Biometric heart rate monitor manufacturer MyZone recently launched its new MZ-Remote app, a virtual gym training tool that aims to help people recreate the gym workout they are missing out on in their own home.

MyZone manufactures the wearable biometric sensors and designs the software used by many gyms around the world for certain classes that allow you to track your heart rate and effort biometrically.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, gyms around the world have been forced to close in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. As restrictions are slowly lifted, gyms are likely to have to make major adjustments to the size of their classes and the way the workouts are conducted.

To address this changing landscape, MyZone developed the MZ-Remote app that uses its biometric sensors on a Zoom-based platform to allow fitness instructors to conduct classes that use a point scoring system to hold individuals accountable based on their heart rate.

As Engadget reports, the system works by placing you in a colorized zone based on your heart activity, gathered from a MZ-3 chest tracker that purports to have 99.4% accuracy at measuring your heart rate. Red zone activity is the result of the most intense workout, green and blue is for when you are taking it easy, and grey is for when you are resting.

The amount of time you spend in each zone is calculated and results in a total points score. Each user’s point score is displayed on a screen — the app can support between 20 to 50 participants at a time — and the instructor can call out participants based on how they are performing (or underperforming) based on their metrics.

By ranking users against themselves based on their historic biometric heart data — as opposed to scoring and ranking them against other class participants — MZ-Remote hopes to tap into the self motivation one is more likely to get from a personal training experience.

Because MZ-Remote uses Zoom as its platform, MyZone is also reportedly considering adding a feature that allows users to share their workout screen with the instructor to get more detailed feedback.

Additionally, the MZ-Remote app allows users to listen to their own music while they work out, and can pull playlists from Spotify or Apple Music as well. It also has the option of screen-sharing to a TV, to give users a better view at the workout and scores as they follow along with the instructor.

The MZ-Remote app is available for download on iOS and Android, and syncs with MyZone’s wearable fitness trackers.

Source: Engadget