Psychological Interventions in New Exercise Franchises

Over the past year, I have become obsessed with Orange Theory, a new exercise franchise focused on high intensity interval training. And, interestingly enough Orange Theory uses various concepts that we have discussed in this class to engage clients, create results and encourage commitment to the routine.

The routine is focused around a class, which participants sign up for in advance via a smartphone application. Once signed up, a participant must cancel over 24 hours in advance, otherwise they are charged a cancelation fee of $20, not an insignificant amount for a grad student

During the class, participants wear heart rate monitors. The goal of the class is to achieve various heart rate targets, indicated as “zones.” There are four heart rate zones, demonstrating the intensity of the workout. For example, a resting heart rate would be in the blue zone, while a hard run (approximately 90% of an individual’s maximum heart rate) would be in the red zone. An individual’s performance is then displayed on large TV. Each participant has a small box on the TV that shows their heart rate and changes colors to show which zone the person is in at any given time. Throughout the class, the instructor will provide direction on how intense the workout should be, along with the target zone for that portion of the class. Participants also earn “points” throughout the class for each minute that they spend in the orange or red zone. Last, at the end of the class, participants get an email that summarizes their performance (see example below).

The studio also does a great job of building community. People want to come to the class, and they are proud to be a member. They wear it like badge of honor. They even once did a marketing campaign where people reflected on why they workout. The theme was, “I burn for _____.” For example: “I burn for my kids” or “I burn for my husband.”

They also have periodic competitions where individuals can set goals (e.g. loose 5 lbs in one month), and they hold participants accountable for those goals.

I believe this is a great demonstration of the following class concepts:

·       Commitment is gained through the signup and the cancellation fee.

·       Feedback is provided through the TV screens in an easy to understand way using the heart rate zones. Summary emails also show progress over time.

·       Intrinsic Motivation is encouraged through the community and the pride that members show in coming to the studio. People think “I’m the kind of person who goes to Orange Theory,” and this motivation is only encouraged by the feedback discussed above. Extrinsic motivation may also be seen through the mild sense of competition that comes as people try to maximize their points and burn the most calories in the class.

·       Goal Setting is facilitated through the periodic competition and through the regular feedback provided.

All in all, I think this is an excellent example of how some of the theories we discussed can be applied to encourage positive health behavior. Can you think of others?