Recently, we had a chance to speak to Jazmine Butcher, a British Alpine Skier about her experience with MyZone MZ-3. Here is what she has to say:
What do you use it for?
Everything! Pre-season for skiing starts as soon as the season ends. I’m in the gym all summer getting ready for when the snow first falls in winter. At the moment I use it for weight training in the gym, road cycling and loads of indoor cardio equipment.
It’s also really useful when I’m skiing; I hate wearing my smart watch in case I accidentally hit it on a ski pole and smash the watch screen whilst I’m skiing, and I can’t carry a phone with me in my race suit either. MyZone heart rate monitors can record and remember your workout so you can upload them and analyses the data later on.
What’s different about MyZone?
MyZone has an App which gives you live feedback about your heart rate, training zone, calories burnt and MEPs (MyZone Effort Points). On the App you can also connect with friends and use MEP points to compete against one another and view, like or comment on each other’s workouts.
Since the MZ-3 is ANT+ compatible it can connect with many other 3rd party devices and apps. This is great for me as I have a Polar M400 watch (for activity tracking) and Garmin Edge 500 (to measure my power output on my road bike), and so my MyZone heart rate monitor will connect to both computers.
Pros:
• Measures your heart rate with 99.4% accuracy
• Automatically adjusts to your max heart rate
• Huge battery life
• It can connect to 3rd party devices and equipment such as running machines, concept 2 rowers and indoor bikes.
• Connects to 3rd party devices and apps including Strava, MapMyRun, Garmin and Polar.
• Records and remembers up to 16 hours with of workouts, even without a mobile phone or smart watch.
Cons:
• Doesn’t have an on/off button so it tracks your heart rate as soon as you put on the strap however they are working towards adding in a feature to their App enabling you to crop your workouts. For now though it’s just as easy to clip on and off the module, which records and transmits your heart rate to other computers, to stop or start recording my workout.
• It’s not suited to being used underwater, unless underneath a wetsuit where the water is less likely to flow between the skin and sensors, and disturb the readings.
• It’s slightly towards the more expensive end of the spectrum
Other features:
- You can also purchase MyZone’s MZ-50 watch.
- MyZone have also introduced a sports bra integrated with a MyZone sensor creating a more comfortable experience for female users!
- By connecting with clients, personal trainers can monitor their progress via the MyZone app.
- During classes an instructor can monitor the heart rates of every participant making it an excellent way to gauge the effort of each individual client.
Jazmine Butcher Bio
- She compete internationally in Alpine Skiing
- Part of British Development Squad
- Train with the British Ski Academy FIS Team based in Pila, Italy
- For her age, she is ranked 5th in Slalom, 5th in GS, 5th in Super G and 2nd in Alpine Combined in the UK
- Website: www.jazminebutcher.com
- Twitter: @Jazmine_Butcher
