TCO 176 | Discovering Peloton

176: Peloton Stock Hits YET Another High plus our interview with Michelle Guobadia

Last Updated: April 30, 2023By Tags: , , , , ,

TCO 176 | Discovering Peloton

 

Peloton stock crosses the $100 per share mark.

The Tread is now 30-days risk-free.

Will Peloton turn on the NFC chip in the Tread+?

Echelon is still blaming Amazon for the “Prime Bike” fiasco.

And Echelon apes Peloton once again by announcing “Bike+Bootcamps.” (sigh)

Peloton drops a Breast Cancer Awareness line in the boutique and it sells out FAST!

We’re giving away a PINK Peloton and helping National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Jenn – Why having the option to quit makes us work harder

There’s a new Bike+ video featuring Alex Toussaint.

Ben Alldis is U.K. instructor to teach strength classes.

Jess King is officially teaching classes for the Tread.

Peloton releases strength classes recorded in the new Strength Studio.

Robin Arzon was featured in Well + Good magazine.

Tonal now has pilates.

Jodi Sweeten from Full House has a Peloton too.

Kendall and Tunde celebrate one year with Peloton.

All this plus our interview with Michelle Guobadia!

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Watch the episode here:

Listen to the podcast here

Peloton Stock Hits YET Another High plus our interview with Michelle Guobadia

It is the end of an era. We haven’t set it up yet, but it’s upstairs awaiting you to pay attention to it. We’re speaking of course of a MacBook Pro.

I don’t even know how this happened. It’s like all of a sudden, it’s like Full Monty. I went from 0 to 60.

I’ve still got a Commodore 64 though. She’s got a MacBook Pro, but I got a TI-99/4A, I believe.

Do you think I can blame this on a Bob Stacey?

I think so. He pushed you over the edge. Somehow you got the MacBook Pro, I’ve got a Tandy. I didn’t know that that was still in production, but that’s how that worked out. We took all the money that went to the MacBook Pro, skimmed off a little for me. She’s like, “You’re just a sidekick. You don’t need a MacBook Pro. Enjoy this Atari 5200.”

That’s not what happened. In all seriousness, I was teasing about Bob Stacey. It’s not his fault. We had already looked very seriously at a MacBook before we left the house. When we got to Costco, he recognized us from the show. He was like, “What are you looking at that MacBook for?”

He’s like, “I know who you are and I know you supposedly hate Apple.”

“What are you doing?”

“You dirty liar.” That was the underlying. He’s like, “The Clip Out is a fraud.”

That’s what he said.

I mean, it was implied.  

No, but he was helpful not only with the decisions that we needed to make. He offered to help me with my phone and setting up that. He convinced us to buy a mesh network Wi-Fi for the Wi-Fi, while we were at it. He’s a good salesman. If anybody needs some electronics help.

Go to the old Costco.

Bob Stacey is your guy. We are going to be doing this. Hopefully, the camera will look better because this one sucks.

Hers will be on the MacBook Pro and my portion of the show will be done entirely via telegraph. She’ll be like, “Hi and welcome to The Clip Out,” and then I’ll be like the old version.

That’s no different than any other week.

What do you have in store for people for this episode? 

We’ve got to talk about the stock because it has hit some highs. We’ve got to talk about that and some new stuff that Peloton is doing. We have some questions about the Tread+, and we need to talk about Echelon again because their antics continue. We also are going to be talking about our huge fundraiser sweepstakes that we are doing for the month of October, so you want to stick around.

It’s for a good cause. You definitely want to know all about that. 

I get my Bike+ on Friday and then we have all kinds of other Peloton news.

Judging how the computer thing worked out, I’m glad that I don’t ride the bike because I’d probably be getting Echelon. That’s a bridge too far.

I would just let you keep my old bike.

Shameless plugs, don’t forget. You can find us wherever you find your podcast, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you would be so kind, leave us a review, so people that come along after you know that maybe we’re worth a read. We have a new review and this is from Gramma_Dawn. It says, “Bright spot in my day. I’ve been working from home and listening to all of the episodes. Thanks for making my work from home day brighter.” The leaderboard name is Gramma_Dawn.

She’s wonderful. Thank you so much for leaving a review. That was so kind.

Thank you very much. You can find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/theclipout. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. YouTube.com/theclipout. You can see the most recent episodes in full video glory, like the last episode with Andrea Barber where the people had a lot of nice things to say about. People ask all the time, “What’s something we can do to help you out?” That’s nice and easy, share an episode on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. 

People tell me all the time they had no idea there was a Peloton podcast. Share it with your friends, please.

That’s a quick, easy, simple way. It doesn’t cost you a thing. Just let people know like, “This is the thing that’s out there that I’ve been enjoying.” Also, we have a newsletter that comes out every week-ish and we have all the links, photos and all that stuff right in there in one easy digest. You can sign up for that at our fancy-dancy website, theclipout.com. There’s all of that.

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Joining us from Run, Lift & Live, it’s John Mills. John, how is it going?

I’m good. How is it going? It’s good to see you guys.

It’s good to see you too.

We should start with the fact that Peloton stock hit yet another high today. $102.83.

I was watching it go up. I’m not a day trader. I’m long now, but I’m still like, “Refresh, refresh.”

It’s fun to watch it.

When it goes up, it’s fun. Any thoughts on what’s driving that?

You noticed that there was a lot of fluctuation in the market these days. It’s volatile and I’m sure that has to do with the election season. I’m sure it has to do with the questions around vaccine and when the vaccine is going to come out. The numbers for GDP for the second quarter in the US were announced. I’m sure that has something to do with what’s going on, but for that reason, you’ll see it go up when it looks like things might be locking down, and then it will go down when it seems like things are opening up. I noticed that as it was going up, the rest of the market was struggling and that aligns to that.

It must mean by the end of the day, the market had recovered some because now we’re down to 99.24. 

The rest of the market did well. The NASDAQ did well with it. It’s that same kind of concept that I tend to notice, where the thought is that the economy is opening up and things are working, Peloton levels out.

I will say this though. It seems like when this first started, if people thought, “We’re taking a step in the right direction in regard to COVID.” It would drop a lot more than we’re seeing now. I think it’s reached a tipping point where that causes some fluctuation, but not near the swings it used to because it feels like as more people get a Peloton, more people are like, “This is great whether I cleaned my house or not.” 

I’ve noticed that as well. It’s unfortunate that it is such an unpredictable time. We see these fluctuations but I don’t think they are as much as they were. It’s cut out of the level itself off. The fundamentals are good. Their strategy is good. We know these next earnings are going to be some good stuff. I’m still hearing news about the backlogs on the orders, but I think they said they were going to be working that through to the end of the year.

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Also from a backlog standpoint, you might find that as they move Bike+, they’re going to have less backlog because they’re pulling in bikes that they can refurbish and turn around and put right back in them. That might alleviate some of that. 

A lot of the people that were getting December delivery dates are able to move them up when some crazy people cancel their Bike+ delivery. I don’t think it’s terrible. I don’t think it’s awful. 

Segueing to the tread, they’re now offering 30-day home trials on the tread, which is interesting, especially because you’ve got to figure that’s a much more difficult thing to deliver and then remove, should someone say, “No, thank you.” 

I thought it was interesting, they said on the last earnings call or maybe it was the Investor and Analyst Day that they had put 95% of the marketing into the bike. They haven’t put any of the marketing into the tread. I think we’re going to start to see a big push this year. This is step one. It’s a tiny little piece of it.

