This week, the Dallas Fitness Ambassadors packed their gym bags and headed over to Orangetheory Fitness off Walnut Hill! If you’re anything like I was, you’ve probably heard of Orangetheory Fitness and avoided it like the plague because of how hard everyone says it is. Well let me be the one to clarify for you. Their classes are TOUGH, to the point that you’ll want to give up. But you won’t give up because you’re a rockstar and rockstars don’t quit!

 

 

 

 

Orangetheory Fitness: The Breakdown.

 

There are 3 levels of the workout:

1. Base – Keeping a steady heart rate you get from doing mild activity
2. Push – Going a bit harder, this is where you start to see your heart rate rise
3. All Out – Giving it everything you’ve got for about 30 seconds or so. (This is where you die)

 

What exactly do you do during the workout?

Orangetheory combines three types of workouts to help you burn calories! The goal is to keep your heart rate “in the orange” for at least 12 minutes of your workout!

• HIIT treadmill training
• Weight Training
• Indoor Rowing

 

What are the pros and cons of Orangetheory?

I like to save the best for last, so I’m gonna start with the cons.

 

Cons:

• The price – Orangetheory can cost you a pretty penny (in my opinion). Their memberships range from $59-$119 per month, so its a big pricey to have as an addition to your regular gym membership. However, at under $20 per class it is a bit cheaper than some other studios I’ve been to.
• Its a workout class for people who workout – This isn’t to say that an out-of-shape person can’t make it through a class (I am literally Exhibit A). It just means that no one is going easy on you just because you’ve been slacking! I went in with the mindset that I may die, but after giving all I had to push through the class, I was really proud of the fact that I didn’t quit!
• You have to wear a heart monitor – I know to most people this probably isn’t a con, but I wasn’t super excited about this part. I mean granted I didn’t notice it during the class (due to the fact that I was dying), I just wasn’t too keen on having to wrap this strip around my gut abdomen. Also, it is $5 every time you take a class to “rent” a heart monitor. That kind of sucks because if you aren’t using one, you don’t get to see your results on the big screen.

 

 

Pros:

• You can find motivation in those around you – Seeing everyone else in the class going SO hard, motivated me to keep going. If it weren’t for my fellow Dallas Fitness Ambassadors, there’s no way I would have made it through the class and burned as many calories as I did!
• You get to watch your calories fly away – Okay, not literally. But they do have monitors that tell you how many calories you burned!

 

 

• YOU BURN A CRAP TON OF CALORIES! I burned over 600 calories in one hour! Are you kidding me? That is like 1/3 of the calories I eat in a day – gone!

 

 

• You aren’t just doing the same thing over and over – Orangetheory is really good about switching it up. You’re running, rowing, and lifting weights all in one session! That definitely helps the class to go by quicker.
•  They send you a recap of your workout – At the beginning of your class, they will ask for your email address – give it to them! After the class, they email you a “progress report” that tells you how many calories you burned and how
• Despite how hard it is, you will want to come back for more – While doing the workout I probably swore to myself 6 times that I would never put myself through something like this again. But after the class, the feeling of completing something so tough made me want to visit the studio again!

 

 

I can’t remember a time that I burned so many calories in such a short amount of time, and that was with me being totally out of shape. Just imagine if I went at it for a month or so and kept going! I would be in the best shape of my life! Overall, I definitely recommend that you try out Orangetheory! If its your first time, they’ll even let you try the class for free! So go get your sweat on then come back here and tell me just how right I was! Oh, and don’t forget: Workouts like this are way more fun with friends, which is why I was GLAD I had my DFA girls with me!! 😀

 

 

(Most of these amazing pictures were taken by the lovely founder of Dallas Fitness Ambassadors)