Orangetheory is some fresh hell dreamt up by a sadomasochist in Florida. I’m not trying it in Florida. I’m trying it in a gym just off a roundabout in Islington, north London. Mavis, full of the joys of exercise, has strapped a heart-rate monitor to me and is now suggesting, quite forcefully, that I start rowing.
My name is up on a big screen, along with the names of the 15 other people in the class. It’s telling me my heart rate is in the green zone. Over loud music, Mavis is now insisting that we row harder. I’m still in the green zone. Six minutes later, Mavis is taking no prisoners. “Come on, guys, race pace, race pace.” That does the trick. I’m in the orange zone. Which means my heart rate is somewhere between 84% and 91% of its maximum. Most of this is because of the rowing. Some of it is because Mavis is shouting at me.
“And stop.”
Green zone.
“And onto the running, guys.”
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Orange zone.
“Race pace, race pace.”
Red zone. I’m in the red zone. My heart is now above 91%. I didn’t think to ask what would happen if it goes over 100%. Will I expire? Will I win a prize? Neither, I find out after the class. The maximum is calculated at 225 beats per minute, minus my age. It is not the rate at which my heart explodes.
The theory of Orangetheory is simple. In an hour of running, rowing, weightlifting, planks and disconcerting anaerobic manoeuvres, you should spend 12 to 20 minutes in the orange zone. Why? Because the intense workout triggers afterburn, which sounds like a made-up thing, but isn’t. For a good 24 hours after a suitably orange-hued burst of exercise, you will burn calories at a much faster rate than normal. Even if you’re lying on a sofa eating cake. Mavis likes Orangetheory because she likes to have her cake and eat it.
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I don’t like cake, but it’s too late now. I’m still in the red zone. We’re off the running machines, we’ve done some weights and we’re back to the rowing machines. I pretend my footing comes loose just to get back to green.
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I like the fact that everyone exercises at their own pace, even though we’re in a group. I don’t like the fact that by the end of the class, it’s almost impossible not to be in the red zone.
“As you get fitter, you’ll find it harder to get your heart rate up,” says Mavis. “But then we can just push you harder.”
Awesome. In my hour, I did 20 orange minutes and 9 long, horrible red minutes. I burnt 892 calories. And then, just for the sheer hell of it, I had some cake.
Free taster classes in London and Winchester: orangetheoryfitness.com
Health hacks: improve your memory
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Exercise
Walk for 30 minutes a day and lift weights twice a week. Walking boosts oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Weightlifting reduces brain shrinkage.
Meditate
Meditation improves the blood flow to areas of the brain used for memory and reduces stress, which can cause memory loss.
Watch your diet
Eat a brain-protecting Mediterranean diet (wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, fish and nuts). Avoid trans fats, linked to short-term memory loss.
Drink coffee
Caffeine stimulates parts of the brain that regulate arousal and concentration. Two coffees a day seem to be enough to improve powers of recall.
