• Peloton is selling refurbished bikes.
• Peloton is testing subscription model pricing.
• Members with over 15,000-minutes in 2021 are getting a “special gift.”
• Peloton is making new work arrangements available for employees.
• Morgan Stanley declares Peloton is the “clear leader” in connected fitness.
• Peloton hires a new Supply Chain Officer.
• Goldman Sachs looks to renegotiate loans made to John Foley.
• PC Mag reviews Lanebreak.
• Dara Treseder spoke at SXSW.
• InsideHigherED.com talks about Peloton’s ranking system and lessons to learn from Peloton.
• John Mills joins us to discuss Bernstein’s new Peloton valuation.
• Forbes thinks Peloton could be an acquisition target.
• Apple Fitness adds features to increase accessibility.
• Dr. Jenn – How to get your energy back.
• Chase Tucker is leaving Peloton.
• Shape Magazine spotlights Cody Rigsby’s recovery tips.
• Robin Arzon was on the Second Life podcast.
• Aditi Shah is now a Puma ambassador.
• Bradley Rose once auditioned for a Spider-man film.
• Bradley Rose is working on a “secret project.”
• Shape magazine interviews Bradley Rose.
• Kendall Toole partners up with Spiritual Gangster.
• Jermain Johnson is going on vacation.
• PopSugar spotlights Emma Lovewell’s Crush Your Core.
• Daniel McKenna prepared everyone for St. Patrick’s Day with Irishisms.
• Susie Chan was featured in Runners World.
• Angelo has tips for factoring in fiber with your fitness goals.
• Peloton has two new Artist Series with Helen Fischer and Karol G.
• We have a past guest update from Andrea Barber.
• Anna Greenberg and Christine D’Ercole had special IG posts for Women’s History Month.
• Peloton Apparel is looking for members to share their favorite instructor quotes.
• Peloton-branded Apple Watch bands were available…briefly.
• Jasmin Paris becomes the first woman to win the Barkley Marathon’s “Fun Run.”

—

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here

 

Chase Tucker Exits! Did Class Ratings Play Role? plus our interview with Nicole Ward

Before we get started we should probably let people know one more time that we are going to be in Miami. That will be on March 24th. We are there to catch a cruise and get our money’s worth out of these vaccines. We’re getting in a day early. You don’t want to get delayed and miss a cruise ship. They won’t hold the boat for you know. We would love to hang out with you if you’re in the Miami area so swing on by. We’re going to be at Monty’s Coconut Grove, whatever that is. We’re tourists and it had coconut in the title. We’re like, “That must be Florida.” If you want more information, you can find that in The Clip Out group. Swing on by there and search for events or coconut or something. It will pop up.

It’s pinned at the top so hit you’re going so we know to look for you.

There’s the shameless plug before the shameless plug. What pray tell do you have in store for people?

Apparently, refurbished bikes. There are lots about that. There are new work arrangements happening at Peloton. We got to talk about that. We are going to talk about all the places that all the instructors have been and some of the workers for Peloton. John Mills is joining us a little bit later and we will be talking some stock things. Dr. Jenn visits, how to get your energy back? We talk about Chase Tucker leaving. We also have a visit from MetPro. Angelo joins us to discuss factoring in fiber with your fitness goals, and then all the things that you might have missed, we do a little roundup for you.

Before we get to all that, shameless plugs, don’t forget we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can find us. While you’re there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave a review so the people that come along after know we’re worth checking out. You can find us on Facebook, if you would like to interact with us or other listeners throughout the week, Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. Sign up for the newsletter at theclipout.com where you will get all the different articles we’re about to info dump on you. You can find those links in the email we send out every week. You can also watch these episodes at YouTube.com/TheClipOut. There’s all that, let’s let’s dig in. Shall we?

We shall.

—

Peloton announced that they will be selling refurbished bikes.

This is interesting for several reasons. I need to mention that it does come with a one-year warranty. It starts at $1,045 and a $250 delivery fee and set up. The important thing to know is it’s available in select areas and audiences, whatever that means.

That’s a weird thing to say. What does that mean?

I don’t know. Sales are final other than the warranty. I posted about this and I was confused that all of a sudden they had the stock. People completely misunderstood it. It’s like, “Can’t they read my mind?” which is weird. People should be able to read my mind.

Maybe for the best.

That is definitely true. The reason I was confused about this whole thing is because it was before the pandemic. When the Bike+ first came out, Peloton alluded to on an earnings call that they were going to put into place a refurbishment program. They were going to use the bikes that they picked up because they had the training program for the Bike+. They then said, “Nope, we don’t have enough stock,” because you could sell them on the open market.

You could sell them so easily on the secondary market that almost nobody was taking a veil of the trade-in opportunity. The question then comes, “Where did these bikes come from?”

The thing is it is the bikes that people have upgraded since then or turned in for whatever reason. That means it’s no longer selling for as high prices on the third-party market, open market or whatever you want to call it. At the time, I sold my bike for as much as we bought it for.

Also, instantly, like it was on Craigslist for about 45 minutes and it’s done.

Now, you can’t and it’s not the same. The secondary market, Peloton ruined it, but now they’re finally getting the bikes in. I was confused as to why because we never heard about that. We didn’t hear, “This stockpile is piling up on all the earnings calls.” With all the things that have come up, this has never come up.

I wonder if these aren’t necessarily bikes that got traded-in. I’m sure there are some. I wonder if they were bikes that people did the 30-day free trial and so now they got those.

I don’t know. There are a lot of theories out there. I do think that they all got turned in, but I don’t know that we will ever know why. Maybe somebody will ask on the earnings call though. That would be interesting.

It’s probably for the best from Peloton’s standpoint that the secondary market has calmed down a little bit because it makes more sense for them financially to sell $1,000 refurbished bikes than for someone to sell a used one. It’s money in their pocket.

There’s no doubt about it.

On the heels of that bombshell, we find out that Peloton is test-marketing a subscription model for the bike. Is it just the bike or bike and tread?

It was just the bike. They are testing out only in some stores. There are only some stores that are doing this. They’re testing out between $60 and $100 a month. I’m still not clear like a person can send it back at any time. After four months they can be like, “Send it back. I don’t want it.” Do you keep paying that fee forever like it’s never yours? What would be the point of that? Why would you do that?

Cell phones have switched to this model, but there are always new cell phones and new technology. The batteries get better and they have more features. The screens get stronger or the phones get smaller, and then the phones get bigger. I don’t foresee them doing that with the fitness equipment. I feel like details are a little sketchy about what exactly this maps out to be long-term for the consumer.

If you do stop paying on the bike once you hit the original fee for the bike, if that is true, then how is this any different than what they used to do? They used to do this back at the beginning. You could pay for the subscription upfront. If that’s all it is, then I don’t know why they’re acting like it’s different because this used to be a thing. I remember this. You got to keep the bike at the end, and this does not appear like you get to keep the bike at the end. I wish somebody from Peloton would be very clear about those because they’re not.

Maybe that’s also part of what they’re trying to figure out with their test market. Will people pay $100 and keep paying on a bike that they could have theoretically owned outright? For years, you had all the rent to own stores. They’re still out there, but that was their business model. You would rent to own this thing and you would end up paying way more than if you would go and bought it. Your barrier to entry was much lower. With the price you paid literally and figuratively, you would end up paying 2 or 3 times the value of the product by the time it was all said and done.