I found it interesting when I go out to one Peloton, I do this every once in a while just to check with the backlog and it’s still like they’re born in you. If you try to order a tread, this is going to be an extended time before you get it. Those treads seem like they’re doing well. I agree with you on the 30 days. To be the guy that’s delivering this big, heavy thing and if someone says, “Can you take it upstairs?” Then 30 days later if you’re the same person coming back, you’re probably not that happy.

I think it says something about what they think about the tread. Even if it isn’t what they think, at some point, if they offer it on the bike and not the tread, it says that they think that the bike is better than the tread. They trust that you’ll like the bike more than they trust that you’ll like the tread. It’s also like they painted themselves into a corner. While we’re talking about the tread, the NFC chip. I don’t know much about football. What does that mean?

That is the chip that allows you to use the Apple HealthKit. If my first answer to this was like, “There’s no way that they’re going to turn on this chip. They’re going to put it in button the Tread+ because it’s too much work.” Supposedly this chip already exists in our Tread+s. Everyone that I talked to was like, “They’re going to turn it on.” What do you think, John? 

I would assume so. I think they’re doing well, they’re smarter than me. I’ve been diving for a while going, “Innovation, when is it going to happen? When is the bike coming out? When is the new tread?” I’m all in a hurry and they pace it all out. “No worries. It’s all good, John.” That’s what tends to happen. I think sometime around the end of the year, all of a sudden they’ll update the software on the tread and Jim Kidd integration and the Apple Watch integration will all work. They’re just pacing this out. This will be another product announcement or a new feature.

They won’t tell anybody. You’ll just all of a sudden work one day, they like to do that. 

The reason I say that is because some people are theorizing that when the new tread starts chipping, that’s when they’ll turn it on to differentiate between the Tread and the Tread+. It does make sense. I’m like, “It’s been in there the whole time. Are you kidding me seriously?” 

Your cell phone is like that too. I think every cellphone or smartphone has an FM transmitter in it. They’re required to put them in there, but they’re not required to turn them on. You could use your phone as an FM radio and not drain your battery hardly at all.

What kills me about this is this could have been a selling point the whole time, because it would have justified some of the cost between that and a normal treadmill. 

I’m like, “We could have already done this.” Then they do it and you know it’s great and it’s smart.

I could have been convinced to get an Apple Watch a long time ago if I had known it was coming.

Before we let you go, let’s rip on Echelon for a little bit.

After we recorded last episode, just to bring people full circle, we had left the situation with, “There is no Echelon Prime Bike. It doesn’t exist and Amazon had nothing to do with it.”

Amazon puts out a statement saying there is no partnership.

The next day, Echelon dude shows up and he’s like, “That’s not what happened. We met at CES and we had a deal and I’ve got the purchase orders to prove it.” They’re just confused. Even if that’s true, would you go on national television and tell everybody that you’re smarter than Amazon? 

I don’t know its semantics. It’s like, it’s one thing to say, “I’ve got to merge in with Amazon, that’s going to purchase these bikes. Throw them in their warehouse and then sell them as prime via Prime delivery.” It’s a whole other thing to say, “We’re in a partnership to make a bike for me.” I think their communication worded that wrong. That’s what I think.

I think their marketing said something that wasn’t true and now this guy doesn’t want to back down. I sold DVDs on eBay. I do not have a partnership with eBay. That’s not how it works.

Did you read the transcript or did you see that physical video interview?

I watched the video. You’re right. He doesn’t look at the camera. It’s uncomfortable and he says things that aren’t true. He said whenever something goes out of stock, it stops showing up on Amazon Prime. They stop showing it. Maybe now there’s some special circumstance with Echelon, but that is not true for other items. 

I’ve seen lots of things. Anybody that tried to buy in the past few months, toilet paper or hand sanitizer on Amazon, knows that it doesn’t just go away. If you’re going to blow up on TV and say Amazon is full of crap, you better have the receipts. 

The other interesting thing, to bring it full circle for everybody, is after this video came out, which will be embedded in our newsletter by the way. It’s also on Facebook.com/theclipout. I know it’s over at Run, Lift & Live too. The point being that now if you search on Amazon, there are no Echelon bikes. There are no Echelon products at all. Make it that what you will.

Lou Lentine was saying that they sold out. Did you hear the interview where at the end he went, “We’re hearing from Amazon that they pulled it. Also, we’re hearing that your bike at Walmart isn’t doing that well?”

That’s just not true.

TCO 176 | Discovering Peloton

 

You can tell, he was being kind.

To show that Echelon’s ambition/goal is not to be undeterred, they now have bike bootcamps.

That one got me.

Was that your final straw? I know you’ve been laughing along with this whole thing, but you’re also like, “Whatever.” This moment got you fired up. You use like the little dollar sign.

I already had extra exclamation points, but once it gets to best five, I’m going to fire up.

To add insult to injury, the announcement was made by their new CEO, Fun Jolie. I thought that was interesting. 

I thought it was interesting that they just subtly added Bike+Bootcamp, like the little plus. 

At first, I was cracking up laughing. That is hilarious.

I don’t even know what to do with it anymore.

All my jokes have run out on that.

That’s their game plan. If we do this long enough, they’ll run out of ways to make fun of us.

I can’t even make any jokes on it. That’s what I said in the post. I was like, “I can’t even make anything up on this.”

I have to address the fact that I’m still getting pushback from people and they’re saying that everything gets copied and that’s innovation, but I feel like I need to say to the world, this is not innovation. This is not taking something and bettering it. It’s taking it, doing the exact same thing and then lying about how good it is compared to the other company. That is not innovation.

No, it’s not innovation. It is exactly what you said. Generally, I agree with that. I think everybody’s taking their P shirt and a lot of things and creating their own version of something. I agree with that, but this isn’t that. Not only in what they’re producing but how they talk to it.

I want Peloton to come out with something ridiculous to see if Echelon covers it, like the Tom yoga. Something just crazy. Let’s all see if Echelon is like, “Got to jump on the bandwagon.” Then we all just laugh behind our hands. I would like that to happen.

I probably should thank them because they’ve provided me a lot of laughter. My home.

No equipment but lots of laughter. Thank you very much for joining us again, John. Until next week, where can people find you?

You can find me on Facebook, in my Run, Lift & Live Group or page or on Instagram, @RunLift&Live or RunLiftAndLive.com.

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There was a big boutique drop this week. It’s October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it’s all out fast.

They did a Capsule Collection, which is typically what they do when they do these special causes. They’ll do a small set of options and then put them up in the shop. Twenty percent of it goes to a foundation and they’re trying to give back to the community. I think it was up to like $25,000. It’s cool but a lot of people were upset because by the time the email got to people, it was already sold out. People who are breast cancer survivors, in particular, were upset because they felt like, “We should get first dibs on that.” I don’t know how you call out people. It’s like HIPAA rules, you can’t do that. You can say, “I’m a breast cancer survivor,” but I don’t think they can in general, mark you down.

There’s no real way to verify that or it would be creepy if you did. 

