This morning, I dragged Rob over to an Orange Theory Fitness class. They were offering a free trial class, and I wanted to see what it was all about.

Holy moly! I thought I was in decent shape, but Orange Theory basically handed me my butt on a platter.

The trainer, Dorothy, was extremely friendly and walked Rob and I through the format of the class a few minutes before it started. Everyone else seemed to know exactly what they were doing as they started warming up on rowers and treadmills.

Everyone in the class wears a heart monitor and your heart rate is displayed on large screen TV’s throughout the room. You can watch your heart rate go up and down throughout the whole workout which was really neat to see how hard you’re working.

The goal was to keep your heart in the green zone for the majority of the workout. Rob and I didn’t know this going in and were both working hard to get in, and stay in, the orange.

We started on the rowers (others were on the treadmill or floor area) and everyone began with a 4 minute Tabata of 20 seconds push pace and 10 seconds rest. After the tabata, we went into 10 minutes of the following repeated as many times as you could in the given time:

• 300 meter row
• alternating v-sit heel taps (30 sec)
• v-up heel taps (30 sec)
• crunches (30 sec)

My abs were toast!

Next, everyone switched stations with the rowers going to the floor for some butt-kicking plyos. The 4 minute Tabata was 20 seconds cross jacks, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds jump, jump, squat, 10 seconds rest. My heart rate hit the orange zone once I started.

The 10 minutes of floor work was amazing in an awesome, this-really-huts-I-can’t-go-on kind of way. You may not know this about me, but I have a serious love affair with plyometric exercises. They get your heart rate up in no time and make you work! At Orange Theory, we did 30 second intervals of:

• box jumps
• skaters
• zig zag hops
• burpee kick
• Plank with alternating knee
• TRX side hop

Fair warning: If you train with me, these moves will definitely be making an appearance in your workout.

Dripping sweat, our group moved to the treadmills. The 4 minutes included 20 seconds of push pace, then 10 seconds rest. The ten minutes were broken down as such:

• 2 minutes easy
• 3 minutes push pace
• 3 minutes easy
• 2 minutes push pace

We ended with 4 minutes of 20 second squat holds, 10 second rest. Those were absolutely killer! My legs were shaking like crazy when we stood up for the rest!

Dorothy stayed a few minutes after class with Rob and I and explained what our heart rate numbers meant. We were both so whipped that we could barely get our questions out!

Overall, Orange Theory was a complete blast. I really enjoy tough workouts and they definitely delivered. The circuit format kept the class moving and you didn’t have enough time to get bored at any one station.

Honestly, I’m not sure how people do it 4 days a week! One day a week, combined with my other workouts and running schedule, would be perfect. I know I will be sore tomorrow for sure (and figuring out when I can take another class)!

RQ: Have you ever tried Orange Theory? Are you a plyometric fan?

Brooke Selb

I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.