Audra’s Fitness Blog: I tried Orangetheory Fitness and didn’t die!

by Audra Anders for The Aha! Connection

My workout partner, Beth, is on a 10 day vacation and reminded me before she boarded an airplane that I needed to plan a different workout strategy while she’s gone, so that I don’t lose my fitness momentum.   I’ve been talking to several “fit friends” about their fave gyms and am on a quest to try them all!   Today I started with Orangetheory Fitness.   Last Friday I had lunch with my new friend Anne who works in the marketing department for Marlow’s Tavern.  She’s a self proclaimed Orangetheory addict.    She’s thin and fit and….she bubbled with enthusiasm as she described the Orangetheory process to me.   So, I went online last night, signed up for a free class, showed up 30 minutes early for orientation and then participated in a very rigorous workout for an hour this morning!  

A very nice guy named K (just K.) showed me around and loaned me a heart monitor.   He then introduced me to Mian, the class instructor.  Mian was patient and thorough as he walked me and two other newbies through the process.  He spent the perfect amount of time checking on us to make sure we weren’t dying, lost, using bad form, or experiencing equipment issues.

Here’s the Orangetheory deal… basically there are three stations:

  1. Rowing Machines (water rower)
  2. Strength (weights, floor exercises, TRX bands)
  3. Cardio (bikes, treadmills)

The class is divided into three groups.   My group started on the rowers then after about 20 minutes moved to the strength station and finally ended up on the treadmills.  Mian was busily shouting out instructions for each group to shake things up the entire time.   You are NEVER bored during this workout that is for certain.  I loved the music….it’s a crazy variety of several genres full of upbeat tunes that help keep you moving.  I remember hearing Elvis, Trace Adkins, Bruno Mars and Usher just to name a few. 

There’s a huge monitor on the wall that displays information from your heart monitor.   The goal is to work hard enough to get yourself into the orange or red areas so that you continue to burn calories even after the workout.   You earn “splat” points for the amount of time you are in the orange or red zones.  K and Mian told me that my goal should be at least 12 splat points.  I was thrilled (and shocked) that I ended up with 44 and also burned 653 calories.  Whoa.  What a workout.  

I actually went all by myself without a friend.  However, my classmates were encouraging, friendly, and fun!   They were proud of us newbies and even bragged that if we could do today’s workout that we could do any Orangetheory workout because it was such a tough workout today!

As I was leaving, I ran into several friends waiting to take the next class.   They were all raving about Orangetheory and encouraging me to come back again.  K promised to send me prices along with my results via email later today.   At a quick glance, it seemed affordable with the ability to tailor a plan to your specific needs.

Although I’m currently on a quest to check out many workout options in our community, I’ll go back to Orangetheory soon for sure!

Orangetheory Dunwoody
2480 Jett Ferry Road
Suite 500
Dunwoody, GA 30338
(678) 580-8095

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