treacheroustexan
Well-Known Member
Any brewers here on Peloton?
JordanLBrews - Add me if so!
JordanLBrews - Add me if so!
Homebrewtalk Peloton
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I'm pretty happy with my stationary bike, but I have been curious about what peloton owners think of it.
How long have you had it? Anything else you'd like to share about it?
How long have you had it? Anything else you'd like to share about it?
OP
OP
treacheroustexan
Well-Known Member
I've had it since March. I really struggled finding a workout routine that works for me, but with the Peloton I find myself actually wanting to workout.
I love the instructors, I love all the classes. They have old previously recorded classes you can take anytime on demand or they have the live rides you can join. The whole bike is adjustable to fit your body and with the app you can keep track of all your cycling distances, speeds, output, etc.
purchased a Bike+ in early Nov '22 and have been a daily rider ever since. starting to take advantage of the strength and stretching workouts utilizing the Bike+ screen rotated to a side view.
it's totally transformed my workout schedule in a positive way, and combined with the live classes and library of classes available for live replay I find I have motivation that was lacking previously. I also like that I can set the tension resistance to automatically lock with the class I'm participating in
yes it's quite a bit more expensive than other stationary bikes. yes, it's just a tool enabling similar exercise that could be accomplished more frugally - but I never got around to consistency trekking down the frugal path, and returning myself to solid physical condition is a priority I've regained that makes the investment worthwhile to me
it's totally transformed my workout schedule in a positive way, and combined with the live classes and library of classes available for live replay I find I have motivation that was lacking previously. I also like that I can set the tension resistance to automatically lock with the class I'm participating in
yes it's quite a bit more expensive than other stationary bikes. yes, it's just a tool enabling similar exercise that could be accomplished more frugally - but I never got around to consistency trekking down the frugal path, and returning myself to solid physical condition is a priority I've regained that makes the investment worthwhile to me
Are there a lot of used bikes on the market with Covid over?
I'm in a rural area with only a moderately sized city close by, so have to expand a craigslist search out to the more populous half of the region to find any of the Bike+ bikes on Craigslist. Even then, there's only a couple of them in my search area covering from Everett, WA down to Salem, OR
Used prices I see are only $200-$300 less than what I bought new, and don't have the accompanying package bundle that was being offered back in early Nov '22
There's significant bundle savings available through 1/8. Bike plus $500 in accessories (shoes, weights, yoga mat) for 1195. Bike+ with the same for 2295.
I was lucky enough to order my Bike+ last May when it was on sale for 1895, as I haven't seen prices down there since.
@Kent88 @passedpawn I love it! I will post a little later in detail about my overall reasons for saying that as I've got some work stuff to do, but it was an absolute game-changer for me re: exercise.
Alright... So I hate exercise.
Which isn't to say I'm lazy (although I can be from time to time). I like taking the dog for long walks. I like hiking. When I play golf, I walk the course 90% of the time rather than take a cart. I don't shy away from personal exertion.
But I've never liked exercise. I had a gym membership and never went. When I went, I wasn't sure what to do other than a few weight exercises and maybe spend some time on a treadmill or stairmaster. The gym was only 1 mile away, but I couldn't muster up the effort to go, because I quite frankly simply didn't like it.
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In late June 2022, my Peloton Bike+ arrived. And that has changed everything. In about 6 1/2 months (maybe 200 days?) I've now done 220 workouts, with 125 of them being rides, which means I'm doing strenuous riding roughly 2/3 of days. I personally believe that's a good number, especially since I learned early on that I play golf like even more trash than normal if I play the day after riding. So every time I play golf it basically means I don't ride the day before, and since I walk 6-7 miles while playing, don't do a ride that day either.
And I LOVE the workouts on the Peloton, whereas I just simply couldn't get mentally engaged when going to the gym and hated it.
So... What changed? A lot of things...
I'm honestly getting to the point where I started with 20- and 30-minute rides and now I look forward to 45- or 60-minute rides. I actually enjoy it that much. It's not a $2K clothing rack. It gets used and I absolutely DON'T see that changing in the future.
Exercise and peoples' relationship with it are very personal. So I'm not saying that other people will have the same experience I did. But hopefully my experience gives you an idea of where I came from, and where I am. If it resonates with you, it's something I highly recommend.
