• Affirm experiences technical difficulties just in time for Black Friday—what does this mean for their reputation?
• Speaking of tech troubles, Peloton had its share of issues. We’ve got the details! Plus, How will this affect Turkey Burn?
• Great news for Yoga and Pilates fans! You can now filter your Peloton classes by Yoga + Pilates.
• Peloton drops a brand-new commercial. Is it enough to make waves in the fitness world?
• Zoom’s reinvention as a brand mentions Peloton—how are these two connected?
• Big win for Peloton! The company secures victories in three patent lawsuits.
• Jenn shares wisdom on balancing life’s demands while navigating grief.
• Is Rad Lopez stepping onto Tread? We discuss the rumors.
• Christian Vande Velde officially joins Power Zone training as an instructor!
• Get in on the action with Winter Wellness Events featuring your favorite Peloton instructors.
• Susie Chan teases us with behind-the-scenes pics—what could she be working on?
• Have a chance to meet Ally Love up close and personal at an Ulta Beauty meet & greet.
• Jess Sims reveals she has recorded a split program—what does this mean for her fans?
• This week’s artist series shines a spotlight on Nirvana—get ready for some grunge-inspired rides.
• Tonal expands its HSA/FSA eligibility. A game changer for fitness accessibility!
• FightCamp announces its launch in Canada, opening up new opportunities for boxing fans.
• Erin Andrews talks about her love for Peloton and her admiration for Robin Arzón.
• TCO’s Top 5! We spotlight the listener-recommended classes you need to try this week.
• Sneak peek at what’s happening this week in the Peloton world—don’t miss a beat with “This Week at Peloton.”
• HelperBee Nikki reviews Peloton’s Max Out Row classes—is this the new can’t-miss workout?
• Peloton drops a lineup of wellness essentials—get your hands on the latest goodies.
• Celebrate Peloton birthdays this week! Shoutout to Jenn Sherman (12/1) and Tunde Oyeneyin (12/5).

Want more? This week’s episode covers all things Peloton and fitness in a friendly yet informative way. Listen now and stay in the know!

—

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here

 

Christian Vande Velde Now A Power Zone Instructor Plus Our Interview With Jennifer Hecht

We are recording the day before Thanksgiving.

We are that dedicated.

We are not taking a week off because it’s Thanksgiving. We’re not lazy.

We are thankful for all of our listeners. This is a gift to you, even though you don’t traditionally gift on Thanksgiving.

We do it every week even when it’s not Thanksgiving. I guess if you wanted to give someone a gift, we could we could make the bonus available to all Patreon this week.

We could do that. Would you like to do that? Alright.

If you’ve been wondering what the bonuses are like, we’ll make it free to everyone on the Patreon. You can join the free level. People who are joining the free level can listen to this week’s bonus episode. We should have waited till we recorded it to make sure we were halfway decent.

We don’t want to get up and go to work tomorrow. Maybe we should have a little drink and see if we can make it more interesting.

Get all sloppy. I’ll tell you another thing.

Nope, Save that for the bonus.

What pray tell do you have in store for people?

We are going to be talking to our guest who is a Peloton community member, Jennifer Hecht. She has such a fun Instagram, She calls it a bookstagram. It’s Electric_Bookaloo. She is very into Peloton and also very into books. It’s where the two shall meet. We’re going to chat a lot about a lot of things.

She’s very involved in the Peloton Moms Book Club. If you hear from there, thank you. If you’re really into the Peloton Moms Book Club, you shouldn’t be listening. You should just read the transcript.

We have that for you too.

That’s where we’re going. Read the transcript, book nerd.

From fellow book nerds. We also are going to talk about Affirm’s technical difficulties. We are going to talk about the new filters that Peloton has added and the new commercial they added. We’re going to talk about an interesting mention that Peloton got in an article about Zoom. We’re also going to talk about the most updated version of lawsuits that Peloton has. We got a visit from Dr. Jenn. She’s going to talk to us about balancing life’s demands while coping with grief. Also, trigger warning, if you are going to be dealing with grief, a lot of people, in the holidays, it’s tough. Know that that’s fair.

We are going to be talking about some rumors about Rad Lopez. We are going to be talking about Christian Vande Velde. We have new instructor wellness events coming up. We have a bunch of instructors who are working on big things. We’ll talk about that. We have new artist series news. We have new Tonal news. This is super interesting, and we have new Fight Camp news. There’s also celebrity news. We have a bunch of content to share with you and all kinds of stuff, and then of course, our Patreon.

Before we get to all that, shameless plugs. Don’t forget, we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and TuneIn. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you’re there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. If you’ve never done that, it helps people help us. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group.

You can check out our aforementioned Patreon, where this week’s bonus episode is free to all comers. You just have to sign up for the free level. That’s over at Patreon.com/TheClipOut. What are we going to be talking about? The Lululemon bandits. The new survey/study on holiday weight that Matt and Andy are up to, and where you shouldn’t buy your Peloton bike from. If you want to swing by there. Normally, Patreon costs you $5 a month and you get bonus episodes as we mentioned. You get ad-free episodes. If we get them early, you get them early.

Don’t forget, you can watch all of these over at YouTube. I know throughout the course of an episode, we throw a lot of links at you. If you sign up for our newsletter at TheClipOut.com, you will get a weekly email. It will come out weekly like clockwork. That’ll have all the links and everything to the articles and Instagram posts and things like that. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?

We shall.

—

Peloton was having all sorts of technical difficulties. The first one was a biggie. I guess whatever API interface or internet magic that makes Affirm sell products for Peloton wasn’t working. Just in time for Black Friday.

Probably one of the reasons they were having issues was because so many services use Affirm these days. Peloton on Status.OnePeloton.com listed that their financing partner Affirm is experiencing increased latencies and error rates across services in the US and that members might be having issues completing checkouts using Affirm financing during this time. Spoiler alert, they were. The update was members will not be able to check out with Affirm at this time. That was on the 25th. They did fix it on the 26th. Within 24 hours, Affirm and Peloton had it fixed. Everybody was good.

Peloton was also having some other technical issues.

The guided scenic rides are failing to load for some members. Spread the news because not everyone thinks to go to Status.OnePeloton.com.

Not only do people not think to go there, but I’m going to guess that scenic ride users are even less likely to get to Status.OnePeloton.com.

I think that is a fair point, but the fix has been tested, but they’re not going to start rolling it out until December 16th. You are going to have to wait a little bit.

This is a window into how popular scenic rides are.

I would agree, but they do have a workaround listed here. It says if you have the issue in the meantime, use this workaround. You start a scenic class that isn’t guided, so use the distance or the time, exit that class, and then start the guided scenic class, and then it will start. There you go.

Problem solved. Why didn’t you think of it in the first place, you dumb scenic rider?

At least since they’re not going to start rolling it out until the 16th of December they have a workaround. That is improved communication. I remember back in the day. You didn’t even get a communication that something was happening. There was no Status.OnePeloton.com. Do you know what there was? There was the OPP. The OPP was nice. Back then, everyone bonded together and came up with solutions together.

