| rev:text
| - *General review of Orange Theory Fitness*
I have lived in 5 different cities and tried out an average of 3 gyms in each, on top of going to niche fitness centers for activities like pole dance, yoga, track, etc... I went through a heavy cardio phase where I originally just ran at indoor tracks for 60-90 mins, and then I had an intense weight lifting phase where I hung out with hardcore competitors who got me all buff, and then I went through a fitness class phase and I stuck with that for the past few years. The thing that changed for me recently that brought me to Orange Theory Fitness, is Toronto doesn't leave me with much time and yet I still want a hot bod. When I switched over to Orange Theory Fitness I was doing 8-9 fitness classes per week at Adelaide Club. I would get the same results at Orange Theory in 3-4 classes. It just made sense to halve my gym time for the same results. On top of this, the endorphin release I was getting after workouts at Orange Theory was incredible at first. Totally addictive. I pushed myself super hard and it felt amazing.
Things didn't work out so well for me in the end though. Here's why: A unique marketing proposition this gym has is providing clients with a wristband that provides live feedback so you can measure and manage your progress. I learned from this monitoring that I have a very low resting heart rate. This makes sense as I've always done long distance running. It takes awhile to get my oxygen intake up to 84% and above (the "orange zone"), so unless I push myself super, super hard during Orange Theory workouts, which consist of short spurt interval training (30 secs/1 min, 45 seconds etc...), I don't get into the orange zone, at least not for more than a couple minutes per 55 minute class. I am also heavy on my feet. After a few weeks of trying to get into this orange zone on the treadmills I injured my right knee. This was at the end of August. Three months later it is still injured. It sucks. I have never had a "real" injury before. I made it to 30 years old unscathed and then low and behold Orange Theory finally did one of my knees in.
The problem here is in large group fitness classes you are treating people from all backgrounds/fitness levels/body types the same, while doing very intense interval training for about an hour. Yes, the instructors are able to give you modified exercises when you present them with an injury/weakness, but what if you don't have one to begin with and can't foresee how an issue might arise? It's actually more dangerous than it may seem. So I say proceed with caution. It's $225 (tax included) for Orange Theory's unlimited monthly membership. I am now going to Cardio Go for $45 (tax included)/month and I do interval training on my own for 16 minutes a day and have even better results. I take HIIT/Tabata routines from Youtube, use a free interval timer app on my iPhone and am in and out of the gym in 30 minutes. Orange Theory got me to a fitness level where I can push myself and it also introduced me to interval training so I think it was a good stepping stone for me on my fitness journey, but I wish I didn't have to sacrifice my knee to get here.
*Review of Yonge & Eglinton*
The trainers here are very positive and motivating, encouraging people. It is a nice large space, although very popular so booking in advance on certain days/times is required. The staff are super friendly and were not pushy with me at all in making a sale, which was nice. I think there's a nice culture/community aspect to this gym. Because it is a very expensive gym membership you will see mostly a young adult professional crowd, but classes are intense and not conducive to socialization. They seem to have a lot of fitness events/competitions so there are times when you can experience that community aspect, if that's your thing. Because Orange Theory is a franchise, with large groups, intense classes, and high turn over (month-to-month memberships), there is a lot of strict protocol/process followed that I found annoying and made me miss my other gym memberships a lot. This is not a true "gym" membership. You can't just walk in and use the facilities. It's more like having a yoga/cycling studio membership where you have to attend during class hours, be early, sign up for your spot, etc...
Based on these reasons, I would recommend trying out Orange Theory and seeing how it works for you, but being very careful about the stress you are putting on your body. I think it's worth checking out, but I question whether anyone sticks with this program in the long term, partly because it's very expensive and doesn't provide the full value of an actual gym, mostly because it's simply too much stress on your joints without the benefit of individual attention.
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