I'm sure you've seen or heard about Orange Theory Fitness. They seem to be popping up everywhere lately. But just what is it all about? I went on Tuesday to the Jasper Gates location off Stony Plain road and 149 street and checked out a class.
I went in the week before to check their schedule and sign up for a class and she told me I had to be there 30 minutes before class for orientation. Since I was in a time crunch she let me fill out the form ahead of time and only come 15 minutes earlier then class.
I got a walk through of the space and quick meet up with the trainer before class. They went over everything I would need to know in order to be effective without stopping the workout to much, which is great to be able to just do my thing!
The space
The workout room is kind of cool with the orange lights. Definetly a different experience from a traditional gym light. The music was upbeat and fun and the trainer was that hard to find balance of perky, motivating and not irritating. (As someone who instructs fitness it's really a hard balance to find!)
The workout
It was a great workout for sure. I enjoyed that it was a group thing but you were able to really individually push yourself, especially since you wear a heart rate monitor. The monitor is then put on the screen and you can see what zone you are at any given time. The idea being you spend most of your time in the hard work but not dying "orange zone" or recovery "green zone. That's the THEORY anyways..... see what I did there?
K kidding aside though. We did some strength training and rowing and then switched and did cardio on the treadmills half way through. The strength training was a tad easy for me, but you can add more weights to moves making them harder for sure. I suppose you want to reserve some energy for the rest of class too!
The cardio was good. I like they give variations for those who wish to be more power walkers and those more into running. I noticed they even had a few bikes and an eliptical for those who have knee/ankles issues or whatever.
The workout was great. Since you wear a monitor it racks your calories burned which I love. I use my MyZone Heart rate monitor all the time, so knowing my caloric range I was in to compare to a normal workout of mine was great. The workout gets emailed to you after so you can keep track as well. Only thing I wish they did in the email was tell you who was the teacher. I wish I remembered her name for in case I wanted to go again. She was pretty awesome.
The sell
They certainly have got their sales plan down on working with you after the workout. Not to much pressure, but they get to the point. I've heard people say it's expensive and some say it's not bad. The pricing seemed a bit awkward to me with basing it off working out twice a week for the month. My three thoughts on this:
- Interval training (which this is) should really only be done every second or third day, so makes sense to sell it that way.
- It misses the fact that maybe you need to run or have weight in between and you either still need a membership or something else to supplement. For people new to fitness, likely not so much, but since I like to workout 6 days a week I would.
- Considering the fact there are only so many people allowed per class and you don't have to think about making your own workout AT ALL, paying the price is similar to as if working with a trainer at a gym anyways.
So with that info you can decide if it's pricey for you and your lifestyle.
The good
- GREAT workout
- I love the heart rate tracking and caloric tracking
- The place has certainly got a fun vibe.
- You don't have to plan your workouts. You just go and do it! Great for beginners.
The not so good:
- It may seem pricey
- You might have to supplement workouts still
- No childcare
Have you tried out a class yet?
Love,
Jen The Bitchin' Housewife