GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.-- It's being called the best workout in the country.
Orangetheory Fitness opens its first location in West Michigan, promising clients will keep burning calories even after they're done with the workout.
It's exercise meets science. There's no guessing about whether you're pushing yourself hard enough.
OTF centers around the "Orange Theory" with workouts designed to push your heart rate into the so-called Orange Zone, keeping your metabolic rate elevated for up to 36 hours after. Clients are said to burn an average of 500 to 1,000 calories during the workout.
Ashley Thomas is a coach and is excited to introduce West Michigan to the "Orange Zone."
"Anyone can do it," Thomas said. "My favorite workout I've ever coached before had a professional NFL player and a 92-year-old grandma who worked next to each other on the treadmill. She was killing it power walking and he was, of course, maxing out on the treadmill. Both were in their appropriate [heart rate] zones.”
The class is divided into two groups. Some alternate between rowing machines and weights first, while the other group starts with the treadmills. Workouts are adjusted depending on your ability. Participants are constantly doing intervals, switching back and forth between periods of all-out intensity and recovery.
"Knowing you only have a short period of really hard work, you can push yourself a little more knowing that, versus being on the treadmill 30 minutes," said Thomas.
Wearing a heart rate monitor, participants can see their actual heart rates as they go through the workout because it is displayed on TV screens around the gym.
"You don’t have to be in shape to do this," Thomas said. "You don’t have to know how to work out. We coach you through everything."
"The feedback we are hearing is phenomenal," added owner Susan Gozdowski. "I can't wait for everybody here to try it.”
Orangetheory Fitness is located at 3108 28th St SE in Grand Rapids and opens its doors November 20th.
For more information, call (616) 607-6000.
