I’ve officially joined the Peloton craze.
My husband and I bought a bike at the end of last year. We had spoken about it off and on for at least a year before we finally bought it. We finally pulled the trigger in October 2020, and by December, we were pedaling away!
Because I love talking about fitness, I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts about the bike now that we’ve had it for three months. There’s still so much about Peloton that I haven’t discovered yet (I still haven’t taken classes from all of the instructors, for example), so I’m just going to talk about what I am familiar with at this point.
The Bike
Shortly before Eric and I decided to purchase a bike, Peloton released their new Bike+. The Bike+ offers a swivel screen (that is also larger than its predecessor’s), integration with Apple products, and improved speakers. However, the Bike+ also comes with a steeper price tag. We debated whether we would get the Bike+ or the original Bike for a few days and eventually decided on the original Bike. We were very intrigued by the Bike+, but we didn’t care enough about the new features to justify paying $600 more.
I’m happy with our decision. We don’t have Apple products, so the Bike+ integration didn’t matter to us. I’ve never once wished I had a swivel screen. However, I also have not taken any of their boot camp classes, where the swivel screen may come in handy. Your mileage may vary if you plan on taking additional classes off the bike. (I have also read that you can access the app from a Smart TV, an Amazon Firestick, or something similar. It sounds like a good workaround if you want to do floor exercises off the bike and still be able to see the instructors, but I haven’t tried it.)
The Peloton App
When you purchase a bike or treadmill from Peloton, you get access to their app for $39/month. Even if you don’t have a Peloton product, you can sign up for the app at $12.99/month. (I know people have also used the cycling classes with other spin bikes, though I don’t have experience doing that.)
Last year, when the world first went into quarantine due to Covid-19, Peloton released a free 3-month trial of their app. I jumped on the offer when someone that I follow on Instagram mentioned it. This was my first experience with the app and everything else Peloton offers; before then, I had no idea that they provided outdoor running classes, outdoor cycling classes, walking classes, yoga, strength training, and boot camp classes.
Other than a few outdoor running classes, I still haven’t taken advantage of everything else the app has to offer. I’m already balancing a lot between my lifting, Street Parking workouts, and now the Peloton rides, so it’s been difficult for me to find ways to incorporate other Peloton workouts.
With that said, I do enjoy the app, despite my limited familiarity with it. If you want to add variety to your fitness regimen, but you aren’t able to pay for the cost of the bike or treadmill, paying $12.99/month just for the app may be worth it.
Peloton’s Classes
Peloton has a ton of workouts to choose from. They offer beginner, low-impact, HIIT, climbs, and interval and endurance rides. The classes are organized by genre, such as 2010’s pop, hip hop, 90’s R&B, and classic rock. Class times range in length from 5 minutes (which are usually warm-up or cool-down rides) to 60 minutes. I believe there are also a few endurance rides that are 90 minutes long. No matter your fitness level, musical taste, or how much time you have, you will find a class that works for you.
In addition to joining live rides, you can go back in time to take any class from the past. They refer to this as “on-demand.” I love this feature because it means I have no excuse to skip a workout; if I don’t like any of the classes coming up for the next day or week, I have hundreds of others to choose from.
During each class, the instructor guides you on how fast you should be pedaling and what your resistance should be. These are just guides, however. If you can’t hit the specified numbers, you just do what you can. The instructors frequently remind you that it’s okay to pull back if you need to. This is one of the things I love about them.
Peloton Milestones and Challenges
If you thrive on competition and goal-setting, you won’t be disappointed.
During the cycling classes, you can keep track of your progress via the leaderboard. You can set it to display all members who are taking the class (for live rides) or have already taken them (for on-demand rides), or filter it by age group and gender. There’s also a bar that shows your stats from your best performance on a ride of similar length. If you’re gunning for a PR, you can use this bar to compete against yourself.
Peloton also offers badges that you can earn by completing milestones. If there’s one thing that I don’t like about the Peloton bike, it’s this feature. I like the idea of it; I’m just not a fan of their execution. A lot of the milestones include streaks, or how many days in a row you’ve done a ride. In my opinion, this promotes unhealthy exercise habits, especially if you are taking challenging rides every day.
However, some of the other badges include things like taking themed classes or taking the same class as one of your friends, so they aren’t just rewarding you for working out every day. If you’re curious about the badges, you can visit the PeloBuddy website to see a complete list of available badges.
Peloton even offers challenges that you can join. There are challenges to bike at least 50 miles in a month, take at least 10 strength classes in a month, or reach a certain amount of active minutes by taking any Peloton class.
If you struggle with motivation, the badges and challenges will definitely give you a push to clip into the bike consistently.
Combining Peloton Rides with Additional Fitness Routines
I wanted to talk about my experiences with this because I honestly haven’t been able to find much information about it online.
When I first started combining Peloton rides with my lifting, I avoided riding the bike the day before my lower body days because I was afraid to lift on tired legs. Then it just sort of happened. I had taken a 60-minute ride on a Sunday morning, not intending to lift on Monday. When Monday came around, I decided to just get my heavy squats for the week out of the way. I was nervous that my legs would be too fatigued, but I told myself that if my squats didn’t feel great, I knew why and I wouldn’t get upset with myself.
As it turned out, my squats that day felt great. It could have been a fluke, but I think it was better for me to squat on legs that weren’t stiff from not doing anything active the day before. So, now I always try to do some kind of Peloton ride the day before a squat session.
On the flip side, taking a Peloton class the day after a squat session (or any leg-heavy workout) has its benefits, too. The low-impact classes are great for flushing out sore legs, and I’ve noticed a reduction in DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) when I do a ride after a heavy leg day.
Additionally, the extra endurance that I’ve been getting from taking the longer rides has helped with my Street Parking workouts.
All in all, the Peloton has been a worthwhile investment, and the cross-training benefits I’ve seen from it have definitely improved other areas of my training.
Are Peloton Bikes Worth the Money?
Yes, a Peloton bike is worth the money, and I highly recommend it.
Of course, buying one is a decision that you have to think through carefully. If you have the budget and space for it, I say go for it. If you don’t want to commit to purchasing the bike, downloading the app would still be a worthwhile investment. Either way, Peloton will help you crush your fitness goals.
