One Foot In Front Of The Other

“If nothing changes – nothing changes” – Courtney C. Stevens. 

Stacey hadn’t taken a class yet at Orangetheory (OT); however, she knew that she needed a change and something new in her fitness routine, which would challenge her. She wanted to be pushed out of her comfort zone.

Her friend, Kirsten (another OT member), told her to check out Orangetheory telling her that she’ll get “hooked.” She remembered walking through the studio doors with a class in session and couldn’t believe what she saw. “It blew my mind the amount of people from all age groups who were in class,” said Stacey. After sitting and chatting with Persia, a fitness consultant at the time, she decided to take a trial class.

Kirsten and Stacey giving an “air high-five.”

The day finally arrived for her first class. She felt nervous and excited as she arrived to see many members waiting in the hallway. Shay coached Stacey’s first class supporting her by telling her “she could do it.”

“I would not be where I am today with running if it weren’t for the treadmill, coaches and fellow OTF members. They have pushed me out of my comfort zone 100 percent.”

When she hopped onto the treadmill, she saw many others running on either side of her. At this point, she couldn’t run and decided to power walk – this would eventually change.

As class drew to a close, Stacey said, “I was dripping in sweat and by the time the class was over I had asked myself, ‘where do I sign up?’”

Stacey has shown her devotion in improving herself since day one. She began by going to class two to three times per week progressing to five or six times per week. She also takes two classes a day at least once a week. Her motivation to constantly train shows her commitment to be better than the day before.

“I have had times that I want to give up and quit and then a coach or staff member will look at me and say, ‘you got this – you are worth it.’ That, to me, shows they care and they want to help us live our healthiest lives.”

When she started her fitness journey at OT, her goals were to stick with the workouts and not give up. She has diligently maintained these goals for three years now putting one foot in front of the other. Stacey’s training helped her hit a major milestone – to be able to run. She said, “I would not be where I am today with running if it weren’t for the treadmill, coaches and fellow OTF members. They have pushed me out of my comfort zone 100 percent.”

Stacey has reached and maintained her goals, but now has a new one. She wants to run more than just 5Ks. She wants to go further…a half or full marathon is on the horizon.

Orangetheory along with many other businesses have closed due to COVID-19. Stacey has dealt with this obstacle by running inside and outside, lifting weights and doing the in-home Orangetheory workouts.  She has remained connected with the community through social media seeing what everyone has been doing to stay motivated.

One of the best things about Orangetheory that Stacey likes is the ability to hit any studio nation wide – a major perk of membership. However, the biggest aspect she loves is the coaches and staff. She becomes emotional when she thinks about it. “I have had times that I want to give up and quit and then a coach or staff member will look at me and say, ‘you got this – you are worth it.’ That, to me, shows they care and they want to help us live our healthiest lives,” said Stacey.

In addition, the OT community at Orenco Station is one big family. She loves how everyone comes together to build each other up. Everyone helps each other to be better by developing a bond among the members.

Orangetheory offers an experience unlike any other workout regimen. It’s not just a workout but also a way of life. The classes will push you to your brink and more to where you thought your mind and body couldn’t go. She said, “When you are hooked, you will bleed orange…The coaches will push you right when you’re about to give up to help you reach your goals.”

Keep Burning Stacey!

Worth the Drive

To get the results that you want in fitness, all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other and commit to the process. For Eryn, all it took for her was to walk through the studio doors of Orangetheory (OT).

Like so many others before, Eryn worked out by herself at a gym. Her normal routine consisted of 50 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of weights on the machines. She felt lost with no direction and never knew what to do. Not seeing the results she wanted, she took a new approach.

“I felt empowered and so excited to come back.”

Eryn heard about OT and couldn’t wait to try it. In the fall of 2017, she took a tour at the OT studio in West Linn. The coaches and front counter staff made her feel welcomed. She then joined the Orangetheory nation.

However, her time there didn’t last long. She cancelled her membership and moved to Vernonia in February. The closest studio she could go to was Orenco Station. Her hiatus from OT was short lived.

A few months later, she rejoined at Orenco Station. She knew the value of it and how Orangetheory gave her the results she wanted. She said, “I was nervous to join a new studio but after one class I knew that the hour drive was worth it no matter how crazy my family thought I was for driving so far. I have taken classes at a number of studios but the environment at Orenco Station is something special. The staff is one of a kind…they truly care about all members and are there for you no matter what.”

She recalls taking her first class during Hell Week, which is not for the faint of heart. Although she felt terrified at first, the fear eventually went away and after class she never felt better. “I felt empowered and so excited to come back,” she said.

