I Sorta, Kinda Miss You, Orangetheory Fitness
There was a time, pre-COVID-19 when Orangetheory Fitness (OTF) was an important part of my life. I visited the OTF studio up the street from my house two or three times a week and exercised like a maniac. OTF members wear heart rate monitors that project interesting statistics onto digital boards mounted around the studio. Each person has a box with their name that reflects exertion level, splat points (more about this in a moment), calories burned, and maximum heart rate. The high-minded among us don’t view it as a competition and care only about their own little box. Snoopy people like me check out other peoples’ statistics and, maybe, push a bit harder to keep up.
If this public display of information galls you, you’re not alone. OTF isn’t for everyone, but it’s motivational for many of us. Shuffling between treadmills, rowers, weights, and floor exercises, there’s enough variety in OTF classes to engage even those with the most severe ADD. Each class is broken into micro-units, each lasting a very short time. Participants earn a “splat point” by bringing their heart rates into the Orange or Red zones for a minute. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) means you do something (running, rowing…
