Orangetheory – First Impressions

Happy Monday! Is everyone ready for a new week?

I woke up early this morning and got my workout done before 8 AM, so I am feeling good about that. Over the past few days, I have started a new fitness routine. A brand new Orangetheory opened up close to my house, so I decided to try it out. I actually signed up several months ago when the construction was taking place, so I was eager to get started.

Several of my friends have taken Orangetheory classes in other cities, and they always rave about how great the workout is.

My first class was Friday, and it was a tough one! I burned about 650 calories in the class and earned over 30 splat points. It was just what I needed. You are probably thinking, what the heck are splat points? I will get to that in a second.

So, how does the class work? Each class is a little bit different, but you will basically be spending 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the floor. When you are on the treadmill, you are alternating between different speeds and different inclines. You are supposed to have 3 different paces on the treadmill: base pace, push pace and an all out pace. The coaches will tell you when to do each one. When you are on the floor, you do various exercises ranging from squats, tricep dips, rowing, crunches and TRX bodyweight exercises. Again, each class is different, so these are always changing.

So, what the heck are these splat points? Splat points are earned when your heart rate is in the orange zone or red zone. How do you know if you are in the orange or red zone? You are wearing a heart rate monitor during the class and there is a screen that tells you what % of your max heart rate you are at. When you are at 84-91% of your max heart rate, you are in the orange zone. If you are above that, you are in the red zone. When you are in these zones for a whole minute, you earn a splat point. The goal is to get at least 12 splat points per class. When you do that, your metabolism is spiked for 36 hours after the class.

I just finished up my 3rd class this morning, and I love it! I love being challenged and it is always fun to switch up your fitness routine. These are my favorite things about the class so far:

• I love that we have to wear a heart rate monitor. I am obsessed with staring the screens and seeing how hard I am working.
• I have enjoyed getting back into running. I haven’t run much since the half-marathon in January.
• I like that I am running faster on the treadmill. If I went to the gym by myself, I would normally just run between 5-6 MPH for 30 minutes. This class pushes me to be better than that.
• I think the rowing is extremely challenging, but I like it.
• I like that they can gear the class towards any fitness level.
• The music has been good!
• I really enjoy the floor exercises as well – I love incorporating weights when I am doing squats and lunges.
• I love that you get your workout summary e-mailed to you after the class. They also have an App that keeps track of all your data and history. That way, you can see if you are improving over time.

I am hoping to go to 5-6 classes a week. We will see if I can stay on that schedule.

Something I am worried about with these classes is loosing muscle definition and tone (due to all the running). For the past 3 months, I have been lifting weights (heavy weights) and doing HIIT workouts. I completely stopped running. I have noticed a huge difference in the way my body looks from incorporating heavier weights into my routine. When I was training for the half-marathon last fall and winter, I didn’t like the way my body looked. I might have weighed the same I do now, but I did not have the definition that I see now.

I am hoping that the floor exercises in Orangetheory help me to keep my tone and definition. I might also do a few extra weight exercises at home to make sure that I am really working the muscles.

Anyways, I wanted to document some of my first impressions of the class and do a quick review. I will do another post in a couple of months when I have gone to more classes. It will be interesting to see if I still like it!

Has anyone else tried Orangetheory? If so, what are your thoughts? Leave a comment down below!