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Phone runs

Run by heart rate with your Garmin or chest strap.

First Gear is a heart-rate running coach for adults starting out. Your Garmin or heart rate strap sends your heart rate to your iPhone, and your coach tells you when to run and when to walk. No Apple Watch needed.

Seven days free if you're eligible.

Now on Apple Watch and iPhone.

Start your first sessionFor Apple Watch, on the App Store

Needs an iPhone and Apple Watch Series 6 or newer, SE (2nd generation or newer), or Ultra. No Apple Watch? Phone runs work with AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2, a Garmin or a chest strap.

A First Gear phone run on iPhone at 3:22: 123 bpm inside a range of 111 to 135, Keep your heart rate under 135, and buttons to pause, walk the rest or end.

Use the heart rate gear you already own.

Turn on Broadcast Heart Rate on your Garmin, or put on a chest strap that sends heart rate over Bluetooth. First Gear reads it live, so you can start running by heart rate without buying an Apple Watch.

Hear when to run and when to walk.

Lana or Cal speaks each cue from your live heart rate, in your headphones or on the iPhone speaker. Every session starts with a walk, and there is no pace to hit.

Every run counts.

A phone run saves to Apple Health and your history, earns badges, and counts toward your next stage, the same as an Apple Watch run.

Set it up once.

On your Garmin, turn on Broadcast Heart Rate. It's in the controls menu, or under Wrist Heart Rate in settings. Leave the run itself to your iPhone, so don't start one on the watch. A chest strap only needs to be on, and snug.

In First Gear, choose Bluetooth as your heart rate source and pick your watch or strap from the list. Not every Garmin model shows up yet, and your first check tells you right away. From then on, every phone run starts the same way: your coach connects to it, then starts talking.

Check device requirements

Your coach waits for your heart.

Before every phone run, First Gear looks for a live heart rate from your watch or strap. Coaching starts only once it has a fresh reading, so your first cue is based on your heart, not a guess.

Your iPhone runs the workout, so bring it with you. Heart rate watches and straps need iOS 26.1 or later and are in beta. Phone runs work outdoors for now.

See how the range and cues work

The bottom steps up. The top barely moves.

One example
  1. Stage 1: 102 to 132 bpm
  2. Stage 2: 107 to 132 bpm
  3. Stage 3: 115 to 135 bpm
  4. Stage 4: 123 to 138 bpm
  5. Stage 5: 126 to 138 bpm
  6. Stage 6: 128 to 138 bpm
  • In your range
  • Below it: your coach invites you to run
  • Near the top: your coach calls a walk
  • Over it: ease off
One example runner: age 52, with a resting heart rate of 59. Your range comes from your own age and resting heart rate, so your numbers will differ. The shape holds: as the bottom rises, a walk has less room before your coach invites you to run again.

Questions about running with a Garmin or strap.

More on running by heart rate.

See how it works.

The range, the six stages, and what your coach does in a session.

Run with your AirPods.

AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 read your heart rate in your ear, with no watch or strap at all.

Run by your heart range.

How First Gear sets your range and turns it into cues to run and walk.

Bring the gear you have. Your first run starts with a walk.

Download First Gear, pick your watch or strap, and set aside twenty minutes.

Now on Apple Watch and iPhone.

Start your first sessionFor Apple Watch, on the App Store

Needs an iPhone and Apple Watch Series 6 or newer, SE (2nd generation or newer), or Ultra. No Apple Watch? Phone runs work with AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2, a Garmin or a chest strap.