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Orangetheory Fitness today announced that it will begin rolling out Apple Watch support to its gyms in the first quarter of 2020, eliminating the need to use one of the company's armbands or chest straps for heart rate tracking.

orangetheory-fitness-apple-watch-800x537.jpg

The fitness chain has created a small accessory called the OTbeat Link that attaches to an Apple Watch band, allowing the Apple Watch to sync with the Orangetheory Fitness in-studio heart rate monitoring system. There will also be a new Orangetheory Fitness app for the Apple Watch to accompany the OTbeat Link.

"Now, not only will members be able to view metrics in real time in class with an Apple Watch, they'll also be able to see their Orangetheory Fitness workouts afterward in the Activity app," explains Orangetheory Fitness.

"Apple Watch is designed to help people live a better day by being more active," said Apple fitness director Jay Blahnik. "With workout tracking, Apple Pay and a new membership program, we are thrilled Orangetheory Fitness is integrating Apple Watch into a comprehensive experience for their customers."

Orangetheory Fitness has also developed two new iOS apps called OTassist and OTcoach for improved interactions between staff, coaches, and members.

The new OTbeat Link accessory will be priced at $129 on Apple.com and elsewhere.

Article Link: Orangetheory Fitness Rolling Out Apple Watch Support in Early 2020
 

Steve Grenier

macrumors newbie
Nov 13, 2007
8
9
Is $129 reasonable for this accessory?
No, but most of their stuff is quite pricey. Not sure what about this justifies the cost though. It doesn't have any sensors that I'm aware, appears to be a middleman between their equipment and the watch hardware.
 

dewalt

macrumors member
Jun 16, 2009
65
76
No, but most of their stuff is quite pricey. Not sure what about this justifies the cost though. It doesn't have any sensors that I'm aware, appears to be a middleman between their equipment and the watch hardware.

Most likely it's a bluetooth accessory that will take the heartbeat data from Apple Watch and send it via ANT+ to OT equipment.
 

Stromos

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2016
778
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Woodstock, GA
So here is my opinion.

Currently I am still using the old legacy chest monitor. I had zero intention of buying a $120 OTBeat monitor which is the current monitor. It looks like a Misfit Shine if anyone remembers those. I have to wear it on my other Arm so I have the Apple Watch one and it on the other. I have been asking for Apple watch integration for a long time. I feel like the Apple Watch is always more responsive. There have been two generations of wrist monitors and they just have never been as good as the chest strap or Apple Watch. Is this worth it Hardware Wise? Probably not just likely sending the data over Bluetooth in the right format. Is it worth it to just wear my Apple Watch? For me yes.

Real question will be what else the Link does. So the old OT Monitors could be used for lots of things they are just ANT Interfaces so the Link may do the same. Really hoping the charging is something standard. That was another reason I never got the wrist monitors. Proprietary charging mechanisms for the sake of it are horrible.
 

Stromos

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2016
778
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Woodstock, GA
Or just provide equipment compatible with GymKit, which is what Apple designed for this purpose rather than some expensive third party accessory?
The whole point of Orangetheory isn't seeing your heartrate on a device which is what gymkit is, it's recording your whole workout and seeing your heartrate zone throughout the workout. You move from weight floor, rower, and treadmill. It's a unified system.

Part of Orangetheory is the calculations of your heartrate and where you should be. Each person has their own profile and zones where they should be. The equipment doesn't have any heart rate monitoring. The backend servers are taking the heart data and giving you your experience up on the TVs.
 
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Zorn

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2006
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The whole point of Orangetheory isn't seeing your heartrate on a device which is what gymkit is, it's recording your whole workout and seeing your heartrate zone throughout the workout. You move from weight floor, rower, and treadmill. It's a unified system.

...but the Apple Watch has workout functionality that records your whole workout. Why not just work together with what's already built in rather than this proprietary solution? This $129 accessory is going to be somewhat useless if someone moves, or decides to switch gyms.
 

Stromos

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2016
778
1,850
Woodstock, GA
...but the Apple Watch has workout functionality that records your whole workout. Why not just work together with what's already built in rather than this proprietary solution? This $129 accessory is going to be somewhat useless if someone moves, or decides to switch gyms.

Then you are sharing healthkit data with Orangetheory. I don't see Apple allowing that. The point of the monitor is your coach can see what you are doing up on the TVs. Once again yes you can record your workout that's not what its about.

The current monitors are no different and almost the same price so what's your argument? Orangetheory is nationwide and now opening locations in Europe.

I along with many others I workout with right now record my workouts on the Apple Watch and still wear the monitor for the TV stats and zones. There are some people who only use Apple Watch. This just gives an option.

I've been going to Orangetheory for three years and I am 1000x times healthier than I ever have been. I had alot of issues when I first started that heartrate was important and seeing that I was where I should be up on the TV at a glance was invaluable.

OrangeTheory isn't cheap period. Has it worked for me better than a regular and gym and a personal trainer? Yes its worked a ton better for me. It's worth it to me.
 
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iAssimilated

Contributor
Apr 29, 2018
1,200
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the PNW
As someone who goes to OrangeTheory at least three times a week I am so excited for this!