Two and a half years later, Orangetheory has not only helped her lose fat and gain muscle, but also accomplish things she never thought possible. Eryn said, “In 2019 I was able to run eight half marathons and finished my very first full marathon. OTF is like no other. I always feel supported and motivated by my peers.”

The things, which motivate her and keep her coming back are the constant results. Her body continues to evolve and transform. She recently gained a new personal record (PR) on the weight room floor. She lifted weights that she never thought she could lift and last month she ran her fastest mile ever.

Photo courtesy of Eryn Palo.

“OTF has not only transformed my body, but also has helped transform my mind. I have never been more confident in my abilities in the gym, but also in my personal life I have the strength to make positive changes. I know that with some hard work and consistency I can do anything. I mean, I ran 26.2 miles last year – there is nothing that I can’t do.”

She enjoys turning on the treadmill and pushing herself on endurance days. Strength days prove difficult for her, but she never misses a strength day because she knows she needs to work on this the most. “I have goals to gain more muscle and the amazing coaches have helped me get closer to this goal each week. Another benefit of OTF is the workouts, which are never the same; so even after so many classes, I never get bored. They always keep us on our toes,” said Eryn.

Her friends and family ask what it is about Orangetheory that keeps her coming back? One word– community. Last year was hard for her. She struggled with mental health issues causing a brief disappearance, but she never felt alone. Her OT family reached out to her to make sure she was okay.

This past Thanksgiving, her crazy Orangtheory Run Squad talked her into doing a 90-minute class and following it up by crushing a 5K race together. Eryn said, “Holidays are meant to be spent with family and I am so grateful I was surrounded by my OTF family this Thanksgiving. That has to be the thing that I love most – the family that I have gained.”

They supported her every step of the way. When she felt ready to come back, she felt as if she didn’t miss a day. She has created lifelong friends at Orenco Station and feels grateful. During the Dri-Tri last year, Persia asked her, “Remember where you were five years ago? Look at where you are now!” This brought her to tears when she came so close to slowing down during the workout. Persia gave her the motivation she needed to keep going.

OT has helped her stay accountable and has given her the strength to improve many things in her life. Eryn feels much stronger mentally and physically.

Keep Burning Eryn!

New Beginnings

When something ends it’s the start of something fresh and new. For Heather, moving to Orenco Station from Gresham marked a new chapter in her life. She moved to Hillsboro because of a divorce and to shorten her commute to work.

Heather took a walk around Orenco Station one day and saw that Orangetheory (OT) Orenco Station was in the process of pre-sales drawing people in to learn more about it. Although the studio at Orenco wasn’t open yet, she took it upon herself to take a class in Tigard. Immediately after taking her first class, she went back to Orenco and Heather said, “I just finished my first workout…that was amazing…sign me up!” Three years late – the rest is history.

“I have truly never felt better about myself and fulfilled in life.”

She recalls her first class as nerve wrecking not knowing anyone, feeling that she’d be lost, and that she couldn’t finish a 60-minute class feeling out of shape. However, as she walked though the door of the studio with the music pumping and receiving a high-five from the coach her nerves died down and she thought to herself, “OK I got this – let’s do this!” Standing next to her on the treadmill, the coach inspired her by pushing her to run 0.1 mile faster. “I felt so good after that class and was instantly addicted,” said Heather.

Heather hated how she looked and felt at the time. Knowing that she wanted to get back into the dating world after her divorce, she had goals of working out three to four times a week to have more energy and to develop a better nutrition plan. She also had to stop eating at Jack In the Box and McDonald’s, which didn’t help her cause.

Since training at OT, she ran her first marathon last year and plans to run another one in 2020 as her next goal. Heather started with a base pace of 5 mph, push pace of 5.5 mph and an all-out of 6 mph. Her base, push and all-out are now 6.5, 8 and 10 mph respectively with an occasional 12 mph all-out. She wanted to stay consistent with her workouts while continuing to push herself in every class.

“I have made so many new friends since joining OTF, it is truly more then just coming in for a workout. I love the energy this community brings and the high fives and the encouraging words of ‘push through it, you’ve got this!’”

Heather had lost 13 pounds and had gained a heap load of confidence since joining Orangetheory. With all that built up confidence, she checked off two items on her bucket-list by competing in her first pageant winning the title of Miss Oregon for America and completing her first marathon. She said, “I have truly never felt better about myself and fulfilled in life.”

The things that motivate her to train as much as she does are the community feel, coaches and variety of workouts. Heather said, “I love that it’s never the same workout and every time I come, it’s a butt kicker and I leave feeling stronger.” She loves ESP classes because it offers different challenges with elements of inclines, heavy weights and all-outs. Every one knows that classes are difficult day-in and day-out. The coaches’ encouragement and support help her power through those demanding classes.

