Among all the fitness studios out there, OrangeTheory is probably the one you hear about the most. Whether it’s from a friend that’s trying to convince you to join their little cult, a close relative that shares their experience with it, or you’ll hear about it while doing your typical workout session at the gym. Although it may sound sketchy at first, their unique approach to working out seems to be working for a lot of people and it’s exactly why they’re rising in popularity these last couple of years. They offer multiple daily classes, challenges, and events that focus on HIIT and aerobic fitness. However, they do have a weightlifting program for people that want to build muscles called Lift 45. With that being said, what is it about? And how can you benefit from it?
Lift 45 at OrangeTheory is a 45-minute resistance training-only class specifically led by expert coaches and tailored to build muscle mass, burn body fat, improve your overall exercise form, and change the usual HIIT workouts with a lifting program. It consists of 3 different templates: Total Body 1, 2, and 3.
In this article, we’ll talk about what OrangeTheory Lift 45 is all about as well as an example of what the workout looks like.
Table of Contents
What is OrangeTheory Lift 45 Workout?
Let’s first establish what a Lift 45 class is all about. Well, as its name implies, Lift 45 at OrangeTheory is a 45-minute resistance training-only class specifically tailored to increase or maintain lean mass, improve your overall exercise form, and change things up with a nice lifting program.
As you may already know, the majority of OrangeTheory classes focus on HIIT and cardio. However, during a Lift 45 class, you’ll see none of that and will focus only on Upper Body, Lower Body, or Full Body depending on the template.
If you want to spice things up and add in a cheeky little weight-lifting routine from time to time, then Lift 45 classes is your best option.
Additionally, since it’s led by expert coaches, they’ll explain in full detail each of the moves that you’ll be performing, the muscles that you’ll be working, and how you can improve your overall performance. As a result, you’ll be reminded and educated on how to be aware of your form even when you are doing regular classes.
And to top it off, since it’s only one group, the coaches can really take their time to focus on each individual, help with form, and show you how everything is done.
What Does an OrangeTheory Lift 45 Workout Look Like?
Throughout the years, Lift 45 evolved and changed how it’s performed. Before, it used to be a replication of how you’d structure your weightlifting at the gym, so that would be:
- Upper Body
- Lower Body
- Combo of both
Essentially, these classes were intended to be supplements to the 2G/3G workouts offered by OrangeTheory as a way to improve muscle gains since most of the typical classes are HIIT (and HIIT classes don’t increase muscle mass that much).
The previous Lift 45 classes were focused on low repetitions and very heavy lifting. As a matter of fact, you would usually only get one or two spalts if you were lifting very heavy. But that was the whole point of this routine: building muscle mass.
You could do a lift class and then go straight into a 2G class and not be exhausted because there was no HIIT.
The current OrangeTheory Lift 45 consists of 3 different templates (a fancy way of saying “workout routines”):
- Total Body 1
- Total Body 2
- Total Body 3
And here are some examples of what they might look like (the routine varies from one studio to another so expect a little difference)
Total Body 1:
- 6min Dynamic Warmup
- Block 1 – 8Min
- Floor – 3 Rounds
- 45s – TRX Low Row
- 45s – Weighted Step Up (L)
- 45s – Weighted Step Up (R)
- 15s – Rest
- Rower – 3 Rounds
- 45s – Goblet Squat
- 45s – Split Stance Hip Hinge Low Row (L)
- 45s – Split Stance Hip Hinge Low Row (R)
- 15s – Rest
- Block 2 – 3.75 min
- Floor – 3 Rounds
- 30s – Lying Tricep Extensions
- 30s – Seated Hammer Curls
- Rower – 3 Rounds
- 30s – Sumo Squat
- 30s – Reverse Lunge Goblet Squat
- Block 3 – 2min Core
- 20s – Bicycles
- 20s – static Crunch with Scissors
- 20s – Crunch with Heel Touches
- Breathwork
- Cooldown
Total Body 2:
- 6min Dynamic Warmup
- Block 1 – 2.5 Min
- Alt transverse squats 12x total
- Hand-release push-ups 6x
- Block 2 – 10 Min
- Floor Side
- Single arm chest press 6x each
- TRX Y-raise 8x
- Rower Side
- Front squats 8x total
- Alt S/L airplane 12x total
- Block 3 – 10 Min
- Floor Side
- Bench single arm low row 6x each
- Skier swing 8x
- Rower Side
- Alt forward lunge 10x total
- TRX rollout 8x
- Finisher – 2.5 Min
- Alt-pop squats 12x total
- Power push-ups 6x
- Stretch/cooldown
Total Body 3:
- Warm-up:
- Jog in place
- Plank pushup walkout
- Alt runner’s lunge with alt arm reach
- Good morning with arm reach
- Walking downward dog
- 3 high knees switch
- Row side block 1:
- Single weight deadlift on Right side for 20 sec
- Single weight deadlift on Left side for 20 sec
- Plank shoulder taps for 20 sec
- Rest 30 sec, Repeat for 3 rounds
- Row side block 2:
- Right side bench step up for 20 sec
- Left side bench step up for 20 sec
- 10-sec transition
- TRX Bicep Curls for 20 sec
- 30-sec rest, Repeat for 3 rounds
- Floor side block 1:
- Miniband hip raises for 20 sec
- Miniband toe reach for 20 sec
- 20-sec rest Repeat above for 4 rounds
- Floor side block 2:
- Split stance high row on right for 20 sec
- Split stance high row on left for 20 sec
- 10-sec transition
- Lateral bench hops for 20 sec
- 30-sec rest, Repeat for 3 rounds
- All sides (finisher):
- Right side lunge pulse for 20 sec
- 5-sec transition
- Left side lunge pulse for 20 sec
- 10-sec transition
- Body weight pulsing squats for 20 sec
- 10-sec rest, Repeat one more time (only 2 rounds)
