Peloton Instructor Drama: Alex vs. Daniel
473: Peloton Instructor Drama: Alex vs. Daniel 
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What We Covered:
Alex Toussaint isn’t letting Daniel McKenna get away with a joke at Peloton’s expense. After Kendall Toole posted a cryptic “Netflix docuseries” reel widely read as shade at Peloton, former Peloton instructor Daniel McKenna commented “Wait, what we doing?” — and Alex fired back, telling Daniel he “did nothing with” his Peloton platform “but try and destroy it” and that the fandom will “never respect that.” We break down the whole exchange, why it echoes Alex’s 2025 clash with Jennifer Jacobs, and what it might mean for his live class on July 18.
Also in this episode:
- Peloton is quietly hiring for mergers & acquisitions roles
- Peloton rolls out special pricing for seniors and college students
- Peloton adds Power Zone-style class programming, and Jess King officially adds Power Zone to her instructor duties
- A “Free” filter quietly appears in the Peloton content library
- Peloton adds five new hotel partners
- Reddit users roast Peloton’s new AI-generated subtitles
- Peloton wins the T3 Award for Best Cardio Equipment
- Is Katie Wang headed to the Tread? Plus her new Power Pyramid strength class
- Camila Ramon drops a new single
- Robin Arzón teases a Lorax collab, a Madonna-themed London class with Hannah Frankson, and a summer split-plus-run series
- Jess Sims and Kirsten Ferguson lead a run for Togethxr House
- Navy sailors in NYC for Fleet Week take a Cody Rigsby class
- Christian Vande Velde’s new 20-minute warmup ride
- New Reiselust-themed classes roll out
- Rad Lopez’s 60-minute strength class gets rescheduled
- Plus, the TCO Top 5 — listener-recommended classes to add to your stack
The Clip Out is the longest-running independent Peloton podcast. New episodes every Friday. Hosted by Crystal O’Keefe and Tom O’Keefe theclipout.com Instagram: @clipoutcrystal
Transcript:
Crystal: Welcome to the Clip Out Podcast, episode 473?
tom: You asking me or you telling me?
Crystal: I’m telling you.
tom: Didn’t sound like a telling. I know what your tellings sound like. They’re much more authoritive.
Crystal: I was looking for confirmation- Authoratative … but, uh, I looked over at my screen and I see the 473, so now I’m telling.
Crystal: This is Crystal O’Keefe, by the way.
tom: And, uh, this is Tom O’Keefe, by the way. So I’m trying to get everything situated. [00:01:00] Our studio was disturbed.
Crystal: It was infiltrated.
tom: The children, and I use that term loosely.
Crystal: I know. They’re in their
tom: 20s at this point. Yeah. Starting to have male pattern baldness. And, uh, that’s my fault.
tom: They decided to play Magic: The Gathering in here, so everything was all cattywampus. Chairs were moved. It was all askew. Mic stands were turned.
Crystal: It’s just-
tom: I’m just like…
Crystal: I know. And, like, these are the things we’re complaining about as parents.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Could be so much worse.
tom: These kids and their Magic: The Gathering.
tom: Curses
Crystal: Oh, curses indeed.
tom: So, as if I don’t know, what, pray tell, do you have in store for people this week?
Crystal: You know, it’s a, it’s a pretty light week. Mm. Not really a lot happened.
tom: It’s-
Crystal: I can’t even say
tom: what- It’s been a while since we’ve had a…
Crystal: Ooh, I love, I love, I love the drama.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I do. I do. Uh, you know, it just, it’s just a [00:02:00] nice…
Crystal: Like, this kind of drama really takes my focus off the world.
tom: Yeah. One, other people’s drama is
Crystal: my- Is always better …
tom: is my favorite kind of drama.
Crystal: For sure.
tom: Two, it’s nice to have drama that’s not world damaging.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: It’s just a cat fight.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: And I love it.
Crystal: Yeah. I’m here for
tom: it. I was gonna say I’m, I low-key love it, but there’s nothing low-key about it.
Crystal: It’s just, we’re just out there. Yeah. We just love it. So- So …
tom: so we will get into… You haven’t actually said what the drama is.
Crystal: The drama is Kendall Toole is out there acting like a tool- … and starting shit. And, uh, and then Daniel McKenna came out of nowhere-
tom: Like …
Crystal: like he was part of the conversation.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And then Alex Touissant had something to say about that, which is the part I loved.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: You know, I know I don’t take a lot of Alex’s classes, but his clap backs, I’m here for it.
tom: You wouldn’t want to be on the other side of one.
Crystal: No.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: No. I’ll stay out of the way. I’ll [00:03:00] stay out of the way. So yeah, that’s, uh, that’s our big story.
Crystal: We’re gonna talk a lot about that. And then we also have lots of other things in the news that came up. They’re… Peloton has listed on LinkedIn that they are looking to hire people with experience in mergers and acquisitions. Mm. So we’re gonna talk about what does that mean? Yeah. Uh, we’re also gonna talk about that Peloton has added new power zone-esque classes.
Crystal: It’s a whole new thing.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: We’ll get into it. I’ll explain. Also, Peloton added this thing, sorta kinda, called Free on the app, but we don’t know what it means, we don’t know why it’s there, and it only was for some people. Hm. So we’ll talk about that.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: Uh, not to mention that Peloton also added not one, five new hotel partners this week, all very, they’re name recognition hotel- Right
Crystal: partners. But- We’ve also got, uh, Reddit has a whole fun conversation [00:04:00] about some of Peloton’s AI subtitles, and, uh, well, that’s worthy of a little look-see. Yeah. A little look-see. Peloton won an award this week. We’re gonna get into that. Not only did Peloton roll out special pricing for seniors, but there’s a couple other new groups on the list- Okay
Crystal: we’re gonna talk about. Uh, and there’s news about the instructors, like Alex Touissant. We’re gonna talk about that. The latest and official Power Zone instructor… Yes, y’all know my feelings, but that’s okay. It’s not about me. It’s not about me.
tom: As we say to people all the time-
Crystal: Not everything is for you
tom: not everything has to be for you.
Crystal: And it’s true. Yeah. It’s so true. But there are lots of other little, little things going on with the instructors, including, do we have a new tread instructor coming? Ooh. Hmm. A very interesting collaboration that I never would have seen coming with Peloton.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: Uh, and there’s a lot about the Navy happening this week.
Crystal: Well, it happened- Yeah … last week. So we gotta- Yeah … talk about that. I was kind of [00:05:00] fascinated-
tom: Yeah …
Crystal: by the whole thing.
tom: This came out of nowhere, but okay.
Crystal: Yeah, yeah. Uh, and then of course we have some content, some classes that there’s new things coming out, new classes, new class types. You guys need to hear about it.
tom: Awesome. Well, before we get to all that, shameless plugs, don’t forget we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you are there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. Uh, you can also find us on the Facebook, facebook.com/theclipout.
tom: Uh, while you’re there, like the page, join the group. Uh, I haven’t said it for a while, but the group will, uh, one, allows you to post things in a way that will be seen. You can post things on the page, but no one will ever see them. Yeah,
Crystal: the page is weird
tom: algorithm … it’s weird the way they do that. And then and then, uh, it’ll show up in your feed a little bit more frequently than page stuff will, so there’s that.
Crystal: Mm-hmm.
tom: You can also, if you would like to support us with more than your ears, you can do so with your dollars. It’s only $5 a month, and, uh, it’s called [00:06:00] patreon.com/theclipout. What do you get? You get ad-free episodes, you get early episodes, you get all sorts of bonus content. We’ve been very chatty lately.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: And, uh, we just talk about all the things we didn’t have time to get to in this week’s episode, or things that we think might get us yelled at by the mainstream.
Crystal: Yeah, we g- we got a good one this week. We got
tom: a- We got a real good one … uh, people have noticed a change in Ali Love’s wardrobe selections.
