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Heart rate training: Heart of the matter
Is heart rate training the magic bullet to help all your members get results? Kath Hudson talks to some operators who have built their concept around it
Matt Bolam, Training Manager – Speedflex, UK
Supplier: MYZONE
Heart rate training is an integral part of the Speedflex circuit and is heavily linked to our customer journey. We encourage people to buy their own heart rate belts and then record their activity outside of the club as well as in, making it part of their lifestyle.
The system allows people to collect MYZONE effort points (MEPs): four for every minute in the yellow/red zone, three in the green, two in the blue and one in the grey. If they reach 300 points a week, they know that they’re hitting the World Health Organization’s (WHO)activity targets. Competitive members also have the option of signing up to the leaderboard.
We assess people at induction and re-test them periodically, looking at their visceral fat, muscle mass, percentage of body fat and overall weight. If people are consistent with their training – we recommend three times a week – we see great results in body composition. We’re looking to support this further by offering more dietary advice in clubs.
In the UK, there are currently four standalone Speedflex studios and two more based in third party health clubs. Going forward, it will be our model to operate as a club within a club – we have three more sites in the pipeline. There’s also a studio in Dubai, which will be followed by a second site soon.
Dave Long, CEO – Orangetheory fitness, US & Global
Supplier: Polar Group heart rate monitoring system
Orangetheory Fitness is a results-driven brand, built around the concept of HIIT and heart rate training, because it’s objective and gives instant feedback on effort, which is rewarding.
If people train in the orange zone for 12–20 minutes of their hour workout, then the calorie burn is higher and the afterburn continues for 36 hours. If they can come every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they will keep their metabolism going for the week.
By committing to working out three or four times a week, we’re seeing people get into the best shape of their lives – in fact, they often decide to graduate to a 5k race or an adventure race.
When someone joins, we encourage them to book their schedule for a month ahead because it gets them into the habit, plus they get to know the staff and the other people in their class, which builds adherence.
Our studios are equipped with customised treadmills, rollers, bikes, TRX and functional equipment. There are currently 430 Orangetheory sites, but growth is aggressive this year, with a site opening every day. By the end of the year there will be more than 700 studios in 21 countries.
"By committing to working out three or four times a week, we’re seeing people get into the best shape of their lives" - Dave Long
Lee Matthews, UK fitness director – Fitness First
Supplier: Polar Club
Heart rate training is so effective because it’s totally specific to the individual. It doesn’t matter how fast they run, or how heavy a weight they lift – as long as they’re training in the right heart rate zone, they’re getting the same workout as other people in the class who might be fitter or more able.
Fitness First’s heart rate training concept, BEAT, is a club within a club. There are three operational, all in London – the third site opened in Fenchurch Street last month.
BEAT offers five different programmes which vary in intensity – Move Better 65, Fat Burn 70, Pro Athlete 80, CardioFit 85, and HIIT 90 – with the number in each case referring to the heart rate.
The easier programmes involve consistent movement throughout, maintaining the heart rate in that zone. The workouts that operate within the higher zones involve interval training with shorter bursts of intense active recovery. Members can log in to their account afterwards to view their workout data.
The circuit includes between one and four pieces of CV equipment, as well as functional kit and core and bodyweight exercises. Multiple large screens, the flooring, lighting and music also define the BEAT zone, creating an immersive environment. Attendance is good at BEAT classes. London Bridge Cottons has four classes a day with an average of 26 people (28 capacity) and the Strand club has two to three classes a day with an average of 27 participants (30 capacity).
"Heart rate training is specific to the individual. It doesn’t matter how fast they run, or how heavy a
weight they lift, as long as they’re training in the right zone" - Lee Matthews
Darren Anderson, Group Fitness Support Manager – INTENCITY
Supplier: MYZONE
INTENCITY at Fusion Lifestyle Southgate Leisure Centre runs 56 HIIT classes a week, which incorporate heart rate training and use functional kit, Wattbikes, and pad and bag work. Five different programmes are on offer, giving members the choice of burning fat, building strength, toning, increasing metabolic rate or building endurance.
Launched in October as an alternative to traditional group exercise classes, the classes are currently running at 80 per cent occupancy, with demand continuing to grow. More than half of the classes are regularly full.
We’re also planning to introduce an educational component, where members can attend a 40-minute heart rate education session to help them understand the reasons and benefits behind heart rate training.
INTENCITY is proving effective for getting results. Three members had been participating in a conventional group exercise programme for around two years and had seen very little change in appearance. After participating in four INTENCITY classes a week for three months, they have lost more than two stone each.
That’s the beauty of heart rate training: it takes the guesswork out of training. It can be used to improve performance, lactate threshold and rate of recovery, and it ensures everyone is working at the appropriate level to reach their goals.
Fusion Lifestyle will be rolling out INTENCITY studios across the portfolio, with the second site opening at Robinson Pool in Bedford next month.
Helen Morris, Sports Science and Personal Cycle Coach – Cycle Specific
Supplier: Wattbike
Based in Carmarthenshire, Wales, Cycle Specific offers group coaching sessions on Wattbikes, with everyone working to heart rate and power. We’ve been trading for almost one year, and after seven months, we had to double our ground floor space and increase the number of Wattbikes from 11 to 20. During the winter, all 20 Wattbikes were booked for each class and most classes had a waiting list.
At peak times, there were over 200 clients training with us each week. Ironman Wales is a huge event locally, so some of our clients are very competitive, but others have a much lower starting point.
Every new client completes a fitness assessment where we establish their heart rate zones, maximum HR and power using the British Cycling-recommended 3 Minute Maximum Power (3MMP) test. This enables us to recommend the appropriate route to improve performance and allows the coaches to get to know the individual, their goals and their medical history – all of which will impact what path they take for coaching and how hard they’re pushed in the classes.
The use of heart rate data enables us to see how individual clients are performing in sessions – including if they’re over-training or not trying hard enough. HR training allows us to maximise riders’ performance in every session, which leads to improvements.
Using the 3MMP as a gauge, we’re finding clients are normally achieving 15–25 per cent gains within an eight- to 12-week period, irrespective of their goals or starting point. We even have beginners who have shown a 54 per cent increase in power in their maximum HR within eight weeks, as well as more experienced athletes whose 3MMP showed a 22.5 per cent improvement.
