How Gym Operators Can Position Against Orange Theory Fitness and Capture The Team Training Hill!

Congratulations to Orange Theory Fitness! The news is just out that since their formal launch in 2010 they have built a team training workout model that has opened over 1000 franchise stores, reportedly generating over *$1M million in revenue per store (*stores over the age of 12 months), and best of all, they have not closed even one store. That math suggests they are approaching $1 Billion in network revenue. Nice work!

Let’s begin with the notion that any business strategy is a set of activities working together Tumcoherently to gain an advantage over time. Orange Theory is no different than any other facility, so it is hard to merely say “they are successful because of X.” In reality they are successful because of the blend of many activities they chose to partake in, which leaves their members all working together.

That said, their most striking difference is not the treadmills in the polished bootcamp studio, it is not the suspension ropes, it is not the resistance bands, nor the color of the store itself, but it is the heart rate technology.

You see Orange Theory has positioned itself in the gym space by suggesting if you work out in a given heart rate zone, you will benefit from EPOC or after burn. EPOC or after burn is when your metabolism will be boosted during your 36-hour recovery post class. Orange Theory attests that you will burn more calories doing it this way than if you didn't work out in the said heart rate zone, which in their case is the orange zone, or 84%-91%of your max.

This narrative has worked well. I have heard many well-educated professionals at my son's soccer games talking to each other about this new “Orange Theory” and how it is the fitness hack to burning body fat. These people go on to explain how the big screen display helps you adhere to this special zone, and how the smartphone app post class validates the experience. The science is not exact, and max heart rate settings can really throw this science off if you want to get technical, but the story is interesting, and their members can hang their hat on that explanation when raving about their weight loss success to their friends. The reality is that working out hard will burn fat.

For gyms who are not Orange Theory, I suggest you don't mimic them with your programming, but position against them, as they say, ‘different is better than better.’ If you leverage a platform like Myzone, you can assign points beyond just the HIIT zone and in doing so you can be different in 2 key areas.

1. First, you can include all the activity in class. Myzone assigning points to the lower heart rates zone too! (These zones being grey, blue, green,) So the platform captures and rewards the beating heart even when the member is lying flat lifting weights and their heart rate is naturally lower. By doing this you are crediting the whole class, not dismissing anything out of the higher zones as being less valuable in terms of the goal at hand, be it weight loss or toning up.

2. Second, use a belt with memory, so that when the member is performing a complimentary workout later that week, such as a recovery jog along the lake the next day, the member still has their data. By assigning points to that recovery jog in the green zone you are being inclusive of the whole fitness journey, and therefore rewarding it and motivating members to not just push harder during any given interval but push on all week in terms of all concerted exercise. That is a narrative you can differ on i.e. “Mrs. Newbie Member, there are benefits to HITT which are X, there are benefits to steady state exercise which are Y, and there are benefits to lifting weights which are Z, our technology platform captures it all, tracks it all, and rewards it all, so that you are motivated to do it all, and that way you will achieve sustainable results over time”

As a fitness executive, you must identify what trends are catching on and ask yourself how to capture that trend while positioning yourself as being not better, but different. I hope the above give you a good example of doing this.