Crystal: Yep.
tom: And we will discuss that. We will let you draw your own conclusions. Uh, if you would like to hear our conclusions- … it’s $5 a month. Or- … you do the seven-day free trial and see if you like it. I like it. Uh, we’re also gonna do a podcast roundup of where all the instructors are just everywhere this week.
tom: They are. And more than usual. Yep. And then more from the Reddit community, uh, helping someone who has a double mastectomy planned, so it’s kind of a nice story, so we will talk about that. We don’t just get sassy.
Crystal: No.
tom: I like- Sometimes I tear up-
Crystal: It’s nice to- … at
tom: these community stories … it’s
Crystal: nice
tom: to
Crystal: talk about [00:07:00] the positive as well.
tom: Sometimes it’s just eight minutes of me weeping- … over something sweet that happened.
Crystal: No, that’s never happened.
tom: That’s-
Crystal: That’s not true …
tom: see the real me.
tom: You can also find us on YouTube, youtube.com/theclipout, where you can see the look on my face as I say things like that. And then finally, we just throw a lot of links and stuff at you over the course of an episode. You can get those emailed directly to your email delivery system by signing up for the newsletter at theclipout.com.
tom: So there’s all that. Uh, let’s dig in, shall we?
Crystal: Let’s do it.
tom: peloton looking to hire people with experience in mergers and acquisitions.
Crystal: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Isn’t that fascinating?
tom: For the people listening to the audio only version of this, we have a [00:08:00] raised eyebrow.
Crystal: Hmm.
tom: Well, we have two, one each.
Crystal: Yeah, that’s true.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Um, yeah, so this is kind of, uh, fascinating because recently Peloton made this, like, statement on their earnings call that, you know, they would always be interested in an acqui- purchasing a company at the right time, at the right price.
Crystal: Which it kind of felt like they had already been working on things. Yeah. And then, like, two days later they announced that they had bought Scop. And so I’m being a little facetious, it was longer than two days, but it was pretty close to the last earnings call where they said that. Sure, yeah. And then it was not that long ago that they announced, uh, the purchase of Breathwork.
Crystal: So those, both of those things are interesting.
tom: Mm-hmm.
Crystal: Uh, you know, those of us that have been longtime Peloton users are still hopeful that they’ll take a good look at Tonal. But I will say that, that conversation has been had, from my understanding of just things that I’ve heard and talked- Right … to people that work at both [00:09:00] companies.
Crystal: And it sounds to me like, uh, neither was happy with the negotiation process.
tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: So I don’t… I mean, something major would have to change. Right. Never say never.
tom: But that happens.
Crystal: It does. Right? It does. The world changes
tom: and- Remember when Disney and Pixar were gonna split? I
Crystal: do. I do.
tom: And then all of a sudden they bought it.
Crystal: They figured it out.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But at the moment, what’s also interesting about this post is that they are looking for a program manager for six months. It’s a contract program manager.
tom: Yeah. I, I was gonna comment on that as well, because it makes me feel like they’ve got their eyes on something-
Crystal: Uh-huh
tom: that’s maybe a little bit bigger than they’re used to, and so they’re like, “Well, let’s bring in somebody who really knows how to get things done.” Which then makes me circle back to- To something like a tonal
Crystal: And it, that’s possible, but they’re also… I will say, maybe we’re reading way more into it, because maybe there’s-
tom: Maybe it’s just wishful thinking
Crystal: Well, it also could be that, ’cause this is from the HR side.
Crystal: This per- this hiring is for the [00:10:00] HR component, and therefore, maybe it’s like you’re bringing people together and you need a- you need past experience with mergers and acquisitions- Right … to bring all of those people together and make it one solid team. That is not as easy as it sounds. I’ve, I’ve worked at companies- Right
Crystal: where that occurs, and some companies do it really well, and some companies do it very poorly.
tom: And I guess mergers and acquisitions probably can’t really be a permanent position, right? You can’t always be on the hunt to merge and acquire.
Crystal: No, but again, this is looking for a person not to do a merger and acquisition.
Crystal: It’s looking for a person who is running the people department. Right. They don’t call it HR anymore, but that’s what it is. Okay. So, so like why only six months-
tom: Yeah …
Crystal: for an HR position? That’s the part that’s a little, like maybe that’s just because they think they’ll have everybody, you know, all tucked in and happy.
Crystal: Maybe it’s because, uh, this person who’s hiring for somebody is [00:11:00] l- you know, they are already working on other things and they just need some help. Yeah And they know that there’s some, there’s just like a difficult, rough patch in front of them.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I don’t know. But it, regardless, it makes people wonder.
Crystal: It, like all the questions that you are asking-
tom: Right …
Crystal: have come up. It’s a good question. I- lots of good questions. Oh, wow. I don’t
tom: know. How out of character for me.
Crystal: No. You ask good questions all the time. That’s not fair. That’s not fair.
tom: Well, this will be interesting to see what, if anything, occurs-
Crystal: Mm-hmm
tom: or acquires.
Crystal: Yeah, it says, “If you’ve been in the room on a merger or acquisition from the acquisition from the people HR side, diligence, integration, post close, this role is for you.” So it specifically calls out all three areas. You can look at this a lot of ways.
tom: Mm-hmm.
Crystal: It is very interesting, so we will see what comes out.
tom: Peloton has added Power Zone-ish classes.
Crystal: Yeah. So, okay, Power Zone is Power Zone, right?
tom: Right.
Crystal: Well, [00:12:00] now, so Matt recently had a 45-minute endurance ride where he… It was a Power Zone endurance ride.
tom: Right.
Crystal: And he talked about two main things. One of those things was he laid out what the rest of the year is gonna look like from a Power Zone perspective.
Crystal: Mm-hmm. If, if you look back over this entire year, Matt has mapped out what each quarter is gonna look like, and he has been building… There’s been peaks, there’s been, like, rest times, there’s been go really, really hard times, that’s the peak, and he laid out what the rest of the year is gonna look like from a training perspective while you’re taking Power Zone classes.
Crystal: That’s part of the news here. The other part, he just, like, real cas’ is like, “Oh, and by the way, we’re also gonna have a new type of classes. It’s called a Power Profile class.” And, uh, well, I’ll be honest, we don’t really know what that is because it hasn’t happened yet as of this particular recording.
tom: It’s this hour pwn class.
Crystal: But, uh, it’s a [00:13:00] different way to test is what Matt is saying. Okay, so the first one is gonna be on August 7th at 6:30 AM Eastern. It’s a 45-minute Power Zone Max power profile class. And it says that it’s a format that will test riders across multiple effort durations rather than a single sustained 20-minute FTP test.
Crystal: So this whole time that everybody’s been doing Power Zone at Peloton through Matt’s training, it has been through the FTP test, your functional threshold power. You go as hard as you can for 20 minutes, gradually building towards the end. That’s your number. Well, so this is going to be a 45-minute test across all zones.
Crystal: Uh, so this will be a very different approach that we will be doing for testing. And I’m really curious about this. That’s gonna happen in August. The highlights of the rest of his training plan, though-
tom: I believe it’s pronounced highlight.
Crystal: Mm, no, no, no. That’s a whole different thing. Oh, sorry. Don’t, don’t you be getting on [00:14:00] Rebecca Kennedy now.
tom: I like to mansplain fitness to you.
Crystal: Thanks.
tom: Especially Peloton.
Crystal: You know how dangerous it is.
tom: Yeah. It’s like the internet comments are right here in front of you.
Crystal: It is just baiting me. Uh, rage bait. Uh, so July will be sustain and maintain, which is where we are now. August, that second peak is coming in, including this new power profile classes.
Crystal: Uh, then September through December is going to be reset, rebuild, and then recover. And then Matt kind of gets a little bit into, you know, we’re gonna have a big year for 2027. We don’t know what that’s gonna look like. Mm-hmm. But, uh, more to come. And then we have some information in our article about why periodization works, why it’s important.
Crystal: So, uh, it’s, it’s a great article, and I would give you guesses, but I know you don’t know the tipsters… I’m sorry, not the tipsters, the helper bees- Right … as well as I do. But given that it’s Matt, do you have any guesses on who might have written this? You’re looking at the screen?
tom: Yeah, I don’t have it up, no.
tom: Oh.
