Biofeedback Training System

I have been wanting the Pear for months, but hesitated due to the price. Then, I became very sick, and basically "out of commission" for about two weeks. Afterwards I was very weak, and struggled to get back into my routine. My very encouraging husband then decided to order this for me. This wonderful little device arrived in the mail very quickly, and all I can say is , "WOW". It has made such a difference. I typically train HIIT (high intensity interval training) style with kettlebells, sandbags and body weight exercises. Running has always been my fitness "Achilles Heel". Previously, I had tried using a HRM with a big clunky wrist watch, as well as my beloved GYMBOSS interval timer to do run\walk combinations. I could never get it quite right, and would always feel weak and defeated after my running sessions. I have been using the Pear consistently for about two weeks - and can honestly say I've made incredible progress. It literally is like having a trainer right there with you - encouraging, and teaching you how to really get, "in tune", with your own body during the workouts. Not only are the running programs top notch - the weight training circuit programs are fantastic. (There is not a wide selection - but this product is fairly new - more to come I am sure!). After a run I no longer feel defeated. I get the same feeling I do after a good kettlebell session - strong, accomplished and that I am getting somewhere. The fact that I can actually see the improvements via the Pear Portal is icing on the cake. I finally feel good during runs - and the numbers don't lie; my body IS responding to the training. This product IS worth every cent - go for it!

Believe me I have tried some of the best training gadgets out there Polar, Garmin and Moto activ and none of their devices set up as easy or completely as this Pear system. I love not having to wear a big watch device on my wrist and also having to scan through multiple menus to get the running stats I want. As I work out Pear tells me, at regular intervals, the stats I want or on demand at the push of a button. Training by heart rate zones? The heart rate zones are all figured out for you based on your current level of fitness after a brief fitness evaluation workout. Pear offers many free running programs, some strengthening and some cycling workouts. You can also choose to buy a plan from one of the well know running coaches. I am currently training for a half marathon with my favorite author and coach Matt Fitzgerald. The program talks you through you entire workout. The best part.... miss a planned workout --- move it to another day, skip over it or do a freestyle workout of your own ...no problem. No other system I have tried had this level of flexibility. Want music? Load it on your Ipod shuffle and plug it into the Pear and your coach and the music work seamlessly together. Nothing I have tried in ten years has even come close to the Pear system.

I really wanted to love this product. The concept was great. Unfortunately, the execution failed. The first step out of the box is to go to the Pear website to download the software before connecting the device and creating a profile. I have a MacBook Air and after downloading the software and clicking the button to go to the Pear Portal, it would not let me move to the next step. Instead I kept getting the message that I needed to download the software before moving to the next step. Ugh. I shut down and restarted a several times but could not get out of this continuous loop. After lots of frustration my husband tried and after lots more frustration he somehow managed to get it to recognize that the software was loaded in order to move to the next step. Next came picking a program for training. I am training for a half-marathon and read reviews that there was a free program you could load to the device to help with this training. The Pear portal was not intuitive. After scrolling through a bunch of half and full marathon programs that cost $280, I found one that I thought matched my need but after reading the description realized it was to coach me through 1 run that I should do 2 weeks before my half-marathon and was not a full program. Finally, I found the half-marathon program that I wanted and loaded it to the device. Success. I was very happy to find that there was a free program for this and that it seemed to offer what I wanted. Great considering the $200+ price for the device alone. Then, I realized that the clip on the back of the device (as well as the entire device) was made of CHEAP plastic and had fallen off. I was determined to try this thing and see if it really worked like the other reviews said so I got ready for my workout and put the device in the pocket of my running shorts. The heart monitor strap and foot strap all went on fine and seemed very intuitive but I realized before walking out the door that there were no instructions on how to start the program on the device. The Pear portal had read that it sent 5 or 6 workouts from my program to the device and I knew my first day was going to be a 25 minute run but I could not find instructions on the portal either. Instead I googled for more information and found a YouTube video posted by Pear that described how to get everything set-up. This was helpful. It didn't provide much instruction on starting the voice cues or program on device but I figured I'd figure it out when I got started. Outside, I clicked on the power and play buttons and I the device asked me to pick a program. The first one said 25 minute free form or something like that and I figured it would be the first one on my half-marathon program since that's the only program I loaded and I knew the first run was supposed to be 25 minutes. Then the device told me that being a free form run it would provide me with no voice guidance during the workout. Oh no. I realized this was not the workout I wanted and must have just been a generic one included on the device. I tried to figure out how to change the program but instead the forward and back buttons did not work and the pause/play button would only tell me "workout paused" and "workout resumed". Still unsure of whether this was what my first workout was intended to be I decided to go ahead with the workout anyway. It told me it recognized the foot pod and the heart monitor in at least one of my pause/resume modes so I assumed everything was working fine. Even thought it won't give you coaching during the free form run, it does provide stats at specific intervals, I believe it was every 5 minutes which told me my pace and time. By clicking on the button in the earpiece I was able to get it to talk to me more frequently which was easy and nice but still only provided me pace and time information. Back home, I was excited to load my results and see how all of this worked. I quickly realized my suspicion that I had the wrong workout was correct. The stats on the screen showed me my time and pace but I noticed that it did not provide any heart rate data and the calories burned section was 0. I'm not sure why none of this registered. There was nothing telling me if there was an issue with the heart-rate monitor (and it had told me it recognized it at the start of my run) or if there was some other reason why the data didn't appear. Additionally, I had provided my weight, etc in the initial set-up so not sure why calories burned were not calculated unless it also requires the heart rate data. Disappointing. The portal has a nice calendar to show you all your scheduled workouts based on the program and dates you picked. This is a nice feature but since I did the wrong workout I needed to move my half-marathon training plan out. There appeared no way to do this except for moving/dragging the workouts one by one to a new date on the calendar. Ugh. I really feel like this product could have been great but there is a lot of work needed to just make the portal and device a lot smarter. You should definitely be given the option if you skip a workout to move the remaining series by the same amount of days to match your pre-set schedule. For reference, I have an ipod shuffle which works with this device. I also have an ipod nano which I was using previously that tracks my run; pace, distance and time and will give me audio cues on all these items throughout the run based on whether I do a timed or distance run. I also have the Jeff Galloway 2:1 workout which will tell me when to run (2 mins) and when to walk (1 min) that I typically play while doing my runs. The real benefit I saw in wanting to try this product was that it would give me more specific instructions throughout the run due based on the heart monitor to help me take my running to the next level and properly prepare for my half. All of the other features you can easily get with dozens of other devices on the market. Sadly, there were so many other issues with this device and portal that I'm back to searching for a comprehensive device. This one will be returned.

