WO2005021107A1

WO2005021107A1 - Personel training system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2005021107A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/001136
Authority: WO
Inventors: Steffan Klein
Original assignee: Steffan Klein
Priority date: 2003-08-27
Filing date: 2004-08-25
Publication date: 2005-03-10

Abstract

A system and method to facilitate personal training. A first data storage device contains a set of primary instructions for a person (2) to perform a physical activity and a second data storage device contains a set of secondary instructions independent of the primary instructions. The primary instructions are communicated to the person (2) so that the person may follow those instructions to perform the physical activity. A physical parameter of the person is then monitored with a biofeedback sensor (3) (e.g., a heart rate monitor) to produce biofeedback data and this data is analysed to establish a physical state of the person. The primary instructions being communicated to the person are then modified based on the physical state of the person and/or communication of one or more of the secondary instructions to the person is initiated. The invention is particularly suited to personal fitness training and can simulate a personal trainer demonstrating physical exercises and the visual and verbal interactions between a personal trainer and a person exercising.

Description

PERSONAL TRAINING SYSTEM AND METHOD FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a system and method to facilitate personal training. The invention is particularly suited to personal fitness training and may be used to simulate a personal trainer demonstrating physical exercises and to simulate the visual and verbal interactions between a personal trainer and a person exercising. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Physical exercising has become one of the most common activities today for people who want to keep fit and healthy or improve certain skills. Activities range from jogging and aerobics to yoga and any other number of body movements designed to improve personal health and fitness as well as to the use of exercise machines. However one of the most widely used methods by people who want to keep themselves fit in the home environment is the use of pre-recorded exercises purchased on tape or DVD. People who want to improve their fitness watch these recordings and perform the exercises at the same time as one or more people who demonstrate the exercises in the recording. The advantage of these recordings is that they stimulate people exercising by making them feel as if they have a personal fitness trainer in their room or are part of a group exercising to help them overcome the monotony of exercising by themselves. Of course these recordings have many shortcomings when compared to a live personal trainer. The order of exercises can not be altered; verbal instructions are always the same and motivational phrases such as "You can do it" may be completely incorrect as the person trying the exercise in fact may not be able to do it. The tapes also take no regard whatsoever for the physical state of the person exercising. The tape basically starts, runs its course and ends - completely disregarding the person training. A live personal trainer on the other hand can directly respond to a person exercising. He can adjust or change exercises or provide important motivational boosts by verbally interacting with the person training, such as telling them to have one more go, to try a little harder, to slow down or to switch to a different exercise. A trainer would also remember the fitness level of a person from earlier sessions and be able to adjust exercises accordingly to improve fitness, for example by increasing the length of exercises or switching to more demanding or easier exercises. This is possible because the personal trainer is in the same location as the person training, and the trainer can therefore evaluate the state the person is in, based on his experience with similar people - i.e. is the person exercising hard enough or too hard, for example based on how hard they breathe, color changes of their skin, how much they sweat and so on. Of course this direct interaction with a personal trainer comes at a high cost - putting it out of reach of most people exercising. To improve the results of exercises performed people sometimes use various biofeedback devices, such as heart rate monitors. A heart rate monitor allows people to monitor their heart rate while exercising and to compare it with established recommended heart rates for their sex, age, height and weight. This enables them to better perform exercises by attempting to achieve a specific target heart rate during a specific exercise. Other biofeedback monitors used can monitor temperature, breathing frequency or muscle expansion or skin conductivity. Some heart rate monitors available today have pre-programmed target heart rate settings for specific exercises which allow a person training to aim for that target heart rate during an exercise. Based on the heart rate measured and displayed on a screen a person can vary the length or intensity of an exercise to stay close to the recommended heart rate for a recommended period of time. When exercising with physical exercise machines the heart rate is therefore sometimes used as a biofeedback measurement to adjust the resistance of a machine so it will require more or less physical exertion by its user, or to simply display the heart rate to the person exercising so they can establish if they should exercise harder to reach their target heart rate for example by pedaling harder or by manually adjusting the resistance of an exercise machine. However, physical exercise machines are usually expensive and take up space in a home - a disadvantage over exercising in front of a TV set based on pre-recorded exercise tapes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One aspect of the present invention provides a method to facilitate personal training including the steps of: providing a first data storage device containing a set of primary instructions for a person to perform a physical activity; providing a second data storage device containing a set of secondary instructions independent of the primary instructions; communicating the primary instructions to the person so that the person may follow those instructions to perform the physical activity; monitoring a physical parameter of the person with a biofeedback sensor to produce biofeedback data; analysing the biofeedback data to establish a physical state of the person; based on the physical state of the person, modifying the primary instructions being communicated and/or initiating communication of one or more of the secondary instructions to the person. Another aspect of the present invention provides a personal training system including: means for reading data from a first data storage device containing a set of primary instructions for a person to perform a physical activity; means for reading data from a second data storage device containing a set of secondary instructions independent of the primary instructions; means for communicating the primary instructions to the person so that the person may follow those instructions to perform the physical activity; means for communicating the secondary instructions to the person; means for receiving biofeedback data from at least one biofeedback sensor arranged to monitor at least one physical parameter of the person; processing means for analysing the biofeedback data to establish a physical state of the person and, based on their physical state, modifying the primary instructions being communicated and/or initiating communication of one or more of the secondary instructions to the person. In one embodiment, the invention provides an interactive personal physical fitness training system and method. In this embodiment the first data storage device may be a conventional digital versatile disk (DVD) containing video data and the primary instructions may include a set of exercises demonstrated by a trainer. The second data storage device may be a memory card (eg Flash card, SD card, Memory Stick or the like) intended to be sold together with the DVD or it may be the DVD itself. In the latter case, the same physical DVD would provide both the first and second storage devices. The secondary instructions may include verbal instructions, advice, recommendations, suggestions, warnings, motivational phrases, etc, stored as audio recordings on the second data storage device. The audio recordings are stored independently of the video recordings of the exercises being demonstrated. The means for reading the first data storage device may be a conventional DVD player and the means for reading the second data storage device may be a memory card reader (in the case in which a memory card is employed). The means for communicating the primary instructions to the person may be a visual display device such as a computer monitor, television set or any other device which can be used to display to the person a sequence of images comprising the video data. The means for communicating the secondary instructions to the person may be any suitable form of audio transducer, such as a loudspeaker, headphones, earplugs, or the like. The audio transducer may be incorporated within a television set, so as to form part of the same equipment used to communicate the video data, or it may be independent. The biofeedback sensor may be of any suitable type for monitoring a physical parameter of the person exercising. Preferably, the biofeedback sensor includes a heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor may produce biofeedback data in the form of a measure of the person's heart rate. Alternatively, or in addition, the biofeedback sensor may include a video camera, motion sensors, step counters or similar devices, skin conductivity sensors, temperature sensors, muscle expansion sensors or the like. The processing means used to analyse the biofeedback data may be a personal computer, microcomputer, personal digital assistant (PDA), digital signal processor (DSP), or any other suitable numerical processing device. A DSP containing suitable software may be incorporated within a DVD player. The processing means establishes a physical state of the person and, based on their physical state, modifies the primary (video) instructions being communicated to the person and/or initiates communication of the secondary

