Orangetheory v CrossFit

[dawn16]

@goingodsway This should be the top comment

 

[ramona66]

@ppat4u Leaning out is ALL diet. Doesn't matter what exercise you do.

 

[cloakndagr]

@ramona66 This is untrue. There’s a symbiotic relationship between reduction in calories and resistance exercises to reduce fat. One without the other will bring frustration and subpar results. If you live a sedentary life style and continue to cut calories you could cut to a point of reducing lean muscle mass, which would be counter productive to the goal.

 

[castso]

@ramona66 Exercise burns calories, depending on the amount/type of exercise, the same diet can produce completely different physical appearances.

 

[ramona66]

@castso We're talking about orangetheory or crossfit. We know the variables here.

 

[jbross]

@ppat4u I did OT for a short period of time. I didn't feel like I was gaining a lot of strength or muscle. My heart rate was always super high, so meeting their Orange zone was super easy, but I couldn't breathe for shit and i couldn't recover. I liked the concept and most of what it had to offer, but it wasn't sustainable for me. I think a major point for me as well is the amount of running - it makes it harder for me to breathe and recover. Would much rather have rowed all the time instead.

There is a lot more variety in CrossFit in comparison, and you will likely never see a repeat unless its a Benchmark.

As everyone stated, Diet & Nutrition is key to losing the fat. Building muscle to replace fat is a great way to increase your metabolism as well. Although I haven't lost as much weight as I had initially wanted by now. I have gained a lot of weight in muscle while losing in fat and have noticed significant changes to my body. I've been digging into the back of my closet and finding those shirts I tucked away that didn't fit suddenly fitting again.

 

[clouds3]

@jbross

My heart rate was always super high, so meeting their Orange zone was super easy, but I couldn't breathe for shit and i couldn't recover. I liked the concept and most of what it had to offer, but it wasn't sustainable for me.

This is typical of new members who haven't adjusted to the format and intensity of OTF. I started OTF in already decent shape and still went through the adjustment period.

It definitely calms down and becomes harder to reach orange after the adjustment period without increasing your performance, i.e. increasing pace for base, push, and all outs; more wattage or higher splits/stroke rates for rowing; and lifting heavier.

 

[theinformer]

@ppat4u Whichever you find more enjoyable

 

[bhatfield43]

@ppat4u I did OrangeTheory 3-4x a week for 3 years, gave that up about a year ago for a big box gym, and am now about a month in to CrossFit 3x a week. I prefer CrossFit, the intense cardio in every OT workout didn't feel sustainable, and there was really no focus on form there. I'm feeling just as "worked out" with CrossFit but it feels more like a full body workout, which is what I was looking for.

 

[shortlivedglory]

@ppat4u I am just happy that you can afford both haha!

On a serious note. Orange Theory is maintenance program. If you want to lose weight and gain muscle you need to lift heavy weights, which you do in crossfit. Improve your diet and do more crossfit. You will see results in a few months!

 

[ppat4u]

@shortlivedglory I can’t afford both! Haha. I was thinking about switching over to CrossFit. Been doing Orangetheory for a couple years. Just feel like I’m plateauing with OT right now

 

[kaitlyn764]

@ppat4u You can’t out exercises a bad diet.

 

[ppat4u]

@kaitlyn764 That’s for sure! I’m going to work on my diet as well!

 

[rickturner24]

@kaitlyn764 I agree with the statement but I’ll add one caveat.

For anyone that’s just trying to get started on their journey, it’s better to focus on increasing their energy output and making exercise a near daily habit. Then once you’ve built that consistency, diet will be so much easier to start scaling back and you won’t want to say to hell with all of it.

 

[kaitlyn764]

@rickturner24 You can make it even simpler by saying eat real foods. People get caught up in the calculation of macros, they forget that no one’s gotten fat from eating real food which includes “meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar”

Tired of these ig fitness “experts” trying to fit a snickers in their “macros”

 

[desertfox]

@ppat4u We have a few former OT folks at my CF box. They say it was more cardio, less strength training.

 

[xitosunwin]

@ppat4u There are plenty of comments here touting the merits of CrossFit. I’ll add something specific about diet. “Eating better” doesn’t just mean eating a bunch of “healthy” foods. If you really want to drop fat from your body, you need to measure what you eat or you’ll never have a good idea of what you’re eating. I think the number one reason why people “eat healthy” and don’t lose weight is portion size.

Get a scale, get a tracking program like My Fitness Pal, and actually track what you’re eating for a few days. Don’t even try to cut it back, just observe what you’re taking in. Chances are your caloric intake is much higher than you are expecting.

 

[lilypham0606]

@ppat4u If ypur goal is weight loss then it's more about diet than training methodology. If you want more muscle then you'll want a program that features more resistance training. Crossfit features more resistance training so if it's a choice between the two I'd go that route.

 

[87rocks]

@ppat4u I don’t go to a CrossFit box but a local gym which does their own programming. I have found that dropping otf down to 4-8 a month and primarily lifting has made a big change over the last 6 months. There is something about the orange lights and the environment at otf I can’t quite give up yet

 

[ppat4u]

@87rocks Thank you for this! I was thinking about maybe reducing my membership and doing CrossFit along with working on my diet