Patent ID: 8192337

Claim:
A method for exercising, the method comprising: providing an anchor securable to a first location substantially fixed with respect to the earth; providing a load assembly operably connected to the anchor, the load assembly comprising a resistance member connecting to the anchor and having an anchor end and a pulley end; a pulley assembly, including a pulley, connected to the resistance member, and a tether having first and second ends and extending around the pulley, positioned between the first and second ends; providing handles, comprising first and second handles, separate and distinct from one another and secured to the first and second ends, respectively; the providing the load assembly, wherein the resistance member further comprises at least one elongation member, arbitrarily selectable by a user from a plurality of elongation members, each formed of an elastomeric polymer, sized in length to characterize a pre-selected range of motion of the user, sized in cross-sectional area to provide a pre-selected spring coefficient characterizing a relationship between force and elongation thereof, and connected proximate the anchor end thereof to the anchor and proximate the pulley end thereof to the pulley, a limiter comprising a flexible, stranded material having a substantially fixed length and effective to limit extension of the at least one elongation member in accordance with the fixed length, a first link, extending within the at least one elongation member to connect the at least one elongation member and the limiter to the pulley assembly, a second link, between the anchor and the at least one elongation member, and connecting the at least one elongation member and the limiter to the anchor, and the limiter formed into a closed loop directly connected around a portion of the anchor to restrict the at least one elongation member from moving away from the anchor in the event of a failure of the load assembly; gripping by a user the first handle in a first hand; gripping by the user the second handle in a second hand; positioning the user to have the second hand fixed proximate the body at a first anchor position; drawing, by the first hand of the user on the first handle, the tether, from a first active position comparatively closer to the pulley to a second active position comparatively farther from the pulley; providing resistance control to the first handle by moving the second handle in the second hand of the user from the first anchor position to a final anchor position closer to the pulley than the first anchor position, while the first handle in the first hand of the user moves correspondingly from the second active position to a third active position further from the pulley than the second active position and yet not further elongating the at least one elongation member during the corresponding movements of the first and second hands.