My original post about my first experience at Orangetheory Fitness didn’t save properly. I’ve been having a few technical glitches for the past couple of days with my blog. I should have been saving more often (moving to hit the button now). Okay, let’s do this again.

Orangetheory Fitness is a group workout built on the research that 12 minutes of work spent at the upper end of maximum heart rate (what they call the orange and red zones) will produce an increase in metabolism for a longer period of time after the workout (what they call the afterburn) that isn’t possible with a low intensity level of exercise. Add a little resistance training and boom, you have an effect full body workout that takes about an hour.

I was asked to arrive early for paperwork and orientation for my first workout. I signed the customary waivers of liability, received a tour of the place, and then offered a body scan to determine my body composition. Nothing like seeing the numbers to snap you out of complacency with being slack with your diet. Wakeup call received. Time for me to tighten up my food habits where I’ve gotten too slack. The picture below is the summary.

No time to cry about my body scan results. They strapped a heart rate monitor on my arm and it was time to go. So, each Orangetheory workout session is predetermined and led by a coach. This takes all the guesswork, planning, and preparation out of having a consistent workout routine. The day I was there the coach called it a “Run-Row” workout. There were about 16 of us present for that workout. We were divided into two groups. The first group started with the treadmill and rower, and the second group started with bodyweight and dumbbells. I was with the second group.

The bodyweight and dumbbell movements were somewhat familiar to me. Not the specific moves, but they were all variations of movements I have done lots of times in the past. I choose weights that I taught would be moderately heavy. I wanted a good workout, but still leave a little gas in the tank for whatever came next. Glad I did. I spent the entire 30 minutes of that resistance session in the gray zone. That all changed rather quickly when my group moved to the treadmill and rower circuit though.

When the coach explained the treadmill base/push and incline/speed combinations before we started the workout, it seemed simple enough. When the music started bumping and I was jogging up and down though, I couldn’t read anything on the instruction sheet. I’m going to blame that on the orange lighting, not my eyesight. Could have been a little bit of both. So, I decided to run until I got my heart rate up into the orange zone and then just try to keep it there for the predetermined 0.6-mile distance. It wasn’t the designed protocol, but it worked. Since I only recently started running again, nothing seems to increase my heart rate as fast. The coach came to check on me a couple times as everyone’s heart rate was on a big screen in the gym. I assured her I was alright, but I was really glad to get on the rower. It was only a 200 meter row and a very welcome break for me from the more intense running on the treadmill. 

The Orangetheory app is a good addition. It automatically synced the workout to my phone. There are also some follow along workouts you can access for free if you want to try some of their workouts at home. Nice little app. Here’s an export from the app of my in-studio workout:

Overall, I was impressed with the Orangetheory Fitness program, execution, and environment. I thought the loud music would bother me, it didn’t though. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. It was the kind of upbeat inspirational workout music I used to listen to when I was a gym rat about 10 years ago. It really has been a long time since I’ve been in a gym. When I moved to Thailand, I didn’t have easy access to a gym. That being the case, I got used to home workouts. Continued with the home workouts after returning to the US just out of the convenience. It was nice to spice things up with a little Orangetheory.