This is great news! I currently use my OTF pod (OTbeat Burn) and a Garmin Forerunner 35 (which I use for all other activities). I guess I need to start thinking about an Apple Watch (it would be nice to have only one device). The only downer for me is the money I have already put towards these other devices.

Is $129 reasonable for this accessory?

It is inline with what they charge for their other wearables. If I end up getting an Apple Watch I will definitely be getting the OTbeat Link!
 

Zorn

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2006
1,106
780
Ohio
Then you are sharing healthkit data with Orangetheory. I don't see Apple allowing that. The point of the monitor is your coach can see what you are doing up on the TVs. Once again yes you can record your workout that's not what its about.

The current monitors are no different and almost the same price so what's your argument? Orangetheory is nationwide and now opening locations in Europe.

I along with many others I workout with right now record my workouts on the Apple Watch and still wear the monitor for the TV stats and zones. There are some people who only use Apple Watch. This just gives an option.

I've been going to Orangetheory for three years and I am 1000x times healthier than I ever have been. I had alot of issues when I first started that heartrate was important and seeing that I was where I should be up on the TV at a glance was invaluable.

I think there's somewhat of a misunderstanding of what GymKit does. It simply tracks the data from the equipment with the Apple Watch. It definitely does not share your HealthKit data with the machine, as that would be a privacy violation and Apple wouldn't allow that. It just shares things like the heart rate and whatever else the machine is tracking such as duration, laps, etc. Your heart rate itself could still sync with the equipment and go to the instructor, that would be different from all of your personal HealthKit data.
 

getoffmylawn

macrumors newbie
Jul 25, 2012
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"OrangeTheory designs unique solution for Apple Watch owners to maintain access to fitness statistics."
 

bogmonster

macrumors newbie
Apr 5, 2012
5
0
There's more info about it in a Gizmodo article, but the OTLink doesn't have to be clipped to the watch, apparently. Could just pocket it. It has a charging case, but the article didn't say if it was wireless charging, USB-c, or micro-usb (guessing the latter cuz you know...margins)
OTF wouldn't have gone with this kind of pairing unless they could slap a price tag on it.
Will admit that it'll be handier to have the one monitor as our shop insists that it's "corporate policy" that members be visible on the screens, so wearing one of their branded monitors is a must
 

NightFox

macrumors 68040
May 10, 2005
3,233
4,452
Shropshire, UK
It seems Apple is taking over the wearables market, at least where fitness and health are concerned. Going to be difficult for Android manufacturers to catch up, I think.

In some markets, yes - but for running/cycling/triathlon etc data junkies they're well behind the likes of Garmin. I'm not saying there aren't already lots of people happily using Apple Watches for these activities, but Apple's "we'll decide what you need" attitude and push towards their own, closed fitness platform limits their appeal to others.
 

krantiredeyes

macrumors newbie
Nov 13, 2013
23
2
Currently, OT arm/chest/wrist monitors (which you pay for separately) take your heart rate, send it to their servers, process it and display your stats on the in-studio TV and to the ios app.

With the new upcoming dongle, it looks like they are moving away from their proprietary monitors to Apple Watch for capturing data (treadmill, rowing and TRX strap exercises) but they still want the dongle to send the Apple Watch data to their servers for processing.

Now, they could have done the following:
1. Integrate Apple Watch data to their ios app and do the processing on their servers. (No dongle required. Apple Watch captures all the data OT needs to display the stats in their format).
2. If at all they cannot consume Apple Watch data in the given format for some reason, they can install dongles to their equipment which can convert Apple Watch data into a format they need and process it.
3. Instead, they decided to put the dongle burden on the user/consumer (just like OT forced their users to buy their OT-specific monitors). That way, the consumer is paying for it instead of OT paying for their equipment upgrade/maintenance.
 
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Stromos

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2016
778
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Woodstock, GA
I think there's somewhat of a misunderstanding of what GymKit does. It simply tracks the data from the equipment with the Apple Watch. It definitely does not share your HealthKit data with the machine, as that would be a privacy violation and Apple wouldn't allow that. It just shares things like the heart rate and whatever else the machine is tracking such as duration, laps, etc. Your heart rate itself could still sync with the equipment and go to the instructor, that would be different from all of your personal HealthKit data.
I think you misunderstood me you don’t use equipment the whole time and the equipment they do have doesn’t have heart monitors. So to match the current experience the Apple Heart data has to go to OrangeTheroy which Apple wouldn’t allow. So middleman device.
 

iAssimilated

Contributor
Apr 29, 2018
1,200
5,654
the PNW
OrangeTheory isn't cheap period.

I 100% agree with this statement, but those of us who can afford it and want to spend our money on this service find it priceless. OTF has been the best thing to happen to my health in a long time (my stamina is amazing).

I too have been going for the last three (plus) years, luckily I am still grandfathered into a Founder's membership at my OTF so the price is pretty reasonable for what I get out of it.
 

travis64

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2008
982
742
NEW YORK
And Peloton just released a free update so you can use your Apple Watch but this place wants you to spend $129
 
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