There would be assists.

It’s not like there’s no assist on the OPP, but it was everyone bonding together. Now you get a nice person in the middle of all the bitching. You also now get 18,000 of the same post. Whereas back in the day, they would point you. Anyway, the other issue that they have is the mixing on the device feature has been disabled. People have been posting a lot about this. It’s been disabled because there were isolated reports of music and instructor audio being out of sync. Until they get it fixed, they are going to be turning it off. They’re hoping to have that turned on the first week of January.

I think that it is notable that they are having all these issues this week because this week is Thanksgiving. It is Turkey Burn. Last year, we broke the servers. We broke the internet. It’s not the first time we’ve broken the servers. There was the great Lizzo breakage and there will be again. I think that it is notable that all these things are happening.

I also can’t help but think that there might be other things in the background that we can’t see they’re working on because usually, they don’t assign timeframes and push things out. This is new. I think there’s more than what we’re seeing happening in the pipeline. Hopefully, they are working so hard. They’re making sure that everything is perfect for Turkey Burn.

By the time you’re hearing this, you will already know the answer. We are time travelers.

We’re just being hopeful.

You can now filter yoga plus Pilates.

I’m so excited about this.

Apparently, this is important.

It is important because before, when you go into yoga, there are so many different classes. There are yoga flows and restorative yoga. There are a lot of different kinds. This specifically mixed yoga with Pilates is brand new. There are only three classes on the platform. I know it because I filtered this morning and took a class. Actually, it was last night.

The point is if you want to take these classes, it can take a minute to search through them. There are also Pilates classes. Searching for Pilates is not going to help because then you’re going to get every Pilates class in search results. Having the ability to filter on this is huge. Also, I have to say shout out to Anna Greenberg for doing these classes because I love being able to take them.

I don’t take the time to do Pilates classes by themselves. I want to be that person, but I’m not that person. Having them built into a yoga class feels like a Two For One. Now, I’m getting yoga and I’m getting pilates, so it makes it a lot easier for me to make the time for that. Plus they are amazing classes. It’s very effective.

Now you have a way to easily find them. Peloton also dropped a new commercial.

It was their new holiday commercial. I love their holiday commercials. They always have a sense of inspiration, but also a little bit of sweetness to them. I don’t know. I just like them.

I always think of that Peloton wife.

I like that commercial. Apparently, few people liked that commercial.

 

That’s because you’re a misogynist.

I’m sure some would say that. I also think that they could have done themselves a huge favor with that particular commercial, the Peloton wife, by simply adding one more thing, one line that will fix everything.

Let us know that she asked for one.

They didn’t and then a whole thing happened. Anyway, I don’t think this commercial will be raising any turmoil.

Sometimes you can’t tell until the turmoil has been turmoiled.

That’s so true. The internet turns on you. It’s big. It’s unstoppable when you are Peloton.

You never want to be the main character on the internet. We came across an article about Zoom and it’s reinvention. I got a little Peloton mention that’s buried within there.

I feel like it’s a little bit interesting. Even if Peloton didn’t get mentioned, I think that it’s interesting because both of these were pandemic stocks. They got huge during the pandemic. How many family members do people have who had never used Zoom before the pandemic? Everyone got good at Zoom except for my family but that’s okay. Peloton went through the same thing. Since then, both companies have been struggling to find their way. Zoom is approaching this with an entirely new relaunch and they are going to call themselves Zoom. There’s no Zoom video. It’s just Zoom Communications.

They’re more than just a video company.

They’re trying to be. They’re trying to integrate.

I feel like this is Taco Bell changing their name to Bell. “We do more than tacos,” and then everybody shows up like, “I just want a taco.”

They’re also claiming or trying to push the image that they are an AI-first company. I think they’re going to have a lot of trouble with that. There are a lot of AI tools out in the market at this point. I mean so many of them. This is so late coming to the market. You need to make it easier for people to use your product and not put all these stupid time limits on it. There needs to be more tiers to Zoom. That’s what needs to happen and that’s their issue. They just haven’t figured that out yet. I thought it was an interesting parallel that both companies have been struggling.

I was listening to a podcast about how Carvana had the same issue. Their stock during the pandemic shot like $350 a share and now it’s like $3.

Even Peloton has been doing better lately. They’re almost at $10 a share.

Maybe Barry McCarthy is going to take over Carvana. Speaking of Barry McCarthy, I feel like he deserves credit for this.

I would have to agree.

I know he’s not in the legal department per se but it seemed like one of his missions was knocking out lawsuits. I feel like this is a late-coming dividend from the Barry McCarthy era, but they were locked in a heated battle with Johnson Health Tech. They had sued Peloton saying that they infringed on their patents on treadmills.

The Tread and the Tread+ both had infringed. It was something about verifying your exercise usage or something.

They won three of those lawsuits.

The patent trial and appeal board had three decisions that they issued today and all three were denied.

Just in time for the holidays.

That’s awesome.

Unless you work at Johnson Health Tech. Is Johnson Health Tech a real thing?

Yeah. I don’t remember the details, but I remember that they are somehow linked to Nordic Track or something. I’m making this up. This is not the correct thing.

It’s like a division of something else.

It’s because the company is like one of those umbrella companies and it has a lot of stuff.

You can do Peloton from the convenience of your own home, any length, any time of day, and on your schedule without fighting for a bike. Share on X

I didn’t know if they were just patent trolls like the guy who was like, “I talked into a cassette recorder one time so I invented podcasts. Everybody owes me a dollar.”

That guy can back off.

Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to Dr. Jenn. She’s going to have tips for balancing life’s demands while coping with grief. Stick around.

—

Joining us is Dr. Jenn Mann, a licensed marriage, family, and child, therapist, and sports psychology consultant. You may know her from VH1’s Couples Therapy With Dr. Jenn, VH1’s Family Therapy With Dr. Jenn, or her long-running radio show, The Doctor Jenn Show. She’s written four bestselling books, including The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection, and Intimacy. It’s Dr. Jenn.

Hello.

I’ve missed you. I’m so glad you’re back.

I’ve missed you too. Welcome back from the marathon, which is a huge accomplishment. I think I’m going to celebrate every episode for the next few months, maybe in the next year.

I should start bringing my medal down when we record.

You should wear that medal for the next year on every episode because it is a huge accomplishment that should never be overlooked or forgotten about even for a moment.

You’re the best. Thank you. I need you in my ear all day long, especially on bad days. Especially in the last couple of weeks, if I could get Dr. Jenn on repeat, that would be great. I’m going to bring this down a notch because this is a super serious question. I know that everybody deals with loss. This question is from our sweet Helper Bee Nikki Smith.

She said, “After losing two close family members in a short period of time, I feel like I haven’t had the proper space or time to grieve either of them fully because life’s obligations and responsibilities keep demanding my attention. How do you navigate grief when it’s layered, when one loss compounds another, and daily life doesn’t pause to let you process it? How do you balance the practical demands that can’t be put on hold with a genuine need to grieve those losses? I want to honor both my grief and my responsibilities without shortchanging either one and without feeling like I’m existing in survival mode all the time.”