I certainly sympathize with people that feel that way. All I can say to you is please, if you’re not following me, please follow me on Instagram because I tend to give 24 hours’ notice. Whenever it goes up, I post again. A lot of people have been successful with being able to get things that they want by doing that. Please follow me. I’m not saying follow me to get follows. I’m saying, follow me because I want you to get your stuff. I don’t want people to be frustrated and I know Peloton should have more. As I have said before, I think within six months, we’re going to be in a better place. It’s never going to be enough for everybody, but it will be in a better place than selling out in ten minutes.

It’s never going to be great, some of that is by design, but not to this degree. While we’re talking about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I think this is a great time to talk to people about our big promotion for October. We have partnered up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation and we’re going to raise some money for them to help people. We’re hoping you can help us out. We are giving away a Peloton. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Tom, Crystal, if I’m listening to you, I have a Peloton. What am I going to do with Peloton?” What if we told you this is a special Peloton because this one is pink.

We have a special, one-of-a-kind custom-made pink Peloton. We reached out to a local company called Swim Bike Run Chesterfield and they were kind enough to come up with a cool design, which if you’re following us on Youtube.com/theclipout, you can see. First off, anybody can enter the sweepstakes for free. You can get one entry for free if you go to theclipout.com/pink. If you want more entries, you can. If you donate money, you get extra entries. For as little as $5, you’ll get bonus entries all the way up through infinite. If you want to give us an infinite amount of money, we will take it and we will pass it along to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Every bit of proceeds over the cost of the bike because this is a brand-new bike, and shipping will be given directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. I want to say that we did our research and we were selective of the foundation that we chose. We chose the National Breast Cancer Foundation because they help people who have cancer. That’s what their funds are spent on.

They do all sorts of different things to help people while they’re on their cancer journey. Over the last decade, they’ve provided over 192,000 mammograms, over 858,000 patient navigation services and over 240,000 breast health education services to women in need. They do all sorts of stuff to help people out that have breast cancer in the moment, they’re there to help you.

That’s important to us and we know it’s important to you guys too. I know there are breast cancer thrivers out there, and this is directed for you. This is something you can feel good about as well. If you like pink, this might be right up your alley.

Once again, go to theclipout.com/pink. We should also say, so we don’t get sued, this contest is not affiliated with Peloton in any way. It’s something we did because we want to. Thanks. 

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Joining us, Dr. Jenn Mann, licensed marriage, family, and child therapist and sports psychology consultant. You may know her from VH1 Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn or VH1’s Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn, her long-running radio show, The Dr. Jenn Show. She’s written four bestselling books, including The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection & Intimacy. Let’s not forget, a huge Peloton lover. 

I believe it’s addict if we’re going to be honest.

I didn’t want to use a clinical term since I’m not the doctor on the show. I think it’s good to remind people sometimes the reason that our paths crossed first and foremost was because you love Peloton. We’re going to talk about why the option to quit makes us work harder. I feel like this doesn’t apply to me. 

I’m still working on you. I believe that when I get you doing some light exercise, I will fulfill my mission in life. There was a woman who called me on my radio show a couple of years ago and she was addicted to heroin. For whatever reason some advice that I gave her, something I told her clicked. She got off of heroin, which to me is one of the most amazing things ever. She’s someone who’s had an enormous trauma in her life and we are still in touch to this day. She texted me and sent me a before and after picture of several years ago. She’s in a different place in her life. She was easier than you are, Tom. I feel like it is my mission in life to get you and get you to exercise. If by some chance I go without you ever integrating this into your life, I will feel like I have failed.

I do have to tell you that we interviewed a woman named Vivian Feeney, who’s 85 years old. She is a Peloton lover like we are and she got Tom to agree that when he’s 85, he will work out.

Why does the option to quit make us work harder? 

I think that most of us have a certain level of rebellion. When we feel that we cannot quit, we get into a little bit of that petulant teenage mode of like, “If you say I can’t, I can. You can watch me.” When we have that option to quit, it means we’re not rebelling against authority of some sort. Also, it allows us to focus more on our own experience and own the choice that we’re making, which also leads us ultimately to have more pride in what we do when we do accomplish it.

That’s interesting about the rebellion piece. I think you’re onto something there. That day I was doing my marathon on the tread, walking it, and I had the blisters. If I wouldn’t have had all those people that knew, I might’ve quit, but I couldn’t. Stubbornness in me. I was like, “No, I will not quit.”

Also, pride that you had made a public statement that people knew you were doing this. I imagine that when you finished it, to me, when you hit that moment where you feel like quitting but you don’t quit, I believe that’s one of those self-esteem enhancing moments that you’re able to build your library of historical experiences, where we overcome, where we think, “I can’t do that.” What happens is our self-perception changes, and we start to go, “I’m someone who doesn’t quit. I’m someone who overcomes things. I’ve overcome things before, I can overcome this since I overcame that.” I do believe that that helps us build that, whether it is, “I did that Tabata ride and I was ready to quit. Olivia was kicking my ass and I pushed through it. Now, I can do that Hill’s ride with Robin.”

Whatever it is that we have felt like, “I don’t know if I can do that,” but when we do it, it builds ourselves. I know I had a run with Matty. It was a while back, it was a Hills run. I don’t remember why I pressed that button. It was probably his great music selection that seduced me. I love Matty. Maybe I went, “I’m in the mood for Matty.” I did a 45-minute Hills run. For me as a runner, it was a game-changer because it was something that I thought, “I can’t do a 45-minute Hills run.” Once I did, it opened everything to me because all of a sudden, I thought if I can do that and not give up, I can do anything.

I just keep sitting here thinking about Brian, my son, and his guitar. He was supposed to do a thing in the talent show in the fifth grade. He was having a major crisis of confidence and he wanted to stop. His mother was encouraging him to stop. We were like, “No, you signed up for this. You just need to practice more.” He went up there and did it and did well. It was a complete game-changer for his relationship with that guitar, then he went on. He’s in a jazz band and then he was in a marching band. Now he doesn’t question his ability to play that guitar at all. 

I think that you’re right on the money and those early childhood experiences can influence us. It’s funny, I’d forgotten about it, but the first gymnastics competition I was in, I remember I was waiting. I was one of the last people to go. I was probably 10 or 11. I went to my parents. I was like, “I’m too tired. I can’t do this.” They were like, “You signed on for this. Regardless of the result, you need to see this through.” Ultimately I did it and I ended up placing and doing quite well. I’m grateful that they called me out on it. “No, you signed up. You’re going to do this.” I do think that when we have that time, that moment where we hit the wall and like, “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I want to do this. I don’t know if I’m going to do this,” and we overcome, it’s a profound moment that creates a sense of self-efficacy and helps our self-esteem.

That’s all great stuff. Thank you so much for joining us. Until next time, where can people find you? 

They can find me on social media @DrJennMann, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook. I do post my Peloton workouts on my Insta Story.

In case people doubt that she’s a lover of Peloton. Sorry, Peloton addict, self-declared. 

A hundred percent addict.

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Peloton dropped a new Bike+ video featuring Alex Toussaint.

It’s great because what Peloton is doing is each of these instructors, they’re letting them highlight their special viewpoint and features that they love about Bike+. At the same time, Peloton is using that to feature the instructor. It’s a cross-promotional thing. It’s symbiotic. This is all about Alex and what he loves about the Bike+. It’s a short little video, but it’s great. I love seeing our instructors featured in this way. You can check that out over at Facebook.com/theclipout.

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Ben Alldis is the first instructor in the UK to teach strength class. 

