FITNESS WEBSITE GOES ALL OUT WITH VIRTUAL TRAINER: Sven Lives on Internet, Wants to Pump You Up

TUSTIN, Calif., Aug. 1 -- The Internet continues to come up with innovative solutions to help gymgoers plan their workouts without splurging on expensive trainers. Case in point? AllOutTraining.com, a fitness site which caught the public eye last month when it announced free on-line training videos.

Now AllOutTraining is putting a face to its workouts, giving Internet users a trainer they can call their own. He's online. He's virtual. And he's Swedish.

"Sven," the virtual trainer, responds to emailed questions in a very human voice -- complete with facial expressions! He lives inside the AllOutTraining.com site, but he's no computer nerd. Sven is an online personal trainer and fitness expert who promises to give AllOutTraining users straight answers about exercise and fitness routines -- and maybe a few chuckles, too.

To get what Sven is all about, you have to see - and hear him - to believe it. And that's what the AllOutTraining team is betting gymgoers will want to do: the fully digital 3-D persona pops his head up on a page called "Gym Talk", and announces that he's "come all the way from Sweden to answer your questions -- so go ahead. Ask me something."

The page comes complete with a photo gallery of Sven's "posing" pictures. Too personal? Don't bet on it. Sven's popularity is part of a new trend in Internet services: last month, virtual newscaster Ananova was acquired by U.K. telecom firm Orange for $144M. To market-watchers and training buffs alike, a virtual trainer is an idea whose time has come.

"Fitness and exercise are some of America's biggest activities, and millions of fitness users want easy, inexpensive access to personal training," explained AllOutTraining co-founder Mike Levinson. "We're putting a friendly face on that training, and delivering it over the Internet to help people around the world. People like the personal approach, and that's why Sven has had such an overwhelming response."

Sven has a little help, of course. His information comes from the AllOutTraining staff, headed by trainer / dietitian Levinson. Nor is Sven alone: along with the virtual trainer, AllOutTraining delivers exercise video content online at no charge, shot at the prestigious Gold's Gym in Long Beach, CA. The detailed, close-up videos are accessed via AllOutTraining's clickable Body Map, and streamed to Internet users using the well-known QuickTime standard.

AllOutTraining.com also provides personalized Trainer and Dietician services via e-mail, putting the main benefits of personal training within easy reach. The "total" fitness site includes a broad selection of popular products and fitness solutions -- books, videos, supplements, equipment, and apparel.

For more information and multimedia clips on Sven and other parts of AllOutTraining.com , please go to http://www.allouttraining.com/

Contact: Mike Levinson
Toll Free: 877-982-5568
e-mail: mike@allouttraining.com
url: http://www.allouttraining.com

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