I’m not impressed.

They simply want to grow their market. They got to reach out to all different aspects. This is a way to do that. There was a surprise message for some people if you’ve done over 15,000 minutes of Peloton-ing in 2021.

Also, if you were part of Peloton’s annual challenge. You had to opt into that challenge. Apparently, you had to be in the United States. There are some people that aren’t too thrilled about that. I haven’t verified that, but I have yet to see anybody outside of the United States get it. A lot of people were complaining that they didn’t get it. Maybe it’s possible that there was a long wait time for people outside the US, and they never went back on and posted about they were wrong.

They said they were outside the United States when they complained. What I’m saying is did they get the email and not come back and say that they got the email. At any rate, they are getting apparel of some kind. It says, “To show our appreciation, the apparel team would like to share something that they are proud of with you,” then they asked for your size both on top and bottom. Nobody has received it yet so we can’t report on what it was. We will see.

What I’m starting to hear is like, “We got a lot of stuff in the back. What’s a good way to prune this stuff?”

How do you do that when you don’t know what people like?

If it’s free, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Be sure and tune in on the next episode 251 of The Clip Out when we will be telling you about all the things people are complaining about having gotten for free.

We’ll tell you about the fits that were thrown. I’m like, “Tom, did you forget about what the OPP looks like?”

Here’s the thing. When Peloton said they were wanting to democratize fitness. That’s not what they meant. You’ve misinterpreted the word fit. They were not encouraging you to throw one. Peloton is reopening its global offices and they are proffering some new work arrangements for people.

They are opening back up on 4/25 and employees get a choice between two work arrangements. They can come in 1 through 5 days a week or they can work remotely full time. The other thing is they can work remotely for an extended period of time up to 30 days each year. That’s pretty cool. To give credit where it’s due, that came from Lauren Thomas. She’s always reporting on different business aspects and this one was from her. I just wanted to make sure I give credit where it’s due.

Some good news. This is from Morgan Stanley. They put out some sort of valuation or analysis of Peloton. They said that it remains the clear leader in the connected fitness industry.

That is correct but I’m confused. First of all, I agree that Peloton is the clear leader in connected fitness. There’s no doubt about that. There never was any doubt about that. I don’t know if anybody has been paying attention to the stock market but it has reached lower lows than the lows had been. It was $21 a share the other day. It’s real low like boots with the fur.

It’s like the guy from The Oak Ridge Boys low.

We will get into this more with John, but I don’t get why all of a sudden, now they’re nice. Did you guys talk to Peloton that you have a reason for thinking this? What changed? That’s what I’m saying. Bear-Bear changed. Is that what changed? I’m so confused.

There have also been some new hires at Peloton in the midst of all this. You get a new Chief Supply Chain Officer and a new hire where they got promoted to Chief People Officer.

We might have talked about Andrew Rendich being the new Chief Supply Chain Officer. I don’t think we talked about Shari Eaton getting promoted to Chief People Officer. I thought that was interesting news.

We have some more Foley news. This is not good lately.

I feel bad for him.

This isn’t awful. I’m sure it’s not great, but it’s also not unexpected.

No, it’s not.

Just because you’re posting less than positive news, you’re not endorsing it. You’re there to share Peloton news. This particular story is Goldman Sachs is turning up the heat on Peloton founder, John Foley, because of personal loans backed by the stock. Basically, he had borrowed money on the valuation of the stock when it was higher and it is not higher anymore. They’re like, “The collateral you put up isn’t valued the same, so we need to talk.”

It’s understandable they’re having that discussion. It’s understandable that he’s in the spotlight on this. It’s not unusual that he did his personal loans backed by their stock. That’s totally typical. People do it all the time. I feel bad for him as a person because he has so much focus on him right now. None of it is good and people keep making these little snarky comments like, “He had all that money. He did this.” He made all that money. It’s not like he made it up. He didn’t swindle anybody. I get that people are frustrated with him too though. I understand that they hold him responsible for all those people losing their jobs and that is fair. I feel sorry for those people too. It’s a crappy situation all the way around.

I had something similar happen to me with my Beanie Babies collection. They were valued very high. I took out a lot of loans against my Beanie Babies and my Pogs, then the market collapsed and now I’m left with trash bags full of Beanie Babies, what are you going to do. I feel you, Foley.

Here’s another one that’s good news. This was from a PC Mag. Peloton Lanebreak: Test Riding The Addictive Fitness Game. They say in here, “Lanebreak workouts and the Peloton bike are so much fun. You might ghost your favorite instructor for them. Sorry, Cody Rigsby.”

You have been.

I have and I don’t even feel sorry about it. It’s gotten stale and old. I’m so tired of people who keep high-fiving me no matter how many times I complain, and Peloton won’t do anything about it. It is so nice to go over here and play this game and have fun. I love high fives from normal people. I don’t like it from stalkers. It’s fun. I don’t have any of that stress and it’s nice. It puts a whole new fresh perspective. I have no interest in going back to a class anytime soon.

This is not the first article we’ve seen like this. People are talking about how fun Lanebreak is. It seems to be unanimously well-received.

I’ve only heard a few people say they don’t like it. Some people don’t like how intense it is. Some people don’t like that it’s not a true Tabata. They don’t have 2010 whenever they say Tabata. There are little things that they could do to make people happy. I was super stoked that they dropped some more classes on Friday, and I hit them over the weekend.

I’ve heard Lanebrreak is so popular. It’s rumored that it’s going to be a contestant on Dancing With The Stars.

Poor Cody.

Dara was at South by Southwest.

It might be Dara. We’ve never talked to her. She was there and she was repping One Peloton and she was hanging out and she was all in Peloton apparel. She talked to Jill Kramer who is the Chief Marketing and Comms Officer of Accenture. That’s pretty cool that she got to do that. That’s fun.

Speaking of South by Southwest, people might remember we were on the Matt F Basler’s podcast that we shared. It was a very odd experience.

No one had any idea why we were sharing that podcast. Nobody gets it.

There are so many workout lessons, techniques, and tips that you can gain from Peloton. Share on X

I get that they don’t get it. His band was at South by Southwest. Good for Matt Basler.

That’s awesome. His band is good.

They are good. I’ve used them at the Arena. I had them open for Culture Club a few years back.

That’s the one where they did the Beastie Boys, right?

That’s another band. This band is called Middle Class Fashion. They’re good.

I don’t know how good they are. I never saw that one.

He’s also in a Beastie Boys tribute band which was smoking. Finally, for this segment, we have a couple of articles from Inside Higher Ed, which were sent to us by a listener who works there.

They were sent to us by Barbara. Thank you, Barbara.

Thank you very much because I promise you, we would not see this publication.

We don’t peruse a lot of the Higher Education links. In all her time that she’s been Peloton-ing, she has seen exactly one Peloton article in the Higher Education information. There were two and both of which highlighted how wonderful the quality of instruction is in the Peloton world. Isn’t that interesting?

That’s very interesting. Talking about how ranking can become demotivating for people, which is true for many people. The other one is different lessons you can learn from Peloton and how they handle their classes and whatnot. That is fascinating and thank you for sending those to us.

—

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—

Joining us once again is John Mills. How is it going?