With the current incentives, it's actually a great time to buy. If you are really considering it, I'd say reach out to @treacheroustexan for a referral code--there are advantages for both the giver and receiver of the code as I understand it (although that may not apply with current incentives). If you're interested in the app only, there is no incentive for the giver so any of us can give you a link that gives you a 60-day free trial for the app-only subscription to give it a shot.
Oh, and if you join, look me up. My leaderboard name, appropriately, is: buhbyebeergut
Which isn't to say I'm lazy (although I can be from time to time). I like taking the dog for long walks. I like hiking. When I play golf, I walk the course 90% of the time rather than take a cart. I don't shy away from personal exertion.
But I've never liked exercise. I had a gym membership and never went. When I went, I wasn't sure what to do other than a few weight exercises and maybe spend some time on a treadmill or stairmaster. The gym was only 1 mile away, but I couldn't muster up the effort to go, because I quite frankly simply didn't like it.
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In late June 2022, my Peloton Bike+ arrived. And that has changed everything. In about 6 1/2 months (maybe 200 days?) I've now done 220 workouts, with 125 of them being rides, which means I'm doing strenuous riding roughly 2/3 of days. I personally believe that's a good number, especially since I learned early on that I play golf like even more trash than normal if I play the day after riding. So every time I play golf it basically means I don't ride the day before, and since I walk 6-7 miles while playing, don't do a ride that day either.
And I LOVE the workouts on the Peloton, whereas I just simply couldn't get mentally engaged when going to the gym and hated it.
So... What changed? A lot of things...
- The workouts are programmed by the instructors. So rather than just going to a gym and trying to decide what to do, everything is laid out for you and and you just have to follow along. This is huge for me, because I don't have to think about what to do. I just need to pick a workout and follow.
- It's engaging. You're going through various things of hitting cadence and resistance numbers that vary throughout the workout. You're doing interval pushes, climbs, etc. All the while the instructor is talking you through it (which admittedly can be annoying for some of them) and there's plenty of musical options to go along with it.
- Speaking of instructors, there are a lot of them and so you can find personalities that jive with your own, music that jives with your own, etc. My wife (as do many women) loves riding with Cody Rigsby because he's like every girl's gay best friend, talking so much that he distracts you from the work you're doing. I prefer more of the aggressive "push you to work" instructors, and based on my music selection (mostly rock/etc) I rotate through typically about 5-6 different instructors that all challenge me in different ways.
- To an extent it's very much "gamified", meaning that you can see your output in real time. There's a leaderboard, which although I don't take many live rides (preferring on demand), you can see how you're stacking up both against others and against previous personal records. Being on a tough ride and seeing that you're tracking near your PR can give you that extra push to get through. I haven't tried it personally, but they also have a very video-game activity called Lanebreak where you're trying to reach certain milestones via resistance and cadence pushes. I think for actual gamers that's got its own little endorphin rush from what I've heard.
- In addition to the output for gamification, there are various kickers like badges for doing various things. For example, I didn't realize it but I hit my first 45-day streak and got on a ride and got so many "high-fives" in the ride that I thought there was a software glitch. Nope, it was because the other riders got to see that I'd just hit 45 days in a row. The platform gives badges up to a 60-day streak, so I literally will go 60 days in a row, take one rest day, and start again. I've done 60 days twice and am on my way to the third. I've decided to do the 2023 "annual" challenge with the goal of hitting 10,000 minutes of exercise throughout the year (roughly 27 min/day average). I'm the type that if you'd asked me before I started whether I'd care about badges, I'd say no, we don't need no stinkin' badges. But dammit I like getting them!
- It's cross-functional. As mentioned I'm hitting 60-day streaks but I don't ride every day. I try to incorporate stretches on a regular basis to restore some of the lost flexibility from my teenage martial arts days. There are strength exercises--I try to do some core but probably am not doing enough. I'm planning to actually start yoga. If you're a runner, you can do outdoor runs or walk coached through the platform.