Crystal: It’s [00:15:00] definitely Elizabeth.
tom: Ah.
Crystal: Matt is her, her boy.
tom: That’s her go-to?
Crystal: One of. One of. She’s got a little stable.
tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: She’s got a stable.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: But Matt is very high on that list.
tom: I see.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Peloton has quietly added free to its filtering process.
Crystal: Yeah, okay. Here’s the thing. We have no idea what this means.
Crystal: Yeah. One of our, one of our tipsters noticed on their Peloton app that they had a star in the top row, and next to the star it says free. And it’s a button you can press, just like the rest of the categories are. Mm-hmm. So like if you were to click on Pilates or strength or whatever. Okay, great.
Crystal: But when you go into the free classes list, it’s just a whole bunch of different classes. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. And my first thought was, are you sure you’re logged in? Like, is the app doing something weird- Right … where it doesn’t recognize it and this is gonna be a list of free classes.
Crystal: That was my first thought. Sure. But the person was logged [00:16:00] in, and, uh, the really weird part is as they scroll down, the free disappears. And again, only one person in our group-
tom: Yeah …
Crystal: uh, has had this. The other thought process that came up through not only the tipsters but just the helper bees, we were just brainstorming what it could mean, uh, some people thought it was like a free pick.
Crystal: Like you know how you, you have to choose, well, I wanna go look at strength classes or I wanna go look at biking classes. Maybe this is like free and you just like pick it and it randomly assigns you a class. I, I don’t- I don’t know. I mean, anything could happen.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I have no idea, but it’s weird.
Crystal: And I don’t really get the benefit in either direction.
tom: Right.
Crystal: The only thing that made sense to me was you’re logged out and it’s a, it’s a button that allows you to try classes for free. That’s never been- Yeah,
tom: that was, that was my thought is that like, or they’re gonna do a push where like sign up, download the Peloton app, and there will always be a rotating selection of free [00:17:00] classes- Yeah
tom: for you to sample.
Crystal: But that does exist. Like, that has always existed- Right … without a tab. And I don’t think it’s very many. I haven’t checked on this recently, so this could have changed over time for sure. It used to be like a very ridiculously small amount, like three classes. Gotcha. Like it was really small.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: That could have changed because they’ve added so many modalities.
tom: Right.
Crystal: It’s entirely possible that it’s completely
tom: different. Yeah, maybe they’re getting ready to expand that to do a push for like try the app and like you don’t have to pay for anything and there’ll be a modicum of free stuff.
Crystal: Yeah. I don’t know. I, I don’t know. Uh, and it’s very possible this was, whatever it is, whatever it’s going to be, was just a beta test and that’s why only one person had it. But fascinating.
tom: And what if?
tom: You’re gonna get free ad-supported classes
Crystal: Oh, boy Oh, shit
tom: I just broke your brain.
Crystal: You didn’t break my brain, but I’m just waiting to get added.
tom: But, like, if you’re not paying for [00:18:00] it-
Crystal: Yeah …
tom: you know what I mean? Yeah. But, like, what if they’re gonna do some sort of free ad supported thing and you gotta watch a, a 30, 40 second spot before you start a class? You really can’t stop a class to do an ad, but I guess you could put up banner ads during the class.
Crystal: That’s true.
tom: You know?
Crystal: Well, that is, that is a very different theory. Huh. Well-
tom: Look at me … yeah … two good questions in one episode.
Crystal: It’s-
tom: I’m just gonna go ahead and clock out.
Crystal: Nah, we haven’t gotten to the, the really meaty part of the conversation yet. Oh,
tom: that is true. That is true. Okay. I’ll power through.
Crystal: Just a little longer.
tom: Peloton has added five new hotel partners.
Crystal: I thought this was just kind of fascinating because it happened so quickly that there- Yeah
Crystal: were so many added.
tom: I wonder if it’s a thing where, like, you know, they add Hilton and then Marriott’s like, “Why now?”
Crystal: I mean, maybe. Almost anything is possible. Uh, they added Cambria Hotels, Embassy Suites, IHG Rewards, [00:19:00] Residence Inn, and Tapestry Collection. Now, there’s nothing inherently, like, amazing about any of these.
Crystal: They’re not, like, all super bougie brands or- Right … anything like that, but they’re certainly all known brands.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And so-
tom: And b- and some very lar- IHG is a huge-
Crystal: They are huge … brand. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think that we can reasonably dem- we can reasonably surmise that at the very least, Peloton is working on their goal of trying to get more pre-core/Peloton equipment- Yeah
Crystal: into more places, and we’re seeing the very obvious results of that.
tom: And I do think it’s one of those situations where as more hotels get it, more hotels want it. It becomes like, “Oh, well-“
Crystal: Because now it just becomes a commodity that everybody want. Like, you just start to expect it.
tom: It’s kinda like when all of a sudden every hotel’s clock radio worked with your iPhone.
tom: Yeah. You know? And then now that’s pointless, but-
Crystal: And now [00:20:00] it doesn’t …
tom: now it doesn’t matter, right? But but yeah. So it’s, I, you know, I, I do think that it is kind of like you start to feel left behind if you don’t have Peloton, ’cause people will start to show up and be like, “Oh, you’re one of the non-Peloton hotels?”
Crystal: Oh.
tom: Oh. What does that mean, no continental breakfast either? Harumph. You don’t wanna get harumphed.
Crystal: No. No. That’s… you know your vacation’s not going well if you get harumphed.
tom: When there’s harumphing.
Crystal: Definitely.
tom: Yes. So the Reddit users- … having some fun-
Crystal: They are …
tom: with the AI subtitles On, uh, on Peloton classes.
tom: Now, I will say I’m of two minds about the subtitles, ’cause on the one hand, I get, especially for people that don’t just use them for a little assist, but actually rely on them- Depend on it,
Crystal: yeah …
tom: I get that the auto-generated [00:21:00] subtitles can be very frustrating.
Crystal: Absolutely.
tom: But it’s very difficult, especially for smaller outlets like us-
tom: to go through and, like, literally transcribe- Yeah … the entirety of the show. So it’s like-
Crystal: There, there’s also a, a r- real serious, like, record of thought that, like, when you misspell f- like, when the algorithm hears things incorrectly, that actually can benefit people because a lot of people spell things incorrectly.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Uh, so that, that’s a whole… That’s about our show, not about what we’re talking about now. Right. But anyway, there’s a whole school of thought about that.
tom: Yeah. But so, like, I get for people that have a disability that are like, “Oh, y- you need to spend more time on this,” it’s difficult for outlets like us, right?
tom: Yeah. Peloton not so much. Like, they could- No, but- … they could pay somebody whose job it is to clean
Crystal: this up, but- They could, but then it would also mean that the classes don’t go up as quickly. Yeah. And then there’s already uproar about how long it takes for a class from live- Sure … to getting loaded on demand.
Crystal: It would take [00:22:00] longer.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Not to mention the fact that they are trying to really cut their costs and keep it lean. Okay, well then that’s a whole person’s salary, at least one. I mean, there’s classes like 18 hours a day because of all the different time zones we’re in, so- Right … that’s minimum one person’s salary, but realistically probably three or four people’s salary- Yeah
Crystal: if that’s all they did. To just
tom: sit there and keep up with it.
Crystal: And they’re still gonna make mistakes.
tom: And I think the larger problem long-term is that this is only gonna get better.
Crystal: That’s true.
tom: Right? Like th- so like- That’s a
Crystal: very good point …
tom: over time this is going to… It’s already gotten better in the last- So much better
tom: two years.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: ‘Cause I mean, a f- a few years ago I was kind of like, “Don’t even turn it on.”
Crystal: Yeah. “
tom: It’s so bad.” It’s
Crystal: so bad, don’t bother.
tom: And now it, it has gotten a lot better, so I’m… You know, obviously that’s only going to continue. But so th- some of the things that they were pointing out that were funny here’s one where he’s saying, um-
Crystal: Andy Spears is saying.
Crystal: Andy Spear
tom: is saying. Yeah. “I’m just gonna do a little shit.”
