Wahoo Run/Gym Pack for iPod/iPhone

• Includes Wahoo Sensor Key with built in ANT+ radio receiver and premium soft heart rate belt
• Compact and rugged Sensor Key with very low power usage with no internal battery
• Comfortable elastic heart rate strap and two snap connection for easy on/off

I actually purchased two of this item... one at Best Buy and the one here on Amazon which was $10 cheaper. Both work flawlessly.

There were absolutely no problems fitting the strap or getting an immediate signal. There has been no loss of signal no matter how strenuous the workout. The product claims that you should be within 5 to 10 feet of the sensor, which is not a problem when working out. However, I''ve found that it works within a much better range... around 20 to 30 feet before the signal is actually lost.

I purchased the item for my stationary Gym workouts and my only gripe is with the WahooFitness iPhone App. There are only two workout types available, Biking or Running with specific options that correspond to each. This is called the "Wahoo Fitness Run/GYM Pack" after all; it''s truly inadequate that there is no provision in the software for Gym workouts.

What are you supposed to do if you''re not Biking or Running? I do this...

1. Set the workout type to "Running".

2. Turn off the GPS options since you''re not really going anyplace.

3. In the settings, only activate iPod Control Page #3 (it''s the most generic screen with the fewest references to Running or Laps)

Using those options, for your stationary Gym workouts, you can track Heart-rate, Calories, Time, Burn Rate, Max/Average BPM, and time spent in each heart-rate zone. There is only one minor flaw and that you have a "lap" button at the bottom left next to "pause". Again, there is no need for this "lap" button since you''re only doing a stationary Gym workout. Everything else works fine and you can Pause, Resume, Stop and Save your workout to history. However, "time in zone" is not saved to history so remember to "pause" and write those down if they''re important to you.

Since these sensors use the standard ANT+ format, there are lots of other third party Apps available. However, I choose to stick with the WahooFitness App for the following reasons...

1. The free third party apps are geared towards GPS, Biking, Running, Social Media Sharing and Advertising. The one with the most features (MapMyWorkout or something like that) kept crashing as I tried to use the Facebook login to create an account. It crashed about ten times before I finally got the software running only to discover that it too did not have a Gym Workout section. I found another free App for Gym workouts but it dictates the time spent in each zone for the full workout without allowing you to follow your own exercise DVD or routine.

2. Some of these third party Apps are not free, and I believe that for the $120 price, Wahoo should be providing adequate software to fully operate their product in the gym, especially when their product is called a "GYM pack".

I contacted Wahoo about their App and received an email response the same day. They confirmed that "iPod Control Page #3" is the best thing to use for Gym Workouts and that they would be including more "Workout Types" in the next version of their software. Hopefully, that means Gym Workouts.

EDIT: Wahoo told me today that the next version of their software is due out "in a few weeks". (a side note: Wahoo answers emails promptly but when you reply to rep A, rep B will respond without reading everything, then when you respond again, rep C will respond. So I guess it''s important to repeat yourself a lot if you have to reply to them via email.)

I dug a little further into the WahooFitness App and I have the following outstanding issues and questions:

1. Lack of Gym Workout as discussed above. EDIT 2: There are now Gym Workouts included in the latest version but you still have to select the correct iPod screen for your chosen workout.

2. Lack of documentation. The "Instructions" tab is hardly anything at all. 90% of the options are not mentioned on this screen and there is no link to online documentation. A search of the Wahoo website also reveals nothing in this regard.

(Josh from Wahoo confirmed that there is no documentation for the WahooFitness App)

3. In the "User Profile" section, what is the "Air Broadcaster" wi-fi option and how to use it?

(Josh from Wahoo explained that this is a beta feature for developers.)

4. In the "User Profile" section, what are "Power Zones" and how to use them?

(Josh from Wahoo explained that these are only used for Biking workouts.)

So to summarize, the hardware works flawlessly (5 stars) and the Wahoo App works pretty well although it''s missing Workout Sections for anything other than Biking or Running and documentation does not exist (3.5 stars).

EDIT 2: There are now Gym Workouts included in the latest version but you still have to select the correct iPod screen for your chosen workout. Strangely, the "Lap" button still exists even when doing a "Gym Workout". Wahoo support stated that this is useful even during Gym Workouts, although I fail to see why it needs to be called a "Lap".

Buy Wahoo Run/Gym Pack for iPod/iPhone Now

I use the Wahoo Fitness Run/Gym pack with RunKeeper Elite on my iPhone. It took about 20 minutes for me to figure out how to get it working with my RunKeeper app, but I am not the best at that kind of thing. Once I got it working, it works LIKE MAGIC: I can monitor my heart rate on my iPhone, see/hear when I am in which training zone, and the heart rate data is overlaid onto my walking/jogging route data in RunKeeper. I can see exactly what my heart rate is at any given time and place in my workout. Highly recommended.

Read Best Reviews of Wahoo Run/Gym Pack for iPod/iPhone Here

***UPDATE*** JAN 10 2012 ***UPDATE***

After notifying Wahoo Fitness support and corresponding through email for about a day, I received a premium heart rate chest band AND a Wahoo Armband for iPhone a week later (I live in Hawaii.) I''ve been using the Ant+ and Heart Rate Belt with my iPhone 4 for a few weeks now, along with the Wahoo Fitness App. The app is pretty straightforward and simple (to set up) for my needs. I also have the Digifit App but haven''t recorded a workout with it yet. My primary purpose is to track my heart rate during LSD Cardio and with workouts from P90X, P90X2, Insanity, Asylum as well as Tabata related workouts. The heart rate belt is comfortable and fits a big guy like me with plenty to spare. I believe this will be an excellent tool for me to use in order take my fitness to a new level.

Well I can''t honestly give it a full review yet, ordered it and it came fairly quickly. When I received my package I quickly opened only to find that my heart rate belt was missing. Totally bummed, was looking forward to trying it out today. Watched videos by Wahoo and the YouTube channels, spent quite a bit of time looking at all the apps on iTunes.

Anyway... contacted support, waiting to hear from them. I know its Christmas and Im sure they are incredibly busy because this product seems like an AWESOME Christmas gift. I''ll update my review once everything gets resolved.

Aloha!

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The product was solidly built and sturdy, however it never did work for me. I was able to pair the HR transducer with the ANT dongle for the iPhone, but the HR was not reliably telegraphed. The first strap I was sent did not work at all and I was sent a replacement strap by the excellent customer service reps at Wahoo. This new strap did telegraph my HR at times, but the connection was sporadic. It seemed to function better at resting heart rates. At higher HRs (150+), the connection would usually read much lower than my actual HR verified by counting or using the handgrips at the gym.

I am about 30 lbs overweight, so I''m not sure if the extra layer of fat was impeding the signal. I even used electrode gel to try to give a better connection, but it didn''t help. It was kind of disappointing, so I returned the monitor to Amazon since I don''t really have time to keep trying to troubleshoot this product. While most reviews are positive on Amazon, there are several negative ones, so perhaps there is some sort of defect that affects a minority of the transducers or straps.

Connected easily to our game I Heart Jellyfish. ANT+ is a nice protocol and Wahoo implements it well. There is a bit of a technique to getting it to work totally reliably, but it is easy to learn. Just read the instructions that come with it.