Anna Wildman

Part 1 was about my first experience at Orangetheory. Part 2 is about my second experience.

If you haven’t yet, I suggest you skim part one first for context. I explained how the class works, my workout, likes/dislikes, etc.

I went back a second time mainly because my first experience wasn’t the best, and I wanted to see if the second try would be any different. A regular class is $32, but they will give you the second class at half price ($16), so it isn’t too bad price-wise.

The second time turned out to be different in a lot of ways; the format was different, the coach was different, and my overall experience was much more positive.

THE WORKOUT

1st half of class (treadmill):

• Short warm up 
• 2% incline @ push pace (for me, 7.5-7.8 mph) for 90 secs
• Rest @ base pace (for me, 5.7-6.0 mph)
• 3% incline @ push for 60 secs
• Rest @ base pace
• 4% incline @ push for 45 secs
• Rest @ base pace
• 5% incline @ push for 30 secs
• Rest @ base pace
• 4% incline @ push for 45 secs, all out pace (for me, 8.0-8.5 mph) for 45 secs
• Rest @ base pace
• 3% incline @ push for 60 secs, all out for 60 secs
• Rest @ base pace
• 2% incline @ push for 90 secs, all out for 30 secs
• Walk/cool down

I ended up running around 3 miles total.

2nd half of class (strength):

• 3 sets of 5 (on each arm):
  • Single-arm dumbbell swing
  • Single-arm dumbbell snatch
• 300 meters on rower
• 1 minute plank

• 3 sets of 12:
  • TRX Y deltoid flys
  • Ab dolly pikes
• 150 meters on rower
• 1 minute plank

• 3 sets of 10:
  • Reverse flys
  • Hammer curls
• 600 meters on rower
• 1 minute plank

Why this workout was better than the first:

• The coach was more encouraging and repeated the moves more frequently in case we forgot (e.g. what incline we should be at, how many seconds of push pace we have, how many meters to do on the rower).
• The format (30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes strength) was much less confusing/more organized
• There was more running, more strength training, and slightly less rowing. I think this made the workout more effective overall.

My performance summary:

I did slightly better than my first time– I had the same number of minutes in the “afterburn” zone (orange/red), but I hit the red zone this time, something I couldn’t do before.

However, I don’t know how accurate the heart rate monitor really is because it kept telling me I was in the orange zone during the warm up, and then told me I was in the green zone for some of the push-pace periods, so…. who knows.

I also burned about 30 more calories this time. Woo! That’s a whole 2/3 of an oreo! (😭)

Anyway, I guess the point of my two-part review is this:

Experiences vary based on a number of factors– the coach, format, your state of mind, and more. I’m glad I gave Orangetheory another shot because I ended up leaving a lot happier the second time.

So give it (or any other new experience) a try. Maybe you’ll love it. Maybe you’ll hate it. But it never hurts to try something new :)