Results to the Max

The diversity of clients that walk through your doors is amazing -— it’s what makes the fitness industry a beautiful thing. Your challenge is to keep those doors from becoming revolving doors. In order to keep clients coming back, they need to see results for the time they have so generously invested in you and your facility.

Heart rate based training has always been an accepted tool used by trainers. In recent years, the exploding market of fitness wearables is making it easier to incorporate heart rate monitoring into gyms. Additionally, VO2 Max testing has become affordable and accessible, making it feasible to create precise heart rate zones for each client. What are the unique payoffs for using this technology?

Effectively Burn Fat. The respiratory exchange rate allows a person to track the heart rates that are most effectively burning fat. While increasing intensity might give the impression of working harder, gradually a person begins to burn carbohydrates for energy. Because carbs are a fuel source that must be replenished, burning them often drives a person to eat more, undermining their attempt to lose weight.

Keeping your client in a range that is burning the most fat possible will bring a return on their exercise investment that will dislodge even the most stubborn fat cells.

Develop Endurance and Power. As you push clients toward their anaerobic threshold (AT), their body is challenged as it maximizes its aerobic capacities. Training to increase this threshold increases one’s endurance and gives athletes the peak heart rate that will maximize performance in distance racing. Interval training that pushes above AT into the max zone develops strength, speed and power.

Avoid Overtraining. Many people train day in and day out at the same heart rate, doing the same routine. Whether it is running, cycling or walking the dog, we are creatures of habit. Effectively utilizing personalized zones allows you to push clients to their peak at some intervals and allow their bodies to recover at others, while still achieving maximum results.

Members come to your facility with different goals. Whether they want to lose weight, get in shape or provide sport specific training, heart rate based zone training makes sense. Even within a group workout, those with vastly different fitness levels can participate on equal footing. With zones based on a VO2 Max test, your clients will have personalized numbers that lead to the personal results they are looking for.

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Julie Kofoed is the vice president of marketing at KORR Medical Technologies. She can be reached at jkofoed@korr.com or visit korr.com.