A leg extension exercise machine having a movement arm engaged by the legs for moving the movement arm between a retracted position and an extended position. The movement arm has a vertically adjustable foot bar for holding the feet and preventing downward movement of the feet during the exercise. Resistance to the exercise is provided by a weight arm having one or more weight plates mounted thereon and pivotally connected to the movement arm. The prop is pivotally mounted to the fixed frame of the machine for movement between an extended position holding the weight arm in a raised position to facilitate entry to and exit from the machine by the exerciser. The prop arm is moveable by the exerciser into a retracted position for storage by means of a handle.

A leg press machine includes a movement arm including a footboard and a pair of links pivotally mounting the footboard to a frame for movement by an exerciser's feet. A resistance arm is mounted to the fame and connected by a link to one of said pair of links. One or more free weight plates are mounted to the resistance arm which provides a predetermined resistance to the movement arm. The frame has a rack for mounting weight plates at a height at the level of the waist-chest area of the exerciser to facilitate movement of the weight plates between the rack and resistance arm. A prop is provided on the frame for holding the weight arm in the raised position to facilitate entry to and exit from the machine.

An adjustable resistance exerciser for gymnasts is provided in a vertical frame attached to a squared base platform. A horizontal pivotable handlebar is affixed at the ends to length adjustable side arms which are in turn attached by reversed sprag clutches to individual disc brakes. The disc brakes are supported by box shaped carriages arranged to be moved vertically up and down in paralleling track-like side members which make up the vertical frame. Opposite torque can be applied to either arm by manually adjusting the braking. The side arm length adjustments and the up and down carriage adjustment can be locked into selected positions which allows the device to be sized for a variety of users.

A frontal calf exercising machine which utilizes a frame-journaled rotating foot-engaging assembly to apply resistive force couples to the tops of an operator's feet and bottoms of his heels through circular paths about the axes of rotation of his ankle joints. This frame-journaled rotating foot-engaging assembly is mechanically linked to a frame-journaled rotating weight arm, which, together with the frame of the machine and the connecting link joining them, form a simple planar double-rocking-lever four-bar linkage which acts in conjunction with the rotating weight arm to vary the resistive force applied to the dorsi-flexing muscles of the operator's feet through body-machine contact between the operator's feet and the rotating foot-engaging assembly throughout the range of the exercise movement.

An improved calf exercise machine includes a frame with a seat for supporting an exerciser in an exercise position with the legs extended horizontally, a lever pivotally connected to the frame in front of and below the seat, and an engagement plate secured to the lever and adapted to be engaged and acted upon by the upper portions of the feet of the exerciser via an outward toe extension movement followed by a rearward toe retraction motion. This movement arcuately rotates the lever about its pivot axis, with a corresponding flexion and then extension of the calf muscles. Weight holding hubs connected to the lever hold a selected number of weighted plates to provide a desired weight resistance to pivotal extension of the lever via the outwardly directed foot movement. This machine optimally isolates the calf muscles during calf flexion/extension. Additionally, this calf exercise machine is safer than prior calf exercise machines because the exercise motion is performed from a seated position, and the seat design minimizes wear and tear on the exerciser's body, due to improved distribution of the weight resistance exercised against.