I'm 39 and been an off and on "gym" rat. Starting working out in high school learning via the old school 80's/90's era body building body part splits. But I didn't often skip leg day, I promise.

When I'm on, I'm addicted and working out hard, typically eating much better as a result. When I'm off, I'm getting fatter and eating like shirt. Each time I start working out again I lose weight, but I never get back to my peak fitness college weight.

The last time I worked out with the body building type splits as a routine was probably 2010/2011ish. My next routine was P90X, got addicted to that for a while, got in really good shape, eventually stopped and got really fat for a couple of years. P90X has really awesome work outs. They have a ton of resistance stuff but also the good plyometric session (which really resembles all of the current HIIT focus).

Next, I started doing a local "boot camp" type of work out for $50/month which takes place at 5:30am every weekday and 8:00am on Saturday (no Sundays). That's HIIT at it's best. Really good workouts on an indoor soccer field. For any western Fairfax residents, I highly recommend, it's called "Adrenaline" and is located at a place called the NZone. I'd still be going but ultimately, despite generally being a morning person, I couldn't cut the 5:30am start as a matter of life routine after a couple years. (there are some other class times but none that worked for my life)

Now to Orange Theory (OTF), I'm a current member (one is conveniently located in my neighborhood shopping center). I can jog there in 15 mins or drive there in 3. I sometimes leave to go to the gym 4 minutes before class start time. Huge convenience factor. My wife goes and pre-dated me as a member by a year or so. It was finally her working out hard, not just going to the gym and doing some stuff here and there and wondering why she wasn't getting in better shape and losing weight. Now, she's done both and has run a couple half marathons and other local races. She never would have accomplished that without OTF because they hold her accountable to have body pushing/body changing workouts. When you go on a run or go to a gym only certain types of people are truly able to push their bodies in a way that will result in change. I think women, especially those without an athletic background (track and swimming specifically) are less likely to work out on their own in a vigorous enough manner to change their body. More typically, they need group classes.

I always balked at the price, said it's way too much and no way it's worth it, I said. She should just go to a different gym that's much more reasonable and attend their classes. Once I saw how much SHE benefited, I began biting my tongue. I knew she was finally working out in a similar manner to how I did with P90X and then with the "boot camp/Adrenaline" work outs. Said, fine it's great for her and I have no problem putting a premium on her health, fitness, and even self esteem. But, me, nah never, I'll just go for a run pump some weights and workout just as hard for a 3rd of the costs. Then, I stopped going to my Adrenaline class. Some how, some way, I started going to OTF with her and they are really, really good body testing workouts. I'm in a stage where I'm going 4 to 5 times a week. My thoughts

Pros:
1) Great workouts that will challenge you from a cardio standpoint.

2) Always a different workout and they do the thinking for you, you don't have to design your own workouts which I always used to do.

3) Given that I'm not designing, it's forcing me to do movements that I wouldn't do without being told to That in and of itself is a great challenge for your body.

4) The price ensures I go at least 4 times a week, whereas, it's easier to skimp out on flat gym prices for weeks, maybe more, at a time.

5) Appointment based in an appointment/calendar driven era helps. In my work from home life style, it's just another one hour appointment I need to manage during the day.

6) Flexible early morning start times all the way into the evening.

7) Routines involve weights in addition to the treadmill/rower stuff. I'm getting really strong again. Resistance training is key, especially as you age.

Cons:

1) Price

2) Treadmills can be painful for me. I'm currently nursing a heel pain and instead of the treadmill, I'm using the glider/elliptical type machine. Hard to feel like you get as good of a workout on the glider vs. treadmill, but calorie burn turns out almost identical.

3) The downside of not designing a workout is that it often doesn't focus on the body parts I WANT to focus on. That's good and bad. We do a ton of leg stuff, which is good, because I'd never focus that much on legs (even though I didn't skip leg day I promise). Between the rowing and other floor exercises, my back is strong as it's ever been. A big focus on shoulders too, which I like. However, I always feel like my chest is short changed. Not enough movements involving the pecs!!!! My 90's meat head body building routines are still a bit ingrained in my mind. I've supplemented with push ups during and after workouts that short change the pecs. (now that I'm using glider instead of treadmill, I'll often do 60 (3 sets X 20) push ups or so during glider rotation). Trainers don't seem to mind, "yet".

I've blabbed enough what else do you want to know?


[Post edited by BG Hokie at 07/05/2018 2:00PM]