I have never been an athletic person my whole life. The 800 meter run had haunted me through my entire high school and college. Growing up, there was also not a strong workout or sports culture around my family and friends and the Asian culture. I grew to like gentle yoga in college but didn’t really practice regularly because I couldn’t afford it. After coming to the US, I have tried different gyms and always ended up hurting myself or feeling extremely weak and defeated during class. I have pretty weak legs, even weaker core and extremely weakest arms. I also never got dopamine high by running. I don’t even swim. I do feel relaxed after some exercises but seldom do I think, “How awesome it will be to go for a quick run now”.
Despite my minimal workout experience and enthusiasm, it seems that the Orange Theory Fitness gym might be working for me. I am still a not athletic person but I don’t feel that much resistance or have a lot of self-esteem issues about working out anymore.
I decided to give OTF a try because there is one right next to my apartment and the lighting looks really cool (Check the picture above!). And it turns out to be a big reason why I enjoy the workout. The light looks fancy but it’s also dark enough to feel safe even for really insecure people who don’t like others to see their red faces and sagging ponytails.
Second reason I think I felt comfortable and even motivated at OTF is the heart rate monitoring system. All the workouts are built on the concept of afterburn, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), which means you can keep burning calories after class if you try. Everyone wears a heart rate monitor during class. And the goal is to aim at the medium-high effort orange zone (which is 84–91% of your max heart rate) for 12 minutes or more to kick off that afterburn for the following 36 hours. So it’s really not comparing yourself to others but listening to your body and adjust to it.
Third reason that OTF motivates me is the workout analysis report. Not only can you see your real time heart rate on the TV during class, you will receive an email (also in their app) about your workout summary including estimated calories burnt, avg. HR, and a HR line graph. I just find this such a great motivator — hey maybe no one cares but you did great today!
There are 4 types of classes — Endurance, Strength, Power, and ESP (all 3 together). You won’t know what type of class it will be until you arrive in the studio. I was told that the same workout is carried out by every studio across the country on the same day so you can share your experiences about a class with your friends anywhere. Some times there is also special workout programs like the Tornado, Dri Tri and 90 minute classes. So the exercises are always different and fun.
Everyone’s first OTF class is free. I would really encourage anyone interested to give it a try. And I am eager to hear about your experience!
