As mentioned in my 2018 goals overview, personal fitness and health is one of my key goal areas for 2018. While finding balance is important, I believe nothing is as critical as one’s health and overall well-being.
Almost exactly one year ago, I completed my first class at Orangetheory Fitness (OTF) and it changed the way I thought about working out. But it also altered how I view other areas of my life. Here is a look back at my first year and how I intend to continue progress in 2018.
Note: for further details on OTF, checkout these prior posts:
Why I Spend $2,148 A Year On Orange(s)
Orangetheory Fitness: How to Win (Your Personal) Dri-Tri
Overview of Results
After the completion of each class, you receive an automated email from OTF. The email contains how many calories you burned, heart rate zone details, and how many splat points you gained. This is the source of my data.
As mentioned previously, I strongly believe:
you need to be able count, quantify, or measure something in order to effectively gauge progress.
I tracked the following key elements:
- (1) Calories Burned
- (2) Average Heart Rate / Zone
- (3) Splat Points
Here is a further review of each category.
Note: My first OTF class was on January 30, 2017, so only a single workout is captured as part of the Jan 2017 metrics.
1) Calories Burned
While I do enjoy seeing the calories I’ve burned bankroll and add up after each workout, I don’t consider this category to be my primary area of focus. Tracking calories is important. But my actual weight is less important than balancing my ability to effectively run, row, and lift things up & put them down.
Total Calories Burned: 160,962
Related: Nasty Nati: $2.50 Tacos & $77 Ubers
2) Average Heart Rate / Zone
I’m usually able to stay in the orange and red zone a long time. But some other people around me are going just as fast or hard and are nearly 10 percentage points below me. Damn their youth and abundance of energy! Just kidding.
Overall, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. It’s useful to compare yourself to others, but it shouldn’t dictate the way you feel or how you evaluate your own progress.
Total Average Heart Rate: 142
3) Splat Points
The goal of each workout at OTF is to try to spend at least 12 combined minutes in the orange and/or red zone. I carefully monitor my progress during a workout to see how hard I’m working. Some days I don’t get 12, but that’s okay.
Total Number of Splat Points: 3,175
Lessons Learned
A year of OTF has been both exhilarating and exhausting. I started going 6 times a week for a few months. As my endurance and conditioning built up, I found myself being able to go harder and longer. I was able to accomplish the following:
But it’s also important to rest and pace. I nearly injured myself a couple of times. I was stupid. It’s important to listen to your body and adjust accordingly.
Now I average 5 times a week, but there is usually a day or two where I take things a little easier – at least part of the workout. If I hit my 12 splat points, for example, I might jump on the bike for a block instead of spending another 5 minutes on the treadmill.
Overall, I’ve reflected on what actions have made my experience better and helped me be happier last year – both in fitness and other areas of my life.
Related: 3 Lessons Why “Assumption Is The Mother of All F*ck Ups”
Show Up – Plan Ahead
Schedule your workouts in advance. It might be hard to do this weeks or months in advance, but it’s possible to do it for the week ahead. Bake it into your calendar, and you’ll have no reason not to go.
Shut Up – Get it Done
Focus. Stop complaining and making excuses. Getting to the workout is the hardest part. Once you’re there, take 1 set or 1 block at a time. Each workout is part of a larger process, but each is unique and part of the adventure.
Buddy Up – Make a Friend
Working out with friends is fun. They don’t need to be your childhood BFFs. Meet some new people. Grab a buddy from work. On your own? Say hello to someone when on a jog. Offer a friendly nod to another runner. Whatever is your thing.
Party Up – Reward Yourself
Don’t go overboard or do anything stupid. But you need to reward yourself along the way. Enjoy a couple of beers; grab dessert. Whatever you enjoy, indulge a little bit.
Related: You Can’t Say “I Do” Without Friends, Frozen, & BBQ
Looking Back And – More Importantly – Ahead
On Monday, a number of members begin participating in the Transformation Challenge. Eight weeks long with three weigh-ins, the Challenge is meant motivate and hold participants accountable. Each male and female participant can also win a grand prize of $500 for greatest overall percentage of weight loss.
My goal is to increase muscle mass, so I don’t think I’ll be losing a ton of weight. I’m also trying to not eat like crap. Consistency is my area of focus.
