I tried my first-ever Orangetheory class and it did not disappoint

If you’ve been on the hunt for a workout that combines strength, endurance, and cardio, without having to figure out a whole workout yourself, Orangetheory may be the thing you’ve been seeking.

I’ve been wanting to dip my toes back into the fitness world for a while, which is why when Orangetheory asked me to check out a class, it was the perfect opportunity to stop thinking about exercising and finally just do it.

I’ll admit, I have always found Orangetheory to be intimidating, whether it was the low-orange lighting, the rows of intense-looking machines, or just the overall vibe that made me think you had to be really serious about fitness to be a member.

But ahead of my class, I asked a good friend of mine, who has long been raving about their workouts, if she had one word to describe what it was actually like.

“What’s one word for fitness at your own pace? Lol, I don’t know! Community, fitness, fun, strength are words that come to mind. Variety — maybe?”

As it turns out, “community” was probably the one that stood out the most.

When I arrived, any fears I had about the place being intimidating quickly faded. I was greeted by a chorus of friendly, smiling faces who were more than happy to show me around and let me get my bearings ahead of my first class.

The biggest surprise to me was the diversity of people arriving for the class. People of all ages and backgrounds were chatting with staff as if they’d been friends for years. One woman even joked that she was an “unofficial” employee of the Orangetheory Callingwood location.

To joke about being an employee of a place you have to pay to show up at, I thought, said quite a bit about the atmosphere they had cultivated.

Before my workout, I sat down with Madeline Hardy, the owner of the Edmonton Callingwood location (6621 177th St. NW), to go over my fitness goals, the obstacles I’ve had getting there, and how Orangetheory could fit into the mix.

As someone who spends eight hours a day hunched over a computer, posture and mobility were big ones for me. I’d also wanted to start getting fitter again for a while, but actually putting together a workout routine and holding myself accountable is where I tend to struggle.

It’s not like I don’t want to work out. I have a $30 monthly gym membership that regularly burns a hole in my pocket. But the act of getting myself there, figuring out what I’m going to do and sticking to a routine is something I seriously struggle with.

After going over my goals, I was given a “fitness prescription” to bring home as a helpful reminder before being fitted with a performance monitor, which tracked things like my heart rate and calories burned throughout the workout.

It also connects to the equipment and uses my heart-rate zones to show me when I should be pushing harder and when it’s time to recover, with it updating after each class to keep things tailored to me.

I was assigned a station in class, so I knew exactly where to go. Then, it came time to head in. We started on the rowers, where the movement felt great on my tired shoulders, an ideal warm-up before moving on to the weights portion.

Along with some high-tempo music, Coach Jody was commanding the room. While some instructions were admittedly going over my head, a screen above the workout area showed me exactly what I was supposed to be doing and for how long.

The first part of the workout gradually added exercises, which included bands, squats, lunges, and other full-body exercises with dumbbells.

After the first few rounds, I was feeling pretty good, thinking I could probably do it all day. But by the end, I was ready to put an end to my suffering and get onto a treadmill, where the other half of the class had been doing their first portion of the workout.

That reprieve didn’t last long.

The treadmill exercise involved increasing the incline by one per cent at a time. And if that doesn’t sound like much, we started at a six per cent incline. By the time our heart rates were pumping and my legs were turning to jelly, we were climbing at an incline of nine per cent — that’s a pretty big hill when you’re already exhausted.

As a newcomer, it felt like everyone else was figuring things out a lot quicker than I was. But our coach was on top of it and was happy to help me figure things out, including correcting my form during the weights portion and ensuring I wasn’t aggravating a previous injury.

That sort of help is also something you don’t necessarily get when you go to a gym by yourself, unless some jacked-up guy insists on mansplaining how to lift weights, but who likes that?

By the end, a quick cooldown on the treadmill was followed by a few minutes of stretching, and our hour-long workout was over before I knew it.

I really enjoyed the mix of strength, endurance, and power, and the performance monitor showed me exactly how many calories I’d burned and how long I’d spent in each heart-rate zone.

I got 10 Splat Points in my workout, which meant I spent 10 minutes in the Orange Zone — where your heart rate is elevated to supercharge your metabolism, burn fat, and continue burning calories for up to 24 hours after class. It made me feel good knowing there was some science behind what we were doing.

There were a few other things I liked, too.

For one, everyone seemed genuinely eager to celebrate each other. It happened to be one member’s birthday while I was there, and staff had brought in a giant, hand-drawn birthday board for her. We were encouraged to wish her a happy birthday before posing for a photo (which I was also roped into), a nice example of the effort they put in to make members feel welcome.

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I also appreciated how they weren’t pushy compared to previous gym experiences. Hardy was the first person to tell me that she supplements her Orangetheory classes with other forms of exercise, including yoga and Pilates, and that there’s no reason to ditch your regular gym membership.

In fact, the staff will encourage you to keep doing the things you already enjoy and use Orangetheory as another part of your routine.

“I think the biggest thing is having a fitness routine that is changeable and you can integrate into something that you already have. It’s not an all-or-nothing workout,” Hardy told me.

As for those initial feelings of intimidation, Hardy explained that Orangetheory has evolved quite a bit over the years, with new class offerings, upgraded technology, and new challenges for members.

“Orangetheory is not a workout that you have to be fit to come into. You don’t have to know how to run on a treadmill before you come. You don’t have to know how to lift a weight. Everyone’s welcome.”

And now I understand why my friend is so eager to spread the gospel of Orangetheory.

Orangetheory has eight locations across the Edmonton area, so there’s likely a studio close to you if you’re ready to give it a try.

You can check out the different class offerings or book your first class through the Orangetheory website.