At the HFA Show in San Diego, Myzone announced three product updates: strength tracking, a next generation Switch 2.0 wearable, and an integration that lets Garmin watch owners connect their workouts to the Myzone ecosystem without buying a dedicated belt. The connection is not free, though: it runs on a Myzone Go subscription, listed on the App Store at 6.99 dollars per user per month at the time of writing. All three are rolling out through 2026. The strap and the strength features got the applause, but the Garmin integration is the one that should make every gym operator stop and think.

For fifteen years, the standard model in club heart rate training has been simple: pick a vendor, buy their sensors, and ask every participating member to wear one. Myzone built a very successful business on that model. When the market leader decides that members should be able to show up with the watch they already own, that is not a feature release. It is an admission that the walled garden approach has run its course.

Why this matters more than a new strap

Walk your gym floor tomorrow morning and count wrists. Depending on your demographic, somewhere between a third and half of your members already wear a Garmin, an Apple Watch, or a similar device. They track their sleep with it, they race their friends with it, and they trust its numbers. When your group training program asks them to strap on a second sensor, you are not offering them technology. You are asking them to duplicate something they already have, and to pay for the privilege.

Operators see the consequences every week. A member forgets the belt and trains without appearing on the screen, so the leaderboard loses one more name. A prospect hears there is a required purchase before the fun starts and quietly opts out. Front desk staff spend time on battery swaps, sizing, and lost unit conversations instead of coaching. None of these frictions is dramatic on its own. Together they cap how many members ever join your heart rate program, and participation is the whole point.

The economics nobody likes to say out loud

Proprietary hardware has been attractive to vendors for an obvious reason: it is revenue. For operators, the math looks different. Clubs buy loaner belts, replace straps, manage hygiene, and absorb shrinkage. The real product was never the sensor. It is the engagement layer: the zones on the screen, the effort points, the challenges, the reason a member books the 6 am class instead of sleeping in.

When hardware requirements shrink the pool of participants, the engagement layer suffers too. Group displays with eight tiles feel alive. Displays with three feel like a failed experiment, and members notice. Lowering the barrier to entry protects the social proof that makes the whole system work.

Accuracy is a tradeoff, not a deal breaker

The classic objection to bring your own device is accuracy, and it deserves an honest answer. A chest strap still beats a wrist optical sensor during hard intervals, fast transitions, and anything with a strong grip component. If your programming leans heavily on precise zone work, you will still want quality sensors available.

The practical answer for most clubs is a hybrid setup. Let members start with the watch they own, because a slightly less precise number that shows up every session beats a perfect number that never arrives. Offer chest straps or armbands to the members who fall in love with the data and want more fidelity. Adoption has to come first, and precision can follow once members are hooked.

Questions to ask your heart rate vendor now

If you run heart rate training today, or plan to, the Myzone announcement gives you leverage. A few questions are worth taking into your next vendor conversation. Which consumer wearables can members use, today, without extra hardware? What does the per member cost look like when hardware is optional? If we switch platforms, what happens to member history and habits? And how does the group experience hold up when half the room is on watches and half is on straps?

Vendors that built their business on mandatory hardware will need time to adjust, both technically and commercially. The rollout timelines matter as much as the press releases. A feature announced for later in 2026 does not help your fall challenge this year.

Where UPTIVO stands

Full disclosure of our angle: UPTIVO made the open bet years ago. Our platform was designed to work with the devices members already own, including Garmin sync and smartphone based tracking, with our Lightband available as an option rather than as a toll booth at the door.

The dedicated sensor still earns its place: not every member owns a wearable, and the armband position gives it accuracy and a reliable signal in a crowded studio, because it was designed for group training. The point is who decides. When the club offers it and members ask for it, and some will, you get the best of both worlds: open doors for the watches people already wear, and a precise, purpose built option for everyone else.

There is a second reason the open door matters, and it goes beyond the workout itself. When a member connects a Garmin or another compatible wearable, UPTIVO does not just log their sessions: it can read the sleep, heart rate variability, stress and step data the device already collects, because what happens in the club is one hour of the day and the other twenty three shape how that hour goes. NATE, UPTIVO's AI coaching, uses that fuller picture to read each member holistically, so the advice reflects the person and not just the workout.

Pricing follows the same logic. UPTIVO SNAP runs heart rate training with the watches members already own, Garmin, Apple, Whoop and Polar, and reads Myzone sensors as well, at a price that at the time of writing is 59 euros per month plus VAT for up to 100 users, UPTIVO license included. That comes to 59 euro cents per member per month, on a flat fee: one more member in the program does not trigger another subscription. Setup is self service and immediate, with nothing to install; the details are on the SNAP page.

We think the market is now moving to where we started, and the Myzone announcement is the strongest confirmation yet.

Whatever platform you choose, the takeaway is the same. Audit how many of your members actually participate in your heart rate program, ask the missing ones what is stopping them, and be suspicious of any answer that involves buying another gadget. The clubs that win the next few years will be the ones that meet members on the wrists they already have.