Reebok Rt1000 Treadmill User Manual download pdf (Page 19)

US

7,637,847

B1

1

EXERCISE

SYSTEM

AND

METHOD

WITH

VIRTUAL

PERSONAL

TRAINER

FOREWARNING

CROSS-REFERENCE

TO

RELATED

APPLICATION

This

application

is

a

continuation

of

US.

application

Ser.

No.

09/690,178,

entitled

METHOD

AND

APPARATUS

FOR

REMOTE

INTERACTIVE

EXERCISE

AND

HEALTH

EQUIPMENT,

?led

on

Oct.

16,

2000

now

US.

Pat.

No.

6,749,537,

which

is

a

continuation-in-part

of

US.

appli

cation

Ser.

No.

09/273,591,

entitled

METHOD

AND

APPA

RATUS

FOR

REMOTE

INTERACTIVE

EXERCISE

AND

HEALTH

EQUIPMENT,

?led

on

Mar.

22,

1999,

now

US.

Pat.

No.

6,193,631,

which

is

a

continuation

ofU.S.

applica

tion

Ser.

No.

08/766,513,

entitled

METHOD

AND

APPARA

TUS

FOR

REMOTE

INTERACTIVE

EXERCISE

AND

HEALTH

EQUIPMENT,

?led

on

Dec.

13,

1996,

now

US.

Pat.

No.

6,059,692,

which

claims

the

bene?t

ofU.S.

applica

tion

Ser.

No.

60/008,603,

entitled

METHOD

AND

APPARA

TUS

FOR

REMOTE

INTERACTIVE

EXERCISE

AND

HEALTH

EQUIPMENT,

?led

on

Dec.

14,

1995.

BACKGROUND

OF

THE

INVENTION

1.

Field

of

the

Invention

This

invention

relates

generally

to

health

and

exercise

equipment,

and

more

particularly

to

computer

networked

systems

including

health

or

exercise

equipment.

2.

Description

of

the

Related

Art

Good

health

is

a

fundamental

requirement

for

a

happy

and

long

life.

A

multi-billion

dollar

health

and

?tness

industry

has

grown

to

help

individuals

meet

this

requirement.

For

example,

there

are

a

great

many

gymnasiums

which

provide

facilities

and

equipment

for

aerobic

and

musculature

devel

opment,

and

there are

hundreds,

if

not

thousands,

of weight

loss

and

diet

centers

and

programs.

The

goals

of

these

many

programs

typically

include

weight

loss

and/or

maintenance,

the

improvement

of

aerobic

?tness,

improved

circulation,

increased

strength,

and

body

building

or

shaping.

There

are

several

problems

encountered

with

the

use

of

gymnasiums,

?tness

centers,

and

diet

centers.

For

one,

they

tend

to

be

fairly

expensive

due

to

the

need

to

maintain

the

facilities,

pay

rent

and

payroll,

buy

equipment,

etc.

In

addi

tion,

these

centers

tend

to

be

inconvenient

in

that

they

require

a

special

trip

to

the

center

by

individuals

wishing

to

use

their

facilities.

Both

the

price

and

the

inconvenience

tend

to

dis

courage

use

of

these

centers

over

time,

allowing

the

individu

als

to

lose

incentive

and

drop

out

of

their

?tness

or

diet

program.

A

partial

solution

to

this

problem

is

home

exercise

and

health

equipment.

Again,

a

large

industry

has

arisen

to

pro

vide

exercise

and

health

equipment

for

the

home.

This equip

ment

tends

to

be

more

of

the

aerobic

type,

e.g.

stationary

bicycles,

rowing

machines,

“step”

machines,

etc.,

although

weight

lifting

apparatus,

sometimes

referred

to

as

“resistance

trainers,”

are

also

widely

used

in

the

home.

These

types

of

home

exercise

and

health

equipment

increasingly

use

sophis

ticated

electronics,

such

as

microprocessors,

to

monitor

the

level

of

exercise

and

to

provide

exercise

programs

for

the

user.

Unfortunately,

even

well

designed

home

exercise

and

health

equipment

often

fall

into

disuse

over

time.