How is it going? What’s going on.

I feel like it’s all about stocks, our discussion with you. I am so confused about what is happening. The stock goes down and yet it’s the nicest thing that people have said ever. What are we doing? What is happening? Can you make sense of this?

What’s happening has been a little odd to date. It felt like this for a lot of us that Peloton made a lot of mistakes and they were poorly forecasting. There were issues with previous products having been recalled. We know about all that stuff. That’s enough for the market to panic and things all go to crap. Was that right? That makes sense but their IPO was $29 and we’re down to $21. At this point, they’ve got four times more subscribers than they did at IPO. The question becomes, did everybody freak out?

That’s always what I said.

It’s like when you get your wife a blender for Christmas and you’re like, “That was a mistake but it’s not like I was sleeping with a stripper.”

You have to keep it in perspective. Why all of a sudden is the stock market being rational. I don’t understand.

The market is not. It’s the analyst.

It’s the same difference.

No, because it’s not showing in the price point.

Every time the analysts start coverage or they start to speak, you notice that the market listens. They’re waiting for the analysts and they actually listen. I don’t get that part of that. It’s almost like they have a little too much power for me. That’s what happened here. All of a sudden, Bernstein Financial Services had an analyst that spoke and said, “We’re initiating coverage on Peloton because this $21 is ridiculous. We think that there are at least $40 stocks, and the way things are priced is as if they’re going to three quarters. Their average hardware sales are going to vanish and they’re going to never gain another subscriber ever again.” That’s how it’s priced. I don’t know how they formulate that number.

Not knowing anything about this, here’s the first thing question I have when I see the Bernstein article. Should you get stock advice from a family of cartoon bears? Is that appropriate?

I would say no.

Maybe that’s why it’s not reflected in the price. They might be waiting for Arthur to chime in. What does Caillou think about all of this now that Peloton is in Canada? These could be things that the stock market is thinking collectively.

You might be right. I don’t know. I can’t figure it out.

That was a good assessment though. You have some good things to say.

All of a sudden, they’re talking rationally. The analyst sounds like something clicked or one day they said, “This is the day we planned for. Go stay with rational.”

I picture these people all in a room and they all go and have a conversation with Barry. They’re like, “Now I feel better about it.” That’s what I feel is happening. Do I have to make conspiracy theories? Is that what’s happening?

I was watching this Bernstein analyst on CNBC. They ask the analysts, “You’re just happy about Uncle Barry.”

You guys, Bernstein, bears, bear-bear, Barry. I’m telling you.

It’s all making sense now.

I’m seeing this in a whole new light now. Carry on.

The announcer is like, “You’re happy about the direction and this new CEO.” They’re like, “No, it has nothing to do with the CEO. It has nothing to do with any of that. We’re just looking at the numbers and the numbers say that the way it’s priced is ridiculous.”

I could have told you that a long time ago. We don’t know. Stay tuned. Let’s see what happens next. I’m sure we will be surprised again.

There was a Forbes article or does this just retreaded what we were saying?

It’s like they’re just making the rounds. Bernstein Financial Services initiates coverage and they have their talking points, then Forbes comes out with this article and the writer says the same things that the Bernstein analyst said. That’s what it is in a nutshell. They’re saying the same thing. They got four times more subscribers than they did at the start of the IPO. Yet the stock price is $8 less. Their revenue was $1.1 billion last quarter. It’s expected to be another billion this quarter. Yet we’re pricing this in at two times a full-year revenue and it doesn’t seem to make sense. That is the same exact stuff.

We were saying the whole thing during the collapse. We were like, “They have more people than ever. People aren’t throwing away their bikes.”

You’re all freaking out over nothing.

They still have their own customer base. That’s ultimately what matters.

Both Bernstein and Forbes are going. They got this ridiculously unheard of churn rate that doesn’t make any sense. It’s crazy. Anybody would love to have that. The stock price doesn’t make sense. What’s interesting to me though is Bernstein was like targeting them at $40 a share. Forbes is saying $50, both of which are much lower than those crazy heights. That makes sense. They come back down to normal. They’re saying that where they’re at now doesn’t make any sense.

I would agree with that.

 

The 150 didn’t make sense.

No, but 21 doesn’t either. Apparently, it’s just that the stock analysts have finally gained some common rational sense.

They were at some conference or something. They were at an analyst conference and they were like, “Maybe March 15th. Are we good?”

I wonder if it took place in the woods?

Probably there was some honey involved.

There were some new features added to Apple Fitness+.

I got confused with this one. I was relating it to the Apple Watch OS but I don’t think it is. The article was about the fact that Apple Fitness+ is going to be adding audio commentary around exercises that are occurring on the screen. It’s what it sounds like. It’s supposed to be for visually impaired people. If they’re going into some type of form of an exercise and they can’t see it, then the commentary will kick in and tell them exactly what’s happening on screen.

It’s a very good app.

I thought it was a cool thing. My question in the post was Apple Fitness+ seems to keep adding these little things. When I see them, I go, “That’s cool but it’s not earth-shattering.”

It’s like little tweaks that they start to add up.

They start to add up. Now I’m thinking back and I’m going, “How much is that worth now, all these little tweaks?” My question and the post was like, “Are they creeping up on everybody and nobody is paying any attention?” Is that happening?

Probably to some degree but I still think they haven’t named an instructor.

I’m coaching for MetPro and I talk to a very wide variety of people every day who do all kinds of different workouts. I hear from people who have tried lots of different stuff and they are not satisfied with Apple Fitness. It’s not as engaging. It’s not as exciting as the Peloton content. While they might be adding features, there’s something still missing from an engagement standpoint. To your point, Tom, no one knows who the instructors are.

I know people like to talk about how they have so many more subscribers. That’s because it’s bundled in with something and it’s there. It’s the same way that our cable company gave us a landline but we never plugged it in, but technically, they sold us a landline.

That’s true. It actually costs less for us to have it. We were like, “We don’t want it,” but we got it. I don’t know. It’s fair questions though, John. They are good questions.

I hear the exact same thing. I can relate, but I had a person in my group that was very fanatical when it first came out. It seems like there were some pieces to it that sounded like they could be a little different, that might be a little innovative, then I don’t hear much. When I do hear about it, it’s like, “It’s all right.” As if they’re not fond of the content, so I get the same feedback.

It’s functional. It’s not just exciting.

It’s missing that sticky piece that gets you coming back to do another class.

I don’t feel like I see any passion for it. It probably has a lot of people that save them from spending the extra money to get a Peloton subscription. They’re like, “I got this and it’s fine.” There’s not an Apple Fitness apparel store.

That’s fair. To John’s point, they might be sneaking up.

They keep dropping these little teeny things. All of a sudden, they drop a little tiny thing. I keep thinking, are they more serious than I thought? They’re just very patient.

I don’t think it’s that focused. They want to keep adding value for people because that’s what Apple does. It’s something else to show that they have to have a one-stop shop for people. I don’t think that it’s ever going to replace Peloton.

I don’t think so either, but if you view it as a war of attrition, I could see a situation where they add this feature that we discussed. If you’re visually impaired, you’re instantly going to be like, “There’s no reason to get Peloton because it doesn’t have that.” You basically have scooped up that entire community. I don’t know how large it is, but you’re probably going to corner that market until Peloton decides to address it.