Like many other members, Orangetheory at Orenco has become her second family and it has helped her believe in herself and to love herself more. “I have made so many new friends since joining OTF, it is truly more then just coming in for a workout. I love the energy this community brings and the high fives and the encouraging words of ‘push through it, you’ve got this!’” said Heather.

Keep Burning Heather!

A Reason For Change

Change is never easy and sometimes a life-altering event forces one to start. Jesse has always had a large body his entire life and in 2012 he hit a critical mass. In a routine visit with his doctor, Jesse learned that he was two points away from having diabetes. The news scared him.

At that stage in his life, Jesse’s poor eating habits led him down a path of internal destruction with his health. He had 40 percent body fat and couldn’t bend down to tie his shoes – it was bad. He said, “I remember not being able to sit comfortably in a chair or wear clothing that fit. I was tired of being unhappy and unhealthy.”

Jesse decided to take a proactive stance in changing his health with his nutrition. He stopped eating dairy and gluten all together. Then he began to reshape his body composition in phases.

“I have changed the way I eat and now I am intentional about fueling my body for my workouts, my recovery and mind. I feel great about my food choices for the first time ever in my life.”

He started by losing 100 pounds, which took him three years to shed the weight. Although he lost the weight, he didn’t maintain the weight since he didn’t know how. He took two steps forward and one step back.

In 2015 he married his wife and became comfortable and complacent. Even though he stopped eating dairy and gluten, he would always find ways to eat food that wasn’t good for him. His poor eating habits slowly crept back into his life.

Fast-forward to this year, Jesse welcomed his son into the world igniting his third phase in his body composition change. “I have changed the way I eat and now I am intentional about fueling my body for my workouts, my recovery and mind. I feel great about my food choices for the first time ever in my life,” said Jesse.

Jesse felt that dieting and all things related to food have consumed much of his life. He decided that he’s finished being a prisoner to his poor food choices. He wants his son to love life and to not have issues with food. As a result of Jesse’s change, he hopes to pass on his positive relationship with food to his son.

Nutrition plays a large role in changing one’s body internally. The other piece Jesse needed was the external component in the form of a workout. He took his first Orangetheory class at the Cedar Mill location at the beginning of the year. Five months later, he took another class at Orenco Station and signed up.

“I’m being intentional about my incline walking on the treadmill as well as lifting heavier on the floor. I’m putting on muscle rapidly and losing body fat monthly.”

Jesse said, “Both clubs were awesome and had a competitive atmosphere but Orenco felt alive, full of energy and enthusiasm. It was contagious…Shout-out to our coaches who bring the noise every day especially at 5 a.m. OTF provides the workouts so I don’t have to. I just show up and ball out.”

He works out six days a week at the studio and has Coach Chris as his mentor. Coach Chris has helped Jesse individualize his workouts within the classes he takes. “I’m being intentional about my incline walking on the treadmill as well as lifting heavier on the floor. I’m putting on muscle rapidly and losing body fat monthly,” said Jesse. Coach Persia once told him to try Orangetheory for 90 days. He’s happy to report that he has completed 88 workouts in his first three months.  

Jesse enjoys the variety of classes because each class is something new. He especially enjoys strength and power classes. But, his favorite class to take is when it’s a tornado workout. He said, “I love all the splat points I get going back and forth from treads to rowers and the movement in between rows. The quick transitions only add to the competitiveness that already exists.” In addition, he loves how each coach brings their unique way of coaching and the music they play.

He also loves how the staff at the front always makes him feel welcomed because of their friendliness and kindness. Jesse has committed himself to the process and he thinks it’s safe to say that he’ll stick around to see all the continued benefits of  the Orangetheory life at Orenco Station. He iterates that he has long-term fitness goals and is happy that he gets to put in the work along with all the other members at the studio.

Keep Burning Jesse!

 

 

 

 

Overcoming All Odds

“Everyone falls down. It’s just how fast you get up, right?” – Demille Bly from the movie “Driven.“

Jessy joined Orangetheory (OT) in its beginning phases looking for group fitness classes close to home. She did her own research on it, which was something that she’d love and wanted. At the time, she weighed more than her pregnancy weight at 159 pounds.

In addition to her extra weight, she had herniated discs from previous fractures. In constant pain, Jessy felt unhappy and unhealthy. She said, “I let myself go. I knew better and knew what to do, but I am an emotional eater and was eating my way to feel ‘happy.’ I was sick of it and needed a constant workout routine and somewhere that held me accountable, so I joined OTF.”

“It’s one hour out of your day. One hour of my day and I feel I get so much out of it and I don’t have to think about what I am going to do. I just do it.”