This

is

because

individuals,

even

in

their

own

home,

often

lack

the

incentive

to

exercise

when

there

are

other,

more

enjoyable,

activities

available.

Also,

since

there

is

typically

not

the

cama

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

2

raderie

often

found

in

a

health

club,

diet

center,

etc.,

it

is

easier

for

users,

as

individuals,

to

discontinue

their

exercise or

diet

program.

Personal

trainers

have

been

used

both

at

?tness

clubs

and

in

the

home.

Personal

trainers

are

individuals

who

usually

have

a

?tness

training

background

and

who

typically

provide

per

sonal

training

services

to

an

individual

customers.

Personal

trainers

can be

very

effective

in that

they

provide

personal

motivation

and

feedback

to

an

individual

in

the exercise

pro

gram,

and

thus

often

foster

a

more

effective

and

longer

lasting

exercise

program.

The

downside

of

personal

trainers

is,

particularly

in

the

home

setting,

their

relatively

high

cost.

It

is

not

unusual

for

a

personal

trainer

to

charge

hundreds of

dollars

per

month

for

their

services.

Therefore,

while

these

personal

trainers

are

very

effective,

they

tend

to

be

used

by

only

a

small

percentage

of

the

population.

SUMMARY

OF

THE

INVENTION

The

present

invention

provides

an

exercise

and

health

sys

tem

which

is

convenient,

affordable,

and

effective.

The

sys

tem

includes

computerized

exercise

and/

or

health

equipment

(the

“local

system”)

that

can

provide

feedback

and

encour

agement

to

the

user,

i.e.

can

serve

as

a

“virtual

personal

trainer.”

In

addition,

the

system

includes

a

remote

computer

system

communicating

over

a

bi-directional

data

channel

with

the exercise

and

health

equipment.

Still

further,

the

system can

include

a

server

computer

system

that

is

in

com

munication

with

the

remote

computer

systems

to

provide

bidirectional

data

communication

with

the

remote

computer

systems.

Since

the

exercise

and

health

equipment

can

communicate

with

the

user,

it

is

possible

for

the

health

equipment

to

provide

incentive

and

motivation

to

the

user

much

in

the

same

fashion

as

a

human

personal

trainer.

In

addition,

the

health

and

exer

cise

equipment can

store

data

and

other

parameters

concem

ing

the exercise

or

other

activities

which

can

be

used

to

monitor

the

progress

and

to

vary

the exercise

program

or

script.

In

this

way,

the

local

system can

serve

as

a

“virtual

personal

trainer.”

The

remote

system

computer

is

preferably associated

with

a

number

of

exercise

and

health

locations.

The

remote

system

computer

can

be

considered

to

be

the

communication

tool

of

a

human

personal

trainer,

as

opposed

to

the

“virtual

personal

trainer”

emulated

by

software

in

the

local

system

computer.

For

example,

the

remote

system

computer

can

be

associated

with

one

hundred

local

systems

(used

by

one

or

more

indi

viduals

in,

for

example,

their

homes),

and

can

be

used

to

upload

information

from

the

exercise

and

health

equipment

of

a

local

system

to

be

analyzed

by

the

personal

trainer

at

the

remote

computer.

The

personal

trainer

can

then

call

the

indi

vidual

user

to

provide

additional

instruction,

encouragement,

and

cautions,

and

the

remote

system

computer

can

download

new

exercise

scripts

or

programs

to

the

local

system

computer

to

implement

these

changes.

The

server

system

computer

serves a

number

of

remote

system

computers.

For

example,

while

a

remote

system

com

puter

might

serve

one

hundred

local

system

computers,

the

server

system

computer

might

serve

as

one

hundred

remote

system

computers.

The

server

system

computer

can

commu

nicate

with

other

server

system computers

(“peer”

servers),

or

with

a yet

higher

order

server

system computers

for

the

con

solidation,

storage,

processing,

and

exchange

of

data.

The

server

system

computer

can

be

used

to

communicate

with

the

remote

system computers

for

the

uploading

of

data

concem

ing

the

remote

system

computer

and

the

local

system

com

puters

that

the

remote

system

computer

is

in

contact

with,

and

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