BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to exercise equipment in general and to exercise equipment for the heel flexors, toe flexors and calf muscles in particular.

2. Description of the Related Art

Devices are known to assist in stretching, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,843 to Storfer, et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Stretching of the muscles in preparation for athletics is intended to increase performance and reduce the risk of injury. As many forms of athletics, as well as normal daily life, involve the use of the legs, it is important that the various leg muscles be properly stretched. Particularly important are the calf muscles.

In stretching the calf muscles, it is important to understand that not only are the muscles being stretched, but to a minor degree so is the Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon attaches to the calf muscle and to the heel bone (calcaneus). The calf muscles and the muscles along the shin are needed to protect against shock in various exercises involving the legs. In athletics, the Achilles tendon bears forces up to six times that of a person's weight. If not stretched properly or if overused, the Achilles tendon may become injured to the point of rupturing.

As it pertains to the calf muscles and the Achilles tendon in particular, the best stretch is one done slowly and with proper support maintaining control of stretch of intensity. One generally used method of stretching the calf muscles can be particularly dangerous. That is, standing on a step with the heel of the foot hanging off and then dropping down to stretch the calf muscle. In this method, the muscles and tendons may be stretched past the point in which they will have to move. Most of the current devices and methods lack the ability to control the intensity of the stretch of stretches and thus may over stretch the calf and Achilles tendon. Proper stretching should be done slowly and carefully.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, a calf-stretching device is provided for conducting stretching exercises of the gastrocnemius muscles of the leg. The calf-stretching device includes a support base positionable on a floor surface. The calf-stretching device includes left and right surfaces (components) that are immovably connected to the support base. Each of the left and right surfaces present a convex curved surface from a front side to a back side to receive respective feet of a user. The convex curved surface has a greater radial dimension on an inner portion than an outer portion presenting a varus slant to correspond to a foot arch of the user.

The above presents a general summary of several aspects of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of at least some aspects of the disclosure. The above summary contains simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail and is not intended as a comprehensive description of the claimed subject matter but, rather, is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the functionality associated therewith. The summary is not intended to delineate the scope of the claims, and the summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows. Other systems, methods, functionality, features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed written description.

