Orange theory
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I was a member of OTF in CT for close to year and loved it. It's not for the feint of heart - high intensity interval training (targeted to your individual heart rate) in a 60 minute session. These gyms are franchises, so you will have a different experience based upon who owns it, who they hire as trainers, etc. The down side of this gym, for me, was that there is no real warm up or cool down (so no significant stretching). If you are young and limber, you'll be able to handle it -- but unfortunately, my dedication to 3x per week (and only walking fast on the treadmill - not running) let to a torn my meniscus. My much younger (and fitter) friend also developed strained knees. I have to say that I loved the community of people at this gym (athletes of all abilities working together at their top rate) but I would caution you to be careful. A good mix might be 2 days of OTF with additional days of other more joint friendly activities - like biking, swimming, yoga, pilates. BTW, I'm 62 - so maybe I was just past my prime for OTF, but I'll never admit it!!
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I say try a free class.
I started in April ish. I was REALLY into it the first few months. While I had been lazily running (if that makes sense haha) this really got my entire eating and exercise routine down quickly.
However...i then got an injury. my elbows (both) were killing me. So no more rowing and even after two weeks off, i still couldn't do half the floor stuff. Anything requiring leaning on elbows or upper arm motion. Did some physio/rehab, slowly was getting back in doing my own modified floor time. but rehab was slower when i wetn to the gym
THEN i messed up my calves.
At this point i'm done with Orange. I keep injuring myself. I need more on on one for floor stuff as I have a hard time remembering how to do things and not injuring myself. Now my elbows are better but my neck and back hurt (getting that addressed by professions). the trainers try but they are busy coordinating the treatmill people and have 15on the floor so they don't have tons of time to guide you on the floor (the first trainer I did was better at this though).
Plus the last classes I went to were too repetitive. If you go once a week you can end up always working the same two muscle groups. It was like squats and arm raises (or whatever) for most of the floor in all the last classes I did. Maybe that's just bad luck but I prefer when the floor does more than just the same two muscle group for 25minutes. I find this could be contributing to my injury (if you haven't worked that group you shouldn't be pushing it with 30 reps of 10 on that same stupid muscle group!!).0 -
Ok...one last question...maybe...I'm a 54 year old guy...wouldn't I be out of place?0
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OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.0
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Ok...one last question...maybe...I'm a 54 year old guy...wouldn't I be out of place?
will depend on the particular class. Some classes I go to there are a number of older men/women. A few are regulars I recognize. Half the class is probably the younger crowd (under 30). but this varies by class.0 -
Yes I already have a gym membership, a Garmin Vivosport and 2 or 3 chest straps at home. So I don't know if I want another membership. Still, it's the accountability that I find appealing and the need to increase my cardio fitness level quickly.
Yes I wish they supported other chest/arm straps as long as they met certain requirements. I didn't have a dedicated heart rate monitor, just an apple watch, so it wasn't an issue for me.0 -
Ok...one last question...maybe...I'm a 54 year old guy...wouldn't I be out of place?
will depend on the particular class. Some classes I go to there are a number of older men/women. A few are regulars I recognize. Half the class is probably the younger crowd (under 30). but this varies by class.
Agree. I live in a town where most people are married with kids in the house, and I'd say you'd fit right in where I live--I'm a 44 yr old female and I'd say about half the people are a little older, half a little younger. But maybe in major cities, it might skew younger. There are DEFINITELY men! It's maybe half/half. This is not your yoga/step aerobics type thing!0 -
FireOpalCO wrote: »OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.
Yes I know reddit...LOL...But is having their chest strap a requirement?0 -
FireOpalCO wrote: »OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.
Yes I know reddit...LOL...But is having their chest strap a requirement?
Not that I know of! Not at the locations I've been to, anyway.0 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »FireOpalCO wrote: »OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.
Yes I know reddit...LOL...But is having their chest strap a requirement?
Not that I know of! Not at the locations I've been to, anyway.
Nope, not required to buy. Of course then you don't get stats or see yourself on the screen. They do rent their monitors and provide one free for the first class.1 -
FireOpalCO wrote: »Running_and_Coffee wrote: »FireOpalCO wrote: »OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.
Yes I know reddit...LOL...But is having their chest strap a requirement?
Not that I know of! Not at the locations I've been to, anyway.
Nope, not required to buy. Of course then you don't get stats or see yourself on the screen. They do rent their monitors and provide one free for the first class.
