MYZONE's group heart rate tracking is helping to keep Royal Air Force personnel fighting after being installed at RAF Fylingdales.

RAF Fylingdales is home to approximately 50 personnel and it’s the job of physical training instructor (PTI) Martin Wood to ensure staff are in top shape.

“One of my primary tasks is to improve and maintain the fitness of all station personnel, which is monitored through a bi-annual fitness test,” says Wood.

Individuals who fail the fitness test must undergo a 12-week re-conditioning program and MYZONE was used to work with these members of staff when it was first installed at the station in March 2014.

“With MYZONE there is no hiding, so I can see how much effort individuals are putting into their re-conditioning programs. I can use the data to give objective feedback showing them that they are below the standard we require,” says Wood.

Such was the success of MYZONE that the technology was rolled out to all other station personnel.

“As personnel are mandated to complete three sessions of 50 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, MYZONE is a great tool, not only for me but also the individual, to see both the level and frequency of their training. Using MYZONE I can monitor exactly what people are doing and if I feel certain individuals need to increase their training when their fitness test is approaching, I can pre-warn them,” says Wood.

“I’ve seen an instant change in how hard individuals work out as a result of MYZONE, especially towards the end of classes when it gets tough. They can see their data and they know everybody else can too, so they keep the intensity up for the whole class. There is no longer a hiding place. It’s also great for those individuals who think they are working to their max but actually aren’t. It shows them they can push harder.”

The technology has been installed in both gyms at the station with screens displaying MYZONE data during classes and on the gym floor. Individuals use MYZONE to monitor their fitness, while Wood sets challenges for all users every other month. These include the ‘Hunt for Red October’, where the goal was to earn as many MEPs during the month as possible. Names of users were entered into a draw after every 200 MEPs earned, with prizes for the winners including a MYZONE watch.

The challenges have helped to bring personnel together, says Wood: “There is a real buzz around the place because of MYZONE. There’s so much interest in it and the conversations about MYZONE are constant. Users love the live display showing their effort, which is something they’ve never used before. The competitive beasts push themselves hard and the newcomers who don’t often talk about fitness are always letting me know about the little personal bests they keep hitting. MYZONE has helped to increase not only the amount of exercise the station does as a whole, but also the intensity of that exercise. MYZONE is an excellent way for individuals and PTIs to measure effort.”