When I first heard the name “Orangetheory Fitness,” my mind immediately conjured up images of some kind of old school punk band playing a set in someone’s basement. Boy was I wrong! As it turns out, it’s a rapidly expanding fitness sensation (locations in more than 15 states and 2 Canadian territories) that is taking the continent by storm!
I ventured over to the Naperville, IL location (as I am now a Chicagoland resident) to try out a class to see what it was all about. When I entered I was greeted by a very friendly staff who explained the workings of what was to transpire in class. I was given my own heart rate monitor to wear for the workout to see how hard I’d actually be working.
The workout starts with interval training (which I am a HUGE fan of). The first part consisted of Indo Row machines (rowers with water in them for a real rowing effect) and then switching to the box area where we did various strength training moves. This persisted for about a half hour. At first, I was like “Easy Peasy!,” but by the third time around, I was sweating profusely and was feeling the burn!
The second half of the class had us on the treadmills. We did various lengths of intervals, running and jogging, mixed with recovery walks in between. I felt as though I could run a lot harder and faster because we were doing shorter sprints, rather than long drawn out runs. By the end of the second half, I had clocked more than two miles in sprints!
We had a good group of about 20 people and were greeted by the trainer, “Hawk,” as we entered the room. It was a little dark although it was kind of cool having it bathed in an orange light. Hawk was very thorough explaining how the workout was going to go and which “zones” we were to try to stay in heat rate wise. We needed to be in the green zone, with a little bit in the orange zone as well, which is at about 84% of our max heart rates. This would ensure the maximum results from the workout, and we could monitor this by looking up at the screens on the wall where our numbers were displayed.
At the end of the class, there was an energy in the air due to the sense of accomplishment everyone had from conquering this workout. People were smiling ear to ear and high-fiving each other. Orangetheory Fitness is definitely a workout I would recommend for people of any fitness level, as you can go at your own pace and are able to draw from a great group dynamic!
Also Read:
7-Minute Workouts: HIIT Training Now Backed by Science
Strength Training Without Weights
Orange Theory Fitness provided Mark with a complimentary workout, but this post is not sponsored in any way and remains his own opinion.
Images via CatchCarri.com and CardioTennisDerby.co.uk