- It's an expensive bike, but at $44/mo which covers all members of a household it's cheaper on a monthly basis than my gym membership was for my wife and I (~$80/mo even with a family discount). If you have your own spin bike and just have the app, or just want to use the app for the cross-functional exercises, I think it's something like $13/mo. I've heard the app with a different bike isn't QUITE the same experience because you're guessing on things like resistance and you don't participate in the leaderboard aspect since you don't have output, but I know a lot of people that didn't want to bite the bullet on the bike cost still enjoy it.
I'm honestly getting to the point where I started with 20- and 30-minute rides and now I look forward to 45- or 60-minute rides. I actually enjoy it that much. It's not a $2K clothing rack. It gets used and I absolutely DON'T see that changing in the future.
Exercise and peoples' relationship with it are very personal. So I'm not saying that other people will have the same experience I did. But hopefully my experience gives you an idea of where I came from, and where I am. If it resonates with you, it's something I highly recommend.
With the current incentives, it's actually a great time to buy. If you are really considering it, I'd say reach out to @treacheroustexan for a referral code--there are advantages for both the giver and receiver of the code as I understand it (although that may not apply with current incentives). If you're interested in the app only, there is no incentive for the giver so any of us can give you a link that gives you a 60-day free trial for the app-only subscription to give it a shot.
Oh, and if you join, look me up. My leaderboard name, appropriately, is: buhbyebeergut
Wait, Peleton makes a homebrewing bike? How does it work? Do you pedal it to generate electricity for your brew kettle? Does it have a video of a professional brewmeister to cheer you on and encourage you to whirlpool faster or add more hops? Do you compete against other homebrewers while you brew? Does it tell you how many homebrews you have burned during your brew day? Where do I sign up?
what @betarhoalphadelta took the time to write out and nailed it spectacularly!
feel welcome to catch me at BadgerShack and/or join the group #Homebrewers (of which I just learned that both buhbyebeergut and I are members of)
feel welcome to catch me at BadgerShack and/or join the group #Homebrewers (of which I just learned that both buhbyebeergut and I are members of)
I really need to get a routine going that involves riding my stationary bike.
mashpaddled
Well-Known Member
I bought a peleton towards the end of covid because my wife and I didn't know when we'd feel comfortable returning to the gym and in our laziness and drinking during quarantine had packed on some weight. It was good for a while but neither of us really enjoy biking. After a few months of not using it, we canceled the membership.
The bike without a membership is no different from any other stationary bike except it has a giant screen that chastises you for canceling your membership. Like it doesn't save calorie count or anything about the user. I'm surprised nobody has created substitute software that performs some of the basic functions. I use it from time to time when I want some activity but not a strenuous cardio workout. I plan to root it so I can at least use the tablet for other apps while riding. Or might end up selling it.
The bike without a membership is no different from any other stationary bike except it has a giant screen that chastises you for canceling your membership. Like it doesn't save calorie count or anything about the user. I'm surprised nobody has created substitute software that performs some of the basic functions. I use it from time to time when I want some activity but not a strenuous cardio workout. I plan to root it so I can at least use the tablet for other apps while riding. Or might end up selling it.
haha
+1 i'm more of a if i'm burning more calories then sitting on my backside drinking, i should get reimbursed for them....and i know how to eat 'just' the right amount of calories for my activity!
@betarhoalphadelta thank you for the detailed review.
Yesterday I had some errands in the morning, and my motivation to exercise wanes significantly the later I get in the day, so I didn't get on the bike until the early afternoon despite WFH. I no longer had the motivation for a long ride, so I took a 30-minute ride that was entirely the music of AC/DC. Which was exactly the energy I needed at that point.
To atone for a "short" day after two days off the bike (I played golf Sunday), I took my first ever 75-minute class today, a Power Zone Endurance ride. That really hit the spot. For me, leg strength is never a problem on rides; my cardio endurance is my limiter. Doing these longer, moderate exertion, rides is really going to help me improve the area that I need it most.
To atone for a "short" day after two days off the bike (I played golf Sunday), I took my first ever 75-minute class today, a Power Zone Endurance ride. That really hit the spot. For me, leg strength is never a problem on rides; my cardio endurance is my limiter. Doing these longer, moderate exertion, rides is really going to help me improve the area that I need it most.
The routine my daughter seems to be getting into has her the calmest after I drop her brother off at school, but I don't feel completely awake for a couple hours after that, when she starts getting cranky. I think I need to get myself motivated to get on my stationary bike in that window between dropping my son off and when my daughter gets feisty.
