orangetheory fitness

[Anonymous]

I just went to one OTF class and was in the "red" almost the whole time on the tread but no one else really was. It was weird because I am a runner and was not out of breath at all. Is this just because it was my first time? I meant to ask at the end but had to leave quickly.

[Anonymous]

I downloaded the app and have been absolutely hounded by the reps constantly for weeks. They seriously call me every day and always leave a voicemail.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of research about women and hormones and high intensity workouts that can keep you from losing weight. Daily orangetheory might work against some people.

Yes, for most of the women who post here, the HIIT format of OTF with the very little weightlifting it provides is a bad combo for that age group and hormonal stage. Nearly all would see better results with walking and lifting weights to sustain or grow muscle mass. Menopausal and perimenopausal women do not need high intensity cortisol raising exercises and I’m not trying to be mean but when you look at OTF clientele, it’s obvious. VERY few of them look like they work out as hard as they do because it stresses their bodies and makes them hold onto fat/weight. They don’t appear in shape because it’s the wrong workout for their body’s needs at this stage of life.

I agree with you on lifting weights and the importance of walking. But what is your suggestion to actually elevate heart rate for your cardiovascular system? Walking and lifting just don't compare to traditional cardio on that front.

Yes, walking does, if you’re doing it right. You should be at a pace that gets your heart rate elevated-not jogging, but brisk walking. On a treadmill, I can achieve this at 3.8 mph. Mimic the same cadence on an outdoor walk. Doing this for 30-60 minutes has the same cardio benefits but is better because it’s steady state cardio that will help burn fat without spiking cortisol.

I’m a mid 40s woman and agree with you about weight loss and high intensity workouts. I tend to put on weight if I’m doing anything intense. But, and this is a huge but, high intensity workouts lower my blood sugar and blood pressure like nothing else. For a while, I was on a great regimen of yoga, Pilates, barre and walking (about 5 miles/day). I looked fit but my blood pressure was borderline and my blood sugar was pre diabetic. The second I started doing spinning classes 3-4 times/week my blood sugar levels fell, my blood pressure fell. Walking, actually hiking, just wasn’t cutting it for me. I need the high intensity workouts. (My BMI (21), didn’t budge either way.)

Hm, interesting. So do you basically have to choose weight and aesthetics or blood pressure when you choose which workout to do?

My weight (120 at 5’4”) hasn’t budged with either high intensity spinning or barre/walking. Before kids I was 110, which I’d prefer to be again, but I accept that it’s a distant memory. The truth is I do eat and drink more now. I think ideally you need to mix up your workouts to get the ultimate benefits. If I had the money, I’d hire a trainer….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went to one OTF class and was in the "red" almost the whole time on the tread but no one else really was. It was weird because I am a runner and was not out of breath at all. Is this just because it was my first time? I meant to ask at the end but had to leave quickly.

This happened to me when I started- same thing; I am a runner and wasn't out of breath but quickly got into the red every day when the people next to me were still green. The initial max heart rate is based on some sort of general calculation. As you take more classes it will reset and increase your max heartrate so you won't show as red so fast. I think it took 10 classes wearing the monitor to reset for me?

[Anonymous]

I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

Oh I would get annoyed at how hard it was for me to get splat points. I was in very good cardiovascular shape (less so as I get older) so I felt like I was killing myself to get into orange. My heart rate recovers really fast, so I wasn't racking up points between bouts of running unless it was an extremely tough workout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

There are definitely people at OTF who make it a huge part of their social life. This part started to annoy me before I ultimately canceled my membership. I don’t want dress up theme days. I don’t want to be hounded to take a group picture because it’s John’s 250th class or Stacy hit a PR on the rower that day or it was Everest day or whatever. Constant pushes to pay $15 for team challenges and “anything but a water bottle!” days and cookie exchanges - it felt insane. Some people need that to motivate them I suppose but I felt like I just wanted to walk in and get a good workout and go, not try to be in a giant group of kid camp activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

There is a burn opening eventually in Springfield- it’s months away but that’s the rumor.

I did their you tube lives when they were free before the app and I’ve been a few times as a guest.

How much do you pay? I can’t really justify $170 if I can’t get there everyday.

Burn seems like one of the clique-est ones out there. The one I’m familiar with in another state has all of that. And the same as above- group pictures, PR stuff, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

There are definitely people at OTF who make it a huge part of their social life. This part started to annoy me before I ultimately canceled my membership. I don’t want dress up theme days. I don’t want to be hounded to take a group picture because it’s John’s 250th class or Stacy hit a PR on the rower that day or it was Everest day or whatever. Constant pushes to pay $15 for team challenges and “anything but a water bottle!” days and cookie exchanges - it felt insane. Some people need that to motivate them I suppose but I felt like I just wanted to walk in and get a good workout and go, not try to be in a giant group of kid camp activities.

UGH that sounds awful, like the forced camaraderie of team building at work. But I guess some people want to make friends at the gym and at work so it's good for them but maybe not a good fit for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

There is a burn opening eventually in Springfield- it’s months away but that’s the rumor.

I did their you tube lives when they were free before the app and I’ve been a few times as a guest.

How much do you pay? I can’t really justify $170 if I can’t get there everyday.

