Customer Reviews

SportBrain "First Step" Personal Fitness Assistant (1-Unit)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I'm generally a slacker and not really one to jump into fitness fads (the plastic wrap is still on my tao-bo tapes), but I really like using my Sportbrain Personal Fitness Assistant. It's built to meet the needs of the mall-walker and the marathoner. It's a fun tool to help you monitor what you already doing and incents you to do more.

First off, the directions are very simple to follow and the Sportbrain only requires you to plug it in to your existing phone line. No worries about computer compatability! Next, you just clip the sportbrain to your belt or waistband and the little "brain" does all the rest.

I download my info every night when I get home and then access my personal page to see how I did for the day. The brain collects data on how many steps you take, how far you run/walk and what your pace was throughout the day. The information is nicely displayed and I also like the "competitive" information. Sportbrain collects info about all it's wearers and then shows you comparison graphs based on your gender and age group. I love knowing I walked twice as far as others in my group! Or, on my slacker days when I don't meet my goal the site shows precisely how little I walked that day.

The Sportbrain website also has lots of nifty tools, charts and graphs to help you monitor your fitness progress. I took my brain on vacation with me. It stored a week's worth of info before I came back and downloaded. I was amazed to find out I walked 9.7 miles in one day while siteseeing in Boston. I also like that the Sportbrain monitors your pace as well so you get to see spikes on your graphs for when you have to run to catch the bus.

The only downside to the Brain is remembering to wear it!

What a great product!

I thought my SportBrain would be just a glorified pedometer, but it is really much more. Sure, it counts my steps, but the best part is viewing my personal page at the SportBrain website, where I can obtain interesting fitness information, and automatically determine if I am meeting my personal fitness goals.

Getting up and running was no problem at all. When you purchase a SportBrain, you get a SportBrain, which you attach to your waistband, and a SportPort, which you hook up to your telephone. I followed the simple directions (which don't involve any physical mucking about with your computer) and with two clicks of a phone jack my "brain" was activated. Then I attached the brain to my waistband, and started tracking my daily activity. At the end of the day, I simply plug the brain into the port, and my information is automatically uploaded to the SportBrain website.

At first I thought my SportBrain would only be useful for counting steps, but it has actually helped me in a few different areas. It incents me to take extra steps, so I find that I really don't mind parking further out in the parking lot, or running up the stairs to go back for something I've forgotten, because every step I take is counted and displayed on my personal web page.

And SportBrain is not just for walkers and runners. I participate in cardio-kickboxing, and form is a very important aspect of the total workout. Turning the body and getting that heel up off the floor is the key to a good upper-cut, elbow and cross. My brain counts every one of those moves, so wearing my brain and knowing it is counting steps has helped my form immensely.

When you take 10,000 steps in a single day (which is much easier than it may sound!), you get a Happy Heart icon on your personal web page. If I plug my SportBrain into the port and upload my daily performance information, only to find I am 50 steps short of 10,000, I've been known to walk up and down the stairs a few times just to see that Happy Heart icon. And that has to be beneficial in the long run!

I highly recommend this product.

Every now and then you are lucky to come across an item or gadget that makes you appreciate the creativity of its designers. Such an item is Sportbrain.I was a three times a week "walker" and sort of haphazard about when I would go out, hit the pavement or the YMCA treadmill. Now that I am wearing the Brain I have logged in almost forty five days of consecutive 30 minute walks and thouroughly enjoy doing it. Why? For the first time I can actually see what progress I am making, how many steps, miles, calories burned, my activity compared to all in my age group. Let me back up for a moment. Sportbrain is a device that you wear on your waistband( I attach it to my belt buckle loop using the BrainChain tether)and it monitors my walking activity or heart beat if you have the chest strap.After my sportivity(a word coined my SportBrain)I place the Brain in a cradle(just plug it in)tied into my telephone line which effortlessly transmits the data to my very own Home Page on the web. There I can see graphs personalized for me as to calories burned per minute,comparisons of myself to all others in the country as to my activity level and energy burned.. Sportbrain should be called Smartbrain. Now what's the extra bonus? A company that is responsive to your queries, open to suggestions,and a staff that makes you feel you are taking part in this vast physical fitness program. The device works flawlessly and when you transmit your data a green light flashes for successful transmission and a red light when it doesn't.Intuitive? But of course. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist in my work so I come back to what I first said about creative minds behind Sportbrain..there's more innovation coming along in the future so The Brain will be au courant. Oh, I almost forgot. There are incentive rewards for your workouts by accumulating points you can "win" great prizes and Sportbrain keeps track of your points. So far I've "won" a great coffee mug and a "baseball" cap with the Sportbrain Logo. Get it you'll enjoy it and have some fun. Go ahead drop a few pounds.

This product is amazing. I have been trying to get in shape for 2 years and this is the first product to make a diffence. This simple product clips on to your belt or pants. It weighs about an ounce. You do not even know it is there. It measures your calories, steps, miles, speed, heart rate (With optional heart strap) and distance. You then at any time take the sportbrain and put it into the base station and it automatically loads the fitness data into a database. You can then graphically access this data through the web. You can see how your stats compare agienst other users in your age group. You can all sorts of charts on the fly. One of the best features of the site is that they offer contests where you win prizes for attaining certain goals. I have already won two great prizes through these contests and look forward to winning many more. The best part about this product is that has motivated me to get in shape.

