'I'm the Bionic Woman'

What’s up, fellow Obsessives?

One of my newsletter goals in 2026 was to start sharing the inspiring stories of other Obsessives. That begins today with Sharon’s story, one I’m sure everyone can take something from. If you have an interesting or inspiring OTF story — or know someone who does — please let me know at [email protected]!

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How OTF helped Sharon Walters power through three big challenges

One of the things I’ve loved about writing this newsletter is hearing from people who have paused their Orangetheory journeys for some serious medical things … only to fight through and return to dominating under the orange lights like nothing had ever happened.

Those stories are nothing short of inspiring and it’s one that Sharon Walters, a member of the Savannah, Georgia studio can proudly share.

Over the past two years, Sharon has had both knees replaced and come back from a fractured right femur. But if you watched her recently celebrate her 1,600th class, you might not even know she’s had to rebuild and rehab much of her lower body.

”With all the metal in me, I’m the Bionic Woman,” the 58-year-old occupational therapist cracks. “Jaime Sommers has nothing on me.”

So how has Orangetheory figured into our superhero’s story?

Sharon’s Orangetheory Story

Sharon joined Orangetheory in 2017 at age 49 after the usual failed relationships with big box gyms and even personal trainers.

The motivation of OTF’s group workout lured her in and still hasn’t let go. Sharon immediately took to Savannah’s coaches, front desk staff and fellow members as she tackled signature workouts like Infinity and Everest.

”The motivation of a group workout lured me in,” Sharon says. “And it worked.”

But while Sharon quickly developed that consistency she’d been craving, her knees were on borrowed time. Sharon was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both knees at age 27 and by the time she showed up to OTF, her knees were already bone-on-bone.

Strangely, the condition revealed itself not in excessive pain, but in excessive sweating during workouts. By 2023, however, the pain grew to be too much and she went to see an orthopedic surgeon.

”When he opened my right knee, he told his staff he couldn’t believe I could walk,” Sharon says. “The robotic-assisted machine didn’t even recognize that I had a knee.”

Sharon had her right knee replaced in April 2024 and then her left knee was replaced in July.

She returned to OTF six weeks after each knee replacement and a period of physical therapy. She took things slowly and modified where necessary.

But less than a year later, Sharon broke her leg.

Sharon still isn’t sure how her right femur fractured. The working theory is that it wasn’t aligned with her body and developed a hairline stress fracture that “went amok!” on March 4, 2025.

The injury led to Sharon being non-weight bearing for five months, which drove her crazy. There was only so much knitting she could do and television she could watch. By October, she was already stalking the Orangetheory Reddit page and looking at the templates she was missing each day during her nine-month OTF absence.

”That was torture,” Sharon says. “I hated not being at OTF.”

Sharon dutifully went through her physical therapy and at-home exercises, which she’s still going through as of this writing. While her orthopedic surgeon thought she could return to OTF in September, she didn’t think she could handle the rigors of a full class. She went to another gym instead and started preparing herself for the realities of OTF treadmill time.

”I wasn’t ready,” she said. “I listened to my body.”

Sharon made her triumphant return to OTF on November 26, 2025, reunited with the community who checked in and stayed in touch throughout her two-year medical journey.

Sharon credits Orangetheory with far more than calories burned.

She believes building strength before her journey helped her delay those replacements and recover faster once she had the surgeries.

The OTF mindset helped carry her through the realities of rehab

The promise of resuming daily workouts gave her something to work toward.

What advice would she give fellow OTF members who might be facing a similar situation?

”Take your time and listen to your body,” she says. “Do not overdo!”

Sharon is looking forward to increasing her speed on the treadmills and getting back to her regular weights as she looks toward eventually being able to complete a Dri-Tri with the 5K tread. Being out for nine months took her down from the 25-30 pound selections for her arms to 10-15. Her one-mile power walker benchmark went from 7:54 to 9:19.

She was initially annoyed before reframing her reality.

Any PR she has was part of Sharon 1.0.

”Sharon 2.0” is a different person.

“Initially I was annoyed, but then I remembered that this is a reset (for me),” she says. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. I have been challenged and changed!”

🚣‍♂️ 500 meter row benchmark (Wednesday) First time for the 500 since November 20, though I got to do a benchmark template tryout a few weeks back. Interested to see if they adopt it!

• Happy 4th OTF anniversary to Melissa D., who powered through a 6 a.m. weather cancelation and went to the 9 am class to make sure she got her anniversary burn in! “OTF changed me in the BEST WAYS POSSIBLE!” she writes.

• Congrats to Victoria G. for just passing 2,000 classes!!!

Have a great week out there, everyone!

Note: OTF Obsessed is an independent fan-created newsletter and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially associated with Orangetheory Fitness.