(audio) instructions. The processing means thus independently controls communication of the primary and secondary instructions. The analysis of the biofeedback data may include comparing that data to predetermined or calculated values. The modification of the primary instructions may then include selecting, starting, adjusting the duration or terminating one of the primary instructions being communicated. Initiation of the secondary instructions may include selecting, starting, adjusting the duration or terminating one of the secondary instructions. This embodiment of the invention is designed to mimic a personal trainer by automatically re-creating the functions of i) monitoring a person exercising to evaluate their performance , ii) comparing the performance with that of other people and earlier performances of the same person iii) based on the performance, selecting appropriate exercises and adjusting the duration of exercises iv) providing appropriate verbal feedback and motivation to the person exercising to help them improve their performance by combining modern computer hardware, display screens, audio playback devices and biofeedback sensors to enable people training at home with pre- recorded exercises to receive the maximum possible benefit from exercising. Such an embodiment may consist of a device capable of accepting biofeedback data from a heart rate monitor and which can compare the data with other heart rate values, and which then based on the comparison individually controls the play back of video recordings of one or more exercises being performed by at least one person and of audio recordings consisting of verbal advice, suggestions and motivational phrases from at least one appropriate data storage device. In the preferred embodiment the biofeedback monitor is a heart rate monitor, as these have been well developed, are affordable and have the ability to transfer data in a wireless fashion. Another advantage of using the heart rate is that the heart rate has been well researched as a measure for physical fitness and exertion. There are readily available heart rates from people of any age, sex, height, weight and fitness level which can be used to establish the physical state of a person exercising by way of comparison. There are also heart rate formulas available which can be used - for example to determine the maximum heart rate of a person you can subtract the person's age from the number 220. This number is the recommended maximum heart rate. The ideal training session aims to achieve 60-85% of the maximum heart rate, the so called target heart rate. Training at 70% of a maximum heart rate is considered moderate intensity and is recommended for improved overall fitness; training at 80-85% of the maximum heart rate is considered high intensity cardio and is recommended for increased performance. By using this formula and possibly also a comparison with stored heart rate measurements, it is possible to use software to correctly establish the physical state of a person and their current level of exertion. This could be done within a single computer chip or on any type of computer. Once the physical state of the person exercising has been established, it is possible for a software program to control the length of the playback of a video recording of an exercise or to switch to a different exercise and to independently play back audio recordings by controlling an audio playback device. This would then influence the heart rate of the person who is copying the exercises displayed on a video monitor and who is listening to the audio playback. It is anticipated that a training session may consist of going through a number of different exercises of different difficulty levels, and that the computer would - based on the level of exertion established by analyzing the hart rate - select from these different exercises by using a look-up table for example, which for any given exertion level would recommend a number of exercises. This could be done randomly or by following a preprogrammed order which allows for some variety, such as play exercise 1 first, then play one of exercise 5 or 15 or 21, then play one of exercise 49, 32 or 17 and so on, to provide a variation in the daily training exercise session. Additionally a method could exist which would allow the user to input a preferred order of exercises. As the computer would know which exercise is currently being played, it can also look up specific audio recordings providing verbal feedback based again on a look-up table which defines which audio recordings should be played back for which exercise at which level of exertion. There would also be some general audio recordings not related to a specific exercise but rather to the overall performance, which could include motivational phrases, recommendations or warnings, and which would be played back again depending on a look-up table based on the level of exertion. Again a number of phrases could be assigned to the same level of exertion, to allow the random selection from a number of phrases with the same message but different wording. Of course a computer could also store the heart rates returned by a person exercising to use these stored heart rates to evaluate improvements in fitness and to use this data in the analysis before controlling the play-back of audio and video recordings. For example, if a person repeating the same exercises has a lower heart rate than in the past, this could indicate an improved level of fitness.

