I’ve been using a heart rate (HR) and/or a fitness tracker for decades. Currently I’m using a MyZone HR tracker paired with a Polar Ignite watch. The MyZone chest strap is much more accurate than a wrist-based tracker and the two are compatible, so they talk to each other during my workouts.
I started using the MyZone for fun and competition with my workout buddies. Who could get the most MyZone Effort Points (MEPs) for a certain group fitness class, or a week, or a month… Personally, I have always found new gadgets to be motivational – a new toy or a new pair of kicks always gets me charged up if I’m feeling blah about my training. I’ve been using MyZone since mid-2016 now, and aside from a few months of not using it, I still haven’t grown tired of it.
So why do I continue to use my MyZone? Here are a few of my top reasons:
1. The satisfaction of collecting MEPs. It’s a bit cheesy but I actually do find it motivating to accumulate points. (For the record I have 162,849 lifetime MEPs)
2. To track my effort on hard days. When I’m about to hit a workout where I know I’ll be in the red zone, I keep my eye on the screen and try to hang on to a more moderate pace of yellow for the front end. I’ll strategically hold back for the start so I can go all out in the back half. Because you all know that feeling when you come out too hot, right? Often you just can’t recover and fizzle out before the clock even beeps to signal you’re done.
3. To help show me when I need to recover. To see if I should ‘call it in’, on those days when I drag myself in to the gym even when I’m feeling terrible, usually after a bad sleep. For me, being tired or worn down from training results in a high perceived effort, but an actual low output. So if I’m busting a gut pushing my pace and the screen shows that I’m only in the green or low yellow, I call it a day, pull back, and change the pace of that workout to recovery mode.
4. To keep my recovery pace truly recovery pace. If I want to go for an easy run to recover from a heavy week of workouts I’ll use the MyZone to make sure I don’t hit yellow or red.
And remember that one key element of fitness is the ability for your heart rate to recover after a hard push. So when you get those one or two minute breaks between sets in class be sure to notice how quickly you recover, and especially if that improves over time. This is another great way to use a MyZone, especially if you’re just starting out!
At about $100 the MyZone chest strap is a cost effective, fun and a useful fitness toy that helps keeps me on track. If you’re in the market for some new fitness mojo or incentive, I recommend you give it a try!
