What’s up, fellow Obsessives?
Wow! I was hoping to get maybe four new subscribers after launching OTF Obsessed last Sunday morning.
Instead, I got over 400 of you!
The response really speaks to how strongly we all feel about OTF and I’m eager for the fun ahead. Thank you so much for joining.
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🍊 Better Than Ever Before 💪
“I’m in the best shape of my life.”
It’s a line you’ll hear often from people obsessed with OTF and it’s one that stood out when I received a nice email from Frances in New Jersey last weekend.
Here’s a snippet:
“I joined OTF as a founding member of the Rockaway, NJ studio in 2019. Now I’m 77 years young and still loving it. I have 1,418 classes, just PR on the .25 mile run, the 1000 meter and 200 meter rows … I might not be able to run, row or lift as much as I could do if I were 50 years younger, but I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.”
I’m a touch younger than Frances and live in a different part of the country but I can completely relate to what she says.
There’s a good chance that you do as well.
I don’t think it’s surprising many of us feel this way. A majority of us didn’t play competitive sports past high school (if at all) and many of us struggled to stick with a workout plan before finding Orangetheory.
I joined OTF a few weeks before my 40th birthday. I wasn’t out of shape, per se, but my workout history had always been an intermittent one. I never attended gyms for any sustained period and gravitated to running for much of my 30s.
But while I’d enjoy preparing for a 10K or half-marathon, I’d go months without putting on my running shoes once those races were done.
Throw in a fondness for craft beer and pizza — an affinity that exists until this day — and it wasn’t exactly a recipe for a healthy lifestyle.
But it all changed once I caught the OTF bug and everything the workouts had to offer. The challenge of the workouts and their immediate results showed me that consistent hard work could pay off in a way that made me feel much younger.
Now at 46, I can safely say I’m more toned and flexible than I was at 36. I don’t tire quickly and I definitely have more strength and endurance to get through my days as a father, husband and leader at work.
Heck, I feel much better than when I was 26 and it makes me wish OTF had been around in 2005.
I’m thankful it’s here now though and that we discovered it when we did.
It’s allowing so many of us to reach a place we never thought possible.
The best shape of our lives.
How did OTF help you get to the best shape of your life? Let me know at [email protected] and I’ll include you comments in a future newsletter!
🍊 Your responses: How did you become Obsessed?
A couple of responses to last week’s newsletter about becoming obsessed …
“My cardio fitness will erode if I stop OTF, and I need to do all that can given my family history of heart disease and stroke. My cardiologist looks at my OTF reports and sees that the classes are tougher than a stress test. I enjoy the members, group classes, and social aspect of OTF versus going to gym and doing my own thing. — Don
It's a great workout.
I love seeing the data in real time.
I need to go at least four times a week to justify the $159 monthly payment. Lol.
The benchmarks.
The specialty workouts.
The community.
It helps my mental health.
I've lost weight and gained muscle.
I love most of the workouts and equipment.
Rowers! Rowing uses 85% of the muscles in your body, but I think OTF is the only boutique fitness studio that uses them.
Hell Week! — Cynthia
📆 The Week Ahead
🥇 One-mile benchmark on Thursday! Can’t wait. This is my favorite test.
🏃 Keep stacking those Marathon Month miles No matter what your goal, you should be about a third of the way there or more.
📚 Welcome back teachers! At least to my own 4:55 am class as our local school districts get back in session this week. Pre-booking will be key.
🥇 Milestones!
Shoutout to my friend Jeff Arnold, who hit class 1,350 on Thursday!
“A total of 66 pounds gone, 1,065,783 calories burned, 22,313 splat points and 1,741 miles covered on the treadmill. 10 Dri-Tris, seven Hell Weeks and countless songs I didn’t know on a coach’s playlist. Here’s to more life under and outside of the orange lights.”
Fun fact: Jeff is the one friend I had before OTF who I can always text in the morning to compare notes on a workout or celebrate a new PR. He was also subscriber #1 to OTF Obsessed!
Congratulations, Jeff!
Tell me about your milestone for a future newsletter at [email protected]
Note: OTF Obsessed is an independent fan-created newsletter and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially associated with Orangetheory Fitness.
