it difficult and time consuming to have to travel to the gym on a regular basis. Oftentimes, the individual ends up not going because they cannot find the time or do not have the energy to go to the gym.  
         [0006]     When traveling, a traveler may want to maintain their exercise regiment. This often requires the traveler to pay an extra fee in order to utilize a hotel health center. Besides the added cost, the hotel health center is an unfamiliar environment, in which the traveler may not feel comfortable using.  
         [0007]     Therefore, there is a need for an exercise card system and method using the exercise card system.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention provides a system and method for providing and utilizing an exercise card set. The exercise card set includes a plurality of exercise cards each having an exercise indicated thereon. Each exercise card also includes a repetition number indicating a number of times a user needs to repeat the exercise indicated on the exercise card. In further embodiments, the exercise cards may also comprise a graphical representation of the exercise.  
         [0009]     The exercise card set may further comprise one or more explanation cards. These explanation cards explain a proper method for executing a particular exercise. The explanation may be in text form, graphics, or a combination of both.  
         [0010]     The exercise cards and the explanation cards may be manufactured in a plurality of ways. For example, the cards may be printed on a sheet and die cut. The cards may comprise any shape or size, and are generally the same shape and size throughout the set.  
         [0011]     An exemplary method of utilizing the exercise card set comprises shuffling the exercise cards and selecting one exercise card at a time. A user then performs an exercise indicated on the exercise card for a number of repetitions also indicated on the exercise card. When the correct number of repetitions is completed, the user then selects a next exercise card from the set and performs the indicated exercise for the indicated number of repetitions. This continues until all the exercise cards have been selected.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  are exemplary explanation cards;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2A-2D  are exemplary exercise cards;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method for using the exercise cards; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary exercise card container.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     Embodiments of the present invention provide an exemplary exercise system utilizing a set of exercise cards. Because the exercise cards are of a portable size, the exercise card system may be practiced anywhere and may be taken with a user when traveling.  
         [0017]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , four exemplary explanation cards  100  from the exercise card set are shown. Each explanation card comprises a front side  102  having instructions and a back side  104 . The back side  104  may comprise a graphic, text, or any other design desired by the manufacturer.  
         [0018]     The front side  102  of each explanation card  100  includes instructions for a specific exercise. For example, the front side  102   a  provides instructions for performing an abdominal crunch, while the front side  102   c  provides instructions for performing squats. The instructions may be provided in text, graphics, or a combination of both text and graphics.  
         [0019]     Although four exemplary explanation cards  100  are shown in  FIG. 1 , any number of explanation cards  100  may be provided in the exercise card set. Furthermore, any type of exercise may be provided by the exercise card set; thus the explanation cards  100  may comprise instructions for any type of exercise and are not limited by those exercises shown and described in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0020]     Furthermore, the explanation cards  100  are for reference. The explanation cards  100  may not be utilized each time a user utilizes the exercise card set. For example, if the user already knows how to perform the exercises in the exercise card set, then the explanation cards  100  may be discarded, removed, or set aside from the remaining cards of exercise card set.  
         [0021]     Referring now to  FIG. 2A-2D , a series of exercise cards are shown. In  FIG. 2A , a series of abdominal crunch exercise cards  200   a  are provided. The exemplary series includes twelve abdominal crunch exercise cards  200   a . Each abdominal crunch exercise card  200   a  comprises a title  202   a  of the exercise to be performed, graphical representation  204   a  of the exercise to be performed, and a repetition number  206   a . The repetition number  206   a  provides a number of repetitions of the exercise to be performed for a particular exercise card  200   a . For example, if the exercise card  200   a  having a repetition number  206   a  of two is selected, then a user will perform two repetitions of the exercise—in this case, two abdominal crunches.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2B  shows a series of knee to chest exercise cards  200   b . Each knee to chest exercise card  200   b  also comprises a title  202   b , graphical representation  204   b  of the exercise, and a repetition number  206   b . Similarly,  FIG. 2C  provides a series of squat exercise cards  200   c  and  FIG. 2D  provides a series of push-up exercise cards  200   d.    
         [0023]     It should be noted that the title  202 , graphical representation  204 , and repetition number  206  may be located anywhere on the exercise card  200 , and may be on different sides of the exercise card  200 . For example, a graphic representation  204  may be on one side of the exercise card  200  while the title  202  and the repetition number  206  may be on an opposite side of the exercise card  200 . Any combination of the title  202 , graphical representation  204 , and repetition number  206  on the sides of the exercise card  200  is within the scope of various embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0024]     The exemplary embodiments of exercise cards  200  in  FIG. 2A-2D  comprise twelve exercise cards in each series. Alternative embodiments, however, may comprise more or less exercise cards  200  in each series. Furthermore, each series may differ in the number of exercise cards. For example, the squat exercise card  200   c  series may comprise fifteen cards while the push-up exercise card  200   d  series may comprise ten cards.  