@betarhoalphadelta as you can see in our feed, I am currently at a significantly different conditioning place than your are. it's inspiring to be connected with others who are way beyond where I am during my initial weeks of getting back into shape, see what you're accomplishing, and see that it's possible to get there.
30 days ago I could barely get seated onto the bike without sending the heart monitor into Zone 3 (122-137 bpm). Yesterday I did a 30 minute 'low impact' ride that kept pace with the class, and I never got out of Zone 1 (<105 bpm), so I can see the progress on cardio conditioning and feel the progress in my endurance before I start to feel it. I now have to push it to get into Zone 3 for the classes I participate in, and soon I'll take another step and again increase the level of what I'm able to accomplish.
very much like homebrewing several years ago - that first extract brewing experience was pushing the limits of what I could accomplish without becoming overwhelmed, and yet today I do all-grain with a homebuilt HERMS system and find it a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I enjoy the process of making progress towards the goal of becoming in good physical condition, just like enjoying the process of becoming a solid homebrewer. I'll never compete in a cycling competition, and I'll never be a commercial brewer - and that's perfectly wonderful for the goals I have for myself.
30 days ago I could barely get seated onto the bike without sending the heart monitor into Zone 3 (122-137 bpm). Yesterday I did a 30 minute 'low impact' ride that kept pace with the class, and I never got out of Zone 1 (<105 bpm), so I can see the progress on cardio conditioning and feel the progress in my endurance before I start to feel it. I now have to push it to get into Zone 3 for the classes I participate in, and soon I'll take another step and again increase the level of what I'm able to accomplish.
very much like homebrewing several years ago - that first extract brewing experience was pushing the limits of what I could accomplish without becoming overwhelmed, and yet today I do all-grain with a homebuilt HERMS system and find it a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I enjoy the process of making progress towards the goal of becoming in good physical condition, just like enjoying the process of becoming a solid homebrewer. I'll never compete in a cycling competition, and I'll never be a commercial brewer - and that's perfectly wonderful for the goals I have for myself.
It's hard. My wife has trouble finding time to ride because if it's before work, she has to get up ~30 minutes earlier, and nobody wants that. Then if she waits until she gets home from work, there's no motivation.
I get it. I'm not motivated first thing when I get up with the dog, and the farther we go past noon, the more the motivation seeps out of me. The motivation is strongest right around 9 AM, which to do a workout from home is not a very convenient time for most people. I'm lucky to WFH, so I can do it. Even when I have to get up and drop the kids at school, I'm home by 9 AM, so it works.
Just remember... Sitting your daughter in front of "educational" animated programming for 30 minutes to get a workout in is just fine. She's not going to complain and it'll help you achieve your goals to be the healthiest and best dad you can be...
She's still under 6months, so cartoons aren't a reliable distraction for her yet. She's pretty fond of her teether toys at the moment. Ceiling fans aren't as interesting as they were a couple months ago.
She's consistently been pretty calm between my wife leaving for work until about 9:30am. I'm going to aim for after dropping my son off at school. We're getting back into our routine now that holiday travel is done, and she is doing better with her bottle, so that will help a lot.
It's more a matter of me getting motivated at the least productive part of my day.
Bear in mind that I'm actually *not* in amazing shape. I'm just a giant human being (6'5" and down to 260-265 lbs). So when people talk about "50 resistance", that's me getting my arse out of bed in the morning. "60 resistance" is me having to carry my heft up a flight of stairs. The Peloton output numbers are more dominated by resistance than cadence. Pushing resistance is a function of leg strength. Leg strength is largely a function of weight. So my numbers are high, but it's not a factor of conditioning as much as brute force because I'm a giant.
I've come a long way in just 6.5 months. I do feel like I'm making progress in a lot of ways. Some of the output numbers I've hit are places I absolutely couldn't have hit 6.5 months ago, and various workouts that would have floored me at that time are doable now. But my own numbers are indexed to my physical size.
Olivia says not to compare yourself to the leaderboard. Compare yourself to yesterday. That's a big thing.
That said, be careful with Olivia. I thought I'd do a 20 minute easy ride with her, and my wife came from the opposite side of the house to check on me because she could hear my breathing lol... That was my 20-min PR until I did my FTP test. They don't call her the "glitter assassin" for nothin'...