Burn seems like one of the clique-est ones out there. The one I’m familiar with in another state has all of that. And the same as above- group pictures, PR stuff, etc.

I do pay the $169. But I figure if I go 3 times per week it’s worth it. I don’t pay for any other fitness things right now. I like that there are so many class times and I can sign up last minute because the classes are much larger than OTF. And I can bring my kids if I really need to. The 45 min workout feels more doable than an hour in terms of the time commitment and effort level once I’m there.

Some people know each other and chat before/after class but it just feels like clique-y. The classes are big so you aren’t like standing there awkwardly while everyone else in the class talks and ignores you. I do see friends/neighbors there sometimes but we tend to have different schedules. There is a bit of the rah rah vibe when someone hits a milestone but you can just leave when class ends if you want. I guess I just overall like that I can blend in to a larger class vs. the small group at OTF. There’s also more diversity in terms of age and fitness levels. My OTF started to be a bunch of 20 something’s in their crop tops. I’m like yeah I used to look like that too but having a couple kids and aging tends to change things!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did OTF for a few years. I liked it for awhile but then just kind of hit a wall with boredom. I also felt like it was just getting harder on my body. I have lower back problems so never loved the rowing, and it just started to feel worse. I also get exercise-induced bronchiospasms when I run on the treadmill there that I don't get when I run outside or do other types of cardio.

I also never loved the people at my gym. It felt cliquey with all the regulars who are there like 5 times a week. I go to Burn Boot camp now and prefer it. The workouts are hard, but there is more variation. I don't love the constant encouragement to high five other people, but overall it feels more friendly.

There is a burn opening eventually in Springfield- it’s months away but that’s the rumor.

I did their you tube lives when they were free before the app and I’ve been a few times as a guest.

How much do you pay? I can’t really justify $170 if I can’t get there everyday.

Burn seems like one of the clique-est ones out there. The one I’m familiar with in another state has all of that. And the same as above- group pictures, PR stuff, etc.

I do pay the $169. But I figure if I go 3 times per week it’s worth it. I don’t pay for any other fitness things right now. I like that there are so many class times and I can sign up last minute because the classes are much larger than OTF. And I can bring my kids if I really need to. The 45 min workout feels more doable than an hour in terms of the time commitment and effort level once I’m there.

Some people know each other and chat before/after class but it just feels like clique-y. The classes are big so you aren’t like standing there awkwardly while everyone else in the class talks and ignores you. I do see friends/neighbors there sometimes but we tend to have different schedules. There is a bit of the rah rah vibe when someone hits a milestone but you can just leave when class ends if you want. I guess I just overall like that I can blend in to a larger class vs. the small group at OTF. There’s also more diversity in terms of age and fitness levels. My OTF started to be a bunch of 20 something’s in their crop tops. I’m like yeah I used to look like that too but having a couple kids and aging tends to change things!

*doesn’t feel cliquey, sorry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the accountability of having a class but the instructors at my gym were not interactive or inspiring. There wasn’t really any coaching on form or guidance like in CrossFit. With a good coach, it would have been alot better but I thought it was too cardio heavy and lacked coaching for the cost.

The zones are a joke. I forgot to strap on my HRM once and my water bottle (where it was strapped) somehow achieved the same zone time I usually did.

It wasn’t worth the cost to me and the constant upsell push is what finally drove be away. I only wanted it as once a week to supplement my other workouts but they would constantly push more classes even when I flat out asked them to stop. Calling, texting and emailing. It was really obnoxious. May have just been my location.

It's not just your location. One of my children was a Sales Associate at OTF and said they push the young staff very, very hard to continuously follow up with people, keep calling them, etc. They're high-pressure sales tactics and very few OTFs care if you've said you want to be taken off their list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m so confused why you keep abbreviating it as OR, it’s OrangeTheory Fitness. OT, OTF make sense. OR does not

THANK YOU!

Another thank you!! Were we talking about Oregon for some reason?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went to one OTF class and was in the "red" almost the whole time on the tread but no one else really was. It was weird because I am a runner and was not out of breath at all. Is this just because it was my first time? I meant to ask at the end but had to leave quickly.

Your monitor may have been malfunctioning, unless you have an unusually fast heart rate when doing cardio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the accountability of having a class but the instructors at my gym were not interactive or inspiring. There wasn’t really any coaching on form or guidance like in CrossFit. With a good coach, it would have been alot better but I thought it was too cardio heavy and lacked coaching for the cost.

The zones are a joke. I forgot to strap on my HRM once and my water bottle (where it was strapped) somehow achieved the same zone time I usually did.

It wasn’t worth the cost to me and the constant upsell push is what finally drove be away. I only wanted it as once a week to supplement my other workouts but they would constantly push more classes even when I flat out asked them to stop. Calling, texting and emailing. It was really obnoxious. May have just been my location.

It's not just your location. One of my children was a Sales Associate at OTF and said they push the young staff very, very hard to continuously follow up with people, keep calling them, etc. They're high-pressure sales tactics and very few OTFs care if you've said you want to be taken off their list.[/quote

Isn't this true of many gyms? Canceling LA Fitness membership was a PITA. I think it's crummy, just noting that it doesn't seem specific to OTF.