These speciality gyms seem to be popping up all over the place. The “Orange Theory” gyms in particular appear to be the most popular, and have taken the rich white female world completely by storm.
Their business model is running with a metaphorical heart rate of 160bpm and there’s no sign of slowing down.
It’s smart, because the heart rate monitors force you to push yourself, or else everyone in the class will know you’re slacking. Harnessing the power of peer pressure.
The days of just pacing around the gym and splashing water on your face so it looks like you’re sweating are coming to a close.
So many people have been joining these speciality gyms and taking these classes over the past few years. And I have a theory of why that is; an “Orange Theory-Theory.”
It’s the clout.
It’s the ability to take a screenshot of your Orange Theory workout statistics and post it on your Instagram story. It’s game-changing, and a brilliant move by the gym.
So following their lead, I’ve created a chart highlighting your statistics from reading this blog. Feel free to add to your Instagram story.
There is an interesting thought process behind these Orange Theory Instagram story people.
On one hand, the ability to showcase their workout to the world motivates them to to exercise more, so I feel it should be encouraged.
But on the other hand, aren’t they just feeding their clout addiction? They don’t care about the workout itself per se, they just want the world to know how hard they are working.
And it is hard work. But at the end of the day, Orange Theory is just a “Theory”, not even a proven science. Is the gym even accredited? Does that take away from some of the clout that would otherwise be gained?
Pythagoras worked hard on his Theory (Theorem actually), and you didn’t see him posting it all over social media. He didn’t care at all what the world thought. There were no other motives.
He was doing it purely for his passion for the hypotenuse.
In today’s world, there are very few internet points given for accomplishments in Geometry. There’s no clout to be gained from a nice parallelogram on your story. But just in case, I’ve made another screenshot template for an Instagram story.
Even without social media, Pythagoras ended up with a lot of clout in the Geometry world, whether he was looking for it or not. He was credited with the Theorem and it was named after him.
Sidebar:
In a quick reading of his Wikipedia page, I found that Pythagoras actually spent most of his life philosophizing and writing about the “Transmigration of Souls”, as well as an intricate doctrine that describes the movement of the planets in accordance with a mathematical rhythm, which produces a “symphony of inaudible music”.
So it turned out that all that stuff with the triangles was just a side gig.
The theorem probably took him like ten minutes to come up with, yet its all that he is widely remembered for.
What a shame.
It’s like if Michael Jordan was only remembered for his baseball career. Or if Peter Parker was only remembered for being a photographer.
Realistically, Pythagoras’s Instagram stories probably would have included the occasional right triangle here and there. I’m sure he did spent a fair amount of time with them.
And I actually think we could all learn something from that: Pythagoras would only put the right triangle on his story.
Metaphorically speaking, people today will post any triangle they can come up with. Whether its obtuse, acute, isosceles, or scalene- as long as there are internet points to gain.
So check yourself. Are your Orange Theory stats the right triangle to share with the world?
Are you chasing likes on social media? Or are you simply trying to transform yourself from “obtuse” to “acute” by working hard in the gym?
Either way it doesn’t really matter.
As Pythagoras once said, “A²+B² may equal C², but when people work hard to try to better themselves, the motivating factors are irrelevant.”
I Just Realized Something 