Suunto has just launched a brand new range of heart rate monitor watches to the UK market.

Designed with health club retail channels in mind, the new M Series caters specifically for recreational, fitness-focused users rather than the elite, performance end of the market where – through its T Series line of monitors -– Suunto's expertise traditionally lies.

The focus of the new M Series is on ease of use as well as inspiration, motivation and guidance. For example, the M4 starts off by instructing the user to undertake a 1km treadmill walk, which allows it to assess fitness levels; it then structures the workout accordingly.

The monitors are structured around three broad targets - improving fitness, managing weight or free training - with a personalised workout suggestion shown on the display each morning according to your progress. It also offers real-time guidance before, during and after training.

A study is currently underway at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, looking at the M Series in relation to health benefits and improvement in cardiovascular performance.

Also newly launched is movescount.com, a sports and fitness web portal that allows users to upload all their training data. As with Facebook, users can join groups of interest to them, also providing operators with an opportunity to create their own communities and interact with both members and prospects – it's available to everyone, not just Suunto users, and is free to use.

Suunto also offers a group exercise heart rate monitoring solution – the Suunto Fitness Solution. Similar to other such systems, it involves participants' heart rate data being transmitted in real time to a big screen at the front of the class, with customisable colour-coded heart rate zones allowing them to track their efforts. Individual results can be emailed to members at the end of each class, with the option to include marketing messages to promote club activities and/or special offers.

The system can also be used for gym floor monitoring, such as small group or one-to-one personal training, with results automatically emailed to the members afterwards.

In addition to making classes more engaging, the Suunto Fitness Solution allows clubs to get members 'hooked' on heart rate training, educating them on its benefits before trading them up to the M Series of watches and thereby driving secondary revenue for the club; the same chest strap can be used with both the group exercise system and the personal monitors, as well as with the majority of CV kit on the gym floor.