I get it. First of all, Nikki, I feel you. I understand and it boggles your mind when you lose someone who you love so much that the world has not stopped and stood still because your pain is so enormous and immense that it’s unthinkable that the world has gone on and you’ve had two losses. By the way, what you said about things being compounded was very astute because any other losses you’ve had in your life now historically, other people you’ve loved and lost, even pets you’ve loved and lost that you never fully grieved, that grief is going to be tacked on to this grief.

It’s important to understand that giving yourself the room to grieve is a necessity. It is important for your psychological well-being and your ability to move on in your life and have happiness again and have mental health and all of those things. To answer your question, first of all, part of the reason why grief and loss groups exist is because of exactly what you’re saying. The reason why therapy exists is that it forces us to carve out time in our very busy, hectic lives to tend to our emotional needs.

One of the great things about therapy nowadays post-COVID is that it can be done online. In LA, everything is 30 minutes away. You don’t lose the 30 minutes each way plus parking, so that can be an hour and a half easily. I want to encourage you, Nikki, to carve out the time, a minimum of once a week a session a week to take care of yourself, to process your grief, and to deal with all of this, and if you can find a grief and loss group, especially an online group if time is an important element, to look into what are the local resources.

In LA, there’s a place called Our House. That is a grief and loss support group, They have great groups for kids. They have groups for adults. They have incredible resources. Most states and cities have something like that for people who are going through grief and loss. Also, check with your church or temple. Any religious organization typically has those support groups. You can also call up a local hospice organization to see if they have any grief and loss groups. There are a lot of different organizations that typically have them. I think that’s going to be important for you.

You’re right on the money in your observation that this stuff that does not get processed gets stuck and it’s very hard to move forward. Grief is a very shockingly up-and-down roller coaster of an experience. We like to think that things in life are neat and organized. We hear Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, depression and acceptance. You’re like, “I can do this,” and check it off. Originally, that was for the dying patient but I do believe that it’s very applicable to the people who have been left with the grief and the loss. It’s messier than that.

You don’t check off and graduate from one to move on to the other. You can go back and forth between the two. You can go back and forth between anger and sadness in five minutes or less. Grief is messy, grueling, exhausting, and necessary. It’s important that you give yourself the room. Also, when we don’t process that grief, I personally believe a lot of it gets stuck in our body and it gets stuck in us physiologically with aches, pains, and sometimes even disease. It’s very important that you let yourself talk through it and let go of it.

I was also thinking of adding isolating to your list.

Grief is incredibly isolating. That’s why grief and loss groups are particularly great to have that experience of “I’m going through that too.” There are things you go through in grief that are confusing because our idea of what grief looks like and what it is is so different. There are times when you go through something and you’re in a grief and loss group and you say, “I’m having this experience,” and someone else goes, “Me too. I had no idea what’s connected to grief. I didn’t know.” That’s because so much of what you’re going through now is through that lens and we don’t always realize how much.

That makes sense. Thank you. I’m sure that will be very helpful to Nikki and I know she will appreciate it.

If people would like to follow you, in the meantime, where can they find you in all the places?

You can find me on social media, especially Instagram @DrJennMann. I also post a lot about grief and loss since I lost my mom a little over a year ago as many of your listeners know. This is a topic that’s very near and dear to my heart.

Thank you.

—

We are officially going to start a rumor.

I am unconvinced about this rumor. I just want to be very clear. I feel like I already have to talk down the rumor before it even starts.

You’re no fun.

 

I know. Sorry.

I knew we should have started drinking. Is Rad Lopez moving to the tread? We’re just asking questions. We’re the Joe Rogan of Peloton. I’m just asking questions, just asking.

Rad Lopez posted on Instagram. He said, “Something is cooking. I’m truly excited for what’s coming. Take a guess.” A lot of people are guessing that he is going to be on the tread. Maybe he is. If he is moving to the tread, it’s a misleading photo because he’s in the strength studio in this picture. He might be playing a game and trying to throw us off. A lot of instructors have been moving around to different modalities. That has been happening a lot, but his being in the strength studio doesn’t feel right. I’m not feeling it.

There’s something in the works from Rad Lopez.

A lot of people feel like it’s it’s the tread. I will be happy to admit if I’m wrong.

Christian Vane Velde is officially a Power Zone instructor.

I always thought he was. Coming up on nine years, I have never taken a Christian Vande Velde class. Not because I don’t like the man because I don’t know if I do or not. When I first got into Peloton, it didn’t pull me in. His classes intimidated me, and then when I got into training and stuff like that, I was already like, “I want to take this person’s class.”

You go through stages of the Peloton. I never had a stage with Christian Vande Velde, but I always got the impression that because he was a pro rider and because Matt Wilpers brought Powers Zone training to Peloton from pro riding, in my head, he has always taught those classes. When we posted this, one guy gave some criticism that he’s always been a Power Zone instructor, but Peloton never brought him that way.

They used to call it his pro rides and now they have real routes and something else. He officially has Powers Zone classes. When they did the big global instructor class with nine instructors, Christian Vande Velde was also part of that. I guess that when he calls out any of his classes, he uses zones. That’s why one person sent me a message and felt that he’s always done it. I had that impression too. It just didn’t feel like big news, but Peloton never called it that. It is big news from that perspective. He’s still a guest instructor.

I get that he has been elevated to like in SNL, he’s still a featured player, but does this mean that we will get more classes from him do you think?

I do think because just in the last three months, there’s been on a more regular basis. My theory is that they are using his classes to sprinkle in when they send those other instructors out for twelve weeks at a time. They’re using it. They might film some of them. Some of his have been live, which is a first in a long time. It’s not a first first, but first in a long time. I think that they’re approaching it differently with him as they’ve renewed that relationship. It’s not like he ever wasn’t a guest instructor, but it had been a long time since there was a class.

There was a period when it had been so long. Is he still a guest instructor or just something he hid?

He talked about it publicly like, “I want to get back to Peloton. I’m just having trouble getting into the studio. I like getting in at a time that works for everybody.” Something changed somewhere along the way, whether it was his schedule, Peloton’s schedule, or how their scheduling things. I don’t know, but I think it’s cool and I’m glad that he’s there. A lot of people enjoy his classes. He still intimidates me though.

We have multiple opportunities for you to meet Peloton instructors at various winter wellness events.

The Peloton instructors are headed back to the store. Alex Toussaint and Matt Wilpers are going to be at Tyson’s Corner on December 5th. Cody and Adrian are going to be at Yorkdale, which is in Canada if you don’t know. The Canadians are so excited to have this event because it’s been so long.

Yorkdale sounds like somewhere where we fought the American Revolution.

That’s going to be on December 8th, and then Ally and Rebecca are going to be in Skokie, Illinois on December 7th. That is in the Chicago region.

Susie Chan posted an intriguing behind-the-scenes photo.