LOL 6 months should be easy! She's immobile
She's still under 6months, so cartoons aren't a reliable distraction for her yet. She's pretty fond of her teether toys at the moment. Ceiling fans aren't as interesting as they were a couple months ago.
She's consistently been pretty calm between my wife leaving for work until about 9:30am. I'm going to aim for after dropping my son off at school. We're getting back into our routine now that holiday travel is done, and she is doing better with her bottle, so that will help a lot.
It's more a matter of me getting motivated at the least productive part of my day.
Yeah, it's hard. Mine are 15, 13, and 10, so it's easy to tell them "hey, I'm getting on the Peloton, don't do anything stupid and pay no attention to whatever you hear from the bedroom".
At that age all you can do is be flexible. Get her in whatever you do to keep her busy (playpen, swing, etc) and then start your workout. Worst case, you can't complete it, right? But if you complete more times than not, you're still doing great.
You know from your son that it'll only get harder once she's mobile, so might as well get as much as you can in now lol...
Her lack of mobility should work to my favor, for sure. But there are other challenges that come with this age. Worst case scenario is she complains the whole time. But it isn't like I'm not going to (double negative, I know) make sure she's clean before I get started, and she doesn't starve. 20-40 minutes of her complaining might make my primitive lizard dad brain upset, but everyone will survive. And like you said, if she really sounds like she's having a problem, I can stop.
added Hannah Corbin's 10 min Tabata to today's session. those last couple intervals were impossible to keep cadence on at the suggested resistance level, but someday in the not too distant future I'll exceed if I hit 1-2 of these per week. I'll also return mentally prepared vs today's "hmm, what's this?" approach I came to class with
Camila Ramon's Extra 10 Intervals session was also equally ego deflating on my first ride, but second time around I was mentally prepared to push thru
Camila Ramon's Extra 10 Intervals session was also equally ego deflating on my first ride, but second time around I was mentally prepared to push thru
just a random question, do you ever get f'd with and the pedals seize and slip and scrape your shins? if this thing is what i'm thinking....it'd be fun to do!
Yeah, anything labeled intervals, HIIT, or Tabata (a tough subset of HIIT where it's 2:1 effort:recovery), is hard as hell. My 30 minute PR is a Camila HIIT and Hills ride, so every time you get done with HIIT and think you're good, you get a climb lol. She's freakin' tough!
Try to be careful and make sure you're building in rest days for your legs. It doesn't have to be a "nothing" day, it could be an outdoor walk, a stretch, a strength exercise, a cardio workout, a combination of those, etc. But riding 7 days a week is too much, particularly if you're doing hard rides. I usually don't go more than 3-4 days riding in a row to make sure I can get some recovery built in. All this work will backfire if you injure yourself due to overtraining.
I have the clip-in shoes, so it'd really need to be a drastic stop to clip-out and scrape my shins. that said, I've never had such an odd experience with the pedals - sounds dreadful
Here's the session I referenced
Here's the session I referenced
I'm starting to work in 1-2 hard rides per week depending on how my legs are feeling, never more and OK to do less/none. the day or two following is typically a 15 min low impact recovery type ride with a 5 min warmup and 5 min cooldown. I also limit myself to all 'in the saddle' type rides for now until such time as I feel comfortable taking a session jog/run standing
earlier post should have been 'succeed' and not 'exceed' (I'll succeed if I hit 1-2 of these per week)
earlier post should have been 'succeed' and not 'exceed' (I'll succeed if I hit 1-2 of these per week)
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OP
OP
treacheroustexan
Well-Known Member
I had this thread up and walked away from my computer for a bit. Didn't read the post you were replying to and I read your whole post to the end thinking you were talking about an instructor, not a child haha.
I've got a one month old and I need to find a better routine. Might start riding in the AM before I go into work because I definitely don't have it in me in the evenings anymore.
Oh good grief, I think there's a bracc fan in #Homebrewers, someone called Homer217
estricklin
Well-Known Member
I’m genuinely glad to hear it’s working for you. I have always loved cardio, and I lift weights 3x per week. When I was younger I ran cross country. Quite a few years back i had to shed 65lbs, I had gotten lazy and wasn’t working out. That’s when I took up cycling. I ride around 3k a year, I’ve cycle toured for the better part of a week before (rode through Ozark Mountains), and I commute to work by bike several times a week, 22 miles round trip. Needless to say I love cycling the most.