Crystal: Yeah, that one’s the one that really cracked [00:23:00] me up.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: What were the other ones that you saw?
tom: Uh, here’s one where Dennis said to grab a block, and the caption said to grab a Glock, which is really fascinating because normally anything about violence or guns or things like that, they like, you know, the algorithm doesn’t want you to talk about.
tom: So, like, it’s surprising that it would think- That its mind-
Crystal: Right …
tom: if you will, would go to glock and not block. Like-
Crystal: Although there are other words it could go to that would’ve been worse.
tom: Also true. Also true.
Crystal: That rhyme with block and
tom: glock. Yeah. Like, yeah, why would he grab a stock?
Crystal: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
Crystal: A
tom: sock?
Crystal: Yep.
tom: A rock.
Crystal: Yes. Those-
tom: More violence- … if he grabs a rock. That’s true. So yeah.
Crystal: That’s true.
tom: Yeah. Let’s see. I hear s- someone saying, “I’ve always been told to go until you piss or p- pee.”
Crystal: No, the, I think they’re just saying this about the shit. Oh. This is about the [00:24:00] shit.
tom: Gotcha. Okay. I thought that
Crystal: I thought the other one was, uh, a stupid thing they put, “Damn yes,” for Charlotte when she’s clearly saying, “Hell yes.” Yeah, that’s weird.
tom: That’s really weird.
Crystal: That’s really weird.
tom: Yeah. And then here’s one said, “The funny subtitles I’ve seen re- recently were in Benny’s singalong class. They were translating the English lyrics into A-” I think he meant to say the-
Crystal: German into-
tom: German lyrics into English in hilarious ways, which reminds me of a wonderful episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Crystal: Okay.
tom: It’s towards the end. I think it’s in the last season. But they do Hamlet.
Crystal: Okay.
tom: But the people that- Own the rights to this version of Hamlet. It was originally in German, right?
Crystal: Okay.
tom: And so they translated it into English. Oh, dear. Now, they didn’t go and pull the actual just Shakespeare and dub it into Shakespeare. They literally took a German translation of Shakespeare, and [00:25:00] then took that translation and translated it back into English.
Crystal: No.
tom: Like, the easier way would just be like- E-
tom: “Oh, this is the part they’re using. Pull this from the Shakespeare.” But no. Yeah. And so it’s, it’s pretty funny.
Crystal: Oh, my word.
tom: Yeah. Wow. So, Peloton won a T3 award for best cardio equipment.
Crystal: Yeah. This is, uh, this is really nice. They… Their cardio their… I said car- cardio. I meant to say cross-training bike takes home a major T3 award win.
Crystal: That’s really nice. It’s great that they were included in this because they are widely recognized as a technology and fitness publication.
tom: Right.
Crystal: And their awards mean something. Um, so that’s really cool that the bike was, like, the winner in that category.
tom: Yeah. I- Absolutely. And maybe if they keep trying hard, th- maybe one day they can win a, a T2 or even a T1 award.
Crystal: You never know.
tom: That’s fingers crossed. Dare to dream, Peloton. Dare to
Crystal: dream, Peloton.
tom: We [00:26:00] won an award one time.
Crystal: One time.
tom: We did. Peloton rolls out special pricing for seniors and college students. So now you have to decide whether you’re going to change your membership to be under Sydney’s name- Ugh … or mine.
Crystal: Okay. So here’s the thing. All right, this goes for all of the discount programs. I don’t care whether you’re a doctor, a EMT worker, any of the other things that are covered. Right. Veterans, doesn’t matter. Across the board. Peloton gives you a discount on new equipment almo- I think all of it, and it’s a nice discount.
Crystal: It’s like 650 bucks off most of the equipment. It differs per version that you’re buying.
tom: Sure, yeah.
Crystal: But the membership that they give you is all of the app-only memberships. It is not the all-access membership.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: Now, this has been the same since Peloton instituted any of their discounts.
tom: This- Since time immemorial [00:27:00]
Crystal: But when I posted that there were discounts for seniors, and that means 65 and up- Yeah
Crystal: according to Peloton’s thing.
tom: Okay. Everybody’s definitions is a little different.
Crystal: People lost their goddamn minds. Well, of course
tom: they did.
Crystal: Because they have been a loyal Peloton person since the beginning, therefore I should get it for cheaper- Yeah … than everybody else. Listen, I don’t understand that thought process at all.
Crystal: Yeah. Th- this is not… This is to bring in new people. Yeah,
tom: it’s alwa- and, and it’s how these discounts always work.
Crystal: It, it’s not, this is not a Peloton only thing.
tom: I listen to a podcast that I am actually a subscriber to their version of Patreon.
Crystal: Mm-hmm.
tom: See, I practice what I preach.
Crystal: That’s right.
tom: And he does sales every year where it’s half off.
tom: Yeah. But for new people.
Crystal: Right.
tom: Sure.
Crystal: Right. I mean,
tom: the- I don’t get mad at him. I’m like, “No, that makes total sense.”
Crystal: Just like we have a seven-day free trial. Yeah. Not everybody gets the free version forever. You get it for… New people get it to try it seven days for free.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I mean, that, that’s just the [00:28:00] way it works.
tom: Right.
Crystal: Okay. So I was shocked how many people were upset about this. I, I really, really was. Yeah. Um, it was… I mean, they are talking about putting together a petition. It is a whole thing. Uh, but anyway- But, like- … not only d- …
tom: if it’s out there for everybody, it’s not a discount, it’s just a price. I
Crystal: know.
Crystal: I know. And
tom: then when they do another discount, you’re g- gonna i- just- I know … lather, rinse, repeat.
Crystal: Yes. Yeah. Yes. And I, and I get it to some degree. You know, I have been… Like, you guys aren’t alone. I’ve been a longtime Peloton user.
tom: Right.
Crystal: I don’t get shit for free, okay? Nobody, nobody’s handing me anything.
Crystal: Like, I, I have, I… The only thing I’ve ever gotten from free from Peloton is my guide.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Uh, and-
tom: Right before they discontinued it. They’re like, “We got a bunch of these
Crystal: sitting around.” No, I actually got it very close to the beginning of when they, they put that out. But my point is, like, we are not sponsored by Peloton.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: We are not given money to talk about [00:29:00] Peloton. Yeah. And it’s, uh… I don’t get anything special, and I am, I am too a longtime member. Here’s the way I look at it, and I always have. It is so much cheaper and easier than going to the gym.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: It’s a no-brainer to me. I understand not everybody can afford the equipment.
Crystal: And- I get that …
tom: I can almost guarantee you your gym has a senior discount.
Crystal: Yeah, for new people.
tom: Yeah. Or a family discount. Well, then why, well, how, why am I penalized because I didn’t have children, right?
Crystal: Like, it’s- Yeah … you know? I, there’s just always a way to look at it. Yeah. Anyway They had done this beta test on seniors.
Crystal: We talked about it months ago. Mm-hmm. They just kind of quietly made it… Now I know why they did it quietly.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I am, uh, now aware. I g- I got it, P- Peloton. Yeah, I’m sorry. I thought it was a good thing to announce that there were discounts. I-
tom: They’re like, “No, you’re talking to people that already love Peloton.
tom: They don’t need to know.”
Crystal: They don’t need to know. Okay. So they rolled that out real quietly, and then right after that, they also rolled out college students. New college students also get a discount on the app-only membership or new [00:30:00] equipment.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: And veterinarians.
tom: Oh, okay.
Crystal: I’m just kind of excited about the veterinarians.
Crystal: So now
tom: they can just say vets, and they don’t have to worry-
Crystal: About which kind …
tom: about which kind.
Crystal: You got them both covered.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Done and done. Yep. Awesome.
Crystal: Yep.
tom: Well, coming up after this, we got instructors in the news. We will finally talk about the story you really want to hear about Alex Touissant and Daniel McKenna- Whap
tom: in a battle to the death. Well, no. No. Nobody’s gonna die.
