How Does OrangeTheory Calculate Calories?

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OrangeTheory claims that you could burn up to 1000 calories by taking just one class! That would be amazing, especially for those who want to lose excess fat and weight.

Furthermore, did you know that you can see how many calories you actually burned after a class at OrangeTheory? That’s cool, but how does OrangeTheory calculate calories? Are OrangeTheory calories accurate?

The calories burned are calculated using a formula that involves your heart rate.

That’s why each member has a heart rate monitor throughout the exercise. However, heart rate isn’t the only factor. There are others we’ll discuss below.

Also, we’ll give you more tips on how to burn more calories at OrangeTheory to get the most out of your workout.

Contents

The OTF Leaderboard Display

If you’ve been in a class at OrangeTheory, you’ve seen the huge monitors displaying data during classes. These contain some information about you and other people in your class.

These leaderboard-style displays are a great way to motivate you and to monitor yourself throughout the class.

One of the things you’d see there is the number of calories burned. Wouldn’t it be great to see you reaching or closing on that 1000 mark?

How Does OrangeTheory Calculate Calories?

How exactly are the calories calculated? There are different factors that could affect the number of calories that you burn, and how accurate is the display? The exact formula isn’t released, but there are some speculations about it.

Plus, some staff have also told some of the factors that affect the number of calories burned.

Due to using heart rate monitors, many are confident that OrangeTheory uses heart rate during the class to compute the number of calories burned.

Apart from the heart rate, factors such as your age, gender, current weight, and duration of exercise are also added to the formula to calculate the number of calories burned.

However, the main factors that greatly affect this are heart rate and weight. That is why it is also important for you to update your information, such as your current weight to properly calculate the calories burned.

Are OrangeTheory Calories Accurate?

Whether you got a high burned calorie count or a lower one, you might question its accuracy. There are mixed opinions about this.

Some people use other heart rate monitors or other fitness devices and compare them to what OrangeTheory tells them. There are some with higher results for OTF while others had lower.

All of these calculations are estimates and need to be taken with a grain of salt (not sugar, though!)

Note that the heart rate monitors that are worn on the wrist are generally less accurate than those worn on the chest.

Regardless, most find the results are close to what their other trackers are displaying, making them believe that the ones from OrangeTheory are reasonably accurate.

There are also some people who don’t really focus on the calories burned during the class because there are also calories burned after the class especially if you obtain splat points.

Splat points are achieved when you raise your heart rate to optimal levels. This activates the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which burns calories for up to 36 hours of having the class.

Tips For Maximizing Calories Burned At OrangeTheory

Some people may focus on the number of calories they burn at OrangeTheory. However, there are also others that don’t.

Many observe that as they progress, the number of calories they burn isn’t as high as they once were. For some, it can be frustrating while others don’t really focus much on it at all. That’s because the important thing is you become more fit as you attend more classes.

It can be your competitive side or you might just want to maximize the number of calories burned. Those are totally acceptable too. If you want to maximize calories burned on OrangeTheory, here are some tips:

Consistently Attend Classes

Getting a high number of calories burned after a class is great. However, what is better is simply burning calories due to multiple classes. That’s why you have to make sure you continuously and consistently attend classes.

Keep Your Focus

Keeping your focus makes sure you do the exercises correctly. The manner you do exercises affects how effectively it burns calories or builds your muscle. Doing the exercises properly also prevents you from getting injured while working out.

Listen To The Guides Given By Coaches

Coaches are there to guide you and sometimes push you. Listen to your coaches. They have insights on how to do such exercises efficiently. They may even tell the class encouraging words to keep the class alive and push themselves further.

Push Yourself For Higher Heart Rates

There are different heart rate zones at OrangeTheory. Aiming for the red one is the ultimate goal. When you hit that, you get splat points. It also helps increase the calories burned. Aim for those Splat Points!

Additionally, hitting the red zone also makes your body burn even more calories for up to 36 hours after your class.

Final Thoughts

One of the things that attract people to OrangeTheory is the idea that they could burn up to 1000 calories with one of their classes. OrangeTheory is able to show its members just how many calories they burn through the workout by using their heart rate monitors.

The calories burned are computed by considering the heart rate, age, gender, weight, and duration of the class. The results OrangeTheory provides are quite accurate.

If you’d want to maximize the calories burned, remember to be consistent, stay focused, listen to coaches and push yourself to reach high heart rates.