Jessy joined with the ambition of getting back into shape and feeling happy with herself again. She wanted to drop down to her baseline weight of 120 pounds, do 30 push-ups not on her knees, and run three miles without walking. Most importantly, she wanted to be consistent – no excuses – show up and work as hard as she could.

She recalls taking her first class as difficult. “I felt so out of shape and could feel how far I let myself get out of shape…” said Jessy. She attended classes regularly and took pictures keeping track of her progress. Jessy eventually felt better and saw positive changes in her body loving the changes.

The feeling that Jessy had after completing classes, the way she looked, and how it improved her motor-cross riding skills kept her coming to classes frequently. She loved starting her day by attending the 5 a.m. class five to six classes a week. By then, her herniated discs didn’t bother her anymore. Jessy felt stronger and went through her days without any problems.

Living her life and doing what she loved, Jessy went to the Albany Motorsports Park for a practice ride with friends after a lousy day at work. Jessy rode her dirt bike as usual until something unimaginable happened. Jessy said, “My friend Christina told me I was out racing in practice and suddenly the track went silent, which at a motor-cross track, is never a good thing.”

Christina and employees ran to Jessy and the track came to a halting stop. She saw Jessy lying on the ground covered in blood tapping her helmet moaning in pain. Jessy assumed (she can’t remember) that she and another rider went off a jump at the same time and collided in mid-air. She fell to the dirt and a rider behind her ran over her neck.

“After I read my medical records, I couldn’t believe I survived and I feel so lucky.”

Jessy at the track the day of and before the accident (top photo).

Jessy lost all consciousness. The paramedics immediately intubated her on the scene and brought her to the Salem Hospital. Jessy’s husband rushed to the hospital once he learned about the accident. He met with a social worker when he arrived preparing for the worst.

She was alive, but wasn’t breathing on her own and in a coma. The doctors couldn’t tell her husband if or when she’d wake up and the quality of life she’d have if she awoke. Jess had bleeding in her brain, subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and a broken jaw in multiple places. She also had a torn carotid artery and a broken nose.

“My main goal is to just show up for class and be here and make it through a whole class. That’s huge to be able to do that with the extent of my injuries and I fully feel like I need to do it – especially for those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury and physically can’t.”

Jessy also suffered from traumatic brain injury and diffuse axonal injury. Miraculously, she came out the coma after seven days. She said, “After I read my medical records, I couldn’t believe I survived and I feel so lucky.” She spent nearly a month at the Salem Hospital and then spent almost another month at Providence Portland Rehabilitation for daily intensive inpatient rehab.

The traumatic accident caused her to lose much of her memory in general. She didn’t remember the accident and the time she spent at the Salem Hospital. Jessy only remembers the medical transport van to Providence Portland as her first memory. She can’t even recall her wedding that took place on August 26, 2017 nine months prior to her accident.

Brain injuries have no recovery time and her recovery is ongoing. She’ll never be the same. Jessy woke up every morning with no recollection of the previous day after her accident. She now can remember things from the day before but it’s hazy for her. “I have accepted that I am not the Jessy I use to be. It is normal with brain injuries and often said you are a new person – and I get that – and that’s OK,” said Jessy.

She now aspires to get back to where she was a year ago prior to her accident. Determined, Jessy came back to OT seven months after the incident at the track. Jessy said, “My main goal is to just show up for class and be here and make it through a whole class. That’s huge to be able to do that with the extent of my injuries and I fully feel like I need to do it – especially for those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury and physically can’t.”

“I love the staff, community and workouts. It’s all amazing and all of it together makes it truly a great place. I love the motivation and encouragement everyone gives each other.”

Jessy has come a long way from hospitalization. She can now run on the treadmill without holding on to the rails. Her rowing wattage has also increased from 30 watts to 130 watts since November. Jessy can perform about 15 push-ups not on her knees.

She tries to attend two classes a week, which is a milestone for her. Jessy likes endurance classes the most because it challenges her the most and she wants to improve her stamina. Although she feels drained after class, she perseveres with her constant training.

The thing that Jessy likes about classes at OT is getting in and out in one hour. She said, “I like that the work outs are all ready to go and you do them. It’s one hour out of your day. One hour of my day and I feel I get so much out of it and I don’t have to think about what I am going to do. I just do it.”

Aside from having an efficient and effective workout, she loves how everyone encourages one another and how each person’s fitness journey varies. She appreciated the support she received when she had her injuries, which amazed her. Jessy said, “I love the staff, community and workouts. It’s all amazing and all of it together makes it truly a great place. I love the motivation and encouragement everyone gives each other.”

We’re all happy to have you back at the studio. You’re an inspiration to us to keep fighting regardless of our mental or physical obstacles!

Keep Burning Jessy!