Orangetheory Fitness — Local services in Arlington

This place is the not so hidden gem in personal fitness you've been hearing about. At first glance, Orangetheory Fitness (OTF) Ballston looks like any other fad workout studio. Trendy but nondescript name, signature color, and occasional stream of disciples entering and exiting at all hours of the day. Take a look inside and it does not take long to go through all the stages of OTF addiction.

Stage 1: Curiosity Typically this stage takes place away from the studio. You hear from friends and coworkers about their fitness plan. They begin to use terms you do not understand like "push pace," "Tornado Tuesday," and "Red Zone." You would typically ignore such talk but they keep going back and it appears to be working for them. You tell yourself that one day you will check it out... not today though, maybe tomorrow, or next week. You eat a cookie and ponder the matter further.

Stage 2: Surprise You've had it in your head to try OTF but only after you are fully aware of the brand do you notice... They're everywhere! You almost swear to yourself that OTF studio was a bank last week! That one was your dry cleaners just this morning! You half jokingly begin to wonder if your apartment will be replaced with a studio when you get home.

Stage 3: Gateway Workout You finally decide to go get your first free workout. You're not sure what to expect as you walk in the door. The friendly person on the phone told you to bring water, a towel, and to arrive 30 minutes early. You wonder what kind of cult you've signed yourself up for. As you enter expecting everyone milling around to start chanting "One of us. One of us." You're greeted by a friendly member of the OTF Ballston staff - yes, they're even friendly at 4:30 in the morning with no coffee in sight - who has you fill out some non-binding safety paperwork and explains some of the once weird terms from Stage 1.

The staff creates a profile for you and they set you up with a heart rate monitor. This is when they explain why OTF works. The goal each workout is to spend at least 12 minutes with your heart rate at or above 84% of the max for those in your age and weight. Achieving that goal causes the "after-burn" which causes your body to continue to burn calories after class. It's like a bonus round on The Workout Is Right!

Before you know it you're walking into the studio! You have a card in hand telling you at which of the three areas of the studio you'll start: Treadmill, Rower, or Floor. Unlike most gyms, you're not surrounded by Gods descended to Earth to sneer at your lack of fitness. Instead you see folks at all stages of their fitness journey. You relax and think, "If they can do this then I certainly can." [Break: At this point the reviewer STRONGLY advises you avoid making Tuesday your first workout! If you catch a Tornado Tuesday you may crawl out of the studio to seek the mercy of whatever God you believe in and never return!].

If you're particularly lucky (again opinion on this one) you'll find yourself in the knowledgeable and motivating care of Coach Yardley, Coach Caroline, or Coach Amber! No worries if not, they are all exceptionally skilled at what they do and make sure that in a class of dozens YOU know where you are in the workout, and are getting the most and best out of the experience - with a great soundtrack to boot. Seriously, it's impressive how well they balance coaching, motivating, demonstrating, keeping time, and I SWEAR I saw one of them doing theoretical physics on a whiteboard during a class... it might have been a hallucination in the middle of a Tornado Tuesday [Seriously, just don't for your first class].

Stage 4: Addiction You joined! You talk about your class and Splat Points - can't tell you everything - with coworkers. You travel and schedule workouts at other gyms that are clearly inferior to your home gym but its OTF so you enjoy it anyway! You recruit others to the faith by, with your language, and obvious increased fitness... sparking...

6.24.20 EDIT: I wanted to provide an update regarding COVID-19 precautions. This studio is doing an excellent job; I felt completely safe working out here. We lined up outside, six feet apart with masks, down the street about five minutes before class. We were called forward one by one for a temperature check and verbal symptom questionnaire. Once passed, we went inside and received our station number. Each person had their own station that no one else was at the entire time; for example, I was station eight and, when we rotated from tread to rower, no one was at the tread I left. Instead of lockers, we received plastic baggies to store our loose items, which we kept with us as we rotated. Class size was greatly diminished (I think there were only sixteen of us, total), so that two or three stations were between each person. Classes are about fifteen minutes shorter to allow for cleaning and disenfecting between every class (we also received new wipes with each station rotation to clean them as we worked out). Trainers wear masks and goggles; masks while working out are optional (which is fine because of the distance being observed) but most of us wore them anyway. Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the hard work that is obviously going into making this studio a safe place to work out.

ORIGINAL POST: What sets OrangeTheory apart from other similar boutique fitness classes is that it focuses on heart health, stamina, and overall fitness instead of weight loss or achieving a certain body ideal. I think that this sets clients up for success in that it prepares us to maintain a healthy lifestyle for decades, instead of falling into a unhealthy cycle of weight loss and gain. OrangeTheory is really a lifestyle change, and the coaches make that change much more manageable and realistic than other studios, gyms,...

I am extremely disappointed with my recent experience trying to cancel my gym membership. I have been a loyal member for years, I even continued to pay my membership during Covid and years after without setting a foot into the gym due to back health issues. Unfortunately, the process to cancel has been nothing short of a nightmare. First I called months ago and the person I spoke with said that I had to go IN PERSON to sign which did not make any sense but I had to travel and could not make it. Today I called to cancel again, the representative who I spoke with, Kiesha (manager) was extremely rude and said that since it is not "30 days", which would have been if I called on the 2nd which is 4 days after, that there will be an additional 30-day period before the cancellation could take effect. This means I was forced to pay for another month of membership that I could not use. When I expressed my frustration, Kiesha the manager was dismissive and offered no solutions of accommodations for a member who paid membership for at least 3 years without one single class! The lack of support and understanding is appalling, and the cancelation process is unnecessarily burdensome and...