Those officially dropped. Judging based on the fact that he messaged our post, he answered to our post. I think he’s excited about it. He’s excited to do strength and he is excited to delve into a different set of people that are going to be sharing this with him. You’ve got to wonder, is he going to then be teaching Bike bootcamps in UK?

It seems like that would be a natural evolution.

It does. I can’t wait to see the new studio when it all opens up there.

Previously, we broke the news that Jess King would be teaching tread classes and those classes have finally arrived. 

September 30th is the day they dropped on demand. It’s also her first premiere run live at 7:00 PM Eastern. On demand, you can find five different runs that they dropped, and two walks. That’s great that you get a whole variety right out of the gate. Everybody has been saying that they’re enjoying the runs with her, that she doesn’t seem winded at all. She seems like it’s super easy for her, even when they’re struggling. People have been happy with the classes.

That’s because it’s different. We’ve had lots of people talk about how they’re used to the bike, but then the running took it out of them or vice versa. 

It’s a completely different way to use your body.

Strength classes in the US have started dropping from the new strength studio. 

We’ve had strength classes for awhile, but it was the first live 45-minute class. Earlier in the week, all of the classes started showing up from the new strength studio, which is the same one they’re using for the barre classes. It’s all brightly lit and it’s got a platform. It’s cool and different than the rest of the studios have been. This is the swing studio that they have, or maybe it’s called something else, but it can be different things.

They can quickly repurpose it for multiple purposes.

Everybody, all the instructors are excited about that and it’s a new feel, so good for them.

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Robin Arzon is on a PR tear. Her publicist is working overtime.

Let’s just get a PR firm, so they should be. That’s literally their job. She was featured in an article in Well+Good. It was all about her diet and how it powers her incredibly busy life, which it is very busy. Keep in mind that she eats vegan. For people who may not know that much about Robin, she is a diabetic and she is careful about what she puts into her body. She is vegan. This whole diet is all about how does it power a pregnancy, her crazy work schedule, her crazy workout schedule, how to balance all of that. It’s a great article and I recommend that you check it out. Make sure that you sign up for our newsletter so you can get it there.

They can sign up for that over at theclipout.com.

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Tonal dropped Pilates classes. That’s popular that you don’t see a lot of on the machines out there.

Somebody pointed out that you might need a reformer to do Pilates. I would say that the kind of things that you’re going to see from Peloton or Tonal, they’re going to be without a machine. They’re meant to be done on the floor without any equipment, very accessible. The instruction is fabulous and you will get a great workout from it. I highly recommend them. Between Peloton and Tonal, I don’t need anything else in my life, not for strength.

You get amazing cardio and then you get all the strength training. You have a full gym in your home. It’s also sleek looking.

I love the look of it personally.

It’s got those arms on the side. You were saying that now they have a thing where you can tell it how tall you are and then it will show you exactly where to put those arms, so you’re never questioning yourself.

Every time you do a new move, it will tell you exactly, like a guide will show up on the machine and tell you where to put them. As soon as you have put in the right place, that goes away.

Don’t forget, you can try Tonal for 30 days risk-free. Visit www.Tonal.com for $100 off of smart accessories when you use the promo code The Clip Out.

Tonal be your strongest.

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Everybody is still talking about our Andrea Barber interview previously.

That was so fun.

She was super fun. She hung out with us on a Zoom call.

She’s the greatest. She’s down to earth and nice to everybody.

I don’t know how to break it to her. I don’t know that she knows she’s a professional actress. She’s so nice and sweet. I know that’s not how Hollywood works. I don’t know if anyone’s explained that to her and I’m a little concerned.

Maybe send her a message and set her straight.

You need to be meaner to people.

I think she should keep being her sweet self.

I don’t know if this will still be going on by the time this is published, but her book, Full Circle, it was on sale. If you’re a Kindle person, it was on sale for $1.99. If you were ever thinking about getting the book, for $2, you can’t go wrong. A lot of times those sales go on for a few days. If you’re reading this and you love the interview and you can’t get enough Andrea Barber, run over there and snag her book. Also while we’re speaking of Full House and Fuller House, we found out that Jodie Sweetin also has a Peloton. 

We did and she was showing off that she was doing yoga from Peloton. It’s a full house because it’s Peloton’s family.

I see what you did there.

I love seeing all these celebrities that are coming into the Peloton world, feeling the Peloton love, meeting the community.

It’s because you’re such a trendsetter, they’re following your lead on it.

—

That sweeper is a bit of a misnomer. There are no birthdays this time, but we wanted to point out that Kendall and Tunde are celebrating their one year Peloton anniversary. It was a year ago now that they signed on as Peloton instructors. 

What a year it’s been. I can’t imagine Peloton without them. It’s funny how quickly they become family. If you missed it, there was an incredible Instagram live that featured Kendall and Tunde talking about their year at Peloton and it’s still over on Peloton’s IGTV. Make sure that you check that out.

—

Joining us is Michelle Guobadia. How is it going?

I’m good and present. There’s a pulse. This is good.

She’s been working from home. If you’re working from home, how much of a three-day weekend is it?

Isn’t everyday a weekend at this point?

I work.

I tell my boss the same thing. I’m like, “I’m working,” but I’m on my Peloton.

Michelle, how did you originally find Peloton?

I tore my ACL in high school and I waited 10.5 years to have surgery. When I finally had surgery, my orthopedic surgeon was like, “You won’t be running, jumping or sliding anymore. Those days are over. You waited too long to have surgery. You should look into spinning.” I was like, “That sounds good.” I like bikes. I look into stationary spinning. Luckily, they offered it at my gym. I started doing it. It was great. There was a local boutique that was all about spinning. I joined there. I had a membership at this boutique spin place and I was spinning seven days a week. I had a staycation with an ex-boyfriend in town. We had a staycation at a boutique hotel uptown in Charlotte and I was working out. I was like, “I’m going to go hit the gym.” In the gym, in the hotel was a Peloton and I got on. This was Valentine’s Day weekend.

I got on it and I was like, “I like this. Let me take a look.” I don’t even remember the class that I took, but I liked it. The fact that it was like 10,000 classes and you could pick. I went back up to the room and I’m like, “I got on a Peloton. I’m going to make a deal with myself. If I continue to work out the way I do, I’m going to buy myself one for my birthday.” This was in 2018 and my birthday is in July. My Peloton arrived on June 23rd, 2018. It was love at first sight and I’ve been hooked ever since then. It was a matter of loving spinning, finding this thing and then within two months I had canceled both of my gym memberships because there was no reason for me to leave the house anymore. I said, “If IHOP delivered, I would never leave the house,” but it’s because Peloton delivers.

TCO 176 | Discovering Peloton

 

Thanks to Grubhub.

I don’t even want the IHOP anymore.

It’s because now you eat healthy.

It’s because of the Peloton work. Since 2018, I’ve been in a deep relationship with it.

I’m connecting the dots in your story. None of this is probably true, but it’s what I’m choosing to believe. I feel like it was a test when you went back up to that room and told the boyfriend about Peloton and when he wasn’t like, “Yes, let’s get that for you,” you were like, “We’re done.”

