Fad Gyms like Orange Theory DON’T WORK. Those sound like fighting words don’t they?
Well let me explain..
I have been in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, nutrition coach and gym owner for over 20 years. Within those two plus decades I have seen many changes in how people exercise and the types of programs they use. So many protocols and programs have since become “fitness fads”.
My first experience was early on in my career as a personal trainer at New York Sports Club during the late 90’s & early 2000’s in Manhattan. I saw trainers go from training clients using tradition machines ad free weights to having clients stand on weird balance balls & disks. I guess the idea was to make the workout more functional? I have to admit I incorporated some of that stuff early on and always felt a little silly. I decided to stick to training my clients traditionally because I felt that the trend would eventually go away, which it did by the mid 2,000’s.
After about 12 years of personal training I decided to open up my own gym and do it the right way with the right programming. One of the reasons was whitnessing the rise and fall of programs like Curves and Bad Mikey’s in my town. These programs never really offered it’s members quality coaching or any customization what so ever!!
I was intrigued by Crossfit, but when I dove deeper into the program I learned that it is a sport that encourages everyday people to perform Olympic Lifts, and train in a super extreme way. That didn’t line up well with my core values when it comes to training. Let me preface this section by saying I’m NOT totally against Crossfit, I have many friends that have great physiques and excel at Crossfit. I’m just saying it certainly is NOT for everyone. Especially if you’re over 40 looking to lose weight and haven’t exercised much in the past decade.
I also feel the same way about Orange Theory! That program seems to have ZERO thought behind its programing in my opinion. Is there even a physical evaluation before they make you run as fast as you can on a treadmill while the “person” with the microphone yells “FEEL THE BURN!”
That program claims that manually burning calories by running, rowing and what ever else they throw in will melt the fat off of you.
The workouts are super intense and leave little room for modifications. Intensity is certainly an important ingredient when it comes to working out, the problem is if its over-applied it leads to plateaus, injuries and burnout.
It becomes a vicious cycle, people initially lose some weight on these programs but then find themselves taking more and more classes only to see no change at all.
HIIT Cardio is great for heart health, expending a lot of calories in a short time, and overall fitness. But the message I’m trying to convey is….IT’S OVERDONE!
I’ve seen too many people doing 4-5 days a week of all out intensity, not eating enough or recovering enough and getting no results. When it comes to fat loss cardio isn’t going to help keep your hard earned muscle, in fact if you are eating low calorie and doing tons of cardio (which most people think is the right way) you’ll end up holding onto fat and burning through muscle.
Group class facilities are motivating. People tend to work out much more consistently in group training facilities than the average gym. My gym, TFW Mahopac is a small group training facility but MUCH different than these places…I’ll explain more later.
Then there’s Nutrition.
You know probably THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN FAT LOSS!
Is there an Orange Theory Nutrition program?
Do they educate people that “manually” burning calories by doing tons of intense cardio means NOTHING if you regularly eat in a calorie surplus?
Do they talk about the metabolic benefits of building muscle?
NOPE.
So what’s the solution? What makes TFW Mahopac so different?
CUSTOMIZATION…
Personalized 1-on-1 Nutrition Coaching. We design your entire program based on what you enjoy eating, your lifestyle (home life, work life) and your training preferences. Our coaching program educates our clients so they can SUSTAIN their results when they finally reach their goal! No Fads, No cutting carbs or alcohol, simply making great choices & executing the plan consistently.
We’re not selling you a fancy gym or a fad program. When you join TFW Mahopac you are purchasing a new lifestyle.
It starts with an initial consult where we build you a personlized blue print to reach your goals. The blue print includes a complete nutrition and exercise plan, pair that with premium coaching and you’re on your way to sustainable results!
Our approach is not one size fits all, we follow specific principals. We preach nutrition first, we coach people to lift weights properly and in an individualized way that is right for their body. Resistance training is the key modality for fat loss, building muscle will help you burn fat and keep it off. Muscle burns calories at a higher rate than fat tissue which means that adding muscle can increase your metabolism. An increased metabolism means that you will burn more calories while you are at rest.
Our members learn to enjoy all aspects of exercise and prioritize rest and recovery. We offer HIIT classes and love to jack up the intensity but our program is not built around them.
If you’ve been trying to lose weight and looking to get started my suggestion is keep it super simple. If you follow some of the guidelines I just laid out for you like cleaning up your nutrition, cut back on the intense cardio and prioritize weight training, you will quickly start to see results.
If you’re ready to take your results to the next level you can get more information on TFW Mahopac’s customized nutrition & workout program by clicking below
