Concerned about fitness? Get bugged (press release)

Sunday, August 21, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: physical exercise, health news, Natural News

https://www.naturalnews.com/011117.html

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Ashley Wauters, personal trainer at Fitness America, uses it as a tool in her clients’ five-component system for good health. Those components are:

• Resistance

• Cardio-vascular workout

• Meal planning and nutrition

• Vitamins and supplements

• Personal assistance through a trainer.

“This is not necessarily a weight-loss program. It’s about being healthy,” she said. “It’s as simple as calories in, calories out. The common denominator for any diet is eating fewer calories. It’s relatively easy to measure how many calories you take in. It’s difficult to measure how many you burn.”

That’s where the bodybugg comes in. The monitor is worn on the upper arm and through sensors is able to collect data on the wearer’s physical state, such as the way the body releases heat. It measures room temperature, core body temperature, skin temperature and your movement, she said. It takes 32 measurements per second. “Finally, there’s a way to balance calories in, calories burned.”

It’s made to wear all the time, whether you’re awake or asleep, though it is not waterproof so people take it off while bathing or swimming, she said. It can be programmed to account for activity while swimming.

“So often people say, ‘I’m eating healthy; I’m making good choices. I’m exercising, but I’m still not losing weight.’ This will tell you that maybe you’re not moving enough,” she said.

Everyone who rents or buys one of the devices gets a personal Web site to keep track of the data. The information is uploaded once a day or once a week. The wearer also types in all the food he or she consumed. The computer tallies the calories in and calories burned and shows the difference.

“It becomes a game,” Wauters said. “If you want a Krispy Kreme and you know exactly how many calories there are in the donut, you can watch and increase your movement so you still eat at a deficit.”

The bodybugg is the brainchild of BodyMedia chief executive Eric Teller, 34, who goes by Astro (for AstroTurf, which is what his hair looked like in high school). The company was founded six years ago in Philadelphia and has sold 7,500 armband monitors.

By June, BodyMedia had tracked 132 years of human activity, including 44,533 minutes of jogging and 6,250 minutes of ping-pong. Because people kept activity journals while wearing the armband, the system has learned to distinguish jogging from biking, watching TV from doing office work and driving a car from riding in one, according to Forbes Magazine.

“It’s evolutionary,” Wauters said. “When you put information in, it is kept confidential, but it’s also examined to learn more about the human body. Eventually, they might be able to tell you things before they happen, such as a heart attack. Within a year, they expect to have monitors that are specifically for the elderly and babies.”

The device by itself costs between $300 and $350, according to BodyMedia. However, the product is only available through health clubs in a deal that BodyMedia struck with Apex Fitness Group. At Fitness America in Green Bay, the bodybugg comes with 10 sessions of personal training.

For more information, see www.bodybugg.com.