Curious about your heart rate during a workout? Fit Lab 253 can help

Curious if you’re not working out hard enough? Or maybe you’re pushing yourself too hard.

Now, you can find out at the Fit Lab 253 gym.

The gym, originally named The Pilates Body, is located on 6515 43rd Avenue Ct. NW, and is offering a new class called “The Zone.”

The concept is fairly straightforward. Each participant wears a heart-rate monitor during a one-hour workout, and every participant’s heart-rate is displayed during the workout on screens throughout the fitness room.

The goal? Keeping the heart-rate in an optimal fat-burning zone. Not too low, but not too high, either.

“People want to get weights and cardio in in a short amount of time,” said the gym’s owner, Lianne Gamble. “Some people don’t get the results that they want. So, seeing their heart rates on the screen, people kind of have this moment of ‘Oh, I’m not working hard enough.’ Or they might be working too hard.”

Gamble got the idea for the class while traveling for work in Asia.

“I teach Pilates certifications all over the world, so I’m lucky to travel a lot and see a lot of different industries,” she said. “In Korea, Japan, and other places, they’re using electronics in their workouts.”

For those nervous about others seeing their name on the screens, clients are more than welcome to use an alias during the class.

“I think you’ll find if you’re working hard enough, you don’t really have time to look at someone else’s information.”

The Zone is just one of the many different classes offered at The Fit Lab. The gym also offers Pilates, yoga, barre, spin classes and rowing classes.

“Our clientele goes from 20-year-olds to 85-year-olds,” Gamble said. “It’s really broad.”

One of Gamble’s clients is 61-year-old Jayne Michaelson, who has been a client for 15 years and swears by the gym.

“I talk all my classes from (Gamble),” she said. “She cares a great deal about her clients. She’s a stickler about form, doing everything correctly so you don’t injure yourself. I tried CrossFit and I got hurt. That doesn’t happen here. She just has a good way with her clients.”

Rehabbing clients from previous injuries has been a big focus for Gamble.

“What I’ve tried to do is bring what each gym (in the area) is doing and bring it into one place,” Gamble said. “I’ve tried to put everything here and diversify. I’ve seen the most benefits when people cross train. Diversifying tends to lead to the least amount of injuries. It really benefits your body.”

On July 21, the gym will be having a grand reopening after a large renovation. That weekend, the gym will be offering all its classes for free, for those who are interested in giving the workouts a try.

“People can come see the facility and see what we do,” Gamble said.

The Fit Lab also offers beginner specials and four different membership types.

Gamble is also working with a company called Portland Juice on installing a fresh juice bar to the gym, as well. It should open within the next four months.

“There are no preservatives, it’s just truly fresh juice.”

The Fit Lab also offers nutritional counseling for those interested.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Curious about your heart rate during a workout? Fit Lab 253 can help."