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Climbing exercise machine

Many types of exercise equipment and devices are currently in use to provide exercise for persons who want to stay physically fit and for persons with special physical or therapeutic needs. Modern exercise equipment has been developed to enable users to engage in vigorous aerobic exercise in a substantially stationary position. Some exercise machines are designed specifically for upper-body exercise, while others focus upon lower-body walking exercise. Still others have been designed to enable both upper- and lower-body exercise. The stationary exercise bicycle is one of the best known of such exercise devices. Other types of equipment include various forms of treadmills, frame-like weight lifting stations, including pivotable or swingable components, and, more recently, exercise devices that simulate climbing stairs. Exercise machines which simulate stair climbing types of exercise are relatively well known in the exercising field. Many persons in different levels of physical condition and types of athletic ability desire to improve their overall physical fitness and cardiovascular capability. Many exercise devices provide a wide range of motions and activities for increasing physical fitness. For example, known exercise devices may strengthen and condition individual muscles or various muscle groups of the user. Such exercise devices may also exercise the entire body simultaneously to increase the overall physical fitness of the user. Climbing is particularly advantageous because it exercises the upper and lower body simultaneously, and it efficiently and effectively exercises all the major muscle groups of the body. Climbing devices emulate a climbing motion by having moveable handles and foot pedals which move in a generally predetermined pattern or range of motion.

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