Everyone knows what a pedometer is: that little gadget you clip to your clothing that tells you how far you've walked . . . sort of. Most pedometers use a simple sensor that basically counts steps and then provides distance and maybe even calories . . . approximately. Some are even accurate, if you're able to complete the complicated setup instructions. At least, they claim to be accurate.

Your BioTrainer II is in a class by itself. BT2 uses a sophisticated motion sensor to monitor all your body's movements, not just steps. Originally developed for medical applications, this state-of-the art technology is highly accurate and incredibly sensitive to even slight movements. And that's been proven in numerous studies by institutions like Johns Hopkins, NIH, and the Cooper Institute.

It's no bigger than a pager, but BioTrainer has all the motivational value of a personal trainer (at a fraction of the cost!) You won't have to guess how many calories you've burned; you don't have to wait days or even weeks to find out whether your efforts have been successful. Worn at your waist, BioTrainer is positioned to analyze all your physical activity and give you an up to the minute report of how many calories your body movements are burning. That means it's great not only for activities like walking and jogging, but also for your day to day activities like gardening and housekeeping, playing with the kids and walking the dog.

Remember those studies by Hopkins, NIH and the Cooper Institute? Not only did they validate BioTrainer's accuracy, they proved that BioTrainer's immediate feedback makes it easier to reach and maintain your fitness or weight loss goals. After all, when the evidence of your success is right in front of you on the LCD readout, you can't help but keep up the good work!

EXERCISE CALORIES VS. METABOLIC CALORIES
Our bodies burn calories in two ways: through physical activity, and through normal metabolic function. Physical Activity calories are burned as a result of your daily activity and exercise, and can affect weight control and general physical fitness. Resting metabolic rate is the number of calories you burn while inactive, including the calories your body uses to fuel natural processes like breathing and digestion. Your height, age, gender and total body weight are all factors that influence your metabolism.

Although natural metabolic burn accounts for the major portion of your daily calorie expenditure, the rate at which metabolism works varies greatly between individuals. For this reason, BioTrainer is not calibrated to measure metabolic burn, but rather calorie burn achieved through exercise activity. This means that the figure displayed on your BioTrainer will represent about 20-30% of your total calorie burn. The remaining portion is attributed to your metabolism, which may actually increase slightly as a result of your overall activity.

Understanding the components of calorie burn should help you understand the basic principle of weight control: achieving a balance between the calories you burn and the number of food calories you consume. Since an average person on an average day burns about 20-30% of their total expended calories through activity, increasing activity can also increase your caloric burn. Immediate feedback from your BioTrainer will help you increase your exercise activity, set new goals, and improve your exercise habits.

In many studies on exercise, it has been shown that body weight directly influences calorie burn rate during exercise, and body weight is the most important factor in measuring calories burned. Although gender, height and age play a part in your overall burn during activity, the contribution of these factors is rather small compared to that contributed by weight. So, for simplicity and ease of use, not to mention accuracy, BioTrainer is factory calibrated to measure calories burned based on your body weight and the amount of your physical activity.

Everyone burns calories effortlessly as a function of natural metabolism, but burning calories through exercise isn't as easily accomplished. The following example from published research closely matches the calorie burn data registered on the BioTrainer during a typical workout. A person weighing 125 pounds, walking at 2 mph for one hour would burn 160 calories. A person weighing 175 pounds would burn 206 calories as a result of the same activity, while a person weighing 250 pounds would burn 273 calories. This means the 125 pound person burns only 60% as many calories as the 250 pound person for the same activity. A useful guideline is that the average person uses about 100 calories for every mile they walk or run. Most people can maintain their weight and stay reasonably fit by burning about 400 calories per day (2,800 calories per week) through exercise. This means that burning additional calories could result in weight loss.

For most people, increasing or even maintaining daily activity without a reliable means of measurement is difficult, if not impossible. BioTrainer, with its large LCD readout and up-to-the minute results, is the perfect answer. With simple adjustments to your daily habits, and BioTrainer's immediate feedback to get you up and keep you going, you'll be well on your way to improving your health and physical fitness.