The relationship was young at that point. I wasn’t expecting him to say that, but I was expecting him to be like, “If you keep the commitment and I’ll buy it for you.” He had means and he could have done it. He looked at me and was like, “I heard they’re good. Go do that.” We broke up in August. Funny story though, I tell people the bike saved me through that breakup. I would be crying and get on the Peloton and Cody would be there and he’d be like, “You are better. You are stronger than a Kelly Clarkson song and all this stuff.” That late August, Peloton opened their showroom in Charlotte. Cody and Alex came to open it and I went to go meet them. I met Cody and immediately started bawling and I’m like, “Thank you so much you saved me.” He was like, “He wasn’t worth it.” I’m like, “No.” I have this whole story about being with someone, break up and Peloton saved me from my breakup. I have pictures of me crying in Cody’s shoulder.

First of all, I have to say that I know you’re saying that very lighthearted but seriously, it’s therapeutic. You can work out so much. I do everything on that bike. You mentioned Cody. He’s clearly one of your favorites. Was Alex one of your favorites too? That’s amazing that you got two of your favorite instructors that came to your town to open.

There are pictures of me and Alex. I told him too. I was like, “You helped me. I’ve been going through some stuff in the last couple of months,” but I cried on Cody’s shoulder. When people ask me, “What do you like the most about Peloton?” The physical and not leaving my house and having this bike. My house is great. It is what it has done for me mentally. I’ve worked out for years and never had this much mental clarity, stability, and assistance with anxiety, depression, all those things I played with. That was unexpected that a stationary bike would give me such good mental space because of it. It’s in the secret sauce, but the physical is great, but that mental clarity, I tell people all the time I ride so I don’t throttle my students. It’s made me a better human, friend, sister, professional, colleague. It’s made me better. My stress levels are non-existent because I have that outlet in my home.

When you had that extended period with the torn ACL that you left untreated, that’s normally a guy thing, “I’m not going to go to the doctor.” Let’s paint it with a broad brush. That’s how we are. Were you working out during that period?

I was a volleyball player. I tore my ACL and I’m playing club. I’m playing year-round. The doctor is like, “You can rehab and put on a brace and keep playing.” I’m like, “Yes, we’ll do that.” I totally was like, “I’m not having a surgery,” because I want to play my senior year. I tried and tore my lateral meniscus so that was done after that. It was time to go to college. There was never time to be on crutches on my back. The swelling went down, you got better. I had to shutter my athlete in me but I work out. I went to the gym. It ebbs and flows. In college you’re like, “I’m going to drink and run around.” In grad school, I tried to do it, but I’m like, “I’m going to drink and stay in my apartment because it’s grad school.” Then I got my first job and you’re trying to prove yourself in long hours. I didn’t belong to a gym at that time. I went years back and forth until finally, when I had surgery, I was like, “I’ve got to take this seriously. I can’t carry this weight on my knees anymore.”

Did it hurt all those years?

When it rained, of course.

It’s like an old lady, your bursitis acted up.

What has happened is I’ve given myself early onset arthritis because the bone is banging against each other. Nothing debilitating, but it’s definitely there. I’m strong enough or athletic enough that the muscles around my upper and lower legs are strong. It’s compensated for weakness in the knee, but I can’t play volleyball anymore. There’s no lateral cutting or anything like that. Every once in a while, I’ll take a step and that’s even after repair. It limited what I could do, but I was working out on and off. I wasn’t not working out because I was in pain. I was not putting in effort until after I had the surgery to repair it.

There was no Cody there for you.

No Cody, no Alex, nothing. It was like an empty vast hole. It was horrible.

When we were going back and forth, you were also telling me that you had a weight struggle at some point in this process. What was the journey there? How did that go?

I’ve always been a bigger girl but athletic. People never knew how much I weighed because I was athletic. People are like, “She’s just athletic.” I played varsity basketball and varsity volleyball. I was a varsity cheerleader. I was strong. There was a lot of padding in there and through college and grad school, I layered on the weight, but still, no one would have ever looked at me and be like, “She’s obese or this or that.” I carried it well, and I was strong athletic. At my highest, I was 268 when I was like, “This is a problem.” I had been working out at that point. This was post-2011 when I had my ACL repaired.

How tall are you?

I’m 5’7”. I’m proportionately good. People didn’t notice, even my closest friend like, “I never thought you were fat. I thought you were athletic.” A couple of years ago, I went to the doctor and I was like, “I work out seven days a week and I’m not losing any weight.” She at the time said, “You’ve been struggling with your weight for a long time. Have you considered gastric bypass?” That was a quick jump and I was shocked because I told her, “I work out seven days a week. I don’t get winded when I climb up a pair of stairs. I don’t have sleep apnea. Do you think this is the solution?” She’s like, “You should look into it.”

That was the last day I saw that doctor, but I’m sitting in my car crying and a friend said, “Go and try a nutritionist. You’re probably eating incorrectly.” I was like, “Fine.” I go see this nutritionist because I didn’t think gastric was for me. At that time, I was a pescatarian. She was like, “Tell me what you eat.” I tell her what I eat and she’s like, “You eat too many carbs and not enough protein. I’m going to put you on this diet. You come back and see me in a month.” I said, “How much weight will I lose if I follow your diet and come back?” She’s like, “When you come back, you would have lost 25 pounds if you followed this.” I laughed in her face and I came back a month later and I had lost 32 pounds.

She was like, “Stop being a vegetarian. You’re always hungry because you’re not eating enough protein. You need to change your relationship with food.” I stuck with her for a year and dropped 40 something pounds. It was tremendous amounts of weight. It was during this time where I started spinning too. The combination of changing the way I eat and knocking out Doritos because they have no nutritional value, and working out helped me get down to the size that I wanted. Eventually, I had lost over 60 pounds. There was a distinct difference in how I looked. There’s always that belly fat that you’re like, “I want you to go away. All the crunches in the world won’t make you go away.”

I thought I needed a lipo. I went for a consultation and the doctor was like, “You don’t need a lipo, you’re not a candidate. You need a tummy tuck, it’s skin.” He said and I quote, “I can tell you are physically fit because your solid muscle, this is skin. You used to be bigger.” I was like, “Yes.” He was like, “This is skin.” Which is funny because I never thought that was for me because black women don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about plastic surgery like, “I got a boob job. I got my nose done.”

None of my friends had ever said anything remotely like that and it wasn’t until a designer that I admire had mentioned it that she had gotten a breast job. I was like, “You? You’re perfect.” She was like, “I got these puppies lifted five years ago.” I was like, “Shocking.” I had never even considered it. He was like, “You need a tummy tuck. It’s extra skin. It can take out the flap. I can lift your breasts.” I’m like, “That sounds good too.” I literally got what they call a mommy makeover without having children score.

Now, the body that I have that people see on Instagram is a combination of Peloton, eating right, and I got rid of excess skin. I have no problem talking about it because not enough people talk about it. There are many resources. The bike can do so much. The tread could do so much. Diet is going to do so much. You’re going to get to a point where your body is like, “By the way, you were around for 30 years.” My skin is not going back and there are other resources, and me removing excess skin was one of them. I’ve never been happier.

What was the recovery process on that? Especially, since they were doing two different things at once, that seems that would be painful and hard to get through.

Here’s a pro tip. Do both of them at the same time because if you do them separately, you’ll pay for anesthesia twice. You save when you do both at the same time, that’s why they usually couple them together. Two and a half weeks, do you know what it felt like? I was so sore. I had done the hardest Olivia Amato core class on repeat for twenty days. Olivia’s core classes are dumb and you look at this girl, “Who are you? Who sent you?”