I was giving some people from work a hard time about using the Peloton and was sort of half joking. I completely don’t understand it, I would NEVER ride one of those. I tried a stationary bike at the gym a few times, and I was bored out of my mind, not to mention the seat and pedals were very uncomfortable. I once thought of getting a trainer for the winter, but I found I can easily cycle outdoors when it’s as cold as 20F with no problems. I just can’t seem to get past the idea of riding a bike, that goes no where. I’ve always been more of an outdoors person anyway. When I’m not cycling, the wife and I will walk 4-7 miles at a time.
Reading your post helps me understand why they have become so popular, and I love hearing about people exercising and getting healthier. Our bodies were not meant to sit around all day; I believe we’re a lot happier when we get exercise. But I would high encourage you to try riding a real bike, the exhilaration that you experienced as a child, doesn’t go away in adulthood.
I really enjoy riding my bike at my local trail. Every summer since I bought it, except for the two after my oldest was born, I've been able to justify my annual trail pass. My issues have centered around what to do when it's too cold to ride, and getting out consistently to ride when the weather is nice.
I'm hopeful that this coming summer I'll be able to teach my oldest to ride, and if that works I think we'll be able to go frequently. I'm also hopeful that I can use the app membership that a nice person gifted me to get on my Schwinn stationary bike regularly over the next couple months while the weather is unpleasant.
I'm hopeful that this coming summer I'll be able to teach my oldest to ride, and if that works I think we'll be able to go frequently. I'm also hopeful that I can use the app membership that a nice person gifted me to get on my Schwinn stationary bike regularly over the next couple months while the weather is unpleasant.
doogster
Well-Known Member
Howdy J,
I do Peloton... but not with their bike or tread. I just use their app from my phone or iPad for workouts using my own weights, cycling trainer, or whatever the workout I feel like that day calls for. Once the weather warms up here where you and I live, my bike comes off the trainer and back outside to the real roads it is. Cycle on!
I do Peloton... but not with their bike or tread. I just use their app from my phone or iPad for workouts using my own weights, cycling trainer, or whatever the workout I feel like that day calls for. Once the weather warms up here where you and I live, my bike comes off the trainer and back outside to the real roads it is. Cycle on!
Are there any cyclist in the group?
Thought I would share a link to the outdoor biking thread for people like estricklin who like that.
Thought I would share a link to the outdoor biking thread for people like estricklin who like that.
Thanks. While "riding a bike to nowhere" may never be your thing, that I helped you understand it from the opposite side makes me happy that I accomplished that.
And that came up in a ride the other day. The instructor was talking about the fact that although it's work and exercise, you should make it fun and it be "play" too. I think what he said (paraphrased) was: "Because let's be honest. You're riding a bike to nowhere. You're likely doing it in a basement or a garage. If you can't make this 'play', it'd seem really silly."
I actually think this might spur me to make use of the mountain bike that I bought a few years ago and have never ridden beyond up and down my street a few times. As mentioned I do enjoy being active. But for me "being active" often means a planned activity. I've got a couple coworkers who I know I could go mountain biking with, but that's something to do on a Saturday morning in my brain, not the cornerstone of fitness. I have a buddy that I would go hiking with (and he was a hardcore cyclist), but he lived in San Diego county while I live in Orange County, so hiking with him was basically committing an entire day to the activity. He's since moved to NC, so I don't really have many fitness buddies to do these things with any longer.
For me this is something I can do every day. And maybe build up the muscles so that if I go mountain biking, or hiking, or other things, that I have the strength and endurance to not embarrass myself lol... Maybe I'll buy myself a bike rack for my trailer hitch so I can have one more thing to stare at in the garage and taunt me for not using it!
How much do you find it helps (or not) to use the Peloton workouts to train for real cycling? I've heard cyclists say that it can often be very helpful because Peloton rides typically don't have downhill, or stopping at a signal waiting for a light to change, etc... It's constant work (of varying intensity levels). But that some other cyclists find it difficult because there are fewer long-duration classes, and some will do thinks like stacking two 90-minute classes on top of each other to continue training endurance for longer rides that they'll face out in the real world.
