Orange theory fitness

[MaggieD]

I used to play racquetball when I was younger and did a lot of cardio and strength training to help me be better. It worked. But my knees wore out as I got older. I can still do the cardio, but the quick starts / stops and pivots on the knees make racquetball a thing of the past.

Now I am going to "orange theory" which is high intensity interval training, group training class. Very intense and over in an hour. But makes you feel great afterwards. Think of it as P90x for sane people. LOL!

Anybody else here tried OTF?

[wildeyed]

1. I did a few introductory classes.

It was ok, but I never went back. I use a heart rate monitor with an app called Pear for a similar workout on my own. You pick a workout from the dozens offered and then the app tracks an logs the workout automatically. That gives me more flexibility and is cheaper than OTF too. People at the gym think I am nuts since they don't know what I am doing, but oh well.

[MaggieD]

2. Today I had a coach who wouldn't shut up

Usually I like the coaching but I also like the super loud rocking music. It helps motivate me. Today's coach wouldn't stop blabbing and broke my focus too much.

Made me wish I was doing my workout at home.

I have a great incline treadmill and a few weights, but I would miss the water rowing and TRX band stuff. No room in my house for those at the moment.

[Major Nikon]

3. Interval training can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it

All interval training is high intensity. The idea is to get your heart rate almost as high as it will go for a short duration, switch to low intensity to recover your heart rate to a lower level, then repeat a few times. Once you get in really good shape your recovery times are faster and you can do several sets in 30 minutes or so. Unless you really need the motivation, I'm not sure trying to do it within a group is all that great because other people are going to have different recovery rates depending on their fitness level. So if they base the recovery rate on the slowest person, the most fit are going to waste a lot of time. If they base it on the most fit, those at the bottom end aren't going to get the most benefit.

[helldell]

4. Fitness

No I am hearing about this for the first time.