She’s like that in every area, whether it’s on the bike, on the tread, it doesn’t matter. She’s always smiling and she never sweats. I don’t even understand how it’s possible.

No sweating, no blinking, and glitter everywhere. She’s like, “My core is burning.” I’m like, “You’re a liar.” I felt sore across my midsection because they’ll cut you in half and they saw your abs back together and they tie you back up. I didn’t have any pain in my chest because I didn’t add anything. Even when you get breast implants, they go under the muscle and that’s where the pain comes in. I didn’t take the skin out so I was lifted. I have a high threshold for pain, hence tearing my ACL and waiting ten years for surgery. For 2.5 weeks, I was out of work, then I was back. I was driving three days after it. I was off pain medication. It’s the best decision I ever made for myself. I had finally had the body I’d worked so hard for.

You’re right, people don’t talk about that. Especially, here in the Midwest, it’s uncomfortable.

A lot of people feel vain. They feel weird to be like, “This is something that I had done.” Not that they should, but I think that’s what drives it. That’s my guess, anyway.

It’s probably like talking about your paycheck. It comes from the same place.

It definitely does but when you put it in perspective, I was a size 12 but I was wearing size 16 because the skin was taking up space. I’m like, “I got rid of the skin that was taking up space.” I could be the true size that I was. We should talk about it more. We should normalize it. I don’t think it’s vain at all. It’s self-care. I would have been beating myself up for years trying to get the skin to go away.

You were never going to win that battle.

I would have never been happy with what I saw it, even though I worked so hard. There are a lot of resources. I think people should take advantage of all of them. It’s the same thing with working out, spin is one thing, but I’m grateful that Peloton has this platform and other things. You’ve got to use all the resources to work the whole parts of the body, mind, spirit, and do all those things. Some other people use others. I know you’re a big Tonal person. There are other ways to use things and that’s important too. This is another resource definitely.

We should probably say because we started this part of the conversation talking about gastric bypass and we were both like, “That was a quick jump.” We’re not against that necessarily, to be clear. That probably shouldn’t be a starting point in a weight loss journey.

I’m glad you brought that up because somebody will probably yell at us.

We’ve had guests on who have had it done and it’s been a life-changer and has been great for them. We’re not opposed to it or talking to down.

All pain is mental. Share on X

It’s like you walk into a doctor’s office and you say, “I’m not happy,” and their first thing is, “Go do this.” That’s extreme.

It wasn’t for me. I wholeheartedly believe it’s for other people and I bless it when people are like, “I’m getting this.” I’m like, “Yes, do what is best for your life.” I wasn’t an over-eater. I wasn’t eating the wrong things to be honest with you. I didn’t have that strange relationship with food.

I’m sure that with the gastric bypass, they also encourage you to do counseling and stuff because you have to change the way you eat. You have to change a whole lot of things. Based on what you’ve said so far, you seem like a “do it yourself” person. You seem like you don’t take the easy way out. You also seem like the person that if they were like, “Here are some pain pills,” you’d be like, “I’m good. I don’t need them.”

She did the mommy makeover and she was off the pain meds three days later. Mommy makeover is an intense thing to go through.

Pain is mental. You’ve got to tell your body, “Are you in pain or are you in discomfort?” There’s a big difference. I was uncomfortable but I wasn’t in pain. Pain is when you get your leg chopped off. No one had done that. For me, it’s mental. I’m not going to take anyone else’s pain away.

I’m glad that you did that for yourself and I’m glad that you feel good about the results. It sounds like based on that, when you look in the mirror, you’re happy.

All the time. I’m like, “This is good stuff.”

You said you like Cody and Alex. Do you have other go-to instructors? Do you spread the love or you only have a few?

I’m a firm believer that you should try all of them out. I have many pet peeves with online communities and with Peloton. One of them is like, “Who should I take?” Try them all out and then decide for yourself. Stop asking me for my opinion because my opinion is take Robin. To me, she’s the queen bee. I will do what she says. I won’t even curse. I’ll be like, “She told me to do it. I have to do it.” For me, she’s number one. She speaks to the athlete in me like, “Don’t forget who you are. You can do this. You can move mountains. Own yourself.” I take almost all of them, but definitely, Robin is a go-to. Cody because I need to chill or laugh and have a good workout, just feel good about it. Alex, it ebbs and flows. It depends on what mood I’m in. Am I ready to get yelled at or not? I’ll be like, “I’m not playing with you.” I’m like, “Yes, I am playing with you.” That’s my struggle. Hannah Frankson has become one of my favorites. She’s a good instructor. Ben Alldis from the UK as well. I like his style.

Denis is a master of music and I love his music. Those are usually the go-tos on the bike. I’ve done an Irene class in German because I’m like, “You should do that.” I love that. Off the floor, all of them are great. Jess Sims and Matty are usually my go-tos. I love the fact that Matty asks please and thank you. He’s like, “Lift your hip 2-inch higher, please. Thank you.” I’m like, “You said it with manners.” I take everyone off the floor and even the yoga instructors I’ve taken one.

I’m not a yoga person. I’m not a meditation person, but I do stuff with them. I did my first 30-minute slow flow with Chelsea and I fell out of left side lizard, which was funny because when lizards get cold in the trees, they fall out of the tree. I literally had that moment. I had the lizard movement and she’s like “Hold them.” I’m like, “I can’t.” I tipped over and I lay there for a minute like, “I just fell out like a lizard.” I got back out, but it was my first 30 minutes. I enjoyed it and I’m going to do more. I take them all.

I feel like she has a very soothing voice.

She did and she kept talking. It’s like, “She didn’t care that I had fallen out of lizard.” She’s like, “Connect with the earth.” I’m like, “I’m connecting. My whole body is now connected with the earth.” My goal is to do flying in crow that someone did on Instagram. She’s like young and beautiful.

It’s Anna Greenberg.

The flying crow. It was like a Peloton ad. I looked at it for hours, like, “I will do flying crow.”

What is a flying crow?

I don’t even know, but she got in this position effortlessly and I went on her Instagram. I’m like, “What is the real name of this?” She gave me the yoga name. Look it up, it’s impossible. She did it like a ballerina, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. It was ridiculous. That’s my new goal in life.

Crystal put filters on my computer. I can’t look up yoga instructors in here.

I don’t blame her. They’re a flexible bunch. They’re good-hearted. You might be like, “Crystal, I love you, but I saw what flying crow could do.”

Do you think this is going to pull a yoga instructor? I’m like, “Do you think I’m doing pretty well?”

They looked for inner beauty, not the physical.

How about Peloton groups on Facebook? What are your favorites?

I’m in Black Girl Magic. I’m one of the moderators for that group. We’re inching towards 10,000 people, which I’m like, “Ten thousand black women have Peloton?” That’s been cool. I’m in Peloton DINKs and SINKs, which is one of my favorites.

What is that one? I haven’t heard of that.

They are popular. Double Income, No Kids and Single Income, No Kids. We were over conversations about people’s children and the other group. We’re like, “Over here where we’re having kid-free conversations.” I’m in Peloton hardCORE On The Floor. I’m stepping up my core work. I’m in the official Peloton page, to make sure I don’t miss any good news that goes on in there. I’m in a couple of fan pages. Hannah’s fan page, Chase’s fan page, Tunde’s fan page, Robin’s fan page, but I’m probably most active in DINKs and SINKs and Black Girl Magic.