Crystal: Nobody’s gonna die.
tom: But, uh, it is a battle. And we’ll also talk about, uh- We’ve
Crystal: also got updates, the latest comments that have been coming in.
tom: Ooh, okay.
Crystal: Yeah. Yeah, we’re gonna go ahead and hit those too.
tom: Okay. And then, uh, and then we’ll also talk about, uh, Jess King officially being added to Pelo’s, Pel- Power Zone.
tom: There we go. Pelozone. Pelozone.
Crystal: Pelozone.
tom: That’s a new one. Zaurapone. And, uh, Camila Ramone’s new single. So stick around, won’t you?
tom: [00:31:00] Kendall Toole. Yeah. Daniel McKenna.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Alex Toussaint. Go.
Crystal: Go. All right. So there’s this TikTok thing happening right now.
tom: Trend.
Crystal: Trend, yeah. That’s the word they use. And, uh, it’s like somebody getting ready for their Netflix documentary about fill in the blank, okay? So I’ve seen all kinds of stuff.
Crystal: You know, it can be about, like, their job, you know? Right … like something that they do at work as a physical therapist or something. It could be about an ex- an ex, you know, uh, and how they reacted to something or what- It could be about anything.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But Kendall Toole decided to make one about the one time she worked at that one place, which of course was referring to Peloton.
Crystal: What place
tom: could that be?
Crystal: I mean, clearly Peloton. And here’s why it’s clearly Peloton, because there are people out here defending her. Listen, you do not get to defend Kendall Toole. Here’s why.
tom: Name another place she worked at.
Crystal: That, [00:32:00] and she has been gone for over two years now, two years, and she goes out of her way to mention Peloton in everything.
Crystal: If- if something is viral, she starts making all these posts about it Peloton. She only brings up Peloton. Listen, we get it. You had a bad work experience. Yeah. Get over it. Oh my God, I got hit by a car and got over it faster than she did. The person literally was at fault and literally hit me and never even said, “I’m sorry.”
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And I moved on with my life so much faster than this.
tom: Janeane Garofalo’s not still talking about the time she was on Saturday Night Live.
Crystal: No, she’s not.
tom: Like, most people don’t even remember that she was a cast member.
Crystal: No, they don’t. And Kendall, since the beginning, has always thought she was bigger than Peloton.
Crystal: Peloton is a symbiotic relationship. Yes, the instructors come in, and they are [00:33:00] stars.
Crystal: But when she left Peloton, the part that she forgot was Peloton made her bigger than she was.
tom: Continuing our SNL analogy-
Crystal: Mm-hmm
tom: Some people are bigger than SNL. Will Ferrell, Jason Sudeikis.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Some people are not.
tom: Chris Kattan, Rob Schneider.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Right? Like they- Yeah … they both had lots of reoccurring successful characters, but they really were not able to translate that long, into long-term post-SNL success/superstardom.
.
Crystal: So having said all of that, she posts this reel,
Crystal: Then Daniel McKenna, he comes out of nowhere, and he’s like, and I hate this wording, “What we doing?”
Crystal: Okay. Yeah. I’m not a fan. Use proper grammar, first of all. But anyway so then that sits there for three [00:34:00] days. Well, because it’s a Peloton thing, eventually all the instructors saw it. Alex Touissant sees it, and, uh, he was not thrilled with, uh- Daniel McKenna’s take, which- Yeah
Crystal: which is kind of fascinating.
tom: It is.
Crystal: Right?
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Because he gave Kendall a pass. I’ll- I’m gonna pull this up and read you exactly-
tom: So verbatim …
Crystal: verbatim what he said, because I don’t wanna misrepresent, so Alex says, and he directs this, he’s like adding Daniel.
tom: Daniel. “
Crystal: Kendall built something special here, so she’s valid to pop her shit, but you really shouldn’t. This company gave you a platform and you did nothing with it but try and destroy it. We will never respect that.”
tom: Hmm.
Crystal: Now, I have lots of feelings about that.
Crystal: First of all, Alex, yes. Yes, sir. That was amazing. Yes. It’s nice because people like me can say something, but I’m so tiny and insignificant. Yeah. It’s just somebody shouting into the void, right?
tom: Right.
Crystal: [00:35:00] But when somebody like Alex says something like that-
tom: Well, ’cause that’s he, that’s a peer.
Crystal: Absolutely.
tom: Right?
tom: Like-
Crystal: Absolutely …
tom: I mean, Alex is more popular than Daniel
Crystal: Yeah …
tom: or most likely will be. But they were still peers in the workplace. They were both Peloton instructors. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and so, so yeah, like, and the fact that he gives Kendall a pass. Now, Kendall didn’t sue Peloton.
tom: She’s talked some smack, but, but-
Crystal: She does and she doesn’t.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Right? Like, that’s the th- that, I think that’s part of
tom: why she- It’s very passive-aggressive.
Crystal: Yes. Yeah. She, yes. She’s the kind that vague books. Right. And I hate vague
tom: bookers. And then when you’re like, “Why are you saying things, bad things about Peloton?”
tom: She’s like- “I never said Peloton.” “What
Crystal: do you mean?” “What are you talking about?” Yeah.
Crystal: Y- she likes to play both sides. Yeah. And the other thing about Kendall that really, really gets on my nerves, okay, is stop talking about mental health.
Crystal: Mental health is letting it go and moving on, you can be angry about something when it [00:36:00] happens, voice, say what you gotta say and move on.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And you’re burning bridges with people. Like, the fitness industry is so small.
Crystal: Yeah. All these people know each other. The people at Tonal know the people at, at Peloton. Yeah.
tom: Yeah, like a the next company would be like, “Well, but if it doesn’t work out-
Crystal: Yeah …
tom: what you gonna do?”
Crystal: Right.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But the mental health aspect really bothers me, tell people to be healthy, you tell people to work on themselves, and then you do the same shit over and over again for years and sit here and say the words mental health.
Crystal: That, that doesn’t mean that you get to say whatever you want and nobody gets to- Yeah … have an opinion about it. That’s not how mental health works. Yeah. You’re not an expert. Stop acting like you are. Unless you get credentials, you don’t get to.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I don’t think she gets a pass. And I know there’s a lot of people that agree with me that she shouldn’t get a pass. She needs to move on from Peloton. So I don’t agree with that. However, I loved Alex telling Daniel where to go, because Daniel is ridiculous.
Crystal: At [00:37:00] any rate, it didn’t end there. It should have ended there- … but it didn’t end there, because Daniel did not learn his lesson. He went on to reply to Alex, but he waited a good 14 hours before he did, and he said, “Jesus still loves you, Alex.” Right.
tom: I mean, I just… To me, it’s just like he doesn’t have a defense.
Crystal: No, he doesn’t.
tom: Like,
Crystal: and- There is no defense … yeah … it’s indefensible.
tom: Yeah. And he does not know how to retort, and so, like, that’s all he’s got.
Crystal: It’s ridiculous. Yeah. Uh, and then Kendall couldn’t let it go.
tom: Shocking. Uh,
Crystal: yeah.
tom: Very on brand.
Crystal: It is very on brand. This is really long, okay?
tom: Okay. “
Crystal: I will say this once. Read the caption. Understand this is a trend, and a funny one at that. And like I said, you can be grateful for a chapter but also know it’s time to move on.”
Crystal: But you haven’t.
tom: But here we are.
Crystal: Here we are two years later. You’re still talking about it. “I support my former teammates [00:38:00] and will continue to, no matter if they work for Peloton or move on to other chapters, i.e., I support Alex and Danielle.”
tom: Yeah, she’s trying to… Yeah.
Crystal: This is where it gets real stupid. “Any effort to surmise, assume, or create narratives is a reflection of that person’s ill-intended projections and not my own experience, nor the actual truth.”
Crystal: Okay. Did you, like, Google that? Did you AI it? Did you-
tom: ChatGPT. Did you- Make me sound smarts.