I thought this was very interesting because she posted this photo where you can see her in the tread studio in London. She has all these people around her, like all these techs or behind-the-scenes people. She’s standing there and they’re in the middle of the room. They’re in front of the tread and she’s like, “Working on some things. This is behind the scenes. Any guesses?”

She is going to be a tread instructor. Did I get it right?

She is a tread instructor. Technically, you got it right. I’m curious about this one though. What does that mean?

I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. Ulta Beauty is going to host an Ally Love meet and greet. This is not a winter wellness event.

It’ll take place in Miami. She’s part of the Ulta Beauty Joy Council. It’s a thing, apparently. She’s a member of that. This will be taking place on December 5th. You can sign up for tickets at Eventbrite.com. There’s a link that will be sent out in the newsletter if there are any spots left.

Jess Simms had a little announcement in one of her classes the other day. She has recorded a split program.

We have that to look forward to. That’s so fun, another program. Strength and then a little cardio burst at the end. I think they’re fun. I like the idea.

Knowing that they’re there.

If you don't like it, you can stop reading it. Share on X

I do. 2025 is going to be the year of strength for me. I can see me taking one of those. I love Tonal so much.

We’re fighting over the total in 2025.

I’m trying to get my workouts done in the morning. I’m not in your way when you decide to workout.

Coming up after this, we’re going to tell you about the latest artist series. Speaking of Tonal, we have some new information about them that might help push you over the edge in terms of getting one. Stick around.

—

The latest artist series features Nirvana.

We talked in the previous episode that they had the whole ‘80s and ‘90s time machine week. This was the other half of it. It’s weird. I don’t understand their timing or how they were trying to be presented. I think you always fail, but I’m all for Nirvana, so I don’t care. I Love Lionel Richie. I love Nirvana. It’s all good, but I don’t get the whole time machine at all. If you want to take some of these classes, there are several classes that you can take. There’s an outdoor run, yoga flow, and a Two For One ride with Charlotte and Mila. There’s also full-body strength, yoga conditioning with Kirra, a ride with Jess King, a row with Katie, and a run with Susie.

We’ve been watching on Peacock, Homicide, which is a prestige drama from the early ‘90s.

I still have yet to get into this one. We’re watching it.

It doesn’t hold up as well as I remember. At the time, I remember I was like. “This is really good.” Now it’s like, “This is cheesy by today’s standards.” The last episode was cheesy. I have a feeling that it’s going to get cheesier. The reason I’m mentioning this is because whoever was running a show like that had to always come up with different character names. There are different victims every week and different suspects, so you’re turning through names.

M*A*S*H would always take baseball players from the ‘40s and ‘50s that the writers of the show liked. It wouldn’t be like, “Our new patient is Colonel Hank Aaron.” It’d be somebody more obscure and whoever was writing the show must have been an early fan of grunge because they keep name-checking people from grunge bands that weren’t a big deal yet. One of the murder suspects was named Layne Staley from Alice in Chains. Yesterday, one of the suspects was named Krist Novoselic, who is a member of Nirvana. I thought Layne Staley was an odd coincidence, but when the next episode, we get a Krist Novoselic, somebody’s doing something. That’s not an accident.

Now we have to look up every random name and see if they have band member names.

It’s like, “That’s the rhythm guitar player from the Screaming Trees.

I think we’re going to have to do a deep dive. This could become a whole separate podcast.

Pop culture memory hole.

By the way, no one else wrote in saying they knew what the hell a memory hole was. I’m just saying. Nobody had a problem with it. They were open to it, but nobody had ever heard of that term either. It’s not just me.

Maybe that’s for the best that no one else has used it.

Somebody will Google. There it is.

—

We have two fascinating competitor stories. The first is Tonal. They have expanded their HSA/FSA eligibility.

They are now working with Trumed, similar to Peloton. Now you can assess strength training on the Tonal Fitness System and use your HSA and FSA dollars. That’s cool for a couple of things. #NotAnAd by the way. We’re not getting paid a penny for this. You can save an extra thousand dollars during Black Friday on the purchase of a Tonal. If your HSA/FSA works with Trumed, you can use your dollars toward getting a Tonal. That is a freaking game-changer. I’m so excited.

Can you also make your monthly membership payments?

It says, “Place an order for your Tonal.” By the way, the $1,000 discount is good until December 3rd so it’s coming up. It can be combined with pre-tax savings. I’m just saying. It does not say anything about using this for the membership fee, which is $59.95. I know somebody who lost, last time I checked.

Speaking of previous advertisers, FightCamp.

This is cool. FightCamp has always been fun. By the way, also #NotAnAd. I just happen to love FightCamp as well. They have kickboxing classes. They just released new sensors for your legs. Now, you can track your kicks and your punches. That’s cool.

If you’re doing kickboxing, you would want your credit for it.

Kicking is exhausting.

They are now expanding to Canada.

 

It’s cool because FightCamp was founded in Canada. For them to be able to sell it there now is so exciting. They’re very near and dear to my heart because they’re nice people. They still interact with me on social media and ask questions about things. They’re just nice people. I think that’s cool. Good for them.

—

We have another celebrity sighting. I can’t remember if we’ve talked about this one before.

I think we have. I think it was years ago, but this video was too funny not to share.

Erin Andrews from Fox Sports was talking in a TikTok video that’s going around about her love of Peloton and how she embarrassed herself in front of Robin Arzon.

The context of it is Erin Andrews was working out at her gym and Robin Arzon walked in. She goes up to her and totally fangirls. She was like, “Oh my God, you’re Robin Arzon. I’m Erin Andrews and I’m from Fox Sports, blah, blah, blah, and I love you.” The way she tells the story is so funny. Her eyes and her eyebrows are way up at her hairline the whole time. She’s so excited even retelling the story. It’s great. I recommend a viewing of this because it’s nice when you see celebrities nerd out about Peloton like the rest of us.

—

It is time for the TCO Top Five, where we ask you which classes are cool and then you tell us which classes are cool, then we select some of you, trust your opinion, and then share it with the class about classes.

It’s so succinct. You nailed it. The first one is a music ride. People raved about this one. In particular, Susan Gray sent me a message. She was so excited about this class. It was the 20-minute Lionel Richie ride that Leanne Hainsby Alldis taught on November 18th. She said, “It was so much FUN.”

It was so much fun that she made a clay bust of Leanne Hainsby with her eyes closed.

That’s weird. She said, “Great ride, fabulous music. She turned it up and the whole house was singing. I highly recommend it, especially for those of us who grew up in the ‘80s.” This is Tina’s little ad, “This ride will keep you going all night long.”

How about that?

I love it.

We’re pedaling on the ceiling.

Tina outdid herself with a pun on this one. “Hello. Is this the ride you’re looking for?” Nicely done, Tina.

Number two, your favorite Powers Zone ride, which is pun-free.

It is pun-free but you do have to go back and scroll a little bit. This is from November 6th, 2023, a 30-minute Power Zone that was topped by Christine. Karen Marquez said she has taken this class a couple of times. She loves the structure and more so, she loves Christine’s narrative. This is the ride where you see the enthusiasm of a little girl and the wisdom of experience. Just love it.

