Safety frame for weight lifting

Claim 1

A safety device for use in weightlifting exercise wherein the user squats and rises to lift weights with both hands, said device comprising the following characteristics simultaneously: a. a rigid, free standing, quadrilaterally symmetrical frame, b. said frame defining an open space of sufficient size so that the user's body can be positioned in it without interferring with the frame, and without any part of the frame being above any part of the user's body at any time during the squat exercise, c. said frame is rectangular in configuration and includes front and rear bar elements extending parallel to said parafrontal plane and at least one straight left side bar element and at least one straight right side bar element extending perpendicular to said parafrontal plane and interconnecting said front and rear bar elements, d. said frame having mounted horizontally thereon a left side weight attaching member and a right side weight attaching member, both for the purpose of attaching weights to the frame horizontally, e. said left side weight attaching member and said right side weight attaching member are rigidly fixed to the respective midpoints of said left side bar element and said right side bar element, f. said left and right side weight attaching member extend horizontally out on their respective sides, extending perpendicularly to the left and right side bar elements to which they are fixed, g. said frame further having mounted thereon a left side handgripping member and a right side handgripping member with the midpoints of said handgripping members being closer to the user's body then the weight attaching members, h. said left and right side weight attaching members, the midpoints of said left and right side handgripping members, the midpoints of said straight left and right side bar elements, and the center of gravity of said entire device lying in the parafrontal plane of the user's body when the user is standing fully erect holding the device down at his sides at arms's length, i. when weights are attached to said left and right side weight attaching members, the center of gravity of each of the attached weights will lie in the parafrontal plane of the user's body when the user is standing fully erect holding the device down at his sides at arms's length, j. the center of gravity of said entire device remaining in the same vertical plane as the center of gravity of the user's body during the squatting movement, k. furthermore in the preferred form said left side handgripping member and right side handgripping member are located respectively at midpoints of an inner left side bar element and an inner right side bar element, said inner left and right side bar elements being closer to the user's body than said left and right side bar elements and extending parallel to said left and right side bar elements.