Review of:
SportBrain 
Personal Fitness Assistant 

The SportBrain works like a pedometer. You exercise, or just bop around doing whatever you do all day. At the end of the day — or ten times a day, if you’re obsessive, at least once a week if you’re forgetful or out of town  — you slip the SportBrain into its Sport Port. The data zips through your phone line for display on your own personal and private Web site. Once online you can view charts that display how many steps you took (accurate to +/- 1%), get an estimate of the calories you have burned, and compare this data to your previous performance and the performance of others in your age group. 

Technically, the SportBrain is a PDA — a Personal Digital Assistant. Its first appealing feature is that it doesn’t hog a computer port — it hooks up though the telephone. The Sport Port has two connectors in the back — one plugs into the wall and the other plugs into the telephone. As soon at the pedometer gizmo is seated into the cradle gadget it automatically dials into a local number, tying up your line for less than a minute. The second delightful discovery is that the service itself is free. After you shell out $99.99 for the SportBrain and SportPort there are no monthly service charges. The third cool thing is that there is no software to install — everything is Web based.

The average person who works in an office and doesn't exercise walks about 4,000 steps per day. To start, SportBrain assigns a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which works out to about five miles. You can change this whenever you want to a number between 3,000 and 20,000 steps. A little “happy heart” icon gives you a quick status report: 2,999 steps and below marks you as seriously in need of more activity. Three thousand to 5,999 steps is not bad, but more would be better. Six to ten thousand steps is a terrific job and more than that – you’ll live forever. 

Is this just for jocks? Hardly. The SportBrain site notes that “retired men . . . who walked less that 1/4 mile per day (about 500 steps) had twice as much risk of coronary heart disease compared with those who walked 1.5 miles (about 3000 steps) more per day.” The same day I activated my SportBrain the Express-News reported on a Centers for Disease Control study that claimed that 92 percent of retirees get no meaningful exercise and more than half of retirees are completely sedentary. Mall walkers take note! Athletes can and do use the SportBrain but it might be just the nudge a couch potato needs.

My friend Julie is a hospital chaplain. When I described SportBrain her eyes lit up. “Would this log the miles of aisles I walk every day?” she asked. Yes, it will, and it all counts toward your 10,000 daily steps. I’ve figured out that I need to add about two miles — 4,000 steps — to my normal day to reach that magic figure of 10,000 steps.

All the cheapskates have their mental calculators clicking away. I can hear them. Yes, you can do most of the same things for less money with a regular pedometer (about $25) and a simple spreadsheet program. But you’d miss out on the SportBrain motivators. For me, having the data sent to the Internet and stored there forever is a powerful incentive to keep walking. Corny as it sounds, nudging my happy heart from “not bad” to “terrific” can send me back to the treadmill for another half mile. They sponsor a rewards program. At any given time there are several rewards programs running. For example, if I averaged 12,000 steps a day between March 12 and April 1, I could be rewarded with a set of brightly colored sport faces, for 15,000 steps a day a baseball cap and for 17,500 steps an embroidered SportBrain polo shirt. 

Sportivities — sustained activity of 10 minutes or more — get displayed on supplemental charts and also show speed and distance. Medical professionals recommend at least 20 minutes of aerobic activity each day, and this is a gentle reminder to do that. If I really wanted a kick in the pants I could invite friends to view a stripped-down version of my data and use their cheers and jeers to keep me on the move. There’s a SportFolio that lets you record daily information, from waist measurements to fiber intake. 

There is an optional heart rate strap ($49.99) that you cinch next to your skin right under your chest. This data is also transmitted to the Web site. If you already have another brand of strap it might work with the system. A list of compatible devices is available on the Web.

I have a few minor gripes. Positioning the SportBrain is tricky. They recommend you wear it clipped to your waistband, about half way between your zipper and your hip. The first time I used SportBrain with my treadmill it worked perfectly. The second time it failed to record the 20-minute session. There is a little green light that blinks with every step but the parts of me between my eyeballs and my waist block the view. 

In my laid-back life I don’t dress up much, but if I were in the habit of wearing dresses or other apparel without a waistband the SportBrain wouldn’t work. The device isn’t waterproof, so don’t try to count laps you swim in the pool. It measures hip movement and won’t work well with exercises that don’t engage your hips, such as cycling. You’ll have these problems with any pedometer. Although the step counting is incredibly accurate, the time and distance for running, for example, has about a 25% fudge factor either way. The company is working on ways to calibrate the device to make this more accurate. 

I had trouble with the SportBrain popping off my waistband. It comes with a dummy cord — a BrainChain — that can be intertwined with a belt loop for added security. My sweat clothes don’t have belt loops so I think I’ll get a safety pin.  The devise is resilient; I have dropped onto our saltillo tile floors several times with no ill effects. 

The starter kit, one SportBrain and one SportPort, retails for $99.99. A buddy pack, two brains and one port is $149.99. A family pack, four brains, one port and eight different SportFaces to differentiate them, is a bargain at $199. Other configurations are available, including a Bucket o’ Brains, 18 of them for an entire sports team.

Installation was literally a snap — log into the Web site, record your serial number , snap the SportBrain into the SportPort and start walking. The little manuals were excellent – plenty of pictures and clear instructions. Tons of supplemental data is available on the Web site.

In order to view the SportBrain Web site, use Internet Explorer 4.0 or above, Netscape 4.0 or above, or AOL 5.0 or above. The SportBrain Web site is not compatible with WebTV. You will need an Internet connection, but the service itself is free. The phone line has to be plain old telephone service (POTS) — a digital line won’t work. The phone line and computer don’t have to be co-located — you could cradle the Brain on your phone at home, then view the data on the Internet connection at work or at the library. It comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

You can buy it locally at sporting goods stores and CompUSA. If you have trouble finding it, call them at 1-888- 235-9608 and order it over the phone. They can also be reached at 785 Palomar Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

So far I’m really pumped. The SportBrain is keeping me honest with my exercise program and motivating me to go just a little bit farther every day. I like it so much I think I’ll get one for John, too — it’s the sport-brainy thing to do.