We’ve all heard about OrangeTheory, whether it’s from a friend, a relative, or even during your typical workout session at the gym. This unique way of training seems to be rising in popularity these last couple of years and everyone wants to try it out for themselves. I’ve even had a female friend of mine try to convince me to join her in one of the classes to see whether or not I would enjoy it. I would often brush it off and tell her that I prefer to take control of my own workout routine. Nonetheless, I decided to dig up some info about what OrangeTheory is all about, how their workouts are done, and what their communities look like. To my surprise, the majority of their members are female and this got me thinking, is OrangeTheory for guys?
Although most OrangeTheory classes have more females than males, that doesn’t imply that guys aren’t welcome or should feel awkward about attending a class, everyone is more concerned about their actual workouts. As a matter of fact, females love the company of a guy since it brings more competitiveness to the room.
In this article, we’ll talk about if OrangeTheory is meant for guys, and the best time to train there if you want male company.
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OrangeTheory Female-to-Male Ratio
Before figuring out whether or not OrangeTheory is meant for guys, let’s first determine their male-to-female ratio. Since this is studio-dependent, I’ve decided to take the average of each individual studio (not all of them) based on info that was presented in forums from OrangeTheory members (source).
On average, there is approximately a 75/25 female-to-male ratio in OrangeTheory classes. Meaning that if a class has 20 members, 15 of them will be females and 5 of them will be males.
This means that OrangeTheory classes have a lot more females than males as compared to a typical gym.
And this is to be expected since females prefer creative ways of training such as yoga, Pilates, or barre rather than a classic weightlifting routine.
Is OrangeTheory for Guys?
Now that we’ve established that OrangeTheory is attended by females more than males, we can move on to figuring out whether or not they’re meant for guys.
When it comes to OrangeTheory as a franchise, there is definitely no rule that says males are not allowed to attend. On the contrary, males are just as welcome as females to try out fitness classes for themselves.
But is this workout meant to be performed by guys, especially ones that want to build muscles or lose weight? Well, to answer this question, we first need to understand how OrangeTheory’s classes are executed.
According to their website, Orangetheory is usually a 1 hour, full-body workout that focuses on training endurance, strength, and power which makes it perfect for people that are looking to build muscles or lose weight. Additionally, they implement science into their workouts and use something that’s called Heart Rate Based Interval Training, which is just a fancy way of saying burning more calories post-workout as compared to a traditional exercise.
During the workout, you wear Heart Rate monitors which display real-time body metrics on the big screens scattered around the studios.
The intensity of the workout is based on your individual Heart Rate zones, which makes it perfect for all fitness levels. Additionally, they have fitness coaches that lead the workout to prevent you from over or under-training.
As you can see, this kind of training is very adaptive to the individual. If you’re a fit male, then you’ll work out according to your own pace, similarly, if you’re a female, the intensity of the workout will vary according to you.
Is It Awkward for a Guy to Workout at OrangeTheory?
Based on the male-to-female ratio that the majority of studios have, I understand how awkward it can get for a man to attend these classes, especially if they’re the only male present there.
But at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone really cares if you’re a man or female at OrangeTheory Fitness. Everyone is busy focusing on the more important thing, which is finishing their workout. This means that the concern of being the only male present at the studio is something that you should let go of.
When it comes to these kinds of workouts, saving up your energy is crucial in order to have the best workout possible, so wasting it on something irrelevant like seeing how many guys or girls are present is really not a good idea. Everyone in the class is more worried about if their HRM is working, if they’re burning enough calories, or if they’re performing to their fullest potential.
The only time where you should be worried about being the only male present at a fitness studio is if you are going to a place whose branding is gender-specific like Curves.
Best Time to Attend OrangeTheory Fitness as a Guy
If you still feel awkward about being the only male present at an OrangeTheory class, then you should attend these classes at a time when males are mostly present.
Generally, before-work and after-work hours at any OrangeTheory studio have more men than the middle-of-the-day classes. If you go at 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m., you’re probably going to be the only male there.
However, if you don’t mind female company, then you should go at whatever time you please since, as I mentioned in the beginning, no one will really pay close attention to you.
Conclusion:
If you’re still not sure about attending an OrangeTheory class because you’re afraid to be the only male present there, here is what some females think about guys being present at their classes (source):
“I actually prefer to go to classes with guys, I think the energy in the room is higher, more competitive.”
“I always try to keep up with the fittest guy in class. And I get so much enjoyment from beating them on the distance rows. I’m terrible but it’s great motivation- dudes, keep showing up!”
As you can see, females that train there absolutely love the company of a guy during their classes since it motivates them to work even harder and you get to enjoy the workout without being awkward, so it’s a win-win situation for both of you.
