As students, there are many options for staying fit. Whether you’re an avid runner, strength trainer or a spiritual yogi, there is more than one place to meet your fitness goals. Orangetheory Fitness is one of those options. As a small group fitness class that focuses on cardio and strength training, it can be the perfect fit for a variety of people.

Even though paying for a gym membership on top of your tuition-covered state gym membership may seem odd, the benefits you can reap could be worth your dollar.

Orangetheory is a science and technology based program. Orangetheory offers OTbeats which are monitoring devices that show things like your calories burned, and more importantly, the number of times you enter the Orange Zone, which is a prime zone for maximum calorie burning. The zone is 84-91 percent of your max heart rate. Your statistics are shared at all times of your workout to ensure you are getting the best workout and to inform trainers on what works for you, according to Orangetheory Fitness’ website.

All trainers at Orangetheory are certified and pride themselves on producing EPOC, which stands for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

“Participants can continue to burn calories up to 36 hours after a workout,” said Tobias Brown, the manager of Orangetheory Ames. “We call it the Orange Effect.”

Orangetheory also prides itself on community involvement. While Orangetheory is a national franchise, they continue to be involved in community charity and giving back. They recently hosted a 5K at Ada Hayden Park, which benefited the Ames Community School District.

Brown said they chose this cause because many members of Orangetheory have some kind of relationship to the school district, whether that’s having a child in school there, being employed there or being a student. The run raised over $1,400 for the school district.

The gym plans on hosting a running safety seminar partnered with the Ames Police Department. It will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. May 25th at the Orange Theory Studio.

“We know as the weather changes, our members will go out and pound the pavement,” Brown said. “We want runners to know what they should be cautious of, where good places to run are, and also if you are going to carry something, prevention wise, how to use it correctly. ”

The studio is also currently hashing out the specifics of a charity workout for ACCESS, which is the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support. It will be hosted at the studio, and will include speakers that will inform people on topics such as abuse, things to look out for and how to support victims.