Crystal: Yeah. Just ’cause you throw a bunch… these words don’t actually mean anything. I know. Like, it’s just word salad. And so, and then we’re doing the mental health thing again. We’re saying, “You don’t get to have any reaction to what I say other than- Yeah
Crystal: what I tell you to have.” Well, that’s not mental health.
tom: Yeah. It reminds me of that meme people share where they’re like, “You should be kind and gracious ’cause you never know what someone’s going through.” Okay, well, you don’t know what I’m going through, so I get to be a dick.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Right? Like, that- You [00:39:00] can’t have it both ways
tom: I mean, if you, if you extrapolate that logic to its own conclusion, you should shut up.
Crystal: Yep.
tom: Stop telling me how, how to behave- Yep … because you don’t know what I’m going through.
Crystal: Precisely.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: So I think Alex dropped it. As Nicky wrote in the article, who knows what he’ll say on his n- his next ride?
Crystal: Maybe that’s the end. Maybe it’s not. We don’t know. I know lots of people will be tuning in just to see.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Just to see what’s there. Anything else you want to say about that?
tom: No, I think I’m good.
Crystal: Okay.
tom: Okay. Moving right along.
Crystal: All righty.
tom: It is official, Jess King has added Power Zone to her duties.
Crystal: Yes, it’s happening.
tom: First off-
Crystal: It’s happening …
tom: duties. And, and I’m the one who wrote it. I did that on purpose.
Crystal: I bet you did. I bet you did. Yeah, she’s gonna be part of the team. This is a really weird fit for me, but again, it doesn’t have to be for me, and- Yeah
Crystal: that’s okay. Uh- And you know, maybe- I know a lot of people are saying they’re excited about
tom: it … sure, maybe it’s a deliberate attempt [00:40:00] to broaden the appeal of Power Zone. Not that it’s not- There’s
Crystal: no doubt.
tom: There’s no doubt … not that it’s… Uh, obviously it’s very popular, but to bring even more people to the table by coming at it from a different direction.
Crystal: I mean, I think, I think that’s a smart play-
tom: Yeah …
Crystal: on Peloton’s part. I think that’s- It’s
tom: just counterintuitive.
Crystal: It is. Power Zone is about structure and discipline and, you know, having… There’s like beats to it that are very systematic.
Crystal: And- I just don’t… I see Jess King as more like go with the flow and just have fun. Yeah. Not-
tom: Yeah, there’s some instructors that approach it from more of, like, a fun standpoint- Yeah … and there are some that are very much more regimented.
Crystal: Right.
tom: And part of the appeal of Peloton is that th-
Crystal: There’s both
tom: there’s both, and there’s points in between, and there’s totally different approaches, and-
Crystal: It j- Yeah … it just doesn’t feel like an intuitive fit to me. Yeah. That doesn’t mean that it won’t work. Right. It just, it feels weird to me. But I’m glad for people that are excited about it. I’m glad if she’s excited about it.
Crystal: So [00:41:00] I, I hope that everybody ends up a winner.
tom: Hey, sometimes Van Halen gets a new singer. And it’s Sammy Hagar and it works out great. It’s counterintuitive, but it works.
Crystal: That’s true.
tom: Sometimes it’s Gary Cherone, who’s also great, but-
Crystal: But it didn’t work …
tom: but not for Van Halen.
Crystal: It didn’t work.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: And sometimes it’s Mitch Malloy, who is the lead singer of Van Halen for 30 minutes, and then they fire him ’cause David Lee Roth wants to come back, and he ends up a footnote in history.
Crystal: It’s the way the cookie crumbles.
tom: It happens, man.
Crystal: It does.
tom: It happens. Speaking of music.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: See what I did there?
Crystal: I did.
tom: That was very smooth.
Crystal: It was nice.
tom: Uh, C- Camila Ramone has dropped a new single.
Crystal: She has, yeah. So is this, like, the fifth one? Fourth or fifth one?
tom: It’s a bunch.
Crystal: Yeah. She’s, she’s on a real roll.
Crystal: And, uh, it’s really cool to see that… I like seeing when the instructors put out things other than… they just do things outside of the Peloton world. Yeah. I love that they are committed to Peloton, but I also love seeing all the various aspects of people’s lives. Um, so I [00:42:00] just, I think it’s a neat thing that she does.
Crystal: It’s not much music that I know about. Yeah, it’s
tom: not my type of music, as you can probably tell by my reference to Van Halen 35 seconds ago.
Crystal: Right.
tom: But but I will say-
Crystal: She’s very talented …
tom: it’s surprisingly good. Like, it’s not, like
Crystal: when- It’s, it’s more mass appeal than you would think.
tom: Yeah. Like, uh, like I, when I first saw it, I was like, “Oh, this has vanity project written all over it.”
tom: And, um, and I was just like, “Oh, I really thought that was going to make me cringe,” and it does not at all. No. I’m like, if, if that just popped up in my feed with no Peloton connection at all, still would not be my music style of choice, but I wouldn’t be like, “What is this person doing?”
Crystal: You would be like, “Oh, wow.”
Crystal: Yeah. No, she’s, she’s very talented. Yeah. And it shows, and it’s, it’s really cool. But uh, yeah, it came out on July 9th, and of course we’re hoping that we will see, like her other singles, that some of the Peloton instructors support her and- Yeah … play it on their, their mu- their classes. Like, that’s always cool to see, too.
tom: Absolutely. Is Katie Wong tread bound?
Crystal: I, I, we don’t know, but [00:43:00] Katie was teasing in a recent class while doing weights. She was like, “Y’all, I’ve got so much I can’t tell you. So much I wanna tell you, but I can’t tell you.” And, uh, there’s various reasons, but we have surmised, we think she’s tread bound.
tom: Now can you say why you would think it’s tread and not bike?
Crystal: There, uh, there’s a couple of reasons. One, she did a tread boot camp with Andy Speer- Okay … a while back. They had a two for one. Mm-hmm. Um, and she does a lot of strength. There’s not as many bike boot camps as there are tread boot camps. Uh, she already does row boot camps of course, ’cause she’s a row instructor.
Crystal: Sure. So the thought process is probably tread. And she’s al- there was also something she said which is escaping me at the moment, but it leaned tread. Uh, maybe there was running involved, I can’t remember. But there was something that she said that, like-
tom: Yeah …
Crystal: pushed people in that direction as well.
Crystal: Gotcha.
tom: Okay. Robin Arzon, lots of [00:44:00] stuff with her. Yeah. Just blow through this real quick. She has a Lorax collaboration. Yeah. I love Dr. Seuss, so- … I’m very excited about this. I,
Crystal: this is not one I would’ve seen for the bingo card this year, though.
tom: I speak for the Tru- Truffulas.
Crystal: Me too, babe.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But I, I think this is great.
Crystal: Yeah, there was like a reel, and there was a Lorax costume and a tease that there’s going to be a collaboration, and I’m freaking here for it. That sounds fun. I love it. When is… Is- there’s a new movie coming out, right?
tom: Is there a new Lorax movie coming out?
Crystal: I mean, there must be.
tom: I mean, they did one just a few years ago, not that that means anything anymore.
tom: I know that there’s a new Grinch movie coming out.
Crystal: Definitely. I saw that one in- Um … the theater, like the preview for it.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: With, uh, Bill Hader, I think is- … the voice of the Grinch.
Crystal: Oh my God. I
tom: love- No, no, no. That’s Cat in the Hat. There’s a new Cat in the Hat movie coming out.
Crystal: Oh. Is the Lorax, does the Lorax have a crossover?
tom: No. The Lorax is like the guy with the kinda like big handlebar mustache, and it’s like-
Crystal: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I knew that, but I didn’t know- Yeah … if they like crossed worlds, you know? Oh, honey [00:45:00] there are no… A few years ago- Mm … the, the Lor- the animated Lorax was 2012.
tom: Oh, shut up.
Crystal: That’s what it says.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: That’s not a few years ago.
tom: No. But
Crystal: they- But it also says, it also says there are no plans or announcements for a sequel, so that must not be what’s happening here. Yeah. So I don’t know why. Like maybe, maybe it’s like there’s something going on at Universal or, you know- Yeah … who knows? Who knows? But it’s, I still think it’s fun.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Whatever
tom: it is. Uh, she also had, uh, a Madonna London class with Hannah Frankson.
