7 years ago, I went to my first Orangetheory class. My first class was a preview before the studio officially opened, and I had no idea what I was in for. I just was excited to check out a new workout and see what it was all about. And that first class changed my entire life. I never knew what a single workout class could do for me until that first workout. I had tried to get into a lot of other workout routines and plans in my past, but they never seemed to stick. And while I didn’t want to assume that I would feel that way about Orangetheory, I knew it was possible. But I’m so glad that it didn’t happen like that for me.
After my first class, I knew immediately how tough the workout was. I was so sore and struggled to walk for a few days after. But even with the soreness, I was motivated to see if I could do better. So I started going to workouts 3 days a week and pushing myself in each and every workout. And I have been able to do things that I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ve never felt like an athlete before, and now I do think that I’m at least a little bit of one. I never understood how strong I really was. I didn’t know that having a regular workout routine like this could do so much for my mental health and my self-esteem.
In the past 7 years, so many amazing things have happened to me through Orangetheory.
I have fun traditions like having Christmas Eve workouts with Coach Bruce almost every year.
I also have had so many amazing coaches over the past 7 years and they all are special to me in their own ways. Some coaches are ones that I have every week who have gotten to know me and I’ve gotten to know as well. And being in their class can sometimes feel more like a hangout time. And there are other coaches that I’ve had only once or twice who have seen something in me that I never knew was there or who taught me a cool trick or correction in my workout that has stuck with me ever since then.
I have done workouts with my family on Thanksgiving morning.
I’m so grateful that my family wants to work out with me. Even if nobody else went with me, I would still go on my own. But it’s become a really fun tradition to have a family workout before dinner. And even though we weren’t able to be together last year, we all still did a workout that morning so we could consider that as completing our family workout.
I celebrated completing 1,000 workouts.
And in those 1,000+ workouts, I have also made some incredible friends. When I started working out, I stuck to myself and didn’t really talk to others. But then you start to see the same people every week and get to know them. And some of the friends I’ve met in my workouts are some of my closest friends now. I haven’t gotten to see most of them in a while, but we are all still supporting each other and staying in touch however we can.
And most recently, finally getting to be back in the studio after everything being closed for over a year.
And I think having a history of consistent workouts is one of the only reasons I was able to get through the isolation at home without completely falling apart. I never thought I’d be able to do home workouts and stay motivated. And over the 13 months that I did work out at home, I did have moments when I wondered if I should just not do it. But because I had over 5 years of regular workouts, I was able to find a way to make it work. There is nothing like being in the studio and I’m so glad that I’m back, but I’m so grateful that I didn’t stop doing workouts when the studios were closed and used excuses to start bad habits.
I know that of the 7 years I’ve been working out at Orangetheory, there is a year that technically I wasn’t there. But it still counts to me since I was doing the Orangetheory at Home workouts and continuing my workout journey. And I was still connected to the Orangetheory community in the ways that I could. But now that I’m back, I’m ready to see what will happen with my workouts and what other accomplishments I will have.
7 years in and I’m still as excited about my workouts and being under the orange lights as I was for my very first class.
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