https://apnews.com/4cf2a7ed0d3449f5a1469d62d1633328
Heard on the Street: New fitness concept rolls into Rochester
Jeff KigerJuly 1, 2018 GMT
Mackenzie McCormack is introducing a colorful fitness concept to her hometown of Rochester.
McCormack along with business partner, Jodi Miller-Hammes, plans to open an Orangetheory Fitness gym in Rochester's Apache Mall.
It will be located in a 3,500-square-foot space with its own exterior entrance previously occupied by clothing retailer Maurice's. Maurice's moved to a new spot inside Apache Mall in May.
The hope is to have the fitness studio ready to open in the fall, though membership sales will start next month. McCormack anticipates having four to five fitness coaches on staff as well as six to eight sales associates.
"I thought Rochester could use something like this. It's a little bit different than all of the other fitness gyms and studios in town," she said of why the decision was made to bring Orangetherapy to the Med City.
Florida-based Orangetheory launched in 2010 and have since grown to more than 900 locations nationwide. Minnesota already has 14, though this will be the first in southeastern Minnesota.
The concept behind Orangetheory is one-hour, group "high intensity interval training with strength, endurance and power being the focus," McCormack said.
What really sets Orangetheory a part from the many other fitness franchises, like Crossfit or Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping, is the use of heart monitors and studio displays for clients to track their heart rates.
The idea is for people to get their heart rates into "the orange zone," which is said to spur an afterburn effect. That afterburn is essentially described as a metabolic sweet spot that may cause the client to burn calories long after the workout ends.
The maximum size of a class will be 26, said McCormack.
"It is more of a one-on-one experience without the personal trainer cost," she said.
McCormack and Miller-Hammes plan to host an event to kick off membership pre-sales on July 28.