I received a phone call last week from the owner of the CrossFit gym my wife coaches at asking if I was going to be in town over the weekend and could come by the gym on Sunday to help out with a class of wounded warriors that the gym was starting. Specifically, they asked me to come by to see if I could come up with any ideas to help facilitate an "easier" way for these men to be able to work out (I work for a heavy industrial construction company and we have a large fabrication capability). It was amazing and humbling to be in the presence of these men (They're really kids, but after what they've been through "kid" doesn't fit anymore), from the Marine sniper that lost both his legs above the knee and can scramble around the gym faster than most, to the Army sapper who had an IED cook off early as he was looking to disarm it, to the Recon Marine that was thrown from his turret when an IED destroyed his vehicle, kept his damaged leg for three years after the explosion and ran a 100 mile race to raise funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation before finally having the leg amputated earlier this year. Heroes one and all (Although to a man none would admit to it).
So, maybe with a little creativity and the knowledge of the folks I work with we can help these guys out. First order of business is to build a "spring loaded" brace that the above the knee amputees can put around their prosthetic that will allow them to squat. As it stands now, their legs do provide a small amount of resistance on the "down stroke", but nothing to assist them on the way up. I'm thinking that the easiest and simplest fix is to use a watchspring of sorts at the hinge point so that when he squats down the spring is "loaded" and then on the way up he is provided with a small amount of assistance. I've got an off the shelf knee brace we're looking to retrofit and if we can get proof of concept, maybe fabricate one of our own soon. Any of y'all DIYers have any ideas, throw them my way. I'm always up for suggestions.
So, maybe with a little creativity and the knowledge of the folks I work with we can help these guys out. First order of business is to build a "spring loaded" brace that the above the knee amputees can put around their prosthetic that will allow them to squat. As it stands now, their legs do provide a small amount of resistance on the "down stroke", but nothing to assist them on the way up. I'm thinking that the easiest and simplest fix is to use a watchspring of sorts at the hinge point so that when he squats down the spring is "loaded" and then on the way up he is provided with a small amount of assistance. I've got an off the shelf knee brace we're looking to retrofit and if we can get proof of concept, maybe fabricate one of our own soon. Any of y'all DIYers have any ideas, throw them my way. I'm always up for suggestions.