PART 12

OTHER WORKOUT OPTIONS

PELO TIP 84: NAVIGATING THE WALKING AND RUNNING APPS

Since you’re reading a book about the Peloton Bike, you may be wondering why there’s a section on walking and running. But there are a number of ways that walking and running can be enhanced through your Peloton app.

Just as in the other categories within the app, you can filter the classes appropriate for you. Regardless of the type of machine you are on, the basic instruction about your positioning, techniques, and effort will remain the same. The categories you will find on the app: Running Skills, Warm Up/Cool Down, Fun Run, Endurance, Speed, Intervals, and Heart Rate Zones.

I think there are enough classes here to help you hone your skills and make you an efficient runner.

When you’re ready to vary your workout and include some running, the Peloton app can be your friend!

PELO TIP 85: NAVIGATING THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Let’s say it’s a beautiful day and you’ve just got to get outdoors! Peloton has you covered with a series of audio programs tailored to all sorts of activities you may want to engage in, complete with music and encouragement from some of your favorite instructors. Put on your headphones and take this app out for a spin! Here are just some of the things you might do: “20 minute power walk with Rebecca Kennedy,” “45 minute intervals run with Andy Speer,” “30 minute Hip Hop fun walk with Jess Sims,” “20 minute walk & run with Chase Tucker,” “30 minute HIIT run with Matty Maggiacomo,” “30 minute Tempo run with Robin Arzon,” and a “60 minute Marathon race prep with Matt Wilpers.”

Whether you are warming up, walking, going for speed, intervals, or endurance, this feature of your monthly subscription will hopefully motivate and inspire you to take advantage of all the nice weather.

PELO TIP 86: BOOTCAMP

So I tried a program called Bootcamp . . .

I knew I was in for some strenuous exercise just judging by the name of this program on the app, but it was confirmed when I realized that there were no five-, ten-, or fifteen-minute tutorials in this workout. Nope. On this one, you start at twenty minutes and work your way to sixty minutes. The class types here include: Theme, Bodyweight, Low Impact, Body Focus, and Heart Rate Zone. Difficulty levels are beginner, intermediate, and advanced. These exercises are split fifty/fifty between cardio and on the treadmill. And it’s all what you might expect!

If you’re looking for a bootcamp-type experience from your Peloton workout, the classes so named will give you just what you’re looking for. And I speak from firsthand experience!

PELO TIP 87: CARDIO

Looking for a little cardio help? If you go to the “Cardio” tab on the app, you will be introduced to relatively short HIIT classes that may be just what you’re looking for. Alex Toussaint’s “5 Minute Cardio” will have you doing all sorts of intense exercises like jumping jacks, triceps dips, running in place, and push-ups. His instructions are clear, and he telegraphs what you will be doing next. The idea is to go hard and get your day started in an energetic and efficient way. Phew!

PELO TIP 88: MEDITATION

Back at the beginning of this book, I shared how my wife and I, fed up with feeling out of shape and overweight, decided to invest in this expensive piece of exercise equipment and committed ourselves to the monthly subscription plan. It was a gamble and a risk, of course, just like all the gyms we had joined through the years and then abandoned. Two things had always gotten in my way when it came to exercise (besides simple laziness): boredom and the sheer inconvenience of getting to the health club on an inclement day or when other appointments made it impractical to go someplace to work out, get back home, shower, and go back out again. Who knew that the Peloton classes would overcome the first problem and this beautiful bike in the room next to my bedroom would solve the second!

But what I had not anticipated was how much we would embrace the Peloton holistic approach to wellness. Getting a good spinning workout was what we thought about when we made the purchase. But little did we realize that there were all these other benefits that came with the app. Stretching, yoga, strength training . . . these were all value-adds.

This leads me to the last program category: meditation. Resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness are things that have eluded me for most of my life. From childhood on, there was no stillness or bliss for me. And letting go was not something I did very well.

On a recent trip to Japan, my wife and I learned about the Japanese monk, Dosho, who discovered Zen on a visit to China. And through the years, I had also learned about how meditation had originated in India several thousand years ago, and, of course, I knew about Transcendental Meditation as practiced in America. But I just couldn’t find a way into it . . . until now.

Not to get too spiritual on you, but I once found myself doing a five-minute Basics class—“My First Meditation with Aditi Shah”—and had a special experience. The class was a short primer to the practice, and I did a breath-based meditation. Of course, it was too short to have a significant impact on my life, but it was still a small spark of something great.

Rather than get on with my day right then and there, I went back into the app, and, using the filter, I found that Aditi had many other meditation classes, and so I tried some of those. I had a positive response to these, as well. Over time, I felt myself “giving in” to the spirit of the classes. They were soothing. I soon felt like a walking cliché, but there was a real and new mindfulness that I was able to experience. I even tried her guided meditation to help me fall asleep at night, and while it has not yet solved all my insomniac tendencies, it may have helped a bit.

I have tried other instructors in meditation available through Peloton, and they have helped me, as well. And just as in the Outdoor programs, there are audio classes that you can listen to when you are away from home and wish to engage in meditation. In particular, I like to listen to Kristin McGhee when I commute. On the days I have listened to her, I have not checked on texts or emails while taking part in this meditation exercise—and that’s saying something! It is a great way to start the day.