Coaching kids by colour: Inspiring a more active generation with Myzone

WOR Fitness Club in Newcastle provides small-group fitness training for adults alongside a dedicated programme of coached sessions for children aged seven to 15. For owner and coach Terry Martin, developing the next generation’s positive relationship with exercise is a key part of the club’s purpose: helping young people build fitness, confidence and a lasting enthusiasm for being active. 

Terry is investing considerable time and energy in growing the children’s programme – WOR Fitness KiDZ, working with parents, grassroots sports clubs and the wider community to encourage more boys and girls to participate in structured, personalised training. Some young people want to improve their performance on the field of play, while others simply want to get fitter and enjoy being active with friends.

Whatever their motivation, Terry understands the importance of every child working at their optimal level. Myzone supports this approach, giving him real-time insight into effort and recovery while helping young people understand how their bodies respond to exercise and how it feels to work at various effort levels. 

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Taking the guesswork out of coaching 

Based on a commercial estate in Newcastle, WOR Fitness Club offers a dedicated training space with private parking for families. Its children's sessions typically accommodate eight to 16 participants, grouped by age and coached according to their ability and goals. Football teams can also book sessions focused on conditioning and team building. 

Terry incorporates Myzone heart rate monitoring into parts of his sessions where managing intensity is particularly important, especially interval training. Children are registered in advance and issued with a preset Myzone device when they arrive, allowing their effort to be displayed on a large screen through Myzone’s colour-coded Tile system. New participants are introduced to the technology during their first visit. 

“I use the coaching by colour method,” explains Terry. “Myzone takes the guesswork out of knowing how hard each child is working. I can see their effort in real time and make sure they’re working at their optimal intensity, but I can also see how well they’re recovering before asking them to go again. 

“Children tend to only have two speeds, zero and flat out,” says Terry. “Myzone gives me a way to help them regulate their effort depending on the task at hand, enabling them to challenge themselves and get the most out of their training without pushing so hard that they become uncomfortable, lose confidence or risk injury. It’s about getting the balance right, making sure every session feels rewarding.” 

Terry Martin ·Owner, Coach, WOR Fitness Club

By monitoring how children respond to each interval, Terry can adapt his coaching and allow time for recovery before the next effort. It also gives him an opportunity to reinforce an important lesson: recovery is just as important as going all out.

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Making effort visible and fun 

Alongside the coaching insight, Myzone gives children a visual way to understand their training. Its colour-coded feedback helps them see how their effort changes throughout a session, making an otherwise abstract concept easier to grasp.

“The kids absolutely love it,” he says. “They’re really engaged by the colours, the lights and seeing their effort displayed in real time. They can look at their heart rate and understand what zone they’re in, so they start to make the connection between how hard they’re working and what that means.

"They get excited about reaching the Red Zone, and there’s plenty of laughter along the way. But I also want them to recognise a great recovery and understand that this matters just as much as pushing hard. Myzone makes those moments visible, so we can recognise and celebrate both."

Terry Martin ·Owner, Coach, WOR Fitness Club

WOR Fitness Club runs separate sessions for children aged seven to 11 and 11 to 15, allowing Terry to adapt his coaching to different stages of development. The colour zones provide a consistent way to explain intensity across both groups, helping children understand how to adjust their effort rather than simply being told to work harder.

Over time, this awareness can help young people develop better pacing and a greater understanding of their physical responses, skills they can apply both in the gym and when playing football or participating in other sports.

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Confidence in the data 

“When working with children, that five per cent accuracy could make all the difference,” he says. “I need to trust the information I’m using to coach. If I’m asking a child to push themselves, I want to know when they’re working at the right level and, just as importantly, when they need more time to recover.”

This insight helps Terry tailor sessions to different needs and goals. For young footballers, that means developing fitness and conditioning to support performance. For those who simply want to become fitter, it means progressing at their own pace without feeling they have to compete with everyone else. 

Inspiring a more active generation 

As Terry grows the programme and strengthens links with local grassroots sports clubs, Myzone provides a practical way to combine engaging sessions with more informed coaching. By making effort and recovery visible, it helps him give children a better understanding of their training while ensuring he can adapt the challenge to suit them. 

For Terry, the priority is to give every young person a positive training experience and the foundations to keep enjoying exercise. Myzone helps him deliver that, one session at a time.  

Terry concludes: 

“There is so much value in clocking up MEPS rather than video game credits. Not only does it get youngsters active in the moment it also goes a long way to instilling healthy habits for the long term that will keep them living well long into their adulthood.” 

Terry Martin ·Owner, Coach, WOR Fitness Club

Empower your fitness community

Empower your coaches to deliver support and build a highly motivated community. By partnering with Myzone, you can seamlessly integrate real-time feedback into your programming to reward genuine member effort and foster accountability.