Appropriately, the length of the play back of the video of a specific exercise could be increased and audio could be played back commenting on the improved performance. Of course the person exercising could also have a lower heart rate as they are not trying as hard as in the past. This could be overcome with an additional audio input from the person exercising. For example the computer could play back a question "Are you trying as hard as you can? " and use a microphone and voice recognition software to understand the answer from the person exercising. If the answer is yes and the heart rate is still too low, then a more difficult exercise could be presented. Thus, a preferred embodiment of the invention provides a computerized device which analyses the biofeedback data of a person exercising to select, start and stop the independent replay of video and audio recordings of a trainer demonstrating exercises and or providing verbal instructions and prompts. The process may be initiated by a person exercising with a heart rate monitor while watching the exercise videos. The biofeedback data output by the heart rate monitor is analyzed by a computer, which controls a video player such as a DVD recorder and an audio player. Based on analysis of the biofeedback data the computer initiates the playback of an exercise or adjusts the duration of the playback of an exercise to provide the person training with the best exercising results, while injecting independently replayed audio segments designed to motivate and inform the person performing the exercises. The device may also have the ability to receive verbal input from the person training and the ability to react to that verbal input by adjusting the individual replay of audio or video recordings. A further improvement could be achieved by including a camera which monitors the person exercising. A computer program could analyze the input from the camera to establish whether the person is moving, how fast the person is moving, whether the person is moving in synchronism with the movements displayed on the video monitor and - depending on the sophistication of the computer software - even whether the person is doing the correct exercise. A further improvement may be to utilise two or more spaced cameras which may be utilised to locate the person within a three-dimensional space. Suitable software may be used to analyse the camera inputs and then represent an image of the person in a virtual 3D environment. In a further embodiment, the person may be viewed by a camera and their image or a representation thereof could be piped via the Internet to a computer. The image could then be combined with images of other people also training at the same time but in different locations and displayed on the same visual display device (for example, a computer monitor). In this way, it would appear as if a number of people are training together in the same location, and they could possibly also speak to each other. This could be achieved by simply splitting a screen into multiple segments or by inserting them into a virtual training room. The images could also not be real images of the people but representations of them instead. In such a system the primary and secondary instruction could be stored on a hard drive of a computer some where on the Internet. The instructions could then be delivered to each person across the Internet. In an alternative embodiment the primary instructions may be in the form of audio rather than video data. In this embodiment the first data storage device may be a compact disk (CD), a CD-ROM or other medium suitable for storing audio data. The second data storage device could of course be the same CD as the first data storage device. When both the primary and the secondary instructions comprise audio data, the communication of the primary instructions may be temporarily suspended when communication of the secondary instructions is initiated. For example, the primary instructions may tell the person which exercise to do and the secondary instructions may provide feedback to the person on how well he/she is performing the exercise. The primary instructions would be paused during the feedback period. In a slightly modified form, the primary instructions may be in the form of audio data and the secondary instruction may be a light or sound signal or a vibrating device, for example. In this form, the colour or flashing rate of the light may change, the pitch or other characteristic of the sound may change, or the vibration may operate or change to a different mode of operation. Further preferred features of the method and system of the invention may be as defined in claims 2 to 19 and 21 to 42, each of which are incorporated as part of this disclosure by cross-reference thereto. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof. It is to be appreciated that these embodiments are given by way of illustration only and the invention is not to be limited by this illustration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: Figure 1 is a data flow diagram depicting the operation of an interactive personal training system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a data flow diagram depicting the operation of an alternative embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to Figure 1 , there is shown a preferred embodiment of an interactive personal physical fitness training system. In this system, a video recording of at least one trainer demonstrating one or more exercises is represented on a video display means 1. These exercises are then followed by a person 2 watching the display means 1. A biofeedback sensor, in the form of a heart rate monitor 3, measures the heart rate of the person 2 and transmits this biofeedback data to a processing means, in the form of a computer 5. The computer 5 analyses the biofeedback data to establish a physical state of the person 2 and, based on their physical state, independently controls the playback of the exercises displayed on the visual display 1 and playback of audio segments via a separate loudspeaker 6. The video and audio data is read by the computer 5 from first and second data storage devices (not shown) connected to the computer 5. The first storage device containing the pre-recorded exercises may be a conventional DVD player, video tape, hard drive or any other form of analogue or digital data storage. The second data storage device containing audio data (including verbal instructions) may be the same DVD on which the video data is stored or may be a completely separate data storage device such a memory card to the like. In one embodiment, the audio data is read from a DVD, as a preliminary step, and stored on a hard disk of the computer. The video data is then retrieved from the DVD as required and the audio data is independently retrieved from the hard disk. The computer 5 contains software which is configured to analyse the heart rate of the person exercising. In the embodiment shown, the heart rate is transmitted from the heart rate monitor 3 attached to the person 2 to the computer 5 by wireless data transfer. This data transfer is preferably by means of a radio transmission, such as by using the Bluetooth standard, or may be by infrared or other wireless transfer. Alternatively, the heart rate monitor 3 may be electrically connected to the computer 5 by means of an appropriate cable. The computer 5 analyses the biofeedback data from the heart rate monitor 3 by taking into account the exercise which is currently being played back via the visual display 1 as well as the age, gender, weight and other parameters of the person exercising. Also, preset exercising parameters such as target heart rates for different types of people may be considered. The analysis may also utilise heart rate data which has previously been recorded from the same person performing the same exercise at an earlier time. Depending on the analysis performed, the computer will then either select a new exercise for playback from the DVD or shorten or prolong the playback of a specific exercise. Furthermore, the computer will, based on the analysis, playback pre-recorded voice prompts, motivational phrases and verbal instructions to the person exercising, independently from the playback of the video data, to inform the person about the results achieved, the exercises being performed or to advise the person on how to modify a behaviour. From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the method of the invention involves displaying demonstrations of physical exercises on the visual display 1 which are watched by a person 2 who is copying the exercises at the same time. This exercising affects the heart rate of the person 2, which is measured with the heart rate monitor 3. This heart rate data is passed by wireless data transfer 4 to the computer 5 which analyses the heart rate data and compares it to stored heart rate values, taking into account the exercise which is currently being played back on the visual display 1. Depending on the analysis, the computer 5 decides if and how to adjust the exercise displayed on the visual display 1 to affect or maintain the heart rate of the person exercising and if and how to adjust the playback of pre-recorded audio sequences via the loudspeaker 6. Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a modification of the system shown in Figure 1. The modification involves the inclusion of a user input means in the form of a microphone 9 attached to the computer 5. To ensure that the physical state of the person 2 has been correctly established, the computer 5 may request more input from the person 2 by displaying a question on the visual display 1 or by playing back a pre-recorded question via the loudspeaker 6. The microphone 9 attached to the computer receives the response from the person 2 which may be interpreted by means of voice recognition software, and may then influence the selection or duration of the playback of the video or audio recordings. In another embodiment (not shown) the computer 5 may receive an additional input from a video camera. This input may also be analysed to establish how hard the person 2 is working out, for example by comparing the differences between successive images captured by the video camera. The bigger the difference between frames, the more the person 2 is moving. This information may then be used to affect the independent playback of audio and video segments. The data input from the video camera may also be used to affect what is being displayed on the visual display 1. For example, an image of the person exercising 2 could be displayed on the screen to allow the person to see themselves in comparison to the trainer demonstrating the exercise. Alternatively, the computer 5 may generate an image designed to make the person exercising 2 interact with it. An example would be an interactive coloured spot on the screen which the person 2 could wipe away by stretching a hand up high into a specific region which is being monitored by the camera. In another embodiment, the visual display 1 could be a computer monitor.

