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Have a goal for every workout: Fat Cells respond to progressive resistance by getting smaller!

What is the goal of this workout today?

We all come into the workout room with different needs, strengths, and expectations. To some, not having a specific goal for every workout is actually unfathomable.

My goal for this workout

Keep track of specific exercises that have been done in the past and perform in more progressively challenging ways. These techniques help you to burn more fat:

  • Perform the exercise faster on the concentric, and slower on the eccentric
  • Use more resistance than before
  • Greater amount of reps using the same weight
  • Decrease rest intervals without sacrificing heavy weight
  • Using heavy weights in a larger range of motion
  • Improving your form and technique with weights that you struggled with before
  • Combination of the above
Time constraints can be motivating, as is some healthy Orangetheory Fitness competition

Time constraints can be motivating, as is some healthy Orangetheory Fitness competition

I don’t often speak to these accomplishments even if it is noticeable it helps me stay motivated in fitness.

Examples of a good goal to have

Let’s talk about a treadmill goal to begin with. Of course we’re following a HIIT program and the ideal length for a treadmill workout is between 20-30 minutes.

You can try to improve your times in the following ways:

  1. Your one-mile time
  2. Your half-mile time
  3. Your quarter mile time
  4. Your tenth of a mile time
Kyle Anderson from Seattle on the right running hard

Kyle Anderson from Seattle on the right running hard

You can further improve fat loss by:

  1. Your .25 mile run at 3% incline
  2. Your .25 mile run at 5% incline
  3. Your .25 mile run at 7% incline

Then on a later workout once you have recovered, do your .25 mile run at 1% incline and you will likely be able to run faster than you did before at that particular incline!

Thus progress! Fat cells should get smaller due to this physical and neural progression in muscular contraction.

Once you have accomplished it, nobody can take that away from you!

It’s yours.

Now believe in it and go with it

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Maximizing your Treadmill Intervals for Fat Loss, Performance and Unlimited Benefit

Will this blog help you get unlimited benefits? Maybe that’s a big statement

I’ve spent years now testing various treadmill interval blocks. Being native to the Pacific Northwest, I can run outdoors whenever I want but there are many times when I prefer to run indoors on a treadmill.

Treadmill intervals, if you go to OTFSeattle you'll recognize a face or two from this special Ft. Lauderdale workout

Treadmill intervals, if you go to OTFSeattle you’ll recognize a face or two from this special Ft. Lauderdale workout

The benefit of running on a treadmill:

  • Since it is a machine, you can find it easier to quantitatively track, record and achieve parameters of progression.
  • Increase resistance by simply increasing the incline
  • There is never a need to go downhill, so there may be less stress on the knees and the quads will be subjected to less stress and therefore less soreness.
  • Typically, less soreness means you can up your training frequency, thus getting faster results (so long as you stay healthy).

Designing effective treadmill interval blocks

Treadmill intervals are more a mental game than anything else. Almost every healthy person who uses a treadmill regularly can run faster than the maximum speed they’ve ever used on a treadmill. People just need a little encouragement! That’s why HIIT classes like Orangetheory Fitness in Seattle (my home studio Capitol Hill!!) are so popular and effective.

Example of a progressive HIIT block on the treadmill

Since teaching exercise classes to over a thousand people in Seattle, I’ve started focusing on how to coach these treadmill blocks even more effectively than before. Example of a recent All-Out block I coached my classes on.

  • 30 second all out at 1% (exerciser chooses their most intense speed possible for 30 sceonds)
  • 45 second walking recovery
  • 30 second all out using the same speed as last time, but at 3% incline
  • 45 second walking recovery
  • 30 second all out at 1% incline, starts off as an aggressive push, and halfway through exercisers are coached to peak at their maximum speed (even if only for seconds at a time)

After the block was over and people were walking for recovery on the treadmills, I asked people to raise their hand if that was the fastest they have ever gone on the treadmill. More than a quarter of people raised their hands, knowing they have achieved something they never achieved before and thus breaking another mental barrier which could have held them back from their fitness goals.

