Orange theory

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  • hal1964
    hal1964 Posts: 82 Member
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    FireOpalCO wrote: »
    hal1964 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....
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    hal1964 wrote: »
    FireOpalCO wrote: »
    hal1964 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 ;)
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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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!
  • hal1964
    hal1964 Posts: 82 Member
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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!

    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.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    hal1964 wrote: »
    hal1964 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.
  • hal1964
    hal1964 Posts: 82 Member
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    I do intervals on the treadmill and just found the rowing machine. What do you think improved your VO2 max the most?
  • divcara
    divcara Posts: 357 Member
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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.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    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.