Rowing exercise machine

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention contemplates a rowing exercise machine with a frame, a seat supported by the frame and two, independently movable levers that are pivotally connected to the frame in front of the seat.
The ends of the levers have handles that are grasped and pulled rearwardly, either independently or simultaneously, to pivotally raise, with respect to the frame, weighted plates supported on hubs at the lower ends of the levers.
The frame has sides that converge toward the front of the machine and diverge in the rearward direction.
The levers are mounted to the converging frame sides and move through corresponding, forward converging planes.
When compared to prior rowing exercise machines, the outer planes of movement of this machine more naturally accommodate the musculoskeletal structure of the human body.
Moreover, by providing two independently operable levers that are designed to match the natural movement of muscles of one side with respect to the entire body, this improved rowing exercise machine is particularly suitable for rehabilitation after an injury.
In accordance with the objects of this invention, a rowing exercise machine preferably includes a frame, a seat and a forwardly declined support brace connected to the frame and two levers, each lever pivotally connected to a forwardly converging side of the frame.
Each lever has a handle located at its upper end and a weight supporting hub connected to a lower end.
The lever pivot axes are located above and in front of the seat and are perpendicular to their respective sides of the frame.
When the handles are grasped and pulled rearwardly and upwardly, the arcuate paths traversed by the handles and the levers lie along vertical planes that diverge rearwardly with respect to the seat.
Initially, when the levers are at rest, the handles are closest to one another, and they move farther apart as the rowing motion progresses.
The angled orientation of the levers and the handles with respect to the forward facing direction of the seat, along with the declined angle of the chest brace, places the exerciser in a natural position for coupling the applied pulling motion of the rowing exercise along two outer planes of motion that seem to more naturally accommodate the structure of the human body, relative to this maneuver