Patent ID: 8221292

Claim:
A user status notification system comprising: a fitness equipment unit comprising a cardiovascular or strength conditioning exercise device; an input associated with the fitness equipment unit that receives input identifying a human user using the fitness equipment unit; and a visible notifier associated with the fitness equipment unit to provide a visible indication, on the fitness equipment unit, that visibly indicates to non-users proximate the fitness equipment unit status information pertaining to the user while the user is using the fitness equipment unit, wherein the status information provided by the notifier is codified so as to not directly communicate the status information to anyone without a key or without knowledge of what the codified status information represents to maintain privacy of the status information, wherein the status information is selected from a group consisting of: an age of the user's membership at a fitness club; the user's frequency of attendance at a fitness club and a number of times, a number of days or a number of workouts on the fitness equipment unit by the user.