Get in the zone

Opinion

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This article was published 04/07/2016 (3374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The soon-to-be Orange Theory Fitness on Taylor Avenue is still a construction site. When renovations are complete and classes begin, giant television screens will display exercisers’ heart rates as they attempt to enter and stay in their “orange zone.”

It’s all part of a brightly furnished American fitness franchise that offers hour-long group interval training classes supervised by a fitness leader. Each class consists of working out at three different stations —treadmill, rowing and strength. (The last station includes traditional weights, medicine balls, TRX straps and steps).

Each exerciser wears a heart-rate monitor on their chest or wrist. (Both are available for purchase or to borrow at each Orange Theory location). Heart rates are projected on giant screens for all to view.

“(It’s a) very compelling motivator to kind of see it in real time what your training is like,” says Ruth Asper, a co-owner of the Orange Theory Fitness location on Taylor Avenue, which is scheduled to open later this month. Another location is set to open in Sage Creek soon after.

Kathleen Skinner, franchise co-owner and studio manager, says even though she’s well-versed in the principles of exercise, she rarely wears a heart-rate monitor during her own workouts. That’s why the effort required to reach her maximum heart rate surprised her.

“You get to learn how you could push yourself in different ways, which I found really interesting,” says Skinner.

“Most people under-train because they are scared. If they push themselves they are terrified it is going to be too hard. (You) realize once you actually get into those higher level of training then you can accomplish it,” says Asper.

Asper discovered Orange Theory Fitness while vacationing in Phoenix. After trying a class, she realized she loved the workout and the science behind it. Eventually, she brought her husband (lawyer and businessman David Asper) for a workout.

“He was pumped and so psyched,” says Asper, noting David likes guided workouts that offer feedback and analytics.

Ruth Asper is a pioneer in the city’s fitness scene. In the mid-1980s, after finishing a kinesiology degree, she opened one of Winnipeg’s first aerobics studios, Tights, in Osborne Village, which thrived for years before she moved on to form River City Fitness personal training on Academy Road.

Most recently, she co-owned Strategym, also a personal training outfit.

Asper says her new venture is different than the gritty CrossFit, a line of gyms located in minimalist, garage-like settings that follow the interval-training model.

The goal at Orange Theory is to be breathless, constantly exerting maximum effort, but never subject to the orders of a militaristic fitness leader, Asper says.

“There is no forceful command to be all out all the time, but the trainer will note that your training is either over — or under — and suggest to push it a little bit more for a few more minutes,” she says. “Because in interval training you are not in the uncomfortable zone for more than two or three minutes, the goal is to do it and to see what it is like to get into that zone.

“It is a confidence thing.”

There are three levels of membership: basic (four sessions a month); elite (eight sessions a month) and premier (unlimited sessions). All are available without a contract on a month-to-month basis. Prices in the U.S. range from $59 for basic to $159 for premier.

The science behind Orange Theory Fitness? The chain’s literature pushes “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” or EPOC. The idea is one can only reach that process when working out at 84 per cent of a person’s maximum heart rate. (That rate is determined by age and a set formula.)

Simply stated, EPOC refers to the process that allows body to keep burning calories after a workout. Orange Theory Fitness claims members will have an increased metabolic rate for up to 36 hours after each workout, burning between 500 to 1,000 calories.

Dean Kriellaars, a University of Manitoba exercise physiologist and researcher, says the science behind Orange Theory Fitness is sound — but torqued.

“All they’ve done is package it nicely.

“They’re using a number of different principles that we know scientifically work. They are certainly exaggerating a little bit,” says Kriellaars, noting the average person would not burn 500 to 1,000 calories a workout.

“I’m not saying that a person can’t burn 500 calories in an hour there, but that would vary from 200 to 800 per person,” says Kriellaars, also noting the post-exercise caloric burn wouldn’t normally take place as long as 36 hours.

“Nonetheless, they are using heart-rate monitors and feeding that back to you. That means that you know for sure whether you’re exercising at the appropriate intensity. So that’s nice.”

Kriellaars, who trains professional athletes, says having heart rate on display and supervised could be a motivator — “ a whip” — to amp up your workout.

The associate professor says while Orange Theory Fitness offers effective interval training that would benefit most people, you don’t need it to get a good workout.

“Anybody could do this workout in any gym. If you buy yourself a… heart-rate monitor and you go to (any gym), you can do everything that they do. Absolutely.”

 

Have an interesting idea you’d like Shamona to write about? Contact her at shamona.harnett@freepress.mb.ca.