One thing Apple is very good at is making things work well together and very easily. You don’t have to think about it. That’s where they win. If you’re a person who’s not a fanatic about exercising and you never got into Peloton and you were just like, “I don’t get what the craze is about,” and now you want to try a spin class. Why wouldn’t you try Apple Fitness if you have everything else? It’s going to be cheaper. That’s the war they will win. That’s what you’re saying, Tom.

The barrier to entry for a lot of people is very low because it’s already there.

It’s the same old, same old. Peloton content is second to none. I guess it aligns with this story and the previous. That still holds everyone’s attention. I’m sure and confident that’s why their churn is so low. As things occurred, that stays consistent, which is why they continue to stay the leader.

The takeaway here is Apple Fitness is like closing time at a bar. You look around and you’re like, “I guess you will do.” Thank you, John, for joining us. Until next time, where can people find you?

They can find me on my Facebook page or group, Run, Lift and Live. They can find me on Instagram @RunLiftAndLive. They can find me on TikTok Run, Lift and Live, or they can find me at RunLiftAndLive.com.

Thank you.

—

Joining us once again is Dr. Jenn Mann, licensed marriage, family and child therapist, and Sports Psychology consultant. She also has a wonderful app called No More Diets, which you should check out. Ladies and gentlemen. It’s Dr. Jenn.

Hello.

I am so glad you’re back. We have a question for you from our listener Lynn Kay. She’s been taking all the usual classes but her energy is low. She keeps telling herself as long as she’s moving, it’s all good, but she’s still not happy about it. The snow outside is not helping. What can we do for Lynn?

Lynn, first of all, I want you to rule out anything physical. I want you to go to your doctor. I want you to make sure to have them look for any vitamin deficiencies, vitamin D, check your hormones, and make sure that you don’t have any virus, all that sort of stuff. Once we have ruled out the physical, then you also want to look at, is this a sudden change? Is this a gradual change? Could this be a sign of depression? Could this be a sign of sleep issues? Could you have sleep apnea? If you have a partner who is also in your bed, I would ask, am I snoring at night? Am I waking up at night without even knowing? Sometimes people have sleep apnea and they wake up and don’t even realize it because of the stage of sleep that they’re in when that happens.

I would want to look at ruling out those things. If it’s not depression, vitamin deficiency, hormones, virus, sleep apnea, all that sort of stuff, what I want to do is to get you excited about exercising again. I do think that you’re thinking of, “If I’m moving, it’s good.” It’s great. I love that. That is important. Sometimes we go through a phase in our exercise life where it’s like, “I got to be happy with getting on the tread or getting on the bike. I’m moving and I’m getting that good heart health and getting all these benefits,” but then there are other times where that was a call to shake things up.

It’s time to try something different. It’s time to try a boxing class. It’s time to try a dance class or to try a different instructor that I haven’t tried before, or maybe do a search based on music instead of doing the same Power Zone class, or hit class where it’s more about the cardio and the specifics where it’s like, “I’m just going to have fun.” It’s a good time to re-evaluate what your plan is, where you can try something new, shake it up and get excited again.

I love that. That’s great. There are so many things you can do on Peloton to look that up. You gave a lot of good examples.

Now there’s this new video game on the bike.

Lanebreak. It’s so fun. Dr. Jenn. Have you tried it?

I haven’t but I need to.

It is so fun. I love it.

I may need to try it for sure. A lot of people don’t even realize that so many of the runs and rides have been completely revamped, so it’s a whole different experience.

That’s a very good point.

I struggle with all of that. I still don’t enjoy it.

Your energy hasn’t changed drastically. You just don’t enjoy it.

It seemed like you’ve enjoyed the results like being healthier and being more fit.

I have and that makes it easier to see tangible results. The first year was a lot harder. Honestly, I was seeing results sooner than that. It’s just my head wouldn’t let me see that I was and so it was a while before it clicked for me that I do look different.

That’s a great point, especially for people who are making changes that are as dramatic as yours and that this is a significant health issue. Sometimes you get focused on what does it look like and what are the end results. That can burn you out and not be great for your energy as opposed to the process over the outcome like, “I was able to get seven checkmarks this week, or I was able to walk for longer this week than I did last week.” Let any improvements inspire and excite you.

You were talking a few episodes ago about finding your why. Not that I was exercising, but I was trying to get my weight under control. Mine was like, “If I have a heart attack, where do my kids go?” It can’t go to the other half of the equation. That would be a crap show. I did find myself that as my youngest got closer and closer to eighteen, it was harder to stay focused. I had to come up with something different.

I can understand that, but it’s great that you managed to stay inspired and continued enough to get the job done and make such a great difference in your health.

Thank you. I was not trying to commandeer the topic. I was trying to commiserate. Thank you so much for joining us. Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me at InStyle magazine. I have a weekly column called Hump Day With Dr. Jenn, and on all social media, especially Instagram and Insta Stories. I post all of my Peloton workouts @DrJennMann.

Thank you.

—

It was announced that Chase Tucker is leaving Peloton.

He said that it was time for him to go do something else. When he was at Peloton, he woke up every day inspired to push himself, and that has pushed him onto new things.

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A career in country music?

No, surprisingly. I don’t know what you have after this. At some point, somebody posted that he had been on live. It was an image that I sent you. I can talk about it. You don’t have to share it. He went on live the next day after he made this announcement. He talked about how he is going into a career in tech. He is excited about it and looking for an assistant either in New York or in Nashville. I don’t know if he’s still looking because it was five days ago and there are a million people wanting to support him. I don’t know if it’s still open but if it is, reach out to him. You never know if you’re looking.

I also think it’s interesting because, for fun, we had the Peloton taro reading on our last episode of 2021. One of the predictions was Peloton pregnancies, which happened to Anna Greenberg. The first of what they predict will be many. One of the other things was instructors leaving and not just leaving, but leaving for new career fields.

That’s an interesting note. Now I am a self-proclaimed skeptic on these matters. I have to be very clear about that, but I will say what intrigued me about that was that every instructor who has left thus far has continued in fitness. I see them all the time. Chase Tucker is the first one that didn’t. The fact that she not only said he’s leaving, but he’s going in a whole different direction is notable and very fascinating. Thank you, Erica McLean. I am curious to see what else has is going to happen in 2022.

The pregnancy thing was okay. Demographically, with age demographic and all the marriages happening, it’s not crazy to think that you’re going to start seeing instructors that are pregnant. That wasn’t the boldest choice, but this one was pretty bold.

It’s so specific. We will see what else is going to happen.

While we’re talking about Chase Tucker, we should probably talk about a website called Connect The Watts floated an interesting theory about the class rating system and that could have led to his departure.

They had a list. They said class ratings may indicate why. They had a list at the bottom of where all the instructors weighed in. If you go for strength classes, these are strength classes only on the tread. They looked at the strength coaches by the percentage of classes rated 98% or higher. You have Jess Sims 98%, Rad Lopez 90%, Adrian Williams 88%, Callie Gullickson 88%, Matty Maggiacomo 82%, Andy Speer 63%, and Chase Tucker 51%. It’s interesting because they say that Chase had a much lower class satisfaction than anyone else that he found.