Number three, your favorite strength class. You should bookmark it because you have so much strength in your immediate future.

That’s true. I should. This class was taught by Logan Aldridge on November 25th and it was a 20-minute chest and back. Gwen Ishmael nominated this class. She took it as her thousandth strength class. Can we take a moment for that? She got not one, but two shoutouts. Congratulations. What she loved was Logan’s encouragement plus an awesome playlist and that made it a new favorite.

Number four, your favorite recovery ride.

This was taught on February 23rd, 2024. It’s a 20-minute recovery ride and it was taught by Hannah Corbin. Karen Smith nominated this ride and she said, “Hannah doesn’t get enough love.” It’s true. Hannah doesn’t. Karen loved how Hannah will have you focus on a tight area mentally and then push releasing energy to that area. A great recovery ride all around.

Finally, your unstackable.

This unstackable was taught by Rad Lopez and he’s in the strength studio.

Soon to be a tread instructor, guaranteed according to Clip Out Crystal.

That’s not what I said at all. This is a 30-minute class and it was taught on November 23rd. Kimberly Ray Jessop nominated this class. She said that this was an unstackable kick my butt class. She was there. She was able to take the class in the studio. She said she hadn’t held a plank for two minutes not on her knees in ages. Two minutes? I’m not taking that class.

We’re going to get stronger with that attitude.

It’s true. Kimberly says that the peer pressure and Rad watching her helped her with that. Great job. Very nice.

We will now take a look at this week at Peloton. This will have already happened by the time you hear this, but Turkey Burn.

Reading is like dating more often than not. If you have to power through, it's probably not going to get good. Share on X

It always does. Every week, we talk about it. These classes have already dropped so it’s no different. What is different is that a lot of these classes people are going to want to take live. This one is different in that regard. There are going to be several on-demand classes though. There’s going to be a 30-minute Turkey Trot with Kirsten. By the way, the fit family is going to be taught by Adrian and Jess Sims. There’s going to be for the first time 10-minute post-meal walk that’s going to be on demand. There’s going to be a 20-minute Turkey Burn row with Alex K.

Now live classes on Turkey Day. Let’s talk about this. Brand new this year, the feast. This is going to be at 7:30 AM Eastern. It’s going to be live strength and it’s going to be taught by Adrian, Andy, Camila, Logan, Rad, and Rebecca, then there is the the great Turkey Burn run with Alex Toussaint. That’s at 9:00 AM Eastern, and then at 10:00 AM Eastern, a 45-minute Turkey Burn ride. Now this is the one everyone worries will break the internet. It’s what broke the internet last year. Hoping that all goes well. Also, don’t miss the Gratitude Gathering meditation. That was live today at 8:00 AM Eastern but it can still be taken on demand.

Don’t worry. There’s no risk of people’s gratitude breaking the internet. We’re just not that grateful.

On Friday, there’s also going to be a 30-minute yoga flow with Kirra and there’s going to be a live outdoor jingle jog. That’s also new this year. More importantly, it’s the second ever outdoor class live,

Helper be Nikki reviewed the Peloton’s max out row class.

I wouldn’t call it a review so much as she was telling people why these are important classes and not to sleep on them. They’ve been dropping these on demand. It’s not a whole lot of fanfare. Although, if you haven’t gotten a chance to watch Alex’s video that he did, releasing this, I think it is a must-watch. Nikki pointed out that he is Peloton’s most underrated comedian. I would have to agree with that.

He completely straight-face used all of the teenage lingo. It was great and it was about his own class, which was amazing. These classes build explosive power. They of course improve cardio fitness and enhance athletic performance. Whether you’re training for something like running or you’re doing a triathlon. It doesn’t matter. These classes are awesome for you to have cross-training on.

—

Peloton has released Wellness Essentials. Will there be oils?

No, there will not. What they did do was put out some items that are specific for recovery and power and such like that. It’s all designed for holiday shopping. Keep that in mind. They have this Polar Tech fleece neck warmer. That’s the thing that’s out there. Let’s say you’re a runner or you’re a biker. It keeps your neck warm without having to wear a scarf. That’s not comfortable. I don’t know if you’ve ever run outside with a scarf.

They also have things like a sleep mask, a journal that you can write in, pajamas, and things like that. They’re putting some of these items under prep. They have them listed out in these different areas. The catch is you’re writing in your five-minute journal, you’re getting ready, reflecting on your day and what’s going to happen. That’s your prep.

I can’t imagine I’m getting ready to exercise but first, I will journal.

There are a lot of people who do. I don’t know where people find the time for these morning rituals. I wish that I did.

We also have a Black Friday sale from Peloton apparel. Now is the time to stock up.

I have to say that it was at 40%. Today, they ramped it up to 50% and a lot of people got a lot of good deals. They refresh those throughout the weekend.

They might be at 60% by the time you hear this. It could be at 110%. It’s $4 for every pair of leggings that you order.

You are coming out with the fake news today.

It’s the world we live in now. It’s what works. Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to our interview of the week, Jennifer Hecht. She enjoys books, and so do we. We talked all about it. Stick around.

—

Join us is Jennifer Hecht. How’s it going, Jen?

I’m good. We finally got this working.

Discovering Peloton

Jen, I always like to start these interviews by going back in time. Give us some information about how you originally found Peloton and when that was.

I have a somewhat typical story and then I got a Peloton during COVID. Maybe the difference for me is that I had been going to spin classes in an in-person studio before that for about 4 or 5 years. I was never an exerciser in my life. I was not an athlete. I never did anything. Maybe I went to a yoga class once a week and then I tried a beginner spin class at a local boutique studio. For whatever reason, that clicked for me.

I started going twice a week, three times a week and then COVID happened. While I still went to that studio, people would leave to go to Peloton. I heard of Peloton but I thought, “Why would you want to do it in your house when you can go to the studio and see people and it’s interactive?” and then it was COVID. I first rented a bike from the studio which had super low-tech barely working video, and then I was like, “Wait.” That was when I thought the world would be shut down for four weeks.

I was like, “Wait a minute. This is not happening.” My brother-in-law who had never done a spin class in his life had gotten a Peloton. He was like, “You have to get a Peloton.” I did the math and said, “If I end up renting this bike from the studio for a few months, Peloton will pay for itself.” I got the Peloton and I never went back. The world opened up and then I was the opposite saying, “Why would you want to go in person when you can do it from the convenience of your own home at any length and any time of day?”

On your schedule and not fight for a bike.

Not have to leave time to park and get there and get your bike. I was one of those people that had my bike.

I’m curious since it sounds like you came to exercise and fitness later in life, was there an issue or a moment where you’re like, “I can’t do this.”

 

There was no issue. Probably, the biggest impetus was that I stopped working, and so suddenly, that was the time to exercise. I did like a little bit of the opposite of some people. I worked when my kids were little and then when my daughter was 10 and my son was 6, I stopped working and became a stay-at-home mom late in life. They were in school so I had time to exercise during the day. Before that, I would join the gym but never workout whenever that closed.