Crystal: Well, she’s having. So-
tom: Having, sorry …
Crystal: so here’s the thing. I, I don’t know if we’re talking about the Artist Series in this episode. I don’t know if you put it on the list or not.
tom: I think I forgot.
Crystal: Yeah. So here, we’ll talk about the Artist Series coming up.
Crystal: I
tom: thought we’d talk about it here.
Crystal: Okay.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: So, uh, yesterday it was officially announced that the Madonna Artist Series is coming, and it’s gonna be happening over the next few days. I think it starts on the 17th. So by the time people hear this, it will be out the Artist Series will. [00:46:00] But Robin had teased that she did a two-for-one, or is doing a two-for-one with Hannah Frankson in London because all of the, several of the US instructors are going to London over the summer.
Crystal: Robin is there in July, and she is doing a two-for-one with Hannah Frankson. Maybe it’s already been recorded. But anyway, it was tied to Madonna’s new album. Therefore, uh, it is a 30-minute two-for-one HIIT run with both of those two, and it was tied, like I said, to Madonna’s new album. We did not realize that like within hours of us gathering that information, there would be the official drop of- Right
Crystal: the Artist Series for Madonna, and that happened. And there’s, there’s like, I think I saw like three or four classes. Like it’s a pretty select few, but it’s specific to Madonna’s new album.
tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Okay. And then also she has a new Split Plus run this summer.
Crystal: She does. It’s going to be, She said that it was going to be a program, and it’s going to be a different format [00:47:00] from her Split Plus Ride program.
Crystal: She did not list- A launch date. She did not say how many classes it would include and whether or not there would be other instructors involved. So for what it’s worth, we know it’s coming and we will keep you updated as soon as those details drop.
tom: Okay. And then, uh, Jess Sims and Kirsten Ferguson are leading a run for Together House or Togetherxer House.
Crystal: Yeah. I’m just Together House.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: It’s just easier. They spell it
tom: weird.
Crystal: They do. Probably because it was already Together with somewhere else.
tom: For sure, yeah. Like I-
Crystal: But, uh, yeah. So the weekend that Chicago h- is hosting Faces of Fitness they’re… That’s the weekend of July 25th. This is separate from this, okay?
Crystal: This is called Everyone Watches Women’s Sports, is they’re getting a push as well.
tom: Mm-hmm.
Crystal: And Together House is part of that. And like you said, Kirsten and Jess Sims are leading a run that is going to be just for that. So there’s g- that whole weekend in Chicago- Right … is going to be like Peloton [00:48:00] instructors everywhere.
tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: So if you were thinking, “Oh, I might go to Chicago,” or maybe you live in Chicago, this would be a great weekend. The 25th would be a great weekend for you to pop around and try to find, play hi- like hide and seek with the Peloton- … instructors, but like not in a creepy way.
tom: Yes.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Be respectful.
Crystal: Yes.
tom: Yes. And then, uh, finally for this segment, sailors in New York City for Fleet Week, uh, stopped by Peloton and took a Cody Rigsby class.
Crystal: They did, yeah. Okay, so I didn’t know what Fleet Week was, but- Oh, really? Yeah … but I, I didn’t. Yeah. We don’t have anything cool like that around here.
tom: No, I mean, what’s gonna…
tom: It’s hard for the ships to get here.
Crystal: I mean, I don’t know why. It’s like we’re a little- We’ve got a river … we’re a little landlocked. Yeah. But like, yeah. We’re bordered by rivers.
tom: It’s funny. I, uh, I only know what Fleet Week is because it was a plot point in Sex and the City, so.
Crystal: So there. You only knew it because of that.
tom: I’m very manly.
Crystal: Well, at any rate, uh, Fleet Week is like a celebration of the Navy.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And specifically this was [00:49:00] like they were having a international navy review portion of America’s 250, celebrating the 250 years of America. So while they were doing that Fleet Week, uh, they get to have all kinds of things happening, like the local businesses do things.
Crystal: Right. And- It’s a huge deal in New York. Yeah … it, yeah, it’s a huge deal. And so this was pretty cool because it was orchestrated by Peloton and the Department of Defense and, uh, they worked together to send sailors to the studio to have a special class with Cody Rigsby. Yeah. Isn’t that neat?
tom: That’s very cool.
Crystal: I thought that was really cool. Also a little… I don’t, I don’t know if you meant to cross this off, but you didn’t talk about Andy Spear.
tom: I put that in the bonus.
Crystal: Okay. We will talk about Andy
tom: Spear’s connection- We got more Navy stories in the bonus …
Crystal: I thought the two of these together were kind of fascinating.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: So, uh, yeah. You’ll just have to wait to hear on the bonus.
tom: So there.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Coming up after this we’ve got content. We’re gonna talk the TCO top [00:50:00] five, uh, Katie Wong’s new strength class, and, uh, something’s going on with Rad Lopez.
tom: So stick around
tom: It is time for the TCO Top Five. You have told us your favorite classes, and boy, I feel like I should comment on the fact that people have really been, uh, responding to the TCO Top Five lately.
Crystal: Yeah, it’s really- It’s great. We love it … it’s really cool to see the wide variety of people that have never put in a nomination before.
Crystal: Yeah. And we’re getting so many different people, but also it’s a much wider variety of instructors and classes, which I love. For sure. That’s the whole reason we wanted to do this.
tom: Absolutely. And like we’re, you know, obviously… Well, I shouldn’t say we, ’cause I don’t l- like any of it. Uh, but but you obviously have the things you like, so it’s hard to be self-aware enough to consciously go outside your bubble to select and find things.
tom: So it’s, it’s nice to have other people help so we [00:51:00] can display the wide berth, B-E-R-T-H- Content available for people.
Crystal: Yes. It-
tom: That being… Oh, sorry.
Crystal: And this first one is a great example of that.
tom: Yeah. Number one, your favorite reset ride.
Crystal: So this was a class taught by Dennis Morton on July 11th. Andrea Kirshenbaum is the one who nominated it, and she said that, “Dennis wove together the importance of hope and discipline in charting your path forward.
Crystal: Using the metaphor of a boat, Dennis weaved together both of these concepts, and the playlist was a perfect pairing of songs conveying this message. It was inspirational. I will be returning to this ride again. If anyone is looking for a true reset, take this ride.” I haven’t taken a lot of bike classes in a long time, and, like, when I hear a nomination like that-
tom: Yeah
Crystal: going in the stack. Okay. Man, that makes me wanna take that class. Like, I, I love that. Thank you for submitting, Andrea.
tom: Uh, number two, your favorite HIIT ride.
Crystal: And this was taught by Ben Aldous. It was on July 13th, a 30-minute HIIT and hills. [00:52:00] Kate Govnik nominated this, and she said, “Did this one live today, and it’s muggy where I live, so I was drenched.
Crystal: The music was awesome, and I love how Ben timed the intervals with the drops in the music. Such a good and killer ride. Had to take a dunk in the lake after.” I love it. I love it. That’s great.
tom: Uh, number three, your favorite lower body strength.
Crystal: Okay, so Katie Wong taught this class on July 3rd, and, uh, this one came in from an anonymous…
Crystal: They wanted to stay anonymous. Oh. And, uh- Who was it? Well, I can’t tell you. It would have been anonymous. Oh, uh,
tom: do you pass the test?
Crystal: Although, I have to tell you later what their- Okay … their handle was, ’cause it’s a cute one.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: But anyway, uh, this was a 30-minute glutes and legs strength class by Katie, and she said, or he said…
Crystal: Because I honestly, this person, they had, like, a name that could have gone either way. Okay. I was making the assumption it was female. I- And
tom: now that you think about it, maybe not.
Crystal: Maybe not.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But they said, [00:53:00] “Katie Wong’s 30-minute lower body class from July 3rd was so good. It was the perfect mix of single leg strength, stability, and all the regular moves you’d expect.