Kyle Anderson in the teal from Seattle, Washington. He's our fitness and business inspiration

Kyle Anderson in the teal from Seattle, Washington. He is one our fitness and business inspirations and a leader for the local team here

HIIT is here to stay

Exercise science tells us this. Workouts only need to be between 20-60 minutes long and the intensity can vary from minute to minute throughout the training. There is no better way to release that cocktail of beneficial fat-burning hormones in the hours after your workout. Good recovery from high intensity training guarantees the accelerated decrease in fat-cell size.

Stay tuned my people

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In Response to Criticism of the Orangetheory Orange Bike Campaign

You may have driven, walked, or bused around Seattle and seen the orange bikes before

This campaign was not unique to Seattle as it has happened all over the country and even in Canada as well. Many communities would describe the orange bikes as nothing more than curious which is why the campaign continue to spur interest all over. Yet we heard from many people who were not too fond of the orange bikes.

Seen it

Curious

Orange bikes vs. launching your career

At the time, the orange bikes were just another bright orange marketing tool to get people asking about Orangetheory. The goal is that everybody knows about Orangetheory. More and more people in Seattle have learned about the benefits of Orangetheory and our awesome local team.

Fleet Feet Seattle Capitol Hill running store, so we did a run together and it was enjoyable

Fleet Feet Seattle Capitol Hill running store, so we did a run together and it was enjoyable

We had other tools as well. It’s not that I claim pride in the fact, but wearing orange spandex was quite a comfortable running suit in the fall and winter of the previous year. So anyway, we had many more tools than the Orange bikes, but it was the orange bikes that caused the most intense response.

The franchise felt like, and still does feel like a local team

We were all over Seattle on foot, bike, rower and orange wrapped Volkswagen. We were on the ground everyday before the studios even existed. There we were, forming our identity, finding out who had the character to add value under the toughest of circumstances. We were on the streets everyday. To us, the marketing campaign was about helping to launch our careers in our desired field in the most growing city in America.

Before we had a studio, we had OT Fit Club. We hit the pavement, and we persisted

Before we had a studio, we had OT Fit Club. We hit the pavement, and we persisted

I had just come from working at an athletic club in Tacoma, and instead of being in a cozy gym talking to all kinds of current guests and customers… now I was on the streets of Seattle wearing four layers on the bottom and adopting ear warmers in an effort to invite you to become a Founding Member of our first-to-market franchise.

We should honor everybody involved

I appreciate the criticism of the orange bike campaign as it helped me understand the raw passion and spirit of Seattle. We must fight for our cause. That’s something I always felt about being a man is having a cause and standing behind it no matter what. Apply passion to your vision and execute daily.

Because excitement about fitness is what I have for the world. This is how I connect with people and this is what draws me to go beyond barriers and explore the uncomfortable zones of life. My fitness takes me forward and I’m bringing as many of you along with me as I can.

Let's go

Let’s go

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Set goals on achievements, not outcomes, for lasting results in fitness and Fat Loss

What is it more important to look a certain way or to feel a certain way?

The reality is that we can only do so much about our looks, but we can do so much more with our minds. I fully support the desire to reduce body fat to healthier levels. Meanwhile we should focus on daily accomplishments that take us to a better place in mind and in body.

This guy inspired me, he said, "Successful people do what they have to do whether they feel like it or not." as he works towards his goals

This guy inspired me, he said, “Successful people do what they have to do whether they feel like it or not.” as he works towards his goals

Achievement: “a thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill.” vs. Outcome: “the way a thing turns out; a consequence.”

The risky course is to focus on the outcome. Because some outcomes are ultimately out of your control and that’s just the way the world works. Sometimes you over-think the outcome, and then you don’t even start because of the anxiety or fear of failing. Fortunately, there are alternative ways to approach the goal of fat loss.

Achieve, you must

Achieve, you must

Achievement. Our greatest achievements are those that take us further or more powerfully than the day before. We can live day to day by seeking achievements, thereby altering the course of our lives and helping us burn the fat in more sustainable terms.

