So this one time, I took a Fiesta Latina ride with Camila and the subtitles failed me. Or maybe they were never there from the beginning, or I took the class too soon after its drop, or the universe was sending me a message. Fortunately, I knew Camila decently well, and even though my metrics ALSO weren’t working, the ten words of Spanish I knew from Dora the Explorer plus a lot of enthusiasm got me through. I did, however, accept the message from the universe and download Duolingo, and less than six months later, puedo decir que, a mi, me encanta montar con mi major amiga Camila. Estudio mucho y ahora puedo comprender unos de sus palabras quando montamos juntas.

I was especially thrilled, then, when The Clip Out interviewed Celestine Rojas, notable Peloton and Camila enthusiast, Chilena, #MilaMafia admin, and all-around inspirational and bilingual bad bish. She’s also really determined to keep you going- we all need a friend like Celestine.

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A post shared by Celestine Rojas (@celestineoninsta)

We All Have Our Peloton Discovery Story

… and I’d never skip Celestine’s, especially since she’s a fellow COVID Pelotoner- when gyms closed and outdoor activities became limited, she was encouraged by her husband, who was using the app for strength training. Despite skepticism, Celestine found herself enjoying the strength classes, particularly those led by instructor Andy Speer. Eventually, for her birthday, she decided to purchase the Peloton bike. As she explored the platform, she discovered the engaging and inspiring instructors, with Cody becoming one of her favorites. Celestine’s enthusiasm for Peloton grew as she found joy and motivation in the workouts, especially during the challenging times of the pandemic. She particularly resonated with the Latin instructors like Mariana and Rad, but it was Camila Ramón who had a profound impact on her fitness journey, changing her perspective and bringing a sense of community through her classes. Celestine’s dedication to Peloton, fueled by the fun and inspiring workouts, transformed her fitness routine and mindset.

Food, Music, and Instructor Fun

Celestine’s favorite things? Funny instructor reels (check out hers!), croquetas (haven’t had these yet, but they’re Cuban and sound amazing), recruiting new Peloton lovers, and getting her South American Spanish rock fix in via none other than Erik Jäger (she, and Erik, recommend Argentinian rock, including  Los Fabuloso Cadillacs.) Besides Camila, Erik, and Andy, she also mentions Assal as an instructor she loves.

It all comes back to Camila, though, with Celestine telling us that so many of her fans “don’t speak a peep of Spanish,” and “show up to the classes because it’s a vibe… following their cadence and resistance is a good rule of thumb, or doing the Google thing that I mentioned.”

So What’s the Google Thing?

Assal and Erik teach almost completely in German, so how does Celestine do it? Her tricks are better than relying on your bike’s subtitles:

• For strength with Assal, she’ll follow visual cues. That’s hard to do during a lot of strength moves (and, as I know, yoga), so she’ll put the workout not only on the Bike or Tread screen, but also cast it to a TV- so she has two options for places to look.
• For bike workouts, she puts Google Translate on her phone- so it doesn’t require Peloton subtitles, and she can follow the German more easily. (Also note for the Spanish/English bilingual Peloton community- she feels that Google does better translating German into English than into Spanish.)
• Celestine translates! Look for particularly funny or inspirational instructor reels translated at her account– she’d love you to check out some instructors or classes outside your normal language.

And a bonus tip? Work on your language skills by taking a class in English, with subtitles in a different language! Try these filter settings:

More Multilingual Tips, Dreams, and Insider Scoop

Celestine points out that so far, there aren’t live Tread classes in Spanish. Camila teaches live on Tread, but only in English; Mariana teaches in Spanish on Tread, but only on demand. (And is Mariana “the Latin version of Matt Wilpers”? Celestine relies on her knowledgeable coaching style when making that comparison, but I feel we really need to know if Mariana goes to bed at 8:30 pm, enjoys bananas, and looks good in a backward hat.) She also dropped some instructors-in-person trivia: Mariana is magical, and Rad enjoys Starbucks and has just as beautiful a smile in person as he does in class.

Finally, Celestine reminded us why we love Peloton- because it’s not always about plugging in your headphones and focusing inward, it’s also about community. Find your group, even if that means braving the OPP to get group ideas. (Take it from both Celestine and Crystal!)

Muchas gracias, Celestine, para nos compartimos su conocimiento de las clases de Peloton en español…. y inglés y alemán! Check out the episode here or here.

Tune in to The Clip Out every Friday to hear Tom and Crystal’s take on this and other hot Pelotopics. We’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeart, TuneIn. Be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. You can also find the show online on Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. Lastly, find us on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com/TheClipOut, where you can watch all of our shows.

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