Myzone coach Ian Northcott picks up UK Coaching Awards title

Celebrating the incredible work that coaches do in communities around the UK, the UK Coaching Awards shows off the best of the best.

After winning the title of Online Coach of the Year, Ian Northcott explains how he’s been helping his community at Mercian Fitness and how uses Myzone to get the best results.

Success against stiff coaching competition

I believe that my clients nominated me as I want to show older people that they can achieve so much more that society sometimes ‘permits’ them to.

The two other finalists were amazing, both of whom I have told about my success with Myzone. One is an online PT and the other an online ice-skating instructor; both would have been worthy winners in their own right.

I hope that this win helps people I have not yet met to get in touch and start their fitness journey so that they can, like many others, achieve success beyond what they thought they were capable of.

We are very supportive group and will help you no matter why you want to start to enjoy exercise.

Exercise is the best way to improve health

I was literally buzzing, but coaches are doing this to empower others and not for their own ego. I felt like it was an award for my clients who want to make changes to themselves to be the best version of themselves that they can be.

I need this award to inspire more people to work with us so that the next cohort of people can think about fitness challenges and get the results they need. I believe that exercise is the best way to improve health and I want to be at the forefront of that.

How to succeed using Myzone

I use Myzone in all my online sessions to ensure clients are working in the zones we want them to work in based on the session goals. I also use it to review how my clients have worked when doing a class or a session outside, without me there or a session with friends.

Myzone allows me to make recommendations as to whether they are exercising enough of if they need rest. On two occasions it has shown an unusual rise in heart rate and I have ensured that the clients concerned have sought advice from their GP.

This was invaluable, as one of these situations was a suspected paroxysmal arterial fibrillation episode. It has not stopped the client from training, but the endorsement from the GP that the client was safe to train was so important.

Getting more people physically active

Everyone wants a pill to take so they do not have to do the work. I think we need fitness professionals to be approachable and empathetic but also to keep a professional distance so that people feel empowered to tell their clients the truth about what they need to stay healthy.

I consider Myzone to be essential for fitness professionals so that they know what is going on with a client at any given moment. My clients love it.