I personally started doing Power Zone training at the beginning of December and trying to get to longer duration rides because my cardio endurance, not my leg strength, is my limiter. I know most DIY'ers on non-Peloton brand bikes can't easily do PZ training, but with an actual dedicated bike trainer I'm sure it's old hat for you as you get real-time output measurements, right?
I wonder what sort of classes you take to stay in form during the off-season, and if you as an experienced cyclist using a bike trainer have any advice for us novices?
Someone here was kind enough to share a 60-day app membership code (advertised trial membership at the time was 30-days) and I am trying it out. He wanted my early impressions of it, and I think I have found a couple videos that I will be repeating this week anyway, so since I'm not trying anything new for a few days I figured I'd share those first impressions with everyone now.
Signing up
Navigating the apps
Going into this I anticipated most of my workouts would be cycling. I obviously don't have their bike, mine is a pretty basic stationary Schwinn (130 Journey 1, looks like this). Last year, around the time I realized I had a herniated disc after a long bike ride, I bought two pairs of what I thought were light dumbbells, and I see that they do have dumbbell workouts, so I am going to try getting some arm strength back.
Getting active
Well, that was a lot. Hopefully breaking it down like that helps people avoid the sections they might not care about.
So I guess the question is whether I'll continue to use this after the trial subscription ends. I can't give a definite answer to that yet. It might depend on how I do with the arm workouts. While I am most enthused about getting ready to ride bike this summer, I will eventually be taking my outdoor bike to the trail for some fresh air. The dumbbell workouts are all indoors and also don't expect me to have any vendor locked equipment, so I'm not paying a lot for Peloton brand equipment or trying to parse anything like bike resistance in the middle of a workout. I can see myself possibly continuing with the dumbbells through the summer, but I doubt I will do many indoor rides May through September.
If anyone asks and reminds me to, I can post my thoughts as the trial membership winds down in March.
Signing up
Navigating the apps
Going into this I anticipated most of my workouts would be cycling. I obviously don't have their bike, mine is a pretty basic stationary Schwinn (130 Journey 1, looks like this). Last year, around the time I realized I had a herniated disc after a long bike ride, I bought two pairs of what I thought were light dumbbells, and I see that they do have dumbbell workouts, so I am going to try getting some arm strength back.
Getting active
Well, that was a lot. Hopefully breaking it down like that helps people avoid the sections they might not care about.
So I guess the question is whether I'll continue to use this after the trial subscription ends. I can't give a definite answer to that yet. It might depend on how I do with the arm workouts. While I am most enthused about getting ready to ride bike this summer, I will eventually be taking my outdoor bike to the trail for some fresh air. The dumbbell workouts are all indoors and also don't expect me to have any vendor locked equipment, so I'm not paying a lot for Peloton brand equipment or trying to parse anything like bike resistance in the middle of a workout. I can see myself possibly continuing with the dumbbells through the summer, but I doubt I will do many indoor rides May through September.
If anyone asks and reminds me to, I can post my thoughts as the trial membership winds down in March.
doogster
Well-Known Member
I can't really say how much it helps with real cycling other than it keeps me toned and maintains endurance if I do longer/hard workouts. While the classes may not be as long as your outdoor real cycling days, it can be as easy or as hard a workout as you like by amping up your cadence or resistance. And sure, you could definitely stack workouts to create a longer "ride". And mix / match their ride types (Intervals, HIIT, climb, That and a good stretch class afterwards and you're golden.
My setup is my Giant on a $100 trainer stand, and a Wahoo Cadence sensor I have tied into my laces. Most times I just run with their workout recommendations for cadence and resistance. You have to "fudge" the resistance to your own setup as they call out settings based on the Peloton bike system. I just assume those to be % of Max possible, and map percentages to the gears on my bike.
That said regarding cycling - I do much more in the way of strength workouts (5 days a week), and cycling maybe 2 times / week.
Been a member of the Peloton app for 2 years now and really like it... it keeps me working out and for as much as I use it, the cost is very reasonable. I'm sure there are other sources of workouts out there. I never looked but I bet there are free training videos all over YouTube.