That happens a lot. That makes a lot of sense. You’ve you’ve been on the platform for a while now. Are you a bike-only person or do you do other classes?

I do it all. I do the bike the most. I have more than 900 classes on the bike. That’s what I always tell people. I’m one of those people who is part of the cult of Peloton. I’m still trying to sell other people to get it or even people who don’t have a bike. I’m like, “You don’t know. Their yoga classes are so great, their strength classes are so great, and their stretching classes.” It never would have occurred to me in the past that there were stretching classes. I love their stretches. They’re amazing. I do a little of all that. I’m not a meditation person and I’m not a runner, but I will do an outdoor walk or I’ll go for a walk with my family and track it in the Peloton.

It’s nice that you have the ability to do all of those things and it meets you wherever you are.

Also, when I first got the Peloton, I was doing it too much on the bike. I was getting on the bike 5 or 6 times a week. I think that was too much. My hips started bothering me. Now I try to do it three times a week. Some people say working out at home is not motivational enough for them. For me, something about those blue dots motivates me. I don’t know why.

I’m like, “I don’t want to do it today or I don’t have time today,” but I have time to do a 10-minute core class or a 10-minute yoga class. I tried to do something for 5 or 6 days a week. There was a time when I was trying to do it every single day for a year and then I missed a day and forgot and then I was sad. I have never missed a week. I looked before we got on, I think I’m at 221 weeks. I’ve never missed a week. If I missed that, then I’ll be really sad.

That’s devastation right there.

I recently lost a 4 or 5-year streak on Tonal because we went on vacation. I’ll open up the app and do something I totally forgot, and I lost 4 or 5 years.

That’s sad. When it was a 30-day day streak, you’re like, “I could get that back.” If it was a 4 or 5-year streak, then you’re like, “Forget it. I quit. I’m done.”

Peloton Moms Book Club

What got you interested in the Peloton Moms Book Club over on Facebook?

I’ve always been a big reader. When I got the Peloton, the funny thing to me was it connects you to people you know in real life too. I posted on Facebook, “I got a Peloton. Who wants to connect with me?” One of my friends said, “I’m in this Facebook group Peloton Moms Book Club. You have to join it,” so I joined it. It was smaller then. I don’t know how many people now. It has 45,000 people or something like that, but this was four years ago. It was small, but it was still a big group.

I was like, “These are my people. They are moms, they read, and they use the Peloton.” I’m in a book club in real life, but mostly with people who read that book or maybe 1 or 2 other books a month. It was finding more people who are readers and read a lot. I started to make friends there. Just like people do on any Peloton affinity group, you get to know the names of people who post a lot.

How does the Peloton Moms Book Club work? Are there actual book clubs where you all land on a book and discuss it or do people post like, “I read the latest whatever and it was good?”

More of the latter. At one point, they were trying to do monthly Zoom sometimes with an author, but with 45,000 people, you can’t have a real book club. There are only two moderators of this giant group, so it ebbs and flows with how busy they are. Authors want to be a part of it. Sometimes they will do a live Zoom and an author comes on and talks about the book. Everyone can ask the author questions, which is cool. Otherwise, it’s just people posting, “Has anyone read this book?” Some of my friends that I’ve made through that group have a bingo about it. Someone would post, “I’m not liking this book. Is it worth continuing?” I always say, “If you don’t like it, you can stop reading it. Just because I loved it doesn’t mean you’ll love it.”

It’s so subjective. Why do people even ask that question? You need the world’s permission to stop reading a book.

I think there’s the FOMO aspect. You’re afraid that you’re going to stop right when it gets good.

Just because I think it’s worth it doesn’t mean you’re going to think it’s worth it.

I’ve read books that were slow starts and then I power through. They’re laying the groundwork and it pays off. I’m like, “I’m glad I stuck it out.” It’s like dating. More often than not, if you have to power through, it’s probably not going to get good.

Again, it’s asking a huge group. If you ask your friend who knows your taste, they might say, “That book started slow, but I think you’ll like it.” If you’re asking there, half the people will say I hated it and half the people will say I loved it.

That’s the part that gets me and that’s all Peloton groups. Over in the OPP is a mean version of that. If somebody’s like, “I have this question,” then you get 18,000 sarcastic responses, one real response, and then buried somewhere in the middle is an actual helpful thing.

No one can use the search function, so they can’t see that someone has asked that before.

Most people don’t even realize that Facebook has a search function.

Now it has that AI bot and it helps you, but people still don’t read it. I swear people just like to ask obvious questions.

I think it’s the same way. People like to talk to hear themselves talk. If people want to hear you talk, that’s the difference.

Bookstagram & Community

How did you get from the Facebook group to start your Instagram account where you’re all about books?

It was because of the Peloton Moms Book Club. People there started talking about, “I recently started a bookstagram. Does anyone want to follow me on there or give me advice?” I didn’t even have a personal Instagram account, which is crazy. I was old-fashioned enough to have a Facebook account, but I don’t understand Instagram. I thought, “An Instagram account just about books. I could do that. I read a lot and I can talk about books.”

Listening to audiobooks adds more reading time to your day. Share on X

I said I’d try it, and then because of Peloton Moms Book Club, I could post there, “I started one. Here’s my username.” I connected with a bunch of people right to start, then there was a group of us from Peloton Moms Book Club on Instagram who decided that we would start a little book club just for us. It’s not like Peloton Moms Book Club with 45,000 people.

It’s like twelve people and that group has been going for three and a half years. We text each other every day. We’ve all become good friends. I’ve met some of them in person. Some not. We follow each other on Peloton. We say, “I’m doing my whatever milestone ride,” and people get on the bike and do it together. Peloton changed my life in that way too.

Reading Habits

Do you have a genre of choice that you tend to focus on or is it like you’re all over the map and it’s whatever tickles your fancy?

I read a little bit of everything. I’m one of those people who likes to change genres. Pretty much every book I read. I’ll read a contemporary fiction, then I’ll read a mystery, then I’ll read a rom-com, and then I’ll read a historical fiction. The only thing I don’t read is horror. That is not my thing, but I read pretty much everything and I read a lot. You would think for all the time I spent online since starting an Instagram account, I would read less. Instead, I read more. I now read usually about twenty books a month, which is insane.

I’m jealous. I am a famously slow reader. I read very slowly.

He reads like I run.

It’s not a competition. You enjoy it.

I would like to read more things and I’m so plotting when it comes to my reading. I will say that my reading comprehension is crazy.

He remembers every detail that he reads. If you asked me about a book I read last week, I have very little memory of it. Tom will tell you about a book that he read three years ago.

I remember I read a book. I’m an Amazon Kindle guy. I’m always buying $2 books. I don’t like to pay full price for books. I’m always buying cheap books. I bought a book one time because it was on sale for $2. This book looked like Stephen King’s The Stand. It took me months to read it. I got done with it and I was like, “This one was good.” It’s one of my favorite books now. I love this book and I convinced Crystal to start reading it. She gets like halfway through it and she’s like, “I read this.”

