Balancing the struggle for weight control with an addiction to the printed word, Bookworm Workouts presents the Eyemaster 3000.

Using ergonomically friendly eyecups as the user interface, the natural motion of moving your eyes when you read lifts a set of weights.

There are six muscles you can build up for both strength and cardiovascular benefits:

medial rectus (MR)—moves the eye toward the nose

lateral rectus (LR)—moves the eye away from the nose

superior rectus (SR)—primarily moves the eye upward and secondarily rotates the top of the eye toward the nose

inferior rectus (IR)—primarily moves the eye downward and secondarily rotates the top of the eye away from the nose

superior oblique (SO)—primarily rotates the top of the eye toward the nose and secondarily moves the eye downward

inferior oblique (IO)—primarily rotates the top of the eye away from the nose and secondarily moves the eye upward

Starting out light at first, then moving up to a progression of heavier weights, you burn calories and build strength as you read.
-- normzone, Feb 24 2006

(???) Marty Feldman http://www.triviatr...4/martyfeldman4.jpg
Cripes. [salachair, Feb 24 2006]

Eye Exercise Books http://www.amazon.c...rds=eye%20exercises
Oh, look - there are lots of them now. [DrCurry, Feb 24 2006]

(?) kind of baked here.... http://www.seeclear...od.com/lp3/lp3.html
[xandram, Feb 24 2006]

so disappointed http://www.halfbakery.com/user/bookworm
[po, Feb 24 2006]

Heh. Actually, when I was quite ill a few years ago, I used to get quite a lot of pain from the muscles around my eyes when I looked left or right (or up or down, for that matter).

Though I'm concerned that over-exercising here could result in a lot of Marty Feldman-like bookworms.

+
-- salachair, Feb 24 2006


Oddly enough, my father had a book of eye exercises that he had bought in Africa before I was born.

The premise of the book was that poor eyesight could be improved by exercising (primarily by focusing on near and far things, but also by doing the kind of thing you suggest). Roundly pooh-poohed at the time, this theory is in fact commonly accepted as why the majority of the population is now short-sighted (not enough looking at distant objects).
-- DrCurry, Feb 24 2006


[xandram], the link is to exercises you do without the aid of equipment, kind of an isometrics or pushups approach.
-- normzone, Feb 24 2006


Yes, [xandram], kind of like that.

And there can be side effects. Working in QA and inspection I do a great deal of looking at things. One day while looking at some graph paper I noticed that what had to be a straight line appeared to have a curve in the middle of it.

I talked to my chiropractor, the guy I check with for all medical issues before I take them to anybody else.

He said some of the group of muscles that move your eye wrap around it, and when under a lot of stress the tension of a muscle or group of muscles can squeeze the eye and distort the shape of the lens.

I now use the appearance of straight lines appearing warped as a reminder to slow down, get some rest, and don't take things so seriously.
-- normzone, Feb 24 2006


"Hey Marty - show us your six pack !" - Marty removes his dark glasses and the gathered friends shrink back in horror......
-- xenzag, Feb 25 2006


<clapclap> "Send in the belleye dancers."
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 25 2006


Oh, (fries), I missed that one. That's good.

I can't see a straight line anymore, could definitely use a vacation, but that's not happening.
-- normzone, Jul 15 2008



random, halfbakery