Training apparatus imitating cross-country skiing

An apparatus for exercising the human body by imitating the body motion in cross-country skiing comprising:

• a stiff frame having at least two guide tracks and at least one carriage configured and operative to move backward and forward in each guide track, each carriage comprising an attachment for securing a pole,
• at least one resistance unit, attached to the frame,
• at least one foot plate attached to the frame and configured to support a user standing with his/her feet thereupon for fixing the apparatus to the floor/ground, the at least one foot plate and the feet of the user being stationary during exercise,
• the at least two guide tracks and respective at least one carriages being outboard of the at least one foot plate, and for each carriage:
• a substantially inelastic cord drive system connecting said carriage with said at least one resistance unit and configured for engaging said at least one resistance unit when said carriage is moved backward in the guide track, and
• an elastic cord drive system connecting the substantially inelastic cord drive system with the frame and configured for pulling said carriage forward in the guide track;
• wherein the apparatus is configured such that in use the feet of the user are passive on the at least one foot plate and such that in use the at least one resistance unit is only engaged by the user with one or both arms repeatedly stroking one or two poles attached to the attachment of the at least one carriage
• wherein the frame has a first end and an opposite second end and the at least two guide tracks extend along a longitudinal axis of the frame;
• the at least one resistance unit is attached to the first end of the frame;
• and
• the elastic cord drive systems are generally horizontally integrated along the longitudinal axis of the frame extending generally from the first end to the opposite second end and arranged such that when a carriage is moved backwards in the guide track the corresponding elastic cord is elongated in the opposite forward direction.