No matter what their sport, La Jolla athletes can get in the zone at Orangetheory Fitness.
“Orangetheory Fitness really is for everybody,” said Billy Borja of the new fitness modality, whose local venue opened six months ago at 7734 Girard Ave., suite C.
“Our training program workouts aren’t specifically designed for any one sport,” Borja said. “But it’s a great conditioning program for all of them.”
A cross-training method pioneered by a Florida fitness expert, Orangetheory Fitness offers 60-minute workout sessions split into intervals of cardiovascular and strength training, with heart rate monitors to track intensity and maximize metabolic burn, increase energy and burn more calories, even after leaving the studio.
Orangetheory Fitness uses the Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption program, in which patrons are taken through five gradually increasing “zones” of escalating heart rate activity via exercise with treadmills, rowing machines and freeweights.
“The goal,” Borja said, “is to get you into the fourth zone, the orange zone, where you’re working at 85 percent or higher of your maximum heart rate for 12 to 20 minutes. When you achieve this, it allows you to burn calories from fat up to 36 hours post-workout.”
Orangetheory can benefit athletes of every stripe from runners to skiers to triathletes to surfers, Borja said.
A surfer himself, Borja noted wave riders can benefit from Orangetheory’s fitness method, which can help them build their cardiovascular capacity as well as work on their ability to “pop up” quickly and efficiently on their boards.
“Orangetheory can strengthen their upper bodies, improve their techniques and paddling doing exercises that help with that range of motion,” Borja said, adding that similar exercises and workout programs can be geared to improve the abilities of those in throwing positions in other sports like pitchers and quarterbacks.
Borja said that Orangetheory can be made applicable to any sport because it works on “the abdominals and core structure,” something he noted improves your physical capability no matter what you do.
“The body core is really key,” he said, “affecting your overall performance, your balance, the type of maneuvering you do, like surfers on the waves.”
Another benefit of the Orangetheory method, Borja said, is that patrons are “guided by a coach every step of the way.”
The Village fitness studio on a recent afternoon found businessmen, moms, students and younger and older people were working out together, led by a personal trainer exhorting and encouraging them to apply themselves to get the most out of their workout.
A big board in the room tracks the pertinent levels – calories burned, time in the various zones – of everyone in the class throughout their workouts.
“We send them an email afterward automatically with the results of their workout,” Borja said.
John Johnson, a 54-year-old physician who trains in the Orangetheory method, is sold on it.
“It’s a small-group setting with some level of personalized training,” Johnson noted, adding he likes it because “you’re not just competing against yourself.”
Combined with the studio’s screens where “you can always monitor your heart rate,” Johnson likes the modality’s “50-50 blend of cardiovascular and weight training. It’s an hourlong challenging workout, which would be hard to do on your own.”
Johnson added that the workouts have definitely improved his ability “to do sports like snow skiing and surfing.”
Borja said Orangefitness works for everyone no matter what their fitness level. He said a marathoner or Iron Man or Woman competitor can benefit just as much as someone utilizing the conditioning program on a doctor’s advice.
Best of all, Borja said, the program has proven results.
For more information call (858) 551-8750, stop by 7734 Girard Ave., Suite C or visit orangetheoryfitness.com.