I can’t believe I haven’t heard of one. I think you might be the first time somebody brought a group to that I had never heard of.

We’re not evil people. We just can’t relate and we’ve chosen this child-free life. We’re like, “What does that have to do with spinning?” “I’m asking for a pause we are in. There is no pause in life.” It’s a good outlet for us, but we all love the bike too. We’re heavily invested in that and the lifestyle that affords us, which means we can ride when we want and uninterrupted. We talk and travel a lot.

You used to be able to travel, but at least now when you’re stuck at home, it’s not with kids.

We’ve been talking about that and be like, “What a blessing having a child-free life and not having to deal with all this other stuff. I don’t have to share my bike with a child who wants to ride.” I’m like, “Get off the bike.” It’s one of my favorite groups.

We’ve been very happy that our kids are old enough with the virtual school. It’s like, “Here’s the laptop, you deal with it.”

My heart goes out to parents. I don’t even have the patience. There were days I look at the dog and I’m like, “Did I feed you today?” I can’t even imagine having to manage work, your mental health, trying to work out and your kids got to get on a Zoom with their math teacher. It’s not a life I’ve chosen, but it is a life others have chosen and I respect that. I don’t know how they do it. They’re superheroes.

You work in the educational field.

I work in higher education. I work at a university local here.

That takes its own special kinds of patients.

It does, and I look at them, I’m like, “Who raised you?”

Sometimes nobody.

I don’t want to put that on anyone else. I got enough of the children, adolescent, teenager, pre-adult fix at work.

There’s a comedian I like a lot named Doug Stanhope and he’s got a great line where he says, “Children are like poems. They’re all beautiful to their creators.”

Let the incense burns on both sides.

It sounds like you do a lot more than the bike content. Do you do any of the tread content?

I don’t have a tread. I want one badly. I don’t have room for it. I am sitting in my living room, my bike is literally behind me in my living room. I could put it upstairs, but there’s something about seeing the bike every day that makes me get on it. If I don’t see the tread every day, that means I have to climb the stairs to look at it. It’s not going to happen. I also have a fear of putting it on the second level. I feel like my floors are not well-made. I’m going to drop through the ceiling because it’s a monster. It’s a big piece of equipment. I keep telling myself, if and when I move to a larger home, the tread is my first purchase. I’m not a runner, tearing the ACL ended those.

When I travel and I use the app in gyms, I will take the tread class because the hotels always have a treadmill and I love them. A little twenty-minute fun run. It’s great. I want to tread not just because I’m a fan of it, but I do a lot of off the bike stuff before LaRona hits. Going to work like everyone else. I would get up, do a ride in the morning, go to work, come home, do a ride at night. I wasn’t doing any strength work at all for a long time. A lot of the women, especially in BGM are like, “No, Michelle, you need to be doing strength work. It is a game-changer.” I’m like, “I don’t have time. I work.” COVID hit, then I’m working for home. I was like, “Time is not that issue between Zoom call. You can be doing a ten-minute abs.” I have transformed the way I work out since COVID hit. I do three spin classes a day and 3 to 4-floor content a day. Anyone can look up my leaderboard name. It’s there. I don’t lie about it.

Are we talking like a 20 or 30 or 10-minute spin class?

I’ll do 30 minutes and two 20 minutes. Sometimes, I’ll do them all three back to back. Sometimes I’ll do them throughout the day and then I’ll do a 30-minute full-body and 20-minute core and 10-minute arms. It depends on how I’m feeling, but I usually do 3 and 3 or sometimes 3 and 2, but I’m going to meditate and that will be my third one. I’m going to do a ten-minute like Zen in Ten with Ross and that will be the stack for the day. I got into stacking during COVID and now I’m obsessed. When I do go back to work, I’m going to have to wake up at 6:00 AM so I can get 2 or 3 rides in before I hit the shower to be at work at 9:00. When I come home at work, I do another ride and like two more strength at night. I had to get my body used to it. Now, I can’t imagine not doing 3 and 3 or 2 and 3. I’m like that Monday through Friday. Saturday, I’ll do some 60-minute bootcamp, but maybe like a twenty-minute ride and then Sunday, I usually do one ride. Usually no strength, unless there’s something on the schedule that I want to take.

Do you feel like you’re in the best shape of your life?

Yes, undoubtedly. I tell people I am in the best shape of my life. I feel strong. I feel fit. I’m no longer married to the number on the scale. It’s all about look and feel. I can see my abs daily like I have them, like they belong to me and they come out to say hello every day, “I want to introduce you to the world. These are my abs.” I’m definitely in the best cardiovascular health of my life. I owe a lot of that to Peloton and that helped me lose weight. I had lost weight before that. Peloton has taken it to the next level. They’re like, “Now you’re back in athlete training mode. You’re like cutting up, seeing creases in your arms and no back rolls and things of that nature.” That’s what it’s helped me achieve.

What is your leaderboard name?

It is MGSpeaksUP, which are my initials. I’m a professional speaker in addition to working for the university. It’s my Twitter and Instagram handle and it was before I got the Peloton. When I got the Peloton, I’m like, “We should brand across all platforms.” There’s nothing interesting about it. It’s literally my Twitter handle.

To make it nice and easy, it crosses a question off the list that we have here.

It sure does and it’s also good for a shout out. I’ve gotten all the shout outs of everyone and they’d be like, “MGSpeaksUP, we see you.” I’m like, “I appreciate you all.” Before the platform got so big because you all recognize how big it’s gotten. Back in 2018, getting a shout out for not even a non-milestone, shout out was pretty easy. We’ll get on a ride and Alex would be like, “MGSpeaksUP, I see you.” He remembered me from Charlotte. Now, I get on a random ride and there are 7,000 people on it.

You’re not going to get a shout out with a complex name and even those of us who’ve been riding for a long time, it’s not going to happen anymore. I know that’s a debate that’s been going on. I’ve been seeing that a lot of groups should do away with shout outs and I’m for it. I feel like it stresses out the instructors. You don’t need a shout out. Join a group and they will plug you all day. I think you save it for the first 100th and 1,000th. Literally, on any given day, 600 people could be celebrating their 450th ride.

I look at it almost as like listening to the radio back in the day. It’s like sometimes caller ten and you heard your name on the radio and sometimes it’s not, but I wasn’t mad at the radio station when I wasn’t caller ten.

People are mad. People were on the OPP like, “I’m disappointed in this business because I’m not getting my shout out.” I’m like, “Would you like one right now? I’ll shout you out on Facebook.” Alex says, “Celebrate your own stuff. Validate yourself.” It’s getting to the point where it’s stressing them out. They’re like, “Let me get these shout outs in a strength class.” “Tell me how many reps I’ve got to do, Chase. Don’t worry about this leaderboard. I need to know how many more triceps and pullbacks I need to do.”

I took a meditation class live one day. I had never done that before. I do the recording usually before I go to sleep. That minute and a half before or whatever, and they were doing a shout out.

Should they be whispering out? It will get you all ramped up if they’re shouting at you.

Back in the day, when we first started this. When we all started spinning, even 2018, I would still consider that back at the beginning compared to where we are. You were doing a lot of rides to get the shout out. Now it’s like, “Do we celebrate? You showed up 100 to do a meditation.” I’m not saying it’s not good for you personally and I’m glad people are doing it, but is it equal to the same level of commitment and work that is required to do a bike ride or a run?