@Kent88 thanks for your thoughts. Sounds like it's been a mix.
A few thoughts:
Anyway, looking forward to your update when you get to the end of the trial and decide whether or not to continue.
A few thoughts:
- I haven't messed around with the phone app much at all. I actually just installed it for the first time before Saturday to track a 3+ mi outdoor walk. I do most of my non-cycling workouts using the Roku app or actually playing them through a web browser on my desktop. An iPad works well but I can't imagine trying to watch these things on a small phone screen. That sounds like a nightmare as far as experiencing the classes.
- I figured that the cadence/resistance on a non-Peloton bike would be a little rough. I don't know if the app actually displays target cadence/resistance on screen? I know it does on the actual bike, but I'm not sure on the app. If you're doing the app on a tiny phone screen, that could also reduce the available real estate for showing it. But yeah, following the callouts can be difficult especially when the instructors aren't good about actually making the callout explicit.
- Re: music, I would definitely say country isn't the big one. Especially older country. Denis has some rides (such as this one) that are older country. You can filter the workouts based on music and apparently there are 231 country rides, but they're probably mostly biased towards newer tracks. I don't know if you're also into classic rock (I assume there's decent overlap with older country), but expanding to include that opens up a LOT of rides with good music.
- Speaking of app vs. desktop vs. phone, I actually do most of my ride searching using the laptop (browser) interface. Pretty much daily I'll look at the rides to see if there's something I want to add to my bookmarks. Then I'm usually picking whatever ride I'm going to do on a daily basis on the laptop and just know what to filter for on the Bike to find that specific ride. I couldn't imagine trying to do that on a 5" phone screen or through a Fire Stick app that may not exactly offer "snappy" performance...
- Re: instructors, I think as you get farther out of the beginner rides you'll find that it's less about affirmation. If you want to avoid that, avoid anything labeled "Low Impact", "Recovery", etc as well. I can't count the number of low impact rides that are "if you're recovering from pregnancy" etc... No, I want to get aggression out because I have kids, not because I was ever pregnant!
- Also re: instructors, note that instructors may have VERY different feels based on the type of ride they're doing. One of my early rides was a low impact with Jess King, and it was SUPER boring and way too on the affirmation end. Then later I took this "Musicfest" ride (where she's playing all bands from the Warped Tour) and it's a buttkicker where there's a 20 minute stretch of high resistance where every song you're building more cadence and she's yelling "NO RECOVERY!" to get you to push harder. That little pixie kicked my a$$!!! -- The takeaway being to give instructors more than one chance with different types of rides before you write them off. I have some instructors that I know are always good, and some where I know I have to be in the right mood for them, but when I'm in that mood they can hit the spot.
Anyway, looking forward to your update when you get to the end of the trial and decide whether or not to continue.
I've mostly played video on the FireStick. My first ride was on my phone. Since then, I've used larger screens. I don't know why Peloton doesn't like my laptop, but my phone works well enough. I set up on there and play video on the TV. It would be helpful if those of us without the bike could see on screen at any time what resistance and cadence we're supposed to keep. But it's going to take a couple more rides for me to get a good feel for what pelo bike resistance equals what Schwinn resistance, and I can see why it might not be worth the screen real estate for people who just aren't bothering with that parsing.
Country ride bookmarked. Thank you. I think I am going to give classic rock a try, as I don't want to listen to Beiber. No offense to the Belibers out there, just not my jam. Unfortunately I don't expect any rides with Big Giant Circles playing.
I have been watching videos with a few different instructors. They all made me cringe a bit, but only one was really bad. I don't have strong feelings about any of them yet. I'm going to keep trying out some different people, see what happens. I'm almost out of the beginner rides I bookmarked, so that will help reduce the cringe factor.
Country ride bookmarked. Thank you. I think I am going to give classic rock a try, as I don't want to listen to Beiber. No offense to the Belibers out there, just not my jam. Unfortunately I don't expect any rides with Big Giant Circles playing.
I have been watching videos with a few different instructors. They all made me cringe a bit, but only one was really bad. I don't have strong feelings about any of them yet. I'm going to keep trying out some different people, see what happens. I'm almost out of the beginner rides I bookmarked, so that will help reduce the cringe factor.
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