I need to know what book it is.

It was The Passage.

It’s one of my favorite books of all. We’re kindred spirits.

We’re Kindled spirits. It was on sale for $2 and it’s a massively long book, and then I get to the end of it. It was as good as it was and there are two more. It was so good that I paid full price for the other two because I wanted to keep reading it. That’s how good it was.

E-Books, Audiobooks & Libraries

First of all, that is one of the few books that I still remember and I probably read it ten years ago. I loved it so much. Have you heard of the library? Does your library have Libby? It’s like an app where you borrow eBooks. I used to do the same thing as you, Tom. I would only buy books when they were on sale for $2. I guess it depends on your library, but if you’re willing to wait, you can get it from the library. If you have a Kindle, the trick is even if you’re a slow reader, you put it in airplane mode and the book doesn’t disappear when you’re alone time is up.

It won’t disappear if you download it. As long as you start the book, it won’t take it back.

People say that but I’m afraid to try that, but I keep mine in airplane mode.

That’s okay too.

I signed up for a newsletter that comes out daily. It gives you all the books that are on sale in your genre of choice. It’s called BookGorilla. That’s how I browse books because when I go to the library, it’s so massive. I don’t even know where to start. Here I’m like, “It sends me something for $2. You got me,” and I’ll snag it.

You can look up that book and see if your library has it. If they do, in the Libby app, you can make a wish list. Mark it like, “I want to read that book,” or if somebody tells you about a book, “I want to read that book.” Later on, if you don’t want to be on hold, you go to your wish list and filter all available, and it’ll show you what’s ready to borrow. The other thing I would recommend that I never did before was listening to audiobooks. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried that. I’m not an audio person. I don’t listen to too many podcasts. I like to read. I’ll read the transcript of your podcast.

Now we know why we’ve had so many issues. This was your karma for not listening.

I’m just not an audio person, but then when you’re in the car, when you’re doing laundry, when you’re cooking, or when you’re in the supermarket, you can listen to an audiobook and then that adds more reading time to your day.

I’m not a big audiobook person, but when I was training for my marathon, I did do it for my long runs.

That’s a long time running, even listening to music.

I’m super slow. When I was out there for 6 and 7 hours at a time, I had to switch it up. I couldn’t do the same thing for 6 hours.

She was still finishing books faster than I was. I haven’t gone down the audiobook rabbit hole. I do listen to a lot of podcasts. There’s part of my brain with audiobooks that I’m like, “This is cheating.”

 

It doesn’t work for the cheating in my mind. If I’m driving, I completely tune the book out. I do not hear the book. I stopped listening. That’s why I don’t listen to it in the car.

I won’t talk on the phone in the car. That’s too distracting to me, but I can listen to a book.

There are classic books that I want to read that are intimidating. I’ve always thought, “Maybe I should do the audiobook.” If I want to do like War and Peace, I don’t know that I could read War and Peace.

Do you know how many hours it might take to do it?

Many hours would take me to read it.

That’s true. Do you listen to your podcast at 1.0 or do you speed them up?

I don’t speed them up. I am a purist.

If you listen to War and Peace on audiobook, I bet if you go look it up, it says it’s like 100 hours.

I can’t commit to a book that long.

I’m intimidated by trying to learn all the Russian names.

I am not bothered to read classics. Sometimes I’ll read them if my kids are reading them just for interest. I’m not reading for education. Sometimes I am, but generally, I just want to read to have fun. That doesn’t appeal to me.

I get that, but this is a classic for a reason.

I get that because you’ve shown me movies that I didn’t think would be worth my time. I’ve watched them and I’m like, “That was good. I’m glad I watched that.” It’s a lot harder commitment.

Even Pride and Prejudice, which so many people’s favorite. I read it maybe ten years ago or something. I liked it. It was cute for its time. I can see her for something that you might be assigned to school. It’s fun but I love modern-day Pride and Prejudice retelling more than I love the original Pride and Prejudice.

Peloton Instructor Autobiographies

I’m with you. We have to get back to Peloton. When you were going back and forth, you were telling me that you had read all of the cycling instructors’ autobiographies. I’m curious which was your favorite and why?

I’m not a big self-help person. If I’m going to take self-help from anybody, it probably would be a Peloton instructor because they’re already doing a little bit of that when they’re teaching you the class. For that reason, I find all their personal stories interesting. Sometimes I tune out a little bit when they start trying to make that a metaphor for your life.

For that reason, my favorite is Cody’s because it is a little bit less self-helpy and to the extent it is. The book is called XOXO Cody. For anyone who’s done his XOXO Cody rides, the self-help in the book is more like that. It’s more relationship-oriented rather than applying it to the lessons of your life or exercise or that kind of thing. Plus, he has an interesting story. He alludes to it sometimes on his rides. He had a tough life. The book is deeper than I expected it to be.

I think that the instructors have interesting stories about how they arrived at Peloton. Peloton couldn’t have been a life goal for them because it didn’t exist. Many times, if somebody’s life story is like, “I want to be a famous actor,” it’s like, “I was in plays in school and then I went to a college for it.” There’s a more traditional path that’s been laid out. In a famous rock band or something, it’s like a bunch of guys started a group and then we start playing out in our town. There’s this rhythm but to end up at Peloton, which wasn’t even an option for people, everybody’s story has this odd element of happenstance about it.

It wasn’t an option for a lot of them. They went to Peloton before it was very famous. It’s not like they were doing it to try to get famous either. Alex Touissant’s story is interesting too. He has talked about it in other places, but he was a janitor at a health club and asked if he could teach a spin class.

It’s very cool. It’s also interesting because most of the bike instructors are the older generation of Peloton. I don’t mean age-related. I mean the first generation of instructors at Peloton. When you get to the tread instructors and the rowing instructors, a lot of them had followings and got there in a different manner because they were hired for different reasons. Not because they’re not awesome. I’m not taking that away from anybody, but there was a different thought process behind their hiring. That’s also part of why it’s different too.

Favorite Peloton Instructors

I think also for people that were at that level in Peloton for starters, there was maybe even a concern that’s like, “This company is beneath me. I’m bigger than the company.” Now, I don’t think there’s anybody in the world of fitness that would think they’re bigger than Peloton that still works there. Do you have a preferred instructor?

My two top favorites and that’s been the case the whole time are Cody and Leanne because they are so much fun. I do a big variety of them but I’m someone who I pick up on the music. I never do the HIIT classes, the interval classes. I’m trying to exercise but I’m also trying to have fun. No matter what mood I’m in, I’m going to be happy when I finish a Cody or Leanne class. Who my next few are, it changes. I do like Ben. I love Jenn Sherman. I love Robin. I love Ally. The list goes on. There are a few whose energy doesn’t vibe with mine. Because I pick from music, I like Alex, but he mostly plays music that does not appeal to me.

I was laughing because I don’t know if you realize this about yourself. Allow me to analyze your approach. You’re approaching your Peloton class selection in the same way you approach your book selection.

