211.3; Orange Theory Review

Have you heard about Orange Theory Fitness?  If not, check out the link.  About 6 months ago Pete and I went to a wellness expo and stopped at their booth.  The staff was engaging and excited to share the basis of the workout. Pete and I gave our information and we got calls several times in the months afterwards about getting into one of the locations and trying it out.  But we never seemed to do it.

Monday Pete was having and off day and my computer at work was still acting up so I left at 3pm and we headed over to Orange Theory for our free class.

They collect information about you to find out where you are health and fitness-wise.  Everyone gets polar chest straps to use and you wait for your class to start.  The basis for the whole workout is that they want you in the "orange zone" while working out for as long as you can be.  What this means is that your heart rate is such that you are working about 85% of what you can exert.

The workouts consist of working for about 30 minutes of intervals on the treadmill then switching from a rower to weights for 30 minutes.  The instructor tells you what to do for each thing and if you're not working hard enough they tell you to push it more.  Your heart rate monitor is attached to a screen on the wall so that you can see what color you're working out at and seek out the orange color.

My impressions:

I burned 650 calories in an hour and I think I spent 15 minutes in the orange zone.  It's a good interval workout and your motivator is the trainer who's telling you to keep moving and push harder. 

It was really hard to hear the instructor/trainer over the noise of the machines, people and music.  But she warned us to listen for key words, not so much her whole sentence.  Still, Pete was confused several times and the person on the next treadmill had to help him. 

I think this would be a great place for someone who likes working out, but doesn't want to go or isn't near a big gym.  It's got the small business feel and people seemed to know each other in the class.  I also think it would be great for someone who wasn't good at pushing themselves and needed the extra help.  They have challenges that include longer workouts and weight loss.  The trainers will help with eating and protein and all that you need to know when working out. 

Pete and I chose not to sign up.  First, this place is about 20 minutes from home, without traffic and is in an area where traffic can be bad at all times of the day.  I like to work out in the morning and wouldn't be able to get there and back before work.  It would be a struggle to get there after work with traffic.  Second, it would be $100/month plus a $55 joiners fee for Pete and I to go once a week.  We pay less than $100/month for the Y and have access to free classes, the machines, the pool and childcare if we needed it.  I will say that if the studio was closer to our home, Pete and I would have likely tried it for a month to give our workouts some variety.

But I would recommend anyone to check it out at least once!  You never know what will work for you. And exercising is never a bad thing.  It did reinforce to me that if I want to lose weight I need to mix up my workouts and be consistent in them. 

They have a printable pass for a free session HERE  So check them out and try it!

(disclaimer, Orange Theory has no idea who I am.  They don't know that I wrote this.  I wanted to share my experience with you so you could see that there are several ways to get a workout in, other than your standard gym!))