Donkey Calf Raise Attachment "Calf Crusher Strap"

grabcad

I am a Certified Personal Trainer so when this challenge popped up on GrabCad I instantly got excited to contribute to something I'm so passionate about. The Donkey Calf Raise is one of my favorite exercises because of it's amazing range of motion making it a much more efficient and effective technique for developing calf muscles. I feel like this is a great challenge because most gyms don't carry the equipment associated with this exact exercise. They do, however, always have at least one Smith Machine making this attachment very useful, if not absolutely necessary to have at a gym. In fact I've already spoken to a trainer at the Gold's Gym I'm a member of and they are very interested in this idea. That being said the one thing that is crucial to a good exercise is balance and stability. If a person is performing a motion and they feel in any way insecure with the equipment they will not be able to perform the exercise properly. This is my reasoning behind creating the belt attachment to attach the apparatus to the person rather than the equipment. The main problem with the device being attached to the Smith Machine is that the bar is actually free to rotate and if the person performing the exercise does not position themselves perfectly under the bar it could twist and actually land on their back causing serious injury. This is why I've chosen to attach the device to the user instead of the equipment. This creates a more solid attachment with no moving structural parts. To perform the exercise the Smith Machine is setup so that the bar sits on the stopping pads (Not on the hooks) and is positioned so that when the person stands on a raised block and is bent over, their knees are slightly bent. When they raise their hips to the bar the device's hooks use the pressure from the bar to secure it into place (similar to a bear latch and stricking pin mechanism). The person then performs the set of repetitions and when complete simply lowers their hips below the bar and the device detaches instantly allowing the user to stand up, remove the belt, and move on to the next exercise. My concept of the attachment is both very secure and easy to manufacture. It is constructed of 1/8th inch steel to accommodate very heavy weight. The device is attached using a common 2 inch canvas belt with a high density foam backing and a breathable soft cushion for the front. The hooks are made of alluminum alloy with a HDPE removable insert to protect the equipment and to replace after years of usage. The top of the structure is also covered with a HDPE removable and replaceable insert. This is a high quality product with a very low cost of production and will fill a niche in the gym world that needs to be filled! **SUPPLY AND MANUFACTURING** I did some research into supply and manufacturing costs and the materials in small quantity would be approximately $30 and some change and manufacturing costs are between $65 and $85 based on where it's made. Giving this product a total cost of manufacturing on a very small scale of between $95 and $115.