This is even more true because I’m telling you to create a wish list on the Libby app for books. I’m that person who has a thousand classes. No joke. I go every day or every couple of days. I look at all the new classes and I decide which ones I want to bookmark. I’m like, “Today, I’m in the mood to do a 30-minute class. What have I bookmarked?” I already know I’m going to like the music. I’m very methodical but I also want to have fun. That’s my approach to life.

That makes total sense.

My account is my Instagram account is a book-only account, except also Peloton when I do something Peloton-related. I went to Ben’s book event in New York. I went to Cody’s big book launch in New York which was amazing because maybe 20 or 25 instructors were there. That was cool. I almost passed out. If I go to a Peloton class, I’ll post that too. I’m like, “Sorry. guys, it’s a non-book day.” Sometimes those posts end up being the most popular.

Just keep trying until you find something you enjoy because if you don't enjoy it, you're not going to stick with it. Share on X

Leaderboard & Advice

I was going to ask what your leaderboard name is too.

I’m XJEn on the leaderboard. My name is Jen. I’m trying to remember. I know my son came up with that. I was trying to come up with a name. A lot of names were taken. I thought JenX would be funny because my name is Jen. I’m Generation X. That was taken and then he was like, “What about XJen? It’s the reverse but it’s also like X-Men.” It’s short and easy to say. Now it’s very hard to get a shoutout but I did get some. Some people’s names are so long and I think they probably look at them and are like, “I can’t even pronounce what this name is.”

They are sliding by then real fast and it’s a bunch of letters and vowels are missing. It’s tough.

Do you have any advice for people just entering the world of Peloton?

I always tell people to try a bunch of different things, try a bunch of different instructors, and try a different bunch of different types of classes. Don’t assume like, “I didn’t like that so it’s not for me.” You have to try a bunch. If you’ve never been on a bike before, try the beginner classes, but also don’t worry if you can’t hit those numbers. I’ve been going on a spin bike for nine years and I can’t go fast when I’m standing up. That’s not part of my skillset, so I don’t care.

If I can’t go at 80 standing up, I don’t care. I’m going to go 50 to turn up the resistance a little more instead. Try to do all. Not everything is for everyone but I do think there’s some exercise anyone could enjoy. Whether it’s Peloton, Tonal, a different discipline, the tread, the row, or whatever, just keep trying until you find something you enjoy because if you don’t enjoy it, you’re not going to stick with it.

Finally, give us a book recommendation.

That’s a lot of pressure. I got to give you two. I’m going to give you my top two books of this year. I may have already read 200 books this year, but I’ve only given two books five stars. They are Sandwich by Catherine Newman and After Annie by Anna Quindlen. I also gave The Passage five stars, Tom. I’m not sure that those books would be for you necessarily. I think they’re a little bit more geared toward women. Let me give you a book written by a man. I will say All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.

What is that about that you think would appeal to my manliness?

I was just thinking that those two, in particular, are not like a man would read them/ Some books I think are geared more toward certain readers.

For sure. It’s funny because I am so not like a manly man. I’m the one who’s going to Crystal being like, “You should watch Desperate Housewives.“

You know what, then you go read those books too, but All the Colors of the Dark is probably my third favorite book. If you haven’t read, Justin Cronin also wrote two other books besides The Passage series.

I have them. I have not read them yet, but I have I think the book he wrote before that.

It’s funny because I started out by telling you I don’t like horror. A lot of people would call The Passage that.

It has that zombie-vampire thing going on.

It’s my favorite series of all time. I give all three books five stars. I never give books five stars. I love it. Did you watch the TV?

I did not.

Don’t.

Here’s the thing. I hated watching the TV show because it was on free TV. I was like, “This is going to suck.” There’s no way they can make this right while being beholden to the parameters of broadcast television. If it had been for streaming or HBO, I would have been on board. A book that I feel is similar to The Passage is the Silo series.

I read that trilogy too. I did not finish the first season. I think my husband liked it. My son and I were bored by it. I love the books but I thought the show’s pacing was too sleazy.

I don’t disagree. We did finish it. We’re getting ready to start Season 2, but I will say the book grabs you by the throat.

You can’t stop reading the Silo.

You’re like, “What the hell is happening here?” It was good. Hugh Howey, the author of the Silo series, is a Peloton user.

I didn’t know that. Do you know who is a famous author other than Sara Goodman Confino? At a time, she was on Peloton Moms Book Club. It’s Elin Hilderbrand.

She’s been on the show too.

I see you already know that. Her username, I can’t remember, but it’s very obvious that it’s her. Some people are trying to hide that it’s them. She had a big following at the Peloton Moms Book Club. Now Sara Goodman Confino is the darling of Peloton Moms Book Club.

 

She is a very nice person. I love her.

Connect With Jen

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day. Before we let you go, remind everybody where they can find you in all the places.

On the Peloton leaderboard, I’m XJen and on Instagram, if you want to follow my book account with a side of Peloton, it’s Electric_Bookaloo.

I love it. Thank you so much. We appreciate it,

Thank you, guys. This was fun.

—

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

You didn’t say the birthdays?

I didn’t. We’ll say it here. We’ll see how many people stick around to the end.

Say birthday and you too can wish these two people a happy birthday. I’m not doing that again.

Don’t have us giveaway something again. That turned into such a project. Normally, those sorts of things turn into projects for you.

Now that it affects you.

When they try to do a project for me, that’s not funny.

—

Jenn Sherman is celebrating her birthday on December 1st.

Happy birthday to Jenn Sherman.

On December 5th, it is the birthday of one Tunde.

She doesn’t need a last name. She’s like Adele. She’s just Tunde.

Also, it’s hard to say her last name.

I know. I was just giving another reason.

She has such a unique first name. If her first name was Jess, we could not just call her Jess.

That’s true. Happy birthday to Tunde.

Now, where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can also find me on social media @ClipOutCrystal and the Peloton leaderboard @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Threads and Bluesky at TomOKeefeJr or on Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online at Facebook.com/TheClipOut and of course, don’t forget our Patreon. This week’s episode is free. Swing on at Patreon.com/TheClipOut.

We’re going to go record it now.

Get your free membership and you can listen to extra content. Hear all about the Lululemon Bandits. That’s it for this one. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep pedaling and running and rowing.

Bye.

 

Important Links

• Jennifer Hecht – Instagram
• Peloton Moms Book Club – Facebook Group
• The Passage
• Libby
• BookGorilla
• XOXO Cody
• Sandwich
• After Annie
• All the Colors of the Dark
• Apple Podcasts – The Clip Out
• Spotify – The Clip Out
• iHeart – The Clip Out
• TuneIn – The Clip Out
• Patreon – The Clip Out
• Facebook – The Clip Out
• YouTube – The Clip Out
• Peloton Staus
• Dr. Jenn Mann
• The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection, and Intimacy
• @DrJennMann – Instagram
• Crystal O’Keefe – Facebook
• @ClipOutCrystal – Instagram
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
• TomOKeefeJr – Threads
• Tom O’Keefe – Facebook

 

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