I like my Garmin and the last thing I need is another electronic gadget....1 -
FireOpalCO wrote: »Running_and_Coffee wrote: »FireOpalCO wrote: »OTF also has an unofficial reddit (r/orangetheory). It's pretty active and both members and trainers post.
Yes I know reddit...LOL...But is having their chest strap a requirement?
Not that I know of! Not at the locations I've been to, anyway.
Nope, not required to buy. Of course then you don't get stats or see yourself on the screen. They do rent their monitors and provide one free for the first class.
I like my Garmin and the last thing I need is another electronic gadget....
I use the hr monitor I bought from Orange theory with my old Garmin watch. It just connected on it's own so I go with that. But if you already have the hw monitor attachment with your watch you don't need another
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I wear my Garmin Forerunner 235 every day and will sometimes also use their HRM strap. As I said, the burn isn't exactly the same but pretty similar. The only reason why I wear that strap is that I've gone to Orange enough that I'm really conditioned, and I try to go faster than I would otherwise to push myself into the orange zone, which I can only really see from their screen. I don't think it's necessary at all. My resting HR is now just so low that I really have to work harder than I would otherwise to hit the numbers. I am sure I was very very orange the first 2 years or so that I was doing Orange!0
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Running_and_Coffee wrote: »I wear my Garmin Forerunner 235 every day and will sometimes also use their HRM strap. As I said, the burn isn't exactly the same but pretty similar. The only reason why I wear that strap is that I've gone to Orange enough that I'm really conditioned, and I try to go faster than I would otherwise to push myself into the orange zone, which I can only really see from their screen. I don't think it's necessary at all. My resting HR is now just so low that I really have to work harder than I would otherwise to hit the numbers. I am sure I was very very orange the first 2 years or so that I was doing Orange!
See. This is what I am looking for. I think...LOL...Garmin says my RHR is 50 and it's been a touch lower but my latest VO2 max test has me only "fair" now when I used to be "excellent". It got to "excellent" all thru running and playing a sport, mostly.0 -
Running_and_Coffee wrote: »I've been curious about Orange Theory for awhile. I am not really looking at weight loss but am curious about the accountability part of it. I am also looking to increase my fitness level, specifically VO2 max. Would this help me improve my goal?
I have increased my VO2 max since starting Orange Theory, but I also run a lot and am not sure which or whether it was both that improved my conditioning. Challenging yourself to sprint and run faster than what's comfortable for you will increase your speed and endurance whether you do it on your own or through a class.
Will also say that some of my closest friends are people I met through OTF. It's a great way to meet other people who are very focused on their health and fitness!
Thanks! I was a runner and enjoyed it but I sprained my knee playing a sport and haven't been able to run as much since. I hate the treadmill. Are there other cardio activities someone can do?
My back cannot take running anymore. I do intervals on the elliptical and the rowing machine. My VO2 max improved a little in the last year (was in the Good range before and now just a little more Good) and my resting heart rate is 5-7 bpm lower.0 -
I do intervals on the treadmill and just found the rowing machine. What do you think improved your VO2 max the most?0
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I love OTF. I lost over 45lbs and changed my whole body. I don't think anyone is out of place there. At least at my location, it is all types of people and fitness levels. And everyone is just so friendly and nice. I think it's definitely worth checking out! I like it because you really don't have to think - they just coach you through it. My heart definitely got more conditioned. When i first started, it would spike in the first 3 minutes. Now I have a really hard time getting my heart rate up which.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »Fitwithsci wrote: »I worked out there one time several years ago, but group fitness classes are not really my thing. Its basically very high intensity cardio, while wearing a heart rate monitor with the goal of staying in a certain heart rate zone. Its probably great for weight loss, but I cannot imagine gaining a lot of strength with such a workout unless you have never worked out before or have only done cardio. They said I was just a few calories shy of the record for number of calories burned in a single session, but i'm a bigger guy (working out with mostly women) and I stayed in the top of my HR range the whole time so that isn't too surprising. In spite of many other posts indicating that the calories burned are not accurate, I would disagree. As long as they (Orange Theory) have an accurate weight, and heart rate monitor, they should be able to give you a pretty good idea of calories burned.
Isn't part of the point being made that their calorie burn claims include "afterburn"? That's more complex than a simple combination of a person's weight and HRM (and even HRM can be misleading for non-steady state cardio).
It’s part of the “claim”, but the “claim” is mostly marketing hype. Not only is the “afterburn” effect overstated in general, the OTF workouts I’ve seen are not going to generate much.
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