By Rachel Graber, BA, CPT
If you are one of our MyZone users, then you probably enjoy wearing your MyZone belt to our IF classes to earn MEPs and track your workout stats! The MyZone also offers the great benefit of monitoring your heart rate during the workout to see your intensity level and to focus on training within different intensity levels. We are always excited to "get a good workout" and work hard, but it is important to train within different intensity levels for the efficiency of the heart. Not all classes are designed to be high intensity but are actually designed to train different intensities for different classes.
MyZone Training Zones
First, it's important to review heart rate training zones. Training zones are the categories that heart rate intensity levels are organized by. On the MyZone system, these training zones are shown in color. Myzone has five color coded categories to determine your intensity.
The first three zones are grey, blue, and green, which are the low intensity training zones.
Grey zone is the heart rate zone at rest/not active, at 50-60% of your heart rate max.
Blue Zone is about 60-70% of your max heart rate and is considered the active recovery zone, in which you would train for very light activity. For example, for the average person, if you were out taking a walk, you would primarily be in the blue zone.
Green zone ranges from 70-80% of heart rate max, is for lower intensity, more aerobic exercise, meaning steady endurance activity.
These first three zones are the low intensity heart rate zones and are used primarily in warm up, cool down, recovery periods, and lower intensity exercise.
The high intensity training zones are the yellow and red zones.
These zones cover the range of 80-89% (yellow) and 90-100% (red) of your heart rate max. You will be in these zones during anaerobic exercise, which is short duration/high intensity activity.
Using Training Zones in Class
When taking classes here at IF, you can use your MyZone to try to train and maintain different training zones, to get even more benefits out of each class according to the purpose of the class.
IF level 1 classes are designed to be exercised more in those lower intensity training zones. For each class, work toward training within these training zones:
Yoga - primarily blue-green training zone, and even grey zone if it is a very slow and relaxing stretch or pose.
Foundations - blue-green zone, but occasionally going up into the higher intensity zones on a cardio exercise.
TRX - primarily blue-green zone with higher zones depending on the class.
IF level 2 classes will be in the middle range between lower and higher zones:
Industrial Strength - green-yellow zone.
Power Core - primarily green zone.
IF level 3 classes will be in the high intensity training zones:
Afterburn - yellow-red zones.
Agility - yellow-red zones.
Final Notes
It’s important to remember that everyone will be a little different when it comes to their heart rate due to body stats and current cardiovascular fitness. You may not currently be hitting these training zones in these classes, but use these guidelines as a goal to work toward in cardiovascular heart rate training! The heart will be strongest when we train in all training zones from low to high intensity. Part of the purpose of the easier classes is to train lower intensity levels and the challenging classes are meant to train high intensity. This purpose is to keep balanced heart rate training in our class schedule. Keep that in mind when using your MyZone to have an optimal and balanced approach to heart rate training!