I started wearing this thing this summer, since then I have reduced my heartrate while exercising by approximately 6%. It is easy to wear and really makes you think about where you park, taking a longer path and just how you can get more activity out of your day. At night when I get home I think about going to workout and I really don't want to, but I also know that my sportbrain will tell my friends if I did or not. They can check out my acivity if I invite them to and then chastise me the next day if I don't go. It really has been a motivator. I love the rewards, too. It is cool to think that I am walking for me and to get stuff too. Everybody needs one of these, if you are just starting on a fitness program or if you run everyday. It works for everyone.

This thing really helps you kick up your steps per day. My normal daily routine nets me 6,000-7,000 steps, but with Sportbrain I have found enough ways to add small walks and other minor things to my daily routine so that I am averaging 11,000 steps per day! The various rewards do help you stay motivated, even if the best rewards are *very* hard to attain (the baseball cap, for instance, needs an average of 15,000 steps per day for a month). Still the device is extremely easy to use, the website updates almost instantaneously, and it keeps track of far more information than you expect (since the Brain has a built in clock, you can literally see your mph, distance covered, and other stats for your various walking activities). There are multitudes of charts and graphs of your output, and you can look at daily, weekly, and monthly summaries of your activity. All in all, this is a great system, and worth the investment.

When I first bought my SportBrain after seeing Oprah recommend it on her show I was thrilled with it!! I used it for about 6 months or more until the company suddenly went bankrupt and discontinued its online services. Like many loyal customers, I was terribly disappointed, especially since I had spent [that much money]on it which my husband thought was a ridiculous waste of money for a little pedometer that counts your steps and website access that records it for you. I disagreed with him though and held onto my SportBrain, hoping the company would find new investors and would be back in business soon.

So again, I was THRILLED when I got an email that the company was back and services were up and running. I quickly put my SportBrain back on and started exercising more. That was the main reason I liked it, because it was a great motivational tool. I then got a notice that I needed to pay my membership fees (the original SportBrain did not require membership dues - but that is why the company went bankrupt) so paying dues seemed reasonable to me. I decided to pay the quarterly fees ...

That's when the problem occurred. My SportBrain fell off while I was out walking and when I tried to put it back on I noticed the clip was loose. On the way home it fell off again and this time I noticed that one of the plastic prongs that hold the clip on was missing. When I got home I decided to try and reattach the clip with a little superglue. Well, that was a bad idea I realized because while it did fix the broken clip, it obviously did something to damage the sensor inside. My SportBrain stopped working and I was really upset since I'd just payed [the dues]and had only been using it for a few weeks.

I wrote to customer support and told them what happened asking if I could send it for repair. They told me no. They do not repair broken SportBrains but that they did have a promotion for 2 new SportBrains for [one low price].

That did not interest me at all, so I then asked for a refund of the membership dues since it had only been 10 days since I paid my quarterly dues. They told me they do not give refunds.

So, here I was with my broken SportBrain and a membership that I could no longer use. They told me that I must have subjected it to unusual stress because normal wear and tear are not enough to cause the Sportbrain to break. Well, that was the reason I decided I no longer had faith in the product. I DID NOT subject it to unusual stress. I was just wearing it and walking along when it fell off. If that isn't the definition of normal wear and tear, then I don't know what is.

So, if you're in the mood to gamble on a product that may quit working a few weeks after you pay for your membership dues, then go ahead and buy one. But if you expect a little more customer support from a company that expects you to shell out [money for] dues, besides paying ...for your unit, then I would not recommend you gamble your money on a SportBrain.

I started wearing the SportBrain to see how much activity I was getting during a normal day. After a few days, I realized that the word sloth didn't even come close to describing my activity, or lack thereof. However, now that I have an easy way to track and view my activity, I'm motivated to get out and see what kind of numbers I can rack up. I think my chinos even fit better...imagine that. The previous reviewer's title of "A Great Christmas Gift!" is an awesome idea.

Since I purchased the Sportbrain I have found that I continuously challange myself to increase my milage each day by doing simple things such as parking further away at work or when shopping, adding a little extra at the end of my runs, etc. My awareness level, and thus my fitness level, has increased since I started tracking my milage. I would recommend this product to everyone.

I'm amazed at how many people don't understand that the on-line sport brain service is FREE, there is no monthly service charge! No credit card is needed to register or anything. I bought one about six months ago to give me something to shoot for with my workouts, and found it extremely effective (anything that will get you out of the house at 11PM to get your steps in is compelling). (What's terrible is seeing the flatliners in the daily activity caused by an extended meeting and deskwork. If I could only find a way for the sprotbrain to reduce these activies...) Its measurements seem fairly accurate as well. My tredmill and the sport brain are always very close on distance, speed and calories burned (within 5%). I also like the history and notes that I can associate with each workout and track online (without having to wire my treadmill to the internet). This also turned out to be a perfect motivator for my young son, who is not athletic but loves technology, as it gets him out of the house and exercising without complaint.