Apparatus for giving motions to the abdomen

An apparatus for giving twisting and swinging motions to the abdomen of a user lying on his back, said apparatus comprising:

• an ankle rest for receiving the ankles of the user thereon;
• driving means for reciprocatingly driving said ankle rest from side to side, said driving means including a pair of horizontally spaced guide rails extending in the direction of reciprocation of said ankle rest, a sliding piece slidably mounted on said guide rails and having a slot, a motor, a reduction gear connected to said motor, and a crank arm connected to said reduction gear and having a pulley slidably engaged in said slot;
• a casing in which said driving means is mounted so that said guide rails are disposed adjacent a ceiling face of said casing above said motor;
• and
• said ankle rest being positioned at a height of 100 to 200 mm above the floor and reciprocating from side to side at an amplitude of 20 to 40 mm and at a speed of 100 to 200 cycles per minute;
• wherein when the user lies on his back on the floor with his ankles placed on said ankle rest, the user's chest and waist are brought into contact with the floor while the abdomen and legs are raised off the floor, and, as the ankles reciprocate from side to side, the legs reciprocate about the waist and the abdomen twists and swings from side to side in association with the reciprocation of the legs.