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Orangetheory Fitness has a new way of ensuring your heart rate is operating even better than ever for you.
“Whoa!” you might exclaim, “I thought it was already working well for me!”
It is. But your heart rate can achieve even more. Whether you’ve taken part in one class or 100 classes, you know that Orangetheory is always aiming to discover ways to make you healthier and fitter in the simplest and swiftest ways. And, as an Orangetheory member, you are also aware that heart rate zones provide the best method to gauge cardiac intensity and thus improve fitness — OTF’s core mission from Day One.
Orangetheory’s new method of calculating heart rate, which was introduced in May 2019, is even more effective than what you’re currently doing. It’s even more personalised, too, scanning data from 20 of your previous workouts to estimate new zones for you — not for your best friend, not for your most daunting competitor, not for the person next to you in class. The zones being defined are yours and yours alone.
This new calculation based on your past workout data will elevate your performance. Plus, it’ll increase the calories you burn even after you leave the studio and step into your day.
A bit of background: Heart rate zones were first established by Finnish scientist Dr. M.J. Karvonen in 1957. The traditional formula for calculating maximum heart rate — 220 minus your age — was established in 1970. These age-based equations have evolved over time to be more accurate, but in reality they aren't a one-size-fits-all formula. How could they possibly be? Each of us is different, and each of our hearts beats at its own speed and efficiency.
Here at Orangetheory, each minute in the Red or Orange heart rate zones, where the heart is working at its highest levels, equals one Splat Point. The goal for each workout is at least a dozen such points. But if you feel like you're working as hard as possible and even the 12 seems elusive — or if you easily pile up 30 with breath to spare — the tried-and-true heart rate formula may not be tried-and-true for you.
Recognising this makes our hearts beat faster with joy at the mere thought of being able to use this insight to make our members’ workouts even more effective. And while our updated method of calculation itself is new, the seeds for reconfiguring the numbers were sown by merely a handful of sceptics decades ago. For Joel French, who worked as OTF’s Senior Director of Research, Fitness and Wellness, at the time when the new method of calculating your heart rate was introduced, they were first planted while he was taking aerobics classes at age 19.
“We’d work hard, then the instructors would stop and we’d place our fingers on our wrist or neck for 15 seconds and refer to a chart on the wall to see where our heart rates were,” Joel says.
“I spent my early years being challenged because my heart rate was naturally so low. The instructor would scold me and give me a heavier weight. After a year, I thought, 'I am done with group fitness!'
Fortunately, he wasn’t completely done. Not by a long shot. And lo and behold, many years later, over a million OTF members are benefiting from this self-described “stubborn learner.” Because while Joel may have quit aerobics classes, he didn’t abandon the belief that there must be a better approach.
"This has been a crusade of mine for 25 years," he says. “If we provide people with incorrect heart rates, they become discouraged and don’t wish to exercise.”
For better or worse, we have become a nation that assesses results by the figures. Which means that no matter how much more energising an exercise routine makes us feel or how much better our clothes fit or how much lower our blood pressure and cholesterol levels are, if certain numbers indicate otherwise, we give up.
“Rather than question the technology,” Joel says, “people assume this is just another thing that doesn’t work for their body, and they quit.”
But now, with the new calculations, there's especially no reason to question the technology.
“This equation will be suitable for almost everybody,” Joel says. “We’re measuring people’s actual heart rate. We’re collecting data when they work out, reviewing it over the last 20 workouts and stating, ‘Here’s what we think your maximum heart rate is.’”
You could discover that information independently by being tested at a hospital or university, but it’ll cost you $300 or more. At OTF, it won’t cost you a penny. And the advantages of knowing your own heart rate zones cannot be measured.
"Zones matter," Joel stresses. “Training at the correct intensity equates to better outcomes, faster. Heart rate is the best measure of intensity during a workout."
As far as Splat Points are concerned, he says, a person currently achieving 50 in a workout might feel satisfied with that number. “But if you had the proper zones, you would have been encouraged to push yourself a little harder,” Joel says. "You might see 30 points, but the calorie count would be better than it was with 50."
Intrigued? Here’s how to give it a try:
First, ensure you’ve completed 20 workouts.
Then, ask a coach or sales associate to adjust your zones.
Next, give the new zones a go. See what you think, how you feel. Try them multiple times.
Not working for you? No worries. Ask to be reverted back.
“The longer you train with us and the harder you push yourself, the more precise your zones will be, so stick with it!” Joel states. “If we get members’ training zones correct, they’ll be pushing as hard as they should and recovering as they should and obtaining more benefits: more health, more life, more calorie burn — and they’ll reach where they want to be much faster.”