To this person’s point, Barry McCarthy came out with a very strong statement. He said, “We’re not a family, we’re a team. You need to go to the end zone. If you fumble the ball, you’re out.” I feel like that’s where this article is coming from. They’re saying, “Is this why?” because he didn’t get a strong score. Are we now facing a Peloton future where everyone is going to have those 360 reviews and everything you do is going to be looked at very carefully? That’s a very CFO viewpoint and he is a past CFO so I would not be surprised.

Peloton has always been a very data-driven company. It’s not a crazy place to land from a theory standpoint. When we started this show, there were twelve instructors and now there are 319.

There are 54 but with Chase leaving, now there are 53. Will somebody else replace him? That’s another story.

Maybe they won’t. They have so many instructors. Is it worth bringing in somebody else?

That will be interesting too because we thought that all the instructors were safe from the layoffs. With this theory, you got to wonder, but then if they don’t replace Chase, to me, that does say this was based on something more than just Chase wanting to leave and get a new career. I hate talking about this because some people are going to be mad at me forever, even assuming that he didn’t quit on his own, that this was pushed upon him.

It could be a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. For a lot of companies, that’s their way. When people leave, they don’t replace them. They don’t necessarily deliberately let them go but when somebody leaves, they’re like, “Somebody else can pick up the slack.” With 53 instructors, that’s a lot of people to pick up the slack. I can’t think of a reason you would run right out and replace him, especially at the moment.

That’s what I think too, but it sends a strong signal if they don’t. We will see.

Shape Magazine, Michelle K, has an article about Cody Rigsby and why he takes two rest days a week.

That’s rest and recovery. You can read all about it. It is another great article from Michelle K.

We should point out real quick that Robin Arzon was on the Second Life Podcast.

They are talking about how she has been an ultra-marathoner, a Peloton instructor, and a bestselling author. You’re hitting a lot of different topics in this particular podcast. It’s for 47 minutes. I will be a good one to listen to if you’re looking for some Robin time. It wasn’t very long ago that we announced that Olivia was going to be an ambassador for Puma. Now, Aditi Shah is.

I don’t always keep track of who’s who in the world of Peloton because we haven’t noticed, but she’s doing just yoga.

She is doing yoga and meditation.

I find that interesting. Have we seen that yet?

I know that there are sponsorships out there, but I don’t know of anything at this level.

Hat tip to her, a Puma hat.

Congrats to Aditi. This was a fun post. I’m going to try to describe it quickly. Bradley Rose is in between two walls at the top of it acting like Spiderman. You have to see it. He does a little song, “Spider bread, spider bread,” and then here’s a crazy fact. He auditioned for the role of Harry Osborne and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man. Dane DeHaan was the lucky one who got the role back in the day. I thought that was a fun little fact, and I wanted to make sure everybody heard that. It’s pretty cool.

While we’re discussing Bradley Rose, the other article by Michelle K. Bradley Rose almost quit fitness for good until he joined Peloton. If you haven’t heard the story, this goes through how he recovered from a stroke in his 30s and just a few years later became a Peloton star instructor. Speaking of instructors, there has been so much. Kendall Toole announced that she is going to be repping Spiritual Gangster. I find this interesting because Spiritual Gangster used to be one of the Peloton apparel staples. They used to have clothes in the Peloton apparel all the time. Now you don’t see it since Peloton does their own now. Congrats to Kendall.

Jermaine Johnson is going on vacation.

I thought it was funny because he talked about, “After the longest two years any of us have experienced, I’m finally getting a proper vacation.” If anybody didn’t know, he’s going to be out. If you’re going to miss out on some of his running classes or his new strength classes, he will be back. They are on-demand. Take them and he will be back. He might already be back because it was a few days ago.

He’s on the schedule, so calm down. Pop Sugar featured some trainer-led workouts for your abs. One of them was Emma Lovewell’s Crush Your Core.

It was specific to Crush Your Core 2. I have done Crush Your Core but not Crush Your Core 2. It is effective and it’s only four weeks. It is totally accessible to anybody who can do floor exercises. This is a great way to get consistency in your workouts if that’s something you’re struggling with because they’re only 5 and 10 minutes a day. The longest one is 20. It’s something that’s bite-size and you can fit in if you’re like, “I can’t fit it in.” This is a good way to do that. I know on the surface, this looks like it has nothing to do with Peloton.

Huffington Post has an article, How to dress like Rihanna at Fashion Week in your everyday life. I don’t think everyday people get to trust like Rihanna.

It’s certainly not that. She’s dressed in a negligee on the red carpet and pregnant. It’s not even fair that she looks that amazing while pregnant. The reason that we have this is because Kendall was at Fashion Week and she was also in a mesh. She was featured in the article as well. They have some suggestions for how you too can dress in mesh in your everyday life. I’m going to go ahead and pass. I will leave that to the twenty-year-olds. Enjoy.

—

Joining us once again from MetPro here to answer your fitness and nutrition questions. It’s Angelo. How is it going?

It’s great to see you again.

It’s good to see you too. We have another fun question for you. This one I can relate to. Andrea says, “Fiber. How do we evaluate it? What should we consider in incorporating it into our daily meal plans? Also, how do we think about it in relation to our macros we are working towards.” We got another two-parter here.

In my book and the MetPro workbook, fiber is actually listed in one of the many modalities that have been scientifically proven to impact weight, body composition, etc. We can approach this from many different angles. I’m going to talk from a metabolic angle versus a digestive health angle. There are obvious benefits health-wise, nutrients, etc. from fibers. We’re going to put that aside and talk a little bit about its role in weight loss, weight gain, and that sort of thing. When we look at what levers we have to manipulate somebody’s body composition, we want to build muscle, we want to lose fat, we want to increase or decrease body weight, the number one place by a hair is I am going to look at total calories.

I struggle with saying total calories is more important than any of the other factors, but it is very influential. Just right under calories, we have to look at the macronutrient ratios. If you’re eating a high-carb diet versus a low-carb diet, regardless of your calories, that is going to massively impact the outcome in how your body responds to it. We have calories. We have your macronutrient ratios. That’s your ratio of protein, carbs and fats. Underneath that, we have the glycemic load of meals and their timing.

I tend to combine those two topics because they’re very intertwined. The impact on your blood sugar is so connected to the timing of when you eat. I like to talk about them together. They are two distinct topics, and then we talk about sugar’s impact on the body. As you can guess, reducing sugar is good, and then fibrous foods. Why is fiber good for weight loss? Fiber is neutral. There’s nothing about eating fiber that causes your metabolism to run faster, you magically lose weight or anything like that. What fiber does is it fills your belly with indigestible fibers with an indigestible bulk that moves through your stomach and then into your small and large intestine without actually adding a hefty calorie load to your intake.

When somebody is trying to lose weight, it’s one of the first tools we take off the shelf. If we can a little bit increase their fibrous foods, then they’re likely going to eat a higher bulk diet that is going to be lower in total calories. Even though fibrous foods are going to be carbohydrates, they’re probably still going to be lower in total carbs by virtue of all totals coming down. It is good for the digestive. It keeps you full. It’s satiating.