I have been using this product for the past couple of months. I must have used it for a total of around 20-25 times. Based on this experience, I decided it is time to post a review to help other shoppers/fitness enthusiast. Package: The package comes with several items: Square One device, Earphones, Heart rate monitor and strap, Foot pod, nylon gear bag, usb cable. Setup: This is fairly easy. Connect the square one device to your computer, download and install the pear software. You can choose from a variety of workouts (free and paid) from the Pear Sports website and then sync your Pear device to download those to your square one device. Wear the heart rate monitor and the foot pod. When you turn on the device, it detects the monitor and the foot pod AND then you are good to go. You can use the up/down arrows from the device to choose a workout. FLAWS: While the technology is unique and extremely useful, the product is full of flaws. 1. Earphone incompatibility: I own a Bose sports earphones and they are way more comfortable than the earphones that come with Pear Sports. When I tried to use the Bose earphones with the square one device, the Square one device acted all crazy - it kept on giving out the stats nonstop. I ended up continuing to use the pear earphones. 2. Earphones Quality: The sound level from the left earphone went louder and from the right earphone decreased. Happened a couple of times. 3. Foot Pod detection: Several times when you turn on the Square one device, it doesn't detect the foot pod. You have to really shake your leg, may be even jump for it to be detected. Also, during the workout, sometimes the device would just not be able to locate the foot pod. This gets extremely annoying when you are in the middle of a run. 4. Nylon Gear Bag: Too small. The heart rate monitor strap doesn't fit in the gear bag. 5. BIGGEST FLAW: The Square One device - a) There is no way to know how much battery is still available. b) The device pauses randomly. So I have been using one of the programs a - 50 min workout. 10 min warmup. Then 90 seconds in Zone 5 followed by 150 sec in zone 1 for recovery. This zone 5- zone 1 intervals continue 8 times before a final cool down for another 10 min or so. Normally, the device (recorded instructor voice) asks to run in zone 5 for 90 seconds and at the end of it asks to slow down. I am running with an all-out pace waiting for the instructor asking to slow down --- but it wasnt to be. The device goes into a coma so to say. After running into this issue a couple of times, I noticed that it automatically pauses. And you can resume by hitting the play button - only for it to happen again in the next cycle. I resynced the device but to no avail. c) The device is made out of plastic. While the blue color looks cool, it has a cheap plastic feel to it. There's always a fear that if you accidently drop it, it might crack. d) Compatible with iPod shuffle. I tend to listen to online music. So I ended up getting an extension cord that I use to connect my iphone and the square one device. Maintenance: 1. You will need to regularly wash the heart monitor strap. 2. Need to sync your device once every week or so by manually connecting to the computer. No Bluetooth sync support. While the technology is unique and am yet to find another product which offers these features, the overall product quality is just about average.

I purchased this after seeing some videos on YouTube and doing some research; of course some of that was reading the reviews here. I can't say enough positives about it. I am used to heart rate based training, having used Polar products and others. I have always liked looking at my stats after the workout, BUT I needed something a little more immediate. Enter the Pear! After doing a workout to set it up, which was guided, I downloaded a free treadmill based workout and shazaam....I now had a little voice in my head to "help" guide me through the workout. It was love at first prompt. I was able to cruise through my treadmill exercise with better results than I was able to achieve on my own. Is the Pear for everybody? I don't know, but for somebody like myself, the voice in my ear gave me the extra motivation I needed to not only work harder but I also got the immediate feedback I needed to assist in accomplishing my goals. Some people are self-starters and know how to stay on track for a workout. I am not one of those people. The Pear has definitely been a game changer. Try it once and you'll wonder how you managed without it.

I originally bought this product because I wanted to learn how to run and eventually run longer distances, what I ended up getting was so much more! They offer so many different types of training modules that you can use it to help you train or maximize whatever workout you are looking for. I am working on the zero to running and can actually feel my endurance growing with every run. I absolutely love this product and use it almost every day.

very good tool for training I am a beginner runner and it has been very useful I recommend it to all who train very good customer care

nice item for training