Pace maker: Yamaha's BODiBEAT MP3 player may be the next best thing to a live training partner

* When you look into the benefits of listening to music during exercise, you'll find an avalanche of data supporting what you already know: It helps. Not only does it distract you from the interminable boredom of cardio, but it also helps you keep your pace steady and last longer than you would with just the sound of the guy grunting next to you. It only makes sense, then, that MP3 players would start to offer more than music playback.

The BODiBEAT serves up your favorite songs to match the pace and tempo of your workout, and the various functions can be set to pick music that matches your heart rate, the pace of your workout or the length of your stride. If you get ahead of yourself, the BODiBEAT will select songs that reduce the beats per minute to keep you at your targeted pace. It comes loaded with thousands of electronic mixes and, of course, you can load your own music, which is sorted according to beats per minute. The BODiBEAT is just one more reason why you should never miss a workout.

$299.99, yamaha.com/bodibeat

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