         [0025]     Additionally, the repetition number  206  of the exercise cards  200  may vary. For example, an exercise series may only comprise seven exercise cards, but the repetitions for the exercise cards may start at five repetitions and increase to eleven repetitions. In a further embodiment, the repetition number  206  may be repeated. For example, the exercise card series may include six exercise cards  200  whereby two of the exercise cards  200  have a repetition number  206  of six, two of the exercise cards  200  have a repetition number  206  of eight, and two of the exercise cards  200  have a repetition number  206  of ten. Any combination of a number of exercise cards  200  in a series and repetition number  206  usage is within the scope of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0026]     Furthermore, while the exercise cards  200  each show two graphics in their graphical representation  204  of the exercise, alternative embodiments may show any number of graphics in their graphical representation  204  necessary to convey the exercise or no graphics at all. Thus, for example, if an exercise comprises three steps in order to complete a repetition, then the graphical representation  204  may comprise three graphics—one for each step of the exercise.  
         [0027]     The size and shape of the explanation cards  100  and exercise cards  200  are uniform within the exercise card set, however, the exercise card set, itself, may comprise any size or shape. Thus, while the explanation cards  100  and exercise cards  200  are shown with a wider top portion than a bottom portion, the explanation cards  100  and exercise cards  200  may be, for example, rectangular, round, or any other shape.  
         [0028]     The exemplary explanation cards  100  and exercise cards may be made of any material. For example, the explanation cards  100  may be made of a heavy cardstock paper or plastic material. In a further embodiment, the explanation cards  100  may be laminated to provide extra durability.  
         [0029]     In one embodiment, the manufacturing of the explanation cards  100  and exercise cards  200  may be performed by printing the cards  100  and  200  onto a flat sheet of material (e.g., paper, plastic) and die cutting the cards  100  and  200 . For example, the printed sheet of material may appear like that shown in  FIG. 2A-2D . In order to create a two-sided exercise card  200 , the flat sheet of material may be imprinted on both sides prior to die-cutting. Alternatively, the exercise card  200  may be made from a combination of two single-sided cards coupled together. Any process for manufacturing cards may be utilized to create embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0030]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a flowchart  300  of an exemplary method for utilizing the exercise cards  200  ( FIG. 2 ) is shown. In step  302 , a user shuffles a deck of exercise cards  200 . Because the deck of exercise cards  200  comprises a plurality of different exercises, shuffling the exercise cards  200  will inter-mix the exercises and provide a different exercise regiment/experience each time the user utilizes the exercise cards  200 .  
         [0031]     In yet further embodiments, different decks of exercise cards  200  may be mixed. For example, some or all exercise cards  200  from a deck of cardiovascular exercise cards (e.g., jumping jack exercise cards, etc.) may be mixed with some or all exercise cards  200  from a deck of upper body strengthening exercise cards (e.g., push-up exercise cards, etc.). The user can take exercise cards  200  from any number of decks of exercise cards  200  and shuffle the exercise cards  200 .  
         [0032]     Next, the user draws a top card on the deck in step  304 . The user may have the deck face up, whereby the title  202 , graphical representation  204 , and repetition  206  are visible to the user. Alternatively, the user may have the deck faced down, thus not knowing what the next exercise card  200  in the deck is until it is turned over.  
         [0033]     The user then performs the exercise on the drawn exercise card  200  in step  306 . Thus, for example, if the user draws the exercise card  200  for abdominal crunch having a repetition number  206  of ten, then the user must perform ten abdominal crunches.  
         [0034]     After performing the exercise and if there is a next card in the deck in step  308 , then the user draws the next exercise card  200  from the deck (returning to step  304 ) and performs the exercise on the next exercise card  200  (step  306 ). This process continues until the user completes the entire deck of shuffled exercise cards  200 .  
         [0035]     In a further embodiment, the system of the present invention may be practiced on a digital medium. For example, the exercise cards may be presented to a user via a computing device such as through a display of a laptop.  
         [0036]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , an exemplary exercise card container  400  is shown. The exercise card container  400  is shaped in approximately the same shape as the exercise cards  200  and the explanation cards  100 . The cards  100  and  200  may be housed inside a card compartment  402 .  
         [0037]     According to one embodiment, the exercise card container  400  comprises a flip lid  404 . The flip lid  404  provides access to the cards  100  and  200  in the card compartment  402 . Alternative embodiments may comprise a different access mechanism. For example, a fully removable lid may be utilized to cover the card compartment  402 .  
         [0038]     The exercise card container  400  may also comprise a small compartment  406  for holding small items such as vitamins or medication. In one embodiment, the small compartment  406  is located above the card compartment  404 . Alternative embodiments may locate the small compartment  406  elsewhere on the exercise card container  400 , or may not provide a small compartment  406 . Access to the small compartment  406  of  FIG. 4  may be through a lid at a top of the exercise card container  400 .  
         [0039]     The present invention has been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made and other embodiments can be used without departing from the broader scope of the invention. Therefore, these and other variations upon the exemplary embodiment are intended to be covered by the present invention.