The Class: Orangetheory Fitness

Location: Third Ward, Milwaukee, WI

Duration: 60 minutes

Instructor: Amy Friese

The Orangetheory Fitness Craze

As one of 2018’s fastest growing franchises, Orangetheory Fitness studios are popping up everywhere. So obviously I needed to see if it’s worth the hype. After a somewhat annoying booking process that involved texting and calling the studio, my friend and I registered for a first-timer’s free class.

After signing up, I received a detailed email informing me I must come to the studio a full 30 minutes before class. I never show up to anything that early. But afraid they’d turn me away if I didn’t obey, I complied.

Before the Class

The half-hour was spent chatting with a friendly saleswoman about my fitness background, exercise habits, and fitness goals. I love talking exercise, so it wasn’t painful for me, but I imagine many people find it tedious.

Once we got through the forms and interview, she gave me the heart rate monitor Orangetheory is known for. I strapped it on around my upper rib cage and immediately could see my heart rate update on the TV monitor in the lobby. Cool, I thought.

Next, the saleswoman introduced my friend and me to Amy, our instructor, and gave us a tour of the studio. The studio comes equipped with lines of treadmills, rowing machines, and weights, plus other fun fitness toys. If they offered an “open gym” class, I would come play.

Amy explained to us how the class would be structured. By the time we finished the tour and small talk, I was getting impatient for the sweating to start.

Gym Class Vibes

Amy gathered us in the lobby before class in a way reminiscent of high school gym class, except people seemed happy to be there. My friend and I received a public introduction and round of applause.

Like the extensive interview, this felt like overkill. Maybe it’s my jaded New York heart, but the forced sense of community turned me off. I decided that to get the most out of class, I better shove away my inner eye-roll and attempt to drink the Kool-Aid. I clapped along with the others as the instructor gave her final words of encouragement and led us into class.

The Workout

The WorkoutOrangetheory boasts a different workout every day. This particular class required everyone to partner up – again, just like gym class. Thankful I had my friend with me, we took up positions on the rower machines for a warm up.

Part 1

Five minutes later, feeling ready to go, we got into it. One partner took the rower machine and the other hopped on the treadmill. The person on the rower would bust out descending intervals of 1500m, 750m, 500m, 300m, and so on. When finished with one interval, you switch. We had 23 minutes to see how far we could get.

Part 2

After the tread/rower relay, we switched between rowing and a floor circuit. The floor circuit was 4 exercises of arms and abs moves. The person on the floor would complete one circuit and then switch with the rower, going continuously for 18 minutes.

At the end of class, we did a quick stretch, received another “first-timer” shout-out and round of applause, another motivational speech and were dismissed.

Workout Summary

• 5-minute warm-up on rower
• 23 minutes of declining row intervals: 1500 meters, 750 meters, 300 meters, etc. Partner runs on treadmill while other partner rows and then you switch
• 18 minutes of 4 dumbbell exercise circuit while other partner rows
• Stretch and cool-down

After Class Sales Pitch

As newbies, we were asked to hang out after class to debrief on our experience with the instructor. Then we sat down with the saleswoman for another five minutes while she gave the membership pitch.

As they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch – or a free Orangetheory class.
My friend’s response, when asked if she was interested in signing up, was, “I don’t generally like to pay for fitness classes.” Brutally honest, but effective.

A Word about Splat Points

During an Orangetheory class, there is a monitor displaying each class participant’s username, heart rate, and total splat points. Your information is highlighted with either blue, green, orange or red, each corresponding to a certain heart rate range. Ideally, you stay within the “orange zone” (hence the studio name) for the majority of class. The longer you stay in the orange or red zone, the more splat points you acquire.

We were told we should aim to get at least 12 splat points. I found this relatively easy to do, hovering most of class in the red zone and finishing class with 40 something points. However, this doesn’t necessarily point to superior athletic ability. My friend, who also works out consistently and is in good shape, struggled to get out of the green zone for most of class and ended up with less than 12 splat points.

The Bottom Line

I’d label Orangetheory as a cardio class with a CrossFit vibe. I’m not a huge fan of rowing, so I didn’t love the class, but for non-runners, it does provide great cardio.

The personal shout-outs and coaching didn’t bother me, but I imagine many first-timers wouldn’t love constantly being spotlighted.

I don’t plan to do Orangetheory again. But if you’re looking for a motivational, positive workout environment centered around low-impact cardio, it could be a great fit.

Side-note on aggressive marketing

In the weeks after taking the class, I received a persistent flurry of texts, emails, and voicemails from the sales people. So be prepared to either dish some rejection or fork over cash after taking the free class.