MINDBODY
Whether your goal is to decrease body fat, increase performance, or simply to establish a regular habit, heart rate based training with the Myzone fitness tracking system can bring you the success you’re looking for! Heart rate training has been around for decades – most commonly used by elite level and endurance athletes, coaches, and fitness professionals. We’re out to spread awareness about how wearable technology that monitors your heart rate is the cutting edge of health and fitness! Castle Hill Fitness utilizes the Myzone system, the most accurate technology available to monitor heart rate, log workouts, and motivate you towards your goal.
Get the Most Out of Your Workouts with Myzone
Myzone is the only wearable technology in the world that provides real-time feedback of exercise intensity. This innovative system works by having you put on a chest strap unit that tracks time exercising, heart rate, and calories burned. This chest strap communicates wirelessly with the Myzone phone app to log training sessions and performance intensity. Consistently using the Myzone app creates a comprehensive log-book of previous workouts to monitor performance and improvements.
At Castle Hill Fitness 360, we even use Myzone in some of our weekly classes, such as Power Ride on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays! Certain classrooms feature a monitor that will automatically sync to your Myzone unit and app, and add you to the display. This display depicts your exercise intensity based on your heart rate and personalized zones, information the instructors will use to ensure you are working in your optimum heart rate range. The result – an effective workout at the perfect intensity level, every time.
The display board lets our instructors know everyone’s working in their optimal range. Photo from Myzone
Why Train in Heart Rate Zones?
Heart rate based training offers many benefits, namely being the most effective way to reach your fitness goals. Set on improving your agility? Maybe you’re more focused on building cardiovascular endurance. Or maybe it’s all about muscular strength and power. Each of these goals require different intensity levels. By utilizing Myzone to train in the correct heart rate zone, you have assurance that you are making forward progress. Monitoring the status of your heart rate also allows you to determine the intensity level your next workout should be – you can see if you’ve adequately recovered from your last workout, and even see if you’re coming down with the flu!
Find Friends to Train with through Myzone Connections
One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated is to have a buddy to workout with! The Myzone system differs from other heart rate monitoring technology by allowing for friendly challenges through a social media connection and status rankings. Myzone measures the relative intensity (percentage of your max heart rate), and rewards user effort rather than measuring speed or other markers. This allows friends of varying fitness levels to compete on a level playing field. By personalizing your optimum heart rate zones, you’ll see it’s not about how FAST you go, it’s about how HARD you go – and that means something different for everyone.
Photo by Myzone
How to Get Started
- Purchase the Myzone system of your choice. The chest strap, which functions with the Myzone app and in classroom displays, can be purchased at Castle Hill Fitness for $99.
- Get a Submaximum Heart Rate Test for the most accurate estimate of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). A qualified fitness professional can administer this test at either Castle Hill location. Myzone does use an algorithm to estimate your MHR. This algorithm produces an Estimated Maximum Heart Rate that is accurate for most people. However, testing can ensure that the provided number is the most accurate possible.
- Start exercising! The more you exercise with the Myzone system, the more accurate your zones get. Users compare assigned MYZONE zones to rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during cardiorespiratory exercise to fine tune recommended exercise intensity.
Rate of perceived exertion is a 1-10 (1 = lightest intensity, 10 = maximal intensity) scale. The MYZONE zones align with RPE during cardiorespiratory exercise. For example, you should feel like you’re at about a 6 on the RPE scale when you’re exercising in the BLUE zone (60-69% of estimated MHR).
- Get involved! Take a class and start tracking your workouts. Create fully customized goals. Participate in a challenge among other Myzone users. The app and social media connection helps you easily find gym friends and identify your improvements. Before you know it, all your fitness goals will be within reach.