I like to see my clients look for fibers foods in the form of fruits and vegetables wherever possible. Bonus benefits come from the main meal carbohydrates that you may choose. You can even get some fibers while you’re getting fats. For example, avocados are one of my favorite fat choices that I will sometimes suggest for my clients. It’s a way to get them their fat requirements while getting some free fiber in there as well. From the framework of losing weight or reducing body fat, always look at the fiber content in foods because if you find a food that’s higher in fiber, it’s likely going to make you feel fuller or the amount of calories that you’re getting. It is going to be a great choice.

It’s like a bonus feature. I like it.

A little bit on how the digestive system works. Think of it as your intestines massage matter to move through it. I’m sure that’s what everyone wanted to hear about. We will talk about fecal matter. When there’s more intestinal bulk, it’s easier for your intestines to do their job and move matter through. That has the impact of keeping us regular. We all know we’re in a better mood when we’re regular. It has all these benefits.

You all know one thing about me, I’m not regular. Thank you so much for all that. If people would like a fitness nutrition or a fitness guidance like this tailored for them, where can they find you?

MetPro.co/tco.

—

We have two artists collaborations, which makes me feel old because I haven’t heard of either of them.

Helene Fischer is a German artist. It’s understandable that we have not heard of her. That’s what I’m going to fill to make yourself feel better. The German instructors are excited about this artist series. She is a huge deal in Germany. it starts this week and they are thrilled to be doing this. It looks like high-energy music. It’s probably something we’d like. It sounds fun

We also have Karol G.

We haven’t heard of Karol G. They’re adding Spanish language classes to this artist series as we celebrate Women’s History Month. That might be why we have not heard of Karol G. It also could be for both that were old. It’s possible. Anything is possible.

They could both be true.

—

We have a past guest update from Andrea Barber, one of our most popular interviews.

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I thought this was fun. She said, “Look, who’s in the New York Times crossword today,” and it was Kimmy Gibbler. How fun is that.

Congrats. It’s a big deal to create something that resonates in pop culture to that degree. That’s like getting a Jeopardy question or something. Well done.

She’s the nicest person ever.

If you think about it, not only did she create a character like that, but she created a character like that when she was thirteen.

That’s a good point. Such a young age to have that gravitas. It’s amazing.

—

We had a couple of posts about Women’s History Month.

I love this picture because it is Aditi and Anna. They got to do a two for one yoga, celebrating Women’s History Month. They showed a picture of them hugging. You can see Anna’s little adorable baby bump with her heart on her yoga leggings. She’s adorable. They’re very cute together. I love that they had fun.

Christine D’Ercole also had one.

She did and it was nice. She had 24 hours with her friends and she had a post of her great time with her closest friends. I think it’s gearing up for her wedding. That’s pretty exciting.

Peloton apparel is looking for your favorite instructor quotes.

This was a few days ago. Did we miss any? They said they’re working on something special in the apparel store. We haven’t had instructor quotes for a few years, so it will be interesting to see.

They were very popular. That would be very popular if they brought that back with new quotes on them. Also, for the lucky few, there were Apple Watch Peloton bands.

This was so funny. Stacy mentioned that these were in the Peloton store. I have to say that Dr. Jenn was like, “I’m buying them and I don’t even have an Apple Watch.” I guess I am calling her out a little. I was like, “I don’t know.” She was like, “What if they sell out and then I get an Apple Watch?” I was like, “That’s a good point.” I bought them that night and then the next day, they were sold out. The next morning, they were gone. They refreshed them the next day, sold out within two hours. I don’t know if they ever came back. I didn’t check again because I got mine, but I thought that was super fascinating.

Finally, not necessarily Peloton related but I guess Peloton adjacent in the world of fitness, and it’s Women’s History Month. Jasmin Paris became the first woman in ten years to complete the “Fun Run” at the infamous Barkley Marathon in Tennessee.

She completed 3 loops of the 5-lap Suffer Fest in the time of 39 hours, 49 minutes and 56 seconds. I don’t know if anybody out there has any idea what I’m talking about. You need to google Barkley Marathon. It is the most insane ultra marathon ever created. It is cool that this woman was able to do this. That is freaking goals right there. I don’t have the ability to train for something like that. My whole life would have to go on hold to do that. I don’t even know. I am super impressed with this lady. It’s awesome. Congrats to her. Not that she will ever hear this.

—

We have a birthday that should have been in the previous episode but we missed, Marcel Dinkins.

It is her birthday on March 17th. By the time you read this episode, it will have already been her birthday. Make sure that you wish her a belated birthday because she will love that.

She shares a birthday with Peloton.

That’s right. Now we will have two birthdays on the 17th.

—

Joining us is Nicole Ward. Nicole, how is it going?

It’s good. How are you?

We’re good. When did you originally find Peloton?

I tore my ACL skiing a couple of years ago. I was having a hard time coming back from my surgery and rehab. I had gotten into running half marathons and hit this point where I was like, “I’m never going to run again, let alone a half marathon. It’s not even a mile.” I was discouraged. Thankfully, one of my close girlfriends’ husbands had also torn his ACL, had surgery and got a Peloton Bike.

She was like, “It has been great for him. You should do it.” Sight unseen, I went to our local Peloton store on Black Friday and bit the bullet. I did it and have not looked back since. We’re also Tread+ owners. I’ve gotten more into strength. I like to think I utilize everything between the bike, the Tread, meditations, strength classes, and all that. We were delivered on December 10th, 2018.

You must have turned around and bought the Tread right after that, then.

I bought it as soon as I could. We moved in the fall of 2020, and we did not want to move it. Once we were in our new house, I was like, “Click.” That came in November or December of 2020.

You snuck that under the pandemic wire.

More importantly, it’s under the recall wire.

We did. I have joked that you were going to have to pry it out of my house. If they didn’t have to take it back, there was no way I was giving it back. Our situation is different. It’s a room with a closed door if we need it to. Our kids are a little bit older. Our pets stay out of the room. Any concerns for us, we’re different from other people. I love the Tread+, and I’m so happy we got it in.

That’s good timing on both. You said that you tore your ACL skiing. I take that you’ve always been pretty active. Am I making too much of an assumption?

I was pretty active at skiing in Michigan. I use that term lightly, having skied in Colorado before. I’m sure some of these other mountain people, if they’re reading, are like, “Do they have mountains in Michigan?” Not technically, but you can get some runs in. It was a fluke accident on a very easy hill. Unfortunately, I tore it. There was no going back from that.

At least you have real snow when you ski. We have a golf course.

We have a place here that has skiing. It’s fake snow.

It’s a golf course. It’s not skiing. When you live in Missouri, that’s what you have. When you got the Peloton Bike and Tread, did you change your workout level?

Being injured was a humbling lesson in going slowly, doing it right, and cross-training. I had never put such an emphasis on cross-training. I finally hit the point where I could not run every day even as I was building my strength and mileage back up, which is why the bike was so great to start with. I was able to build up so much cardio without that pain and pressure on my knee. By the time I did finally get back to running, my cardio was at a solid baseline to build mileage at.

I had always danced around fitness. I played sports in high school and did whatever I thought would work in college to stay active. Running was always something that I came back to, but I never understood the importance of cross-training, weights, stretching, and many things like that. I was always able to be like, “It’s fine. I’m doing what I can. This works for me.” Being injured became a humbling experience in form, rest, and all things that I had never considered.

I’m hearing you learned a lot from Peloton as well, not just going through the rehab that you had to go through. Whenever you start using Peloton, it sounds like you’ve learned a lot since then.