Fat loss tip for runners: By making progression in your speed and power, you’ll be able to obliterate more calories from muscles doing their natural function. If you run 8.0 mph at 1% incline for 90 seconds, then the next session go for 8.0 at 3% incline for 90 seconds, then after recovering do another session where you go 8.0 at 5% incline for 90 seconds. To continue the progression, perform 9.0 mph at 1% incline, then continue up the incline ladder each additional session (3%, then 5% for 90 seconds…).

Model pretending to set up for a run

Model pretending to set up for a run

 

Progressive resistance in speed or work against gravity is a proven successful formula.

Focus on performance goals for long term success in fitness.

Performance goals before aesthetic goals. Health goals before weight loss goals. Achievements take you further because you achieve more.

Everybody has potential for strength in some manner. Upper body strength maybe, perhaps lower body strength. Maybe it’s mental strength. Strength comes from overcoming barriers and achieving more than what you were capable of yesterday.

Good luck stay tuned for more local content as well

 

 

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Hundreds of Citizens await Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Lower Queen Anne Studio Grand Opening

Orangetheory Fitness in Seattle, Lower Queen Anne will soon open its doors to an expanding fitness community

Let’s just be straight up about this. People have waited a long time to begin working out and exercising at OTF in LQA. We began promoting the studio in late 2013 by going to all these different neighborhoods like Fremont, Downtown, and of course Lower Queen Anne. We wore the OrangeMan costume all around and spread awareness of our brand.

obstacles

Despite the wait, Lower Queen Anne will open day one with several hundred members who will be actively booking and attending classes.

Our staff is excited to connect with new and existing members in Lower Queen Anne

Because of the heart rate system, motivational trainers and music, you will be guaranteed to improve your fitness within weeks. I’ve been actively taking OTF classes from my coaches and colleagues and definitely notice myself leaning out as a result of these classes. OTF is not for everybody, but it would suit fitness goals of about 90% of people whether you attend once, twice, or even four+ times per week.

Founding members and founding staff

We’ve been through many challenges in the process of launching this fitness product first to market in Seattle. As a result, our staff is not only extremely appreciative of the opportunity to have careers in our desired field, we also have used teamwork to keep moving forward. Not everyone was cut out for the journey.

ayearfromnow

 

Is it worth the value?

You may think I am biased being the Head Trainer at the Capitol Hill studio and perhaps I am. However, the fat loss results from OTF workouts are superior to the majority of personal training 1-on-1 sessions around the country. If you are a relatively healthy individual looking to improve muscle tone and burn fat, improve endurance and confidence, then you would end up saving hundreds of dollars per month by doing group workouts.

orangemananddarthvader

OrangeMan is taking over

 

Orangetheory is revolutionizing the fitness industry

There are brilliant minds all over the country looking to learn the lessons from OTF to create their own brands. Fitness trends will forever be evolving. For example, Jack LaLane is not immortal though his contributions to fitness have been immortalized. Orangetheory has taken it to the next level and is the best affordable group personal training anywhere around.

OTF has impacted my life

The most rewarding part of my job is being in daily contact with hundreds of people from Seattle who attend our fitness classes. I get to make connections with people coming from all industries — which is quite a pleasure in the booming economic climate of Seattle. At OTF, there is no such Seattle freeze. Maybe you won’t connect with me in a manner more than attending a fitness class, but you certainly will find people who’s presence inspires, motivates, and guides you to improving fitness and to maintain quality of life for years to come.

surroundyourselfwithgoodppl

Fitness is anti-aging

Study after study reveals the plethora of mechanisms in which improving muscular strength, endurance and cardiovascular health reduces the age of cells inside our bodies. That’s why Seattle is a beautiful place. We stay young by exposing ourselves to uncomfortable conditions such as intense exercise and cloudy weather (which probably protects our skin anyway). If we all focused more time (which is the greatest value) on improving fitness, then we will manifest health and fulfillment in other areas of life.

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