Patent ID: 8409057

Claim:
A computerized method for providing a visual gauge of fitness progress to a network of users of cardiovascular exercise machines, said method comprising: receiving instantaneous sensed data during a workout, the instantaneous data sensed by one or more sensors and representative of at least one workout parameter of a first user; storing the instantaneous sensed data as a function of time in a database having an identifier corresponding to each user; receiving stored historical data from one or more previous workouts, the historical data representative of the at least one workout parameter of the first user and at least one workout parameter of a second user as a function of time, said historical data retrieved with user identifiers corresponding to each of the first user and second user and being retrieved with permission of the second user; and establishing a reward system for the first user and the second user, wherein the reward is based on current data and historical data of the first user and the second user, respectively.