People are obsessed with it. I will say this. For my 1,000th ride, I got a shout out from Robin. She was doing the rides from home. I tagged her in my outfit. I had a new Peloton outfit and I was like, “Taking Robin’s class at 10:00, ready to go. My 1,000th ride.” I did not tell her to shout me out. She shouted me out. It made my day. After that, I’m good. I don’t think I need one ever again. The fact that I got to 1,000 rides in 730 days for me was like, “We’ve accomplished all we need to accomplish and no one can tell me anything anymore. I don’t need one.” I understand that big of a milestone but 250, okay.

It depends on where you are in the spectrum because if you got your bike and you’ve been working hard or maybe had an injury, 250 could be a big deal to you. I still get what you’re saying and I agree with it. I don’t think shout outs should end altogether, but I don’t like seeing the instructors stress about it either. I agree. If I get a shout out, awesome. It does make my day, but I’m not obsessed. I don’t get on the ride or the run with the expectation or the hope even that it will happen. It’s just like if it does, that’s a bonus.

Do you have any advice for people getting their bikes?

First and foremost, play with the bike. You don’t have to always jump into a groove or a chat room and be like, “How do you do this? How do you high-five?” Clearly, there are a lot of people who get new toys and they don’t play with them. You’re not going to break it. Tap and follow. Tap the different things, tap the screen, tap the person’s face, “Their metrics come up.” I think playing with the bike and the mechanics of it, spend a couple of days doing that, and then if you can’t figure something out, then go and ask. Unfortunately, a lot of newbies get a lot of vitriol because they ask questions that are simple.

If you do 1 search or 2, just play with the bike. Have fun enjoying the bike and feeling good about it. When the world opens up and if you can, I’m a big fan of getting fitted correctly on the bike. I’m single. I don’t have someone cook and look to see where my leg positioning is. Going to the showroom and letting them tell me where my seat should be and my arms should be has been helpful. As you lose weight, that changes, as your body changes. I don’t think people realize that and I’ve had to adjust my bike down or up as my body has changed. For newbies, having someone who can see it, don’t try to do it yourself. Try every instructor. Try everything that the platform has to offer.

Even if you’re not into it, try it because you’ll be surprised about what you find. I’ll tell you, I’m not a meditation person, but those sleep meditations will put you in a coma. I have never seen the end of one. I put it on. I laid down. It puts me out. I don’t meditate. That’s not my thing. It’s hard for me to turn on my brain, but those sleep meditations, it’s pushing myself to do a little bit more of that. Those would be trying everything, trying all the instructors. If you don’t like one, try them again. If you don’t like them twice, then it’s not for you, but at least try every one once.

TCO 176 | Discovering Peloton

 

I’m a badge hope. There is not a badge Peloton can put out that I want. I can’t put it on my resume and it means nothing outside of Peloton, but I’m like, “Is that a quest badge? I need it.” Collecting those badges, let that hope you, but also let that test you and challenge you and be in that space like, “What milestone? What can I achieve? Here’s my little reward at the end.” Those are dope. That’s how Peloton gets in the brain. They’re up here because I’m obsessed. I’m like, “I haven’t gotten my August gold badge from miles ridden yet so let’s go for another ride.” Let that motivate you if you don’t have other motivation.

Those are all good tips.

Also, some we haven’t heard before.

That’s why I’m here guys. I’m hearing in the light in this show. It is to bring energy to you. I recommend you to everybody. When people are like, “How do you do this?” I’m like, “Subscribe to The Clip Out. They have a Facebook page. It’s delightful. Check it out. Everything you need to know is in there. They got all the hot tea. Instead of asking people all these simple questions, people have done the work for us. If you’re not following them, then you’re reinventing the wheels. They’re all the best. They give me what I need to know. I am missing that in my life.”

Thank you. We appreciate it. You already said your social media handles and stuff. Why don’t you remind people again before we go in case they want to find you?

It is @MGSpeaksUP and that is on all platforms. If you want to follow. I will say this about following on Peloton. I hit the max. I need a Peloton to open the gates. Two thousand people on a platform, a million people, let me get 4,000 followers. I can’t follow people back, which stinks. Every time a friend of mine buys the bike, I’ve got to delete someone random.

You’ve got to find somebody that doesn’t ride anymore.

I’m looking for consistent blue dots. How are we going to get a swarm if you’re not logging on and riding with me? Don’t be mad if you follow me and I don’t follow you back, but I love followers. I’m a high five queen. I love to high five as many as I can, especially if it’s a ride where there are under 100 people. I filtered during the ride. I go through all my lists. All my friends get love. I’m like, “Here we are. I’m alumni from the University of Delaware.” I liked that part. That’s the community that I didn’t think I would find. I’m a group fitness person and I thought I would miss that. I don’t because Peloton has a built-in group fitness. Some people that I’ve met through Peloton, I’ve become close friends. We’ve never even met, but that’s my homegirl for life. I’ll be like, “Did you see what they posted?” We’re good friends. I think Peloton has done that, which is dope.

I love hearing how it brings people together. It’s awesome.

I was at the airport one day standing there and I wasn’t doing anything like nothing important. Someone came up to me and she was like, “Are you MGSpeaksUP?” I was like, “Yes.” She was like, “I think I follow you on Peloton.” I was like, “Friend,” and we embraced. Her name is Jennifer. I follow her on social media. It was dope. We were on the same flight. When we got off the flight, I was like, “Can we take a picture?” and I took a selfie with her. I was like, “Here’s my friend from Peloton.” I follow her on Instagram. I comment on her page. She comments on mine, but how random is that? She was able to be like, “I know you. I’ve seen that face. I know the little icon.” Peloton has a magic if I’m running into people at the airport.

If you can't figure something out, then go and ask. Share on X

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to join us. We appreciate it. This has been a lot of fun.

This has been a lot of fun. You guys are amazing. Please keep doing what you do. You are great at it. I’m a big fan. I totally recommend your show to people. Especially, as they’re getting into Peloton. It’s a resource like, “Peloton is good and they give out good news, but you guys are a resource.” It humanizes some things and you can feel like you can touch it. Thank you for committing to this because some people do show for a week.

It’s called podfade.

You all are in it to win it. Subscribe because they’ve got the good thing. If Crystal said it, it’s going to happen. I tell people that all the time, but it’s good and sound information for that. I’m thankful. Thank you.

Thank you for being so flexible as well.

Let me know what you guys need.

We’ll talk to you later.

—

That brings this episode to a close. What pray tell do you have in store for people?

We are going to talk to Jenny Westin. She runs a group called @StayHomeStayMotivated, but it’s different because it’s all on Instagram, not Facebook. We get to hear about her amazing journey and how she structures community on Instagram versus Facebook. It’s interesting how she does it. I think you’ll find it interesting as I did.

Until then, where can they find you? 

They can find me at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter, on the bike and the tread at ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter @RogerQBert or on Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online at Facebook.com/theclipout. While you’re there, like the page, join the group. Check out our YouTube channel, where you can watch these shows with all the video fanciness your heart desires at Youtube.com/theclipout. While you’re there, subscribe to that too. Wherever you’re getting your podcast from, subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode. Sign up for the newsletter at theclipout.com and don’t forget to enter the sweepstakes. Win a one-of-a-kind pink Peloton at theclipout.com/pink. That’s it for this one. Thanks for reading. Until next time, keep pedaling, running and going.

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