Every class at MPower is tracked live with Myzone, whichever of the four formats you choose. If you're new, the colours changing through a session can be a lot to take in at first. Once you understand what they mean, they become one of the most useful tools you have for training at the right effort.
This guide explains the five Myzone zones and how the system works out your numbers. It also covers MEPs and how to use your zones in class.
What Myzone is
Myzone is a heart rate based training system. You wear a monitor on a strap around your chest, and it reads your heart rate during the session. Instead of showing just a raw number like 152 beats per minute, Myzone turns your heart rate into a percentage of your own maximum and shows it as a colour.
That's the key to why it works so well in a group class. Two people side by side might be very different ages with very different fitness levels. If they're both in the same colour, they're working at a similar effort relative to their own bodies. You're only ever compared with yourself.
New MPower members get a free Myzone heart rate monitor as part of the 2 weeks free offer, so you can use it from your very first class.
The five zones
Myzone uses five colour zones, each a band of 10 per cent of your maximum heart rate. According to Myzone's own support pages, they are:
- Grey: 50 to 59 per cent of max heart rate. Light effort. You'll often see grey during a warm-up or while you recover.
- Blue: 60 to 69 per cent. Comfortable, steady effort. You could hold a conversation easily.
- Green: 70 to 79 per cent. Moderate to hard. Talking in short sentences is possible, but you're clearly working.
- Yellow: 80 to 89 per cent. Hard. Breathing is heavy, and you can only say a few words at a time.
- Red: 90 to 100 per cent. Very hard to maximum effort. You can hold this zone for short bursts only.
The descriptions of how each zone feels are a general guide. Everyone's experience is a little different, and it changes as your fitness improves.
How Myzone works out your maximum heart rate
Your zones are based on your maximum heart rate, so that number matters. When you first set up, Myzone estimates it using the HUNT formula: 211 minus 0.64 times your age. For a 40-year-old, that gives an estimate of about 185 beats per minute.
Myzone points out that this is only an estimate. Your true maximum might be higher or lower due to things like genetics and long-term exercise habits. To account for that, Myzone adjusts automatically. If you hold a heart rate above your recorded maximum for 30 seconds, your profile updates, by up to 10 beats at a time. Your trainer can also adjust it if your numbers look wrong.
This is why your colours can seem a bit off in your first few sessions and then settle down. After a handful of hard classes, the system has a better picture of your real ceiling.
Some medications change how your heart rate responds to exercise. Certain heart and blood pressure medicines are common examples. If you take medication like this, or have any heart condition, talk to your GP before relying on heart rate zones, and let your trainer know.
What MEPs are
MEPs stand for Myzone Effort Points. You earn them for every minute you spend above 50 per cent of your maximum heart rate. Myzone's published rates are:
- grey: 1 MEP per minute
- blue: 2 MEPs per minute
- green: 3 MEPs per minute
- yellow: 4 MEPs per minute
- red: 4 MEPs per minute
Notice that red earns the same as yellow. The system rewards consistent hard effort without pushing you to stay at your absolute maximum. Most training doesn't need that level, and nobody can sustain it for long.
Myzone suggests a target of 1,300 MEPs a month, which it says aligns with the World Health Organization's guidelines for physical activity. Think of that as a useful benchmark across the month, rather than a target you must hit every week.
How to use your zones in each MPower format
The colours mean slightly different things depending on what kind of class you're doing.
Box
Skill-based boxing classes involve a lot of technique work, so you might see more blue and green than in Burn. That's fine. When you're learning a new combination, good form matters more than a high number. During harder rounds, expect to move up into yellow.
Build
Strength sessions often show heart rate rising during a set and falling in between. Don't chase red during strength work. Lifting with control and good form, with sensible rest, is what makes you stronger.
Burn
This is the format where you'll see yellow and red most. High-intensity efforts push you up, then recovery periods bring you back down. Paying attention to how fast you drop back to green or blue between efforts is a good sign of your fitness improving.
BBB
BBB rotates through boxing skill work and strength stations with cardio bursts in between, so expect your colours to move around a lot. That variety is a big part of what the session is designed to do.
Common mistakes with heart rate zones
Chasing red every class. Spending too much time at your maximum leaves you tired and can make it harder to recover for your next session. Mix hard days with easier ones.
Comparing with the person next to you. Your zones come from your own heart rate. Someone else's colour tells you nothing about your effort.
Ignoring how you feel. Stop and tell your trainer if you feel unwell or dizzy, whatever colour you're showing. Chest pain is always a reason to stop. The monitor is a guide that sits alongside how your body feels.
Wearing the strap too loose. A loose strap can cause dropouts or odd readings. It should sit snugly just below the chest. Ask your trainer to check the fit if your numbers keep jumping.
Using Myzone to see progress
Over weeks and months, Myzone can show you useful trends. You might notice the same session that used to push you into red now sits mostly in yellow, or that your heart rate drops faster between rounds. Both can be signs of improving fitness.
Your MEP total across a month is also a simple way to keep yourself accountable. If you're aiming for a certain number of classes, the MEPs give you a running tally of the effort you've put in.
Try it in class
The best way to understand Myzone is to train with it. MPower's 2 weeks free offer includes a free Myzone heart rate monitor and two weeks of unlimited classes. You also get free boxing gloves to keep, with a $0 joining fee. Places are limited. Claim it on the membership page, or read more about how the studio uses Myzone on the about page.
