Peloton Review


Fitness is a big part of who I am. I exercise 6 days a week and when the endorphins hit I feel amazing! At any clothing size, I feel exercise has given my body a nice shape and sculpted arms. I've heard several times now from nurses that they have observed that people who exercise regularly recover faster after hospitalization than those who don't. Thus, I believe movement is medicine. Now that I'm celebrating 100 rides on the Peloton bike I want to share my review and whether or not it's worth investing in one.

{photo credit: IG sassyredlipstick}

Before the pandemic I loved Flywheel! Unfortunately they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2019 and later closed all of their studios in March 2020. They created an at home bike which I thought was strange, as in why would you encourage people not to come to your studios anymore? Peloton sued them for copyright and that caused the company to fold. At the end of 2020 Pelton bike sales skyrocketed  172% higher than normal because of the pandemic which caused waiting periods for delivery.  Yet before the pandemic, reports say they were no where near making a profit. Now they can lower their advertising budget because everyone knows about the brand. The word Peloton means a group of cyclists in a race, so you may have heard about that peloton crash at the Tour de France this summer. 

Cost

Peloton just lowered the price of the bike and now it retails for $1500 which includes delivery and assembly. There are two different versions of the bike, but the less expensive basic one fulfills all of your needs. They offer a monthly payment plan with 0% APR to purchase the bike.  Additionally, there is a monthly subscription membership of $40 a month for the classes. A couple friends of mine bought a cheaper bike and use an iPad to stream the classes. If you don't have the Peloton bike, the app is only $13 a month for access to the classes.

Peloton instructors are rumored to make between $500 to $750 per class plus stock options so reports say some are making up to $500K per year. Plus with their large Instagram following, they get sponsorship deals. They are the new popular influencers on Instagram. It's quite a lucrative career for the most talented instructors! If you're watching Dancing with the Stars this season, one instructor, Cody, is a participant on the show. 

screenshot of my app

Century Ride

I started riding the Peloton in April and by July I was riding the bike daily Mon-Friday and have finally reached the milestone of 100 rides! In April 2020, Peloton set a record for the most people in a live class - 23,000 people. I've only taken a few live rides, as I prefer the on-demand library, but the live classes I took this month had 2000 riders. The instructor can see whose birthday it is and who is celebrating a milestone ride- 100 rides, 200 rides, 300 rides and will call them out by name. 

The workout it fantastic! There's a great diversity in instructors. I have never worked out harder as it is an incredible workout, yet low-impact on your legs verses running. They have two studios in NYC and London where instructors are filming classes daily. And they offer classes in Spanish and German. I mostly take the pre-recorded classes from the on-demand library or I will take a session. Peloton sessions are a way to workout together with other people when your schedule doesn't permit you to take a live class. Every 5 minutes they preselect a number of classes to start at a particular time, so you start the class in sync with a number of other people who you see on the leader board which pushes you to pedal faster to compete.

Music

I'm a big music person, when I work out it has to be the to the right music. When you select a class on the Peloton, it shows you the whole playlist in advance so you can determine if you would enjoy taking that class. In some classes, I feel like I'm on the dance floor because the music is so hot!  When searching for a class, you can also sort by music genre and the music isn't censored. I've taken hip-hop classes, 2010s pop, motown, latin, disco, Tropical House ride, EDM ride, artist theme rides, and a Carnival ride with dancehall music (yes the instructor dressed in costume and waived a towel and blew on her whistle) that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt joined. 


Classes

There are also scenery rides if you'd rather listen to your own music and look at real scenery filmed from someone riding their bike in some gorgeous locations. With a Roku, you can open the Peloton app on your TV and stream all the other classes they offer. They have short off the bike workouts that are strength training, cardio dance (Usher teaches the chorography to one of his songs), barre, stretching, yoga and meditation. It's almost like having a personal trainer. 

When selecting a class, it tells you what difficult rating people gave it. During the class the instructor tells you what resistance and cadence you should be at, and you can turn the knob on the bike to the exact number the instructor suggests. You stand and sit down throughout class and a strong core is helpful is being able to pedal hard. My favorite instructor is Tunde. The instructors talk for every minute of the class so the energy is the same as if you were taking a class live in a studio!  

You can create your perfect workout by stacking classes. Stacked classes allow you to queue up a playlist of Peloton classes and the app seamlessly transitions from one class in your Stack to the next. So for instance some days I take a 30 min ride then add a 20 minute ride to make it a longer workout. This is the stack I did today:

The peloton app tracks every workout you've done, calories burned and rank in class. You can virtually high five with anyone else in the class which makes for a nice community. The bikes have a camera on them, so if you take a class with a friend and then you can video chat with them. You can have followers in the app so when you turn on the bike it will tell you that your friend is in XYZ class and you can immediately join. Or you can see what classes they have already taken. 

Accessories

The instructors only wear Peloton apparel (the website pics are modeled by instructors) during class and all use this black towel since they have full face makeup on.  I didn't find that I needed to purchase a seat pad for the bike, it's comfortable to sit on.  I did however purchase a clip on fan for my bike. The bike can be used with either cycling shoes or I wear regular sneakers. I use earphones when I ride the bike, but you can also use Airpods or just blast the music from the monitor. 


Extras

I take spirulina for energy for my workouts. I wear this headband which wicks moisture away from your hair and allow heat to escape freely. This keeps my hair straight after the workout. The headband ties in the back so it's adjustable to any head size. I noticed a huge difference from when I didn't wear it! I also love this Underarm Soap which is great for us gals who wear natural deodorant

In conclusion, I don't think it gets any better than this, I think its worth it and I love this machine!  I think the bike is a great investment! They offer a free 30 day trial so you can check out the app. 

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