About the BioTrainer:

In the past, monitoring walking gait or pace with pedometer type devices was the only potable method available for estimating exercise and calorie burn. But major problems concerning accuracy, calibration, convenience, ease of use and their inability to measure natural body movements and normal life-style exercise have essentially prevented these simple gadgets from being effective or useful.

Now comes the BioTrainer. This personal exercise monitor, quite different from the simple step pedometer, is a sophisticated monitoring instrument that measures and records the physical movements of your body. It uses advanced motion sensing technology originally developed for medical applications through research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The BioTrainer produced by IM Systems has proven to be one of the most accurate portable monitors available today. The sensor contained in the BioTrainer is of the same type as that used by NASA to measure astronaut's activity during space flight. Not only does the feature-packed BioTrainer precisely measure body movements, but also uses this information to compute and record the total calories you have burned.

This pager-size monitor tracks and records a full range of exercise activity from daily lifestyle to aerobic workouts and it's the perfect companion for walkers and joggers. With the supplied data cable and Windows software, detailed reports of calories burned can be downloaded to a PC for charting your hourly, daily and weekly exercise. A variety of computer graphs can be printed, saved, retrieved and the data can be exported to spread sheets.

The BioTrainer will truly become your personal companion. It takes the guesswork out of exercising with a tally of calories burned for each workout. The extra large LCD display also gives you a continuous account of your daily calories burned plus a day by-day report of your week's activity. Whether you're working out, fitness walking, shopping at the mall, having an active day or just lying around, you'll always know exactly how many calories you have burned.

One of the many innovative features of the BioTrainer is the use of audible biofeedback. Scientifically proven, biofeedback can dramatically energize aerobic performance. Simply select the feedback mode and hear your calories melt away. A beep is sounded as each calorie is burned. The rhythm of the beeps will help inspire you to reach new levels of exercise achievement.
Want to know how many calories you burned today - yesterday - last week? Were you a couch potato or did you have a really good exercise day? Are you increasing your exercise level and reaching new goals? The BioTrainer is always keeping track of your activity. Just connect the BioTrainer to your home PC and download 7 full days of data. With a simple click you'll be able to view and printout brilliant color graphics of your weekly exercise accomplishments.

The BioTrainer is also a great motivator when used for group participation, especially weight-loss programs coupled with exercise. Structured group use provides a natural competitive environment where each member tries to outperform their neighbor. It lets each member set personal goals while competing with others and comparing daily or weekly results.

Unquestionably, the BioTrainer is the most unique and advanced exercise monitor available today. This compact and personal companion contains a powerful microcomputer chip and super accurate movement sensor, uses easy "press-n-go" operation, requires no programming, is factory calibrated to a treadmill standard, precisely computes calorie burn based on body weight, measures elapsed time, features a large LCD readout with data recall, provides biofeedback, and comes complete with a smart interface cable and software package for downloading to a PC.

BioTrainer vs. Pedometer:
The important distinction between the BioTrainer personal exercise monitor and a simple pedometer is that the pedometer is designed to be used by walkers and runners and simply counts the number of steps you take. But for those who want an accurate account of all physical activity including aerobic and life-style exercising, the BioTrainer is in a class by itself. It uses a space-age accelerometer to accurately detect whole body movement from the slightest motion to vigorous activity. Plus, it samples these movements at a rate of 40 times each second and converts your expended energy into calories burned based on body weight. Whether you're sitting at your desk, puttering around the house or working out, each and every motion of your body is captured and converted into calories burned.

In contrast, a pedometer cannot measure continuous life-style activity - it only counts steps. Additionally, most pedometers rely on a complex programming operation that require you to enter your gender, height, weight, stride length, workout time and estimated distance. Some pedometers attempt to measure calories burned, but they only provide an estimate and, many times, give unreliable results. Unlike the BioTrainer, pedometers do not have a precision calibrated sensor capable of continuously sampling a full range of body movements, they do not furnish a 7 day recall of data, nor do they have a biofeedback feature for calories burned. And, none can provide download capabilities to a home computer or provide calories burned data graphs with file save and load features.

BioTrainer in action:
To recount a recent experience, two mall walkers, one using a pedometer set to measure calories burned and the other wearing a BioTrainer, compared the results of a 1/2 hour walk at a pace of about 4 mph. At the end of the workout, the pedometer walker happily announced that he burned over 1,000 calories but the BioTrainer walker confidently reported 201 calories burned. As both participants were about the same height and weight (150 lbs), published charts suggest that for this walking speed and distance, the average calories burned should be in the range of 190 to 202. Obviously, the pedometer was incorrectly adjusted or programmed. This type of recording error highlights the advantages and precision of the BioTrainer monitor. It never needs programming or adjustments and each unit is computer calibrated at the factory to a treadmill standard.