It’s been a long, fun year. I feel like I’ve developed a strong foundation. Now it’s time to put other areas together and find the right balance – and it’s never-ending.
And remember: Every day Is ARM day! Every day is ARM day!
Readers, how are you holding yourself accountable for your goals this year? What data elements are you tracking? Do you have anything you’d recommend to consider doing?
Related:
A 10-Year Reflection: To Gym or Not to Gym?
Why I Spend $2,148 A Year On Orange(s)
Orangetheory Fitness: How to Win (Your Personal) Dri-Tri
3 Lessons Why “Assumption Is The Mother of All F*ck Ups”
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Impressive Mike. Congrats. I could use a little more structure and discipline around my workouts. I did jog 2 miles on Thursday, walked 6 miles with my wife Saturday and another 3 by myself on Sunday. Love the break in the winter weather to do so, but I still don’t feel all that fit. Tom
Nice job Mike. I love stats too and could see myself digging OTF. A friend kept trying to bring me to a class last year but I refused to go. I figured that I’d kill myself being so out of shape. This year my fitness goal is to do something, anything twice a week and to run a fall half marathon. I’m on track so far. I’ve enjoyed the lack of pressure on distances, times and calories for now. Just getting out the door is a win. Once I’m in shape I can see something like OTF being a perfect fit for me. Maybe it will be the 2019 goal.
Thanks Jason! It’s a great workout. You should give it a try with your friend. It’s practical for any fitness level.
Good luck with your half marathon goal – it’s a good race. Better than a full marathon 🙂
This is great Mike! It’s pretty cool that Orange Therapy helps you track all the details. I just use my fitness pal to quickly enter food/workouts for cheap, but I’ve noticed that I don’t push myself as hard when I’m working out inside in the winter vs. doing outdoor workouts in spring/summer/fall, so I need to change something up.
Thank you! Yes, the automation of stats is really helpful. For this summary, I simply dumped them into a spreadsheet. But seeing live progress during a workout really helps.
I’ve used my fitness pal as well – it’s a good app. And I’m the same way…I find winter to be a slower period. That’s one of the reasons OTF is very effective – each workout is always unique and different.
Way to go Mike! I have found that exercise consistently makes me so much more happy then being lazy. Having a plan is important, like you said consistency is key.
Doing something even if its just 50 push ups for the day is better then nothing. All the little habits add up similar to finances in the long run you see results.
Thanks DM – appreciate your comments. A plan is key. And as you mentioned, it doesn’t have to be overly complex or complicated. Small actions eventually lead to progressive results. Thanks again!
Wow that’s impressive! I can’t even commit to walking my dog everyday:(
Thanks Caroline!
It’s all good! Just try a small thing each day, and you’ll gradually see progress. Start small and build up momentum.
Well done BDMike. Super impressive with how you laid everything out. I’ve been working out since December, but, as of about a couple of days ago, found me a trainer to help me prepare for a body building competition. It’s something I’ve never done, and I’m hoping to be in the best shape of my life, but I like reading the efforts you make because it provides a sense of inspiration. Like you said, shut up and just get it done. Good stuff.
Thanks for your comments. Best of luck with your trainer and the competition.
I’ve only worked with a trainer for a few sessions at a time, but I’ve found it very effective. The main thing for me is motivation and accountability, so OTF is working well.
Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to hearing your progress as well. – Mike
Impressive and well tracked. Do you find that tracking these stats helps you stay motivated or would you have done just as well without any tracking?
Thanks Time. I do think tracking has kept me stay motivated. Participants do receive an email after each class, but the logging and trending has enabled me to see progress and growth.
I think I would have still seen results without tracking, but this exercise had been beneficial in more ways than one.
Thanks again for reading. – Mike
Can you share the spreadsheet you made? I’d love to start tracking myself!
Hi! I received a few other messages as well for the spreadsheet.
I’ll look to soon publish it to Google Sheets as a Shared Document for reference.
In the meantime, here are the following columns:
Workout Date
# Calories Burned
Average Heart Rate
Average Zone %
No Splat Points.
In the most recent year-end OTF recap, I also made mention of a few new columns I added:
Workout Type
Peak HR
Max HR %
Thanks for reading! – Mike