Crystal: No lunges,” which, yes. Uh, “The class flew by, and I worked so hard. Her commentary throughout and playlists were great as always. I bookmarked to take again.” Love it.
tom: Uh, number four, your favorite Football Anthem ride.
Crystal: All right. So we had a couple of people that nominated this class, uh, that was taught by Camila Ramon.
Crystal: Martha Theriault said that, “Camila’s football ride, it flew by and didn’t feel like 30 minutes. So much fun while getting your butt kicked.” Uh, and then Elizabeth Schlossberg, our own helper bee- Mm-hmm … said, “So fun. If you love a narration like the old Club Bangers or Carnival rides, this is for you.
Crystal: Camila had so much good to say and the music is top tier. Wave and flag never gets old. The ride was structured as a game with the intervals and timing related to halves, hydration breaks, sprints, [00:54:00] taking the ball, et cetera. She talked about her dad, about people coming together over differences, cultural pride, as well as her usual commentary about Tia Toxica.”
Crystal: “And the studio was into it, doing the Viking row and hollering along with her. Lots of people had jerseys on, too.” I love that.
tom: Awesome.
Crystal: That, again, that makes me wanna take that class. Yeah. Like, I don’t even know anything about any of that, and I love it. Like, that makes me so excited.
tom: And then finally, number five, a class so difficult you dare not stack it.
tom: We call it an unstackable. It’s your favorite full body strength.
Crystal: First of all, I have to say, we had a couple of nominations this week. Mm-hmm. I included two out of the three.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: Uh, the first was from Dr. Jen. Now, I always know that it’s gonna be something memorable when I get a text from Dr. Jen about a class.
Crystal: Yeah. But this was the– This was taught by Rebecca Kennedy back in April. It was a 30-minute Josh- Justin Bieber full body. And this is what Dr. Jen had to say Even [00:55:00] though I looked at the details of the class before I took it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This class is five EMOMs, each one ending with pushups.
Crystal: This is done four times with no breaks whatsoever, and then ends with core. The class is nonstop, gets your heart rate up while each muscle group is fatigued one by one. At the beginning of class when she said, “We’ll do three pushups at the end of each move,” I thought to myself, “No problem,” even though she pointed out this would be a total of 60 pushups in a 30-minute class.
Crystal: This is the first time I have ever rated a class difficulty of 10. Rebecca is a beast, and I have nothing but mad respect for her. Woof.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: That’s crazy. Okay, I do have to mention, we have Sarah Lester nominated a, a Greta Dopp Pilates teaser from Seven Nine. She suggests maybe it can’t be an unstackable, maybe we need a new category called Aspirational.
Crystal: The class centers on three minutes of continuous teaser work, and Sarah compared the challenge to the [00:56:00] kind of core test a Survivor contest might face to win immunity. She thought when she started that her core was strong. She now believes otherwise. So we had to do that little add there.
tom: Okay.
tom: Uh, moving along, Katie Wong has a new Power Pyramid strength class.
Crystal: She does, and you need to know that Katie calls Power Pyramids Taco Cats.
tom: Do we know why?
Crystal: We do.
tom: Okay.
Crystal: Because when you have a power pyramid, you’re, it’s, a pyramid is like four, five, six, and then you go back down five, four. So that’s a pyramid.
Crystal: Okay. Okay? Right? Taco cat can be spelled.
tom: Oh, it’s an anagram.
Crystal: It is an anagram. And Katie loves cats.
tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And so, I really… I feel like if you haven’t read this article, you need to because Katie’s cat Ma’am is dressed up as a taco. Very appropriate for taco cats. [00:57:00] Anyway, Okay, we enjoyed it very much.
Crystal: Well, you know my- Over and we clip out …
tom: how I fall in love with the animal videos.
Crystal: I, I do. I do. I know you, whatever. But, uh, this new type of class is going to be joining Peloton’s strength schedule on July 24th, and so we are gonna be having escalating blocks of work that then peak with a Tabata push, and then you work back down.
Crystal: Sounds terrible, I love it.
tom: I call them Tabata bats. Wait, does that work?
Crystal: I don’t think it does. Okay. Ta- And it’s a lot. That’s a big pyramid …
tom: Tabata battas?
Crystal: Tabatas. I think Tabata is a taco cat anagram. Tabata by itself is like you just say Tabata. Oh,
tom: but there’s no animal. I’m trying to throw an animal in there for you.
Crystal: I guess it would have to be a Tabata to be an anagram. Yeah.
tom: So close.
Crystal: Sorry, Tom.
tom: I tried.
Crystal: Yeah.
tom: Did I?
Crystal: Not really.
tom: Christian Vandervelde has a 20-minute warmup ride. That just sounds like a class.
Crystal: It does, but, [00:58:00] uh, this is a new type of class, and that makes us wonder… Like, we’ve had 15-minute warmups. Mm-hmm. We’ve had 10-minute warmups.
Crystal: We’ve had five-minute warmups. We’ve never had a 20-minute warmup. Other… Uh, like, the only thing that you could really compare that to is, like, an FTP test. Those are 20 minutes long, but they’re not a warmup. But that’s not a warmup. They’re a test, right?
tom: Yeah, that’s-
Crystal: You should warm up before you do your FTP test.
Crystal: Well, sure,
tom: but the FTP ride itself is not a warmup. Yeah.
Crystal: I was just pointing out, I know somebody’s gonna say you should never do an, uh, uh, FTP test- Yes … without having warmed up, so I just was saying it.
tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: Um, but at any rate, it makes us… First of all, yay for longer warmups. Some of us, as we’re getting older, might need a little more time to r- get ready for a big workout.
Crystal: But also, also, does this mean we have longer rides to come? You know, over the last couple of years, Peloton has added a bunch of long runs. We’ve gotten all the way up to 150 minutes now. Yeah. And we can’t help but wonder, will we see 150-minute bike class for the first time [00:59:00] ever?
tom: Ah.
Crystal: So I don’t know, but we’re hoping.
tom: Yeah. The reislust themed classes are rolling out, which is German for wanderlust.
Crystal: They are, and our theory is that, uh, every year there’s always some kind of, like, summer fest that’s a German-style class that they do. And, uh, we’re wondering if these are replacing addition, like a new fun German theme fest- Right
Crystal: for the summer. Gotcha. So, uh, there’s gonna be several of these. I think there’s like eight of them that are all going to be coming out, uh, the week of, like, August 4th through August 7th. So be on the lookout for those. They look like they’re gonna be a lot of fun.
tom: And then finally, uh, Rad Lopez’s 60-minute strength class has been rescheduled.
Crystal: You might remember when there was a fire underneath the Peloton Studios.
tom: Well, Peloton is always trying to light a fire under people.
Crystal: That’s true. Well, that day Rad had planned and scheduled for his first ever 60-minute [01:00:00] strength class, and then the stupid fire, ugh, took out-
tom: So rude.
Crystal: I know. So rude. So, uh, he could not teach that day.
Crystal: Nobody could teach that day ’cause it would… You… Everybody would be sick- Right … trying to exercise. So it has been rescheduled. It is now appearing on August 7th. It will be happening.
tom: Okay. So put that on your schedule-
Crystal: Absolutely …
tom: if you are interested.
Crystal: Yes.
tom: So that brings this episode to a close. Until next week, where can people find you?
Crystal: People can find me on Facebook at facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on, uh, Instagram, Blue Sky, Threads- There you go … and the leaderboard at Clip Out Crystal.
tom: You did it.
Crystal: I did.
tom: You can also find me on Blue Sky and Threads at Tom O’Keefe Jr., or on Facebook at facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online at, uh, facebook.com/clipout.
tom: While you’re there, like the page, join the group, and of course, don’t forget our Patreon. So that’s it for this one. Thanks for tuning in. And until next time, keep pedaling.
Crystal: And running.
tom: And rowing.
Crystal: And just for Tim [01:01:00] Shaughnessy, we shall.
The Clip Out is an independent Peloton news site with reporting, analysis, and community insights. We deliver breaking updates, feature reporting, and expert context on the stories driving the community and the industry.
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About the Author: Crystal OKeefe
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