There are so many workout lessons, techniques, and tips that you can gain from it. I always say, “The right class finds you.” Emotionally, when you’re going through things, it’s what the instructor says, the message they have, and those great little quips and tidbits they put out. I’ve had so many instances where it has been what I needed.

Dr. Jenn says that a lot whenever we talk about things. She will be like, “It doesn’t matter what class you take because it will always be the right one.” It finds you. Do you do things like barre and that stuff too? You said you do pretty much all the Peloton stuff. Some of them are harder to work in. They’re more of a niche Peloton product. How is that going?

I tend to stay away from a lot of bodyweight classes. I’m not as comfortable with those. I tend not to connect with them as much. It’s the same lame with Pilates and barre, but I will do it. I did a bar class. You’ve had Nicole Gonzales on from #hardCORE On The Floor. I go back and forth, but I love the structure of the #hardCORE On The Floor calendar and being able to pick and choose. That was huge for me being able to incorporate that, not having to think about what I’m doing, picking the classes, and all of that. That was a huge help. I try not to be resistant to anything when I certainly have favorites.

It’s okay not to like everything.

There’s so much to choose from, even instructor class style. Sometimes you got to try it 3, 4, or 5 times before you can fully assess, “It either is or isn’t for me.” Sometimes it’s nice to throw those in to shake it up.

It has to match the day you’re having. If you’re having an off day and you’re like, “I have to push through and work out,” you can’t judge how you meshed with that class on that day. Tell us about The Comeback Bike nomination that you did.

One of my oldest and dearest friends is in education. She has been a teacher, and she’s now an assistant principal. She has a heart for loving kids and guiding them. On top of that, she’s got a young kid. We all know how draining that can be. Her husband is an entrepreneur. Especially when starting, those hours are unpredictable and long. I saw this shift in her of giving so much and not having anything left for her. I know how much I got out of Peloton. You can say you’re finding yourself, getting your groove, taking your me-time, or whatever you want to call it. The benefit is there. I thought that she needed that benefit too.

On a whim one night, I didn’t even tell her. Fingers on the keyboard were flying. I was like, “If it doesn’t work out, she will never know. It’s not a big deal. If it does, then that’s awesome.” I forgot about it. Truly, I did it on such a whim. I didn’t have a record of it. I can’t remember if they sent you a copy of what you submitted. We had the pandemic happen, and I had some personal things happen. I have not thought about it. All of a sudden, I got this email, “Your nomination has been accepted.” I was like, “That felt so long ago.” I got to call her and tell her the great news. I was like, “Check your email.”

I was wondering how they did that. Did they let you call and tell her?

I don’t think anybody from Peloton called her. I’m assuming she got an email. It was all such a blur. I’m pretty sure I was like, “I nominated you for this, and you got it.” She was like, “What are you talking about?” I was like, “You’re getting a Peloton.” My sister was like, “Why didn’t you nominate me?” Another sister was like, “Why didn’t you nominate me?”

You should have said, “I did, but you’re not good enough.”

I’ll tell her not to read this episode and be like, “Nevermind. Don’t read it.”

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I have a sister. The best part of it is teasing her mercilessly.

You don’t even want to hear our story. Trust me.

My sister posted she’s moving. She has been collecting and going through boxes. She’s like, “I was going through the boxes and found all these coins.” She had four-gallon Ziploc bags of coins. She’s like, “I’m going to solve the coin shortage and turn them in.” She’s older than I am. I always tease her about being older than me. I was like, “That’s weird. I thought you went through the change years ago.” Your sisters are not good enough. That’s where we were at.

I’ve been trying to bring them into the Peloton family. I have a sister that uses the app and a sister that has the Tread+ as well. We tend to do workouts together. We try for Saturday 60s when we can. The friend that I nominated, her sister also got a Peloton Bike of her own accord. We are bringing everybody into the family. Trust me.

If I remember correctly from the story, it goes a step further than that because the friend that you nominated and got the bike then nominated somebody else. Tell us how that all went down.

I don’t think she told me that she was nominating anybody else. She had a dear friend who she described as the life of the party, outgoing and there for everyone. She lost her mother and was struggling with it. She became a different person and was vocal about her grief and how she was struggling, which is so raw and honest. It helps anybody else going through that.

Another great way to help people is to be honest and share what you’re going through and what’s difficult. My friend saw this change in her again and was thinking that this might be something that helps her connect to a community, take that time back for herself, and help her physically and mentally with those endorphins. She nominated her friend. She also won, so she now has a Peloton Bike and rides with us.

That’s the Peloton gift that keeps giving.

It’s such a trickle-down effect for so many people, not just in you using it and how you’re able to be better in what you do and your daily life but also in how you can share it with people. It’s great.

I was going to ask if your friend was using the bike a lot, but she must be if she’s participating in the Comeback program to pay it forward to other people. She must have been bought in.

It’s the same thing. She sees the value of it. We connect enough as it is. We’re talking and texting each other and our sisters. Being able to share it in a different way with somebody else is awesome. To see them hit their stride with it or discover different ways of using it is great.

Did you ever get to go to the Peloton studio before things shut down?

No. I hardly go back to old classes anymore because there is so much content. It feels weird. I’m not even in that room. It’s a weird scene. It’s packed with people all sweating, running, and riding together. It feels like a lifetime ago.

You can feel the energy coming from it in a different way. I know a lot of people that have never experienced that. If they joined Peloton during the pandemic, so many people are like, “I don’t want to see people in that studio. Let’s not go back to that.” I hope that’s not the case because, number one, they built that ginormous studio. I would like to see them get some use out of that. Also, it’s such a different energy. It brings the energy in a way that people who have never experienced it can’t even imagine how it ramps up.

I wonder if they will do both, some with and some without. Maybe they could even shoot the classes in a way to where it’s like, “How do you want it? Do you want it with people or without people?”

They talk to the people in a class, so I don’t know if they could shoot it. Traditionally, that’s what they have done.

I want that picture post-class with the sweat pouring off me still with the instructors. That’s what I want. I want to meet and see the instructors.

I wonder if we will ever get to do that again. Even if we go back to being in the studio, the community has grown so much. I don’t know if we’re going to have that same level.

They’re such celebrities now. They were trending that way. There has been such a gap in time that by the time they fire it back up, they’re way more popular than they were previously. I don’t know how you do that.

Since you didn’t get to go to the studio, I don’t know if you know this because a lot of people don’t if you have not been. A long time ago, you just went up and took a picture with the instructor at the edge of the stage. As time went on, they started having bodyguards up there. They would be like, “No pictures.” You could only do the pictures after class, which I get. They needed to keep the instructor safe. What level of safeguards can be needed years later? I can’t even imagine what that is going to look like.

You have people hanging out in front of Peloton studios and hoping they catch an instructor going in or coming out. That would be me.

If I lived there, I’m sure I would find reasons to go by all the time. If you lived there, the thing is, you got to know the instructors before they got popular. Now they stand outside, and there’s hardly anyone in there. They know when their schedule is because they know when the instructors are teaching. It’s a little creepy.