The computer monitor may be the same computer monitor of the processing computer 5 or it may be an additional computer monitor. Alternatively, the visual display 1 could be replaced with a conventional television set. The exercises may be stored on a DVD and played back in a conventional DVD player and the processing computer may be included in a palm sized housing, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) which controls the DVD player via an infrared internal remote control. In this embodiment, it is also possible that the visual display screen of the PDA may be used to display the video recording. The audio data may be stored on any suitable data storage device such as a Secure Digital card, a Memory Stick, a Flash card or other memory device which may be inserted into the PDA or a separate card reader. In the embodiments shown in the drawings, a loudspeaker 6 communicates the audio data to the person exercising. However, any other suitable form of audio transducer may be employed, for example a headset or ear plugs worn by the person exercising. The connection between the computer or PDA and the audio transducer may be a wired connection or a wireless connection such as radio or infrared. In yet another embodiment, a computer chip, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) capable of accepting biofeedback data and controlling playback may be imbedded in a DVD player or other playback device to avoid the requirement of an external computer. In another embodiment, the input and output functions of the system may be connected to the computer which is doing the analysis via the Internet or a similar network. In this embodiment the biofeedback monitor attached to the person exercising passes its data via the Internet to the computer which is doing the analysis of the data. This computer may then initiate the playback by contacting playback devices anywhere in the world which may then playback the video or audio data via the Internet, so that it will be visible and audible at the location where the person is training. In another embodiment the system may include means allowing the person to communicate with the computer by pressing a button, a key or an area on a touch screen which can be interpreted by the computer processing means. Although preferred embodiments of the invention are described herein in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. For example, the preferred embodiments have been described with reference to a physical fitness training system but the system may be used for any other form of personal training which involves a physical activity. For example, the invention may also be used to teach a person how to perform a particular task involved in their employment or may be used to teach a person how to dance, for example. In such an embodiment the biofeedback data may include images captured by a video camera and the analysis would include a comparison between, on the one hand, the desired movements as demonstrated by a trainer and displayed on the visual display and, on the other hand, actual movements of the person following the trainer. Other applications and modifications of the invention are also possible.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method to facilitate personal training including the steps of: providing a first data storage device containing a set of primary instructions for a person to perform a physical activity; providing a second data storage device containing a set of secondary instructions independent of the primary instructions; communicating the primary instructions to the person so that the person may follow those instructions to perform the physical activity; monitoring a physical parameter of the person with a biofeedback sensor to produce biofeedback data; analysing the biofeedback data to establish a physical state of the person; based on the physical state of the person, modifying the primary instructions being communicated and/or initiating communication of one or more of the secondary instructions to the person.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary instructions are provided in the form of video segments which are communicated to the person by visual display means.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of audio segments which are communicated to the person by an audio transducer.

4. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of video segments which are communicated to the person by visual display means.

5. The method of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of text which is communicated to the person by visual display means.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of audio segments derived from text data stored on the first data storage device, the audio segments being generated using text to invoice generation software.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the biofeedback data is displayed on the visual display means.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary instructions are provided in the form of image sequences which are computer generated and communicated to the person by visual display means.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the image sequences are designed to make the person interact with them in a predetermined manner.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the image sequences include an animated cartoon or 3D character.

11. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the biofeedback sensor includes a heart rate monitor.

12. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the biofeedback sensor includes at least one camera for monitoring physical movements of the person.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of modifying the primary instruction is based on the physical movements of the person.

14. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further including the steps of: providing a user input means operable by the person; and based on input received by the user input means, further modifying the primary instructions being communicated to the person and/or initiating communication of a further secondary instruction to the person.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user input means includes a microphone capable of receiving verbal communication from the person.

16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein the user input means includes a keyboard, a button, a touch screen or other manually operable device.

17. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the primary instructions include video recordings of at least one trainer demonstrating one or more exercises and the secondary instructions include audio recordings of verbal advice, recommendations, suggestions, warnings or motivational phrases.

18. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of analysing the biofeedback data includes comparing the biofeedback data to predetermined or calculated values.

19. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of modifying the primary instructions includes selecting, starting, adjusting the duration or terminating a said primary instruction being communicated to the person; and wherein the step of initiating communication of the secondary instructions includes selecting a said secondary instruction to be communicated to the person.

20. A personal training system including: means for reading data from a first data storage device containing a set of primary instructions for a person to perform a physical activity; means for reading data from a second data storage device containing a set of secondary instructions independent of the primary instructions; means for communicating the primary instructions to the person so that the person may follow those instructions to perform the physical activity; means for communicating the secondary instructions to the person; means for receiving biofeedback data from at least one biofeedback sensor arranged to monitor at least one physical parameter of the person; processing means for analysing the biofeedback data to establish a physical state of the person and, based on their physical state, modifying the primary instructions being communicated and/or initiating communication of one or more of the secondary instructions to the person.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the primary instructions are in the form of video segments and the means for communicating the primary instructions includes a visual display means.

22. The system of claim 20 or claim 21 , wherein the secondary instructions are in the form of audio segments and the means for communicating the secondary instructions includes an audio transducer.

23. The system of claim 21 or claim 22, wherein the secondary instructions are in the form of video segments which are communicated to the person by visual display means.

24. The system of claim 21 or claim 22, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of text which is communicated to the person by visual display means.

25. The system of any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein the secondary instructions are provided in the form of audio segments derived from text data stored on the first data storage device, the audio segments being generated using text to voice generation software.

26. The system of claim 21 , wherein the biofeedback data is displayed on the visual display means.

27. The system of claim 21 , wherein the primary instructions are provided in the form of image sequences which are computer generated and communicated to the person by visual display means.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the image sequences are designed to make the person interact with them in a predetermined manner.

29. The system of claim 27 or claim 28, wherein the image sequences include and animated cartoon or 3D character.

30. The system of any one of claims 20 to 29, wherein the biofeedback sensor includes a heart rate monitor.

31. The system of any one of claims 20 to 30, wherein the first data storage device is a DVD and the means for reading the first data storage device is a DVD player, and wherein the second data storage device is an electronic memory card and the means for reading the second data storage device is a memory card reader.

32. The system of any one of claims 20 to 30, wherein both the first and second data storage devices are included within a single DVD containing both the primary and secondary instructions, and wherein the system further includes means for temporarily storing the secondary instructions for communication to the person independently from the primary instructions.

33. The system of any one of claims 20 to 30, wherein the biofeedback sensor includes at least one camera for monitoring physical movements of the person.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the processing means modifies the primary and/or secondary instructions based on the physical movements of the person.

35. The system of any one of claims 20 to 34, further including a user input means operable by the person and wherein the processing means further modifies the primary instructions being communicated to the person and/or initiates communication of a further secondary instruction to the person.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the user input means includes a microphone capable of receiving verbal communication from the person.

37. The system of claim 35 or 36, wherein the user input means includes a keyboard, a button, a touch screen or other manually operable device.

38. The system of any one of claims 20 to 37, wherein the primary instructions include video recordings of at least one trainer demonstrating one or more exercises and the secondary instructions include audio recordings of verbal advice, recommendations, suggestions, warnings or motivational phrases.

39. The system of any one of claims 20 to 38, wherein the processing means compares the biofeedback data with predetermined or calculated values to determine the physical state of the person.

40. The system of any one of claims 20 to 39, wherein the processing means modifies the primary instructions by selecting, starting, adjusting the duration or terminating a said primary instruction being communicated to the person and wherein the processing means selects a secondary instruction to be communicated to the person.

41. The system of any one of claims 20 to 40, wherein the first and second data storage devices are located remotely from the person and are connected by means of a data communication network.

42. The system of any one of claims 20 to 41 , wherein the processing means is located remotely from the person and is connected by means of a data communication network.

43. A method to facilitate personal training substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

44. A personal training system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.