There’s a stalker element to some of these things with either trying to catch them in New York, seeing what they’re doing on Instagram and leading up to if you’re trying for a shout-out. I’ve even seen such a change in the shout-outs. People are hitting these milestones for rides and runs because they’re cranking out classes. There are no more than 50 to 100 shout-outs anymore. They’re like, “You hit 1,000 classes.”

Maybe the people that hit 1,000 shouldn’t get the shout-outs because they have been around long enough to where they have gotten plenty.

That’s not true anymore because people take so many 20-minute or 5-minute classes and stack them. What ends up happening is that because it’s so busy, they may have gone all the way to 1,000 rides without having a shout-out. That’s possible. It’s crazy because there are so many people now. Some people don’t care. I usually let the instructor know, not that it matters, but I’m like, “I’m going to take your class and be getting a milestone.”

I do try for some of the bigger ones. I will try to time a live ride and get some friends because it is a celebration. I’ve been like, “It’s not going to happen.”

It’s like winning a radio contest when you were a kid.

I feel like I have much better luck on the treadmill getting shout-outs than I do on the bike.

There are not as many of them yet. Do you have a preferred instructor?

I love Jess Sims because my sister and I tend to do her workouts together. She’s funny, motivational, and hard. If I want to kick my butt, I’m taking a Jess Sims Bootcamp Class. I mix it up a ton. Cody Rigsby is my boo, but I started loving Ally Love when I first hit Peloton. I was like, “Ally Love is everything.” Robin Arzón is great, especially coming into motherhood. I feel like that’s a different connection any of us moms have with her now.

What did your Cooldown say?

I have not checked it yet. I was on a mission to hit 10,000 minutes. On New Year’s Eve, I ended up having 79 minutes I had to do. I did it to myself. I was like, “You are not allowed to check your Cooldown until you hit your 10,000 minutes.” It was at 6:30 on New Year’s Eve. I forgot and have moved on. I have not looked back and checked it. I’m a bad Peloton person. I know I failed everyone. It was hard because everyone was doing them and posting them. I was like, “You are not allowed to look at yours.” I’m sure I’ll tell you by 2023. I’ll be like, “For my 2021, I’ll update you.” I had a season of meditations. It’s probably going to say, “Aditi Shah was your number one instructor,” because I had a season of meditations.

That means you needed it.

It is an unfair question when we ask your favorite or preferred instructor because nobody ever thinks to even consider the yoga instructors. Even if they do it, they don’t think of it as exercise.

It’s different. When people think of Peloton, they think of the bike first. That’s always where everybody’s head goes and then tread next, assuming they have the Tread. If they don’t have the Tread, it could be the strength next. It’s usually not yoga next, which is a real shame for me too because I enjoy yoga. It’s just it doesn’t burn enough calories.

It depends. I was on a Blue Dot mission. My husband was on a Close Your Apple Rings mission. My sister was on the Apple Monthly Challenges mission. We all have things that we’re going for. If you’re trying to hit calories, meditation and yoga tend not to be the ones that you’re gravitating towards. We own an apple orchard. My fall is very busy and physical. Truly, I don’t have gas left in the tank for a workout in addition to some of that stuff. My Blue Dot is a meditation at night. I have a response to Aditi’s voice on some of those. It knocks me right out.

I do love yoga. I took the Taylor Swift one with Anna Greenberg and enjoyed that. There are a lot of good classes. Aditi is your favorite for meditation/yoga.

I love any of the ten-minute yoga classes for hips. Between running, biking, and being a woman, for the hip mobility and the tightness in them, those classes are fantastic.

I bookmarked one. It was not yoga. It was a hip stretch that I did. I bookmarked it after a bike class because it got in there deep. There is a lot of good stretching. I was like, “That’s what I needed.”

Don’t overlook those 5-minute and 10-minute stretching classes that you can add on or do in the middle of the day. There are benefits, and there’s a time for them.

Do you have any advice for people who are now entering the world of Peloton?

You’ve got to try everything. You’ve got to try instructors. You can’t listen to what other people say but also listen to what people say. Everybody has to find their own way they use it. I’m not saying don’t go out and run your miles outside because you don’t want to run on a treadmill. Find the best way for you to incorporate it into your life. The investment you make into yourself and your health has benefits that you cannot put a dollar and a time amount on. It’s crucial that we keep ourselves healthy and mentally prepared with everything going on and take that time. Put the time in, find what works for you and take it from there however it works for you.

What is your leaderboard name?

My name is KnickKnackCiderWhack. We use our apples to make hard cider. I’m a hard cider maker by trade. I thought it was funny and silly.

I would think that would get lots of shout-outs because it’s fun to say.

You would think. What more do they want from me? I’m trying here.

It’s creative and fun to say. I don’t understand.

I’ve got two shout-outs.

They are getting stingy with them.

They were at 10 and 50 rides. They were a long ago. It was one milestone and one birthday. An Instagram like or comment from an instructor versus a shout-out, I like the Instagram stuff a little bit more. My one sister and I will always screenshot, send it to each other and be like, “Did you see this? We’re famous now.” We love any of those little interactions online with the instructors too.

Adrian Williams will always have a special place in my heart because my sister used Peloton all during her breast cancer journey. He was so great. I would send him little messages like, “She’s struggling. She’s so excited about this. She loved doing this.” He was so responsive to everything. He sent her the sweetest message one time. I was like, “Maurice, you got us.”

It's going to get worse before it gets better. Share on X

I know how excited I was when Micky Dolenz started following me on Twitter.

That was a big day.

We all have our thing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to join us. Before we go, remind everybody where they can find you if you would like to be found.

I’m on the Bike, Tread, meditations, and strength classes as KnickKnackCiderWhack.

Thank you so much.

Thanks. It was great.

—

I guess that brings this episode to a close. Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and the Peloton leaderboard @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter @RogerQBert or Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online at Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. Don’t forget our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/TheClipOut. That’s it for this one. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep pedaling and running.

 

Important links

• Nicole Ward – LinkedIn
• Peloton
• Nicole Gonzales – Previous episode
• Apple Podcasts – The Clip Out
• Spotify – The Clip Out
• Google Podcasts – The Clip Out
• Facebook.com/TheClipOut
• YouTube.com/TheClipOut
• Peloton Lanebreak: Test Riding The Addictive Fitness Game – article
• Inside Higher Ed – Higher Ed Lessons From Peloton
• Tonal.com
• Run, Lift and Live – Facebook group
• @RunLiftAndLive – Instagram
• @RunLiftAnd Live – TikTok
• RunLiftAndLive.com
•  Facebook page – Run, Lift and Live
• No More Diets
• Dr. Jenn Mann
• @DrJennMann – Instagram
• Hump Day With Dr. Jenn
• Connect The Watts – Peloton Instructor Chase Tucker is Leaving, and Class Ratings May Indicate Why
• Shape Magazine – Why Peloton’s Cody Rigsby Always Takes Two Rest Days a Week
• Second Life Podcast – episode with Robin Arzon
• Pop Sugar – 5 Trainer-Led Ab-Workout Programs You Can Stream at Home
• How to dress like Rihanna at Fashion Week in your everyday life – article
• MetPro.co/tco
• Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe
• Instagram – Clip Out Crystal
• Twitter – Clip Out Crystal
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
• Facebook.com/tomokeefe

 

About Nicole Ward

Nicole Ward, Co Owner of Eastman’s Antique Apples & Eastman’s Forgotten Ciders