In a post-pandemic world, people are less inclined to buy expensive exercise equipment, so Peloton is setting its sights on a new type of customer: gymgoers.
Amidst waning consumer interest and product recalls, the troubled interactive fitness company on Tuesday announced a relaunch of the Peloton brand that includes new app membership pricing options and a fresh app feature called Peloton Gym, which offers self-guided workout plans designed for the gym.
Let's be real: A gym membership is often more economical than a pricey home gym machine that also requires an ongoing subscription to get the most from it. But if you feel lost when you hit your local gym and need some guidance to confidently grab the free weights, Peloton Gym can help. The launch of this new feature marks a big turning point for Peloton, which up until now has attempted to lure consumers away from the gym in favor of working out at home.
Peloton gave me early access to a beta version of its new Gym feature and it's totally different from anything the company has offered in the past.
Peloton Wants to Be Your Gym Bestie
Starting today, all Peloton app users in the US and Canada can try the new Gym feature, available in the Workouts tab of the Peloton app (available to Android and iOS). The beta version I tested includes about 20 full-body, upper-body, lower-body, and core workouts ranging from 10 to 60 minutes.
According to the company, Peloton Gym was created exclusively by Peloton instructors. Like with its existing classes, Peloton offers a preview of each Gym workout with a list of moves and equipment you'll need, a written description, and a Body Activity diagram showing the targeted muscle groups.
When you start the Gym workout, you'll see a timer in the upper left corner of the display alongside Stop and Pause buttons. Below that is a list of exercises with video and written demonstrations, and a prescribed rep count or duration for each move.
You can optionally pair a compatible Bluetooth heart rate monitor or smartwatch with the app to see your heart rate and Strive Score (a non-competitive intensity metric) on screen during Gym workouts. In testing, my Peloton Heart Rate Band worked flawlessly with the new Gym feature.
Each workout starts with a short warm-up to activate the targeted muscle groups and is followed by blocks of exercises. As you finish each block in the workout you can swipe to mark it as completed and move to the next section, a fun interactive touch.
During Gym workouts, there's no trainer guiding you, no curated music playlist, and no leaderboard, a major departure from most Peloton classes. You move through the workout at your own pace while optionally listening to your own music from installed apps like Apple Music or Spotify. Since these workouts are self-paced, they can run shorter or longer than the estimated workout duration.
When you're finished, Peloton offers a post-workout summary showing your stats for the session including estimated calories burned, average and max heart rate, and Strive Score. Rest assured that all Gym workouts count toward your Peloton streaks, challenges, and achievements.
Many of these new workouts utilize equipment you can typically find at the gym, like a pull-up bar, weight bench, and barbell. This is the first time Peloton has incorporated these types of equipment, which people are less likely to have at home, as part of its workouts.
Though they are designed for the gym, it's possible to perform these workouts anywhere you have the necessary equipment. Some of the Gym workouts require just a set of dumbbells and some require no equipment at all.
Effective, But a Bit Boring
I teach and practice Yoga Sculpt (also known as yoga conditioning, a discipline combining traditional yoga postures with strength training exercises) and review smart strength training equipment and other home gym machines for a living. I don't belong to a traditional gym, so I tested the new Peloton Gym feature at home where I have plenty of dumbbells and a weight bench.
Because these workouts are so different from all the other content on Peloton's platform, I had to figure out how to follow them. Thankfully, the company makes the experience pretty intuitive, so I quickly got the hang of it.
The first Gym workout I tried was a 30-minute Glutes & Legs Strength session that delivered a serious burn. It started with bodyweight warm-up moves like single leg hip bridge and deadlift jump, followed by a challenging sequence incorporating goblet squats, sumo deadlifts, weighted hip bridges, and lateral bench step-ups.
Peloton recommends using a barbell for the sumo deadlifts and hip bridges, but I don't have one at home. I modified the move using dumbbells instead and that worked fine. (The company doesn't offer suggested modifications in the app, but that would be a useful addition.) During the workout, Peloton's video demos were helpful for moves I wasn't familiar with, like the deadlift jump and lateral bench step-ups.
Though Peloton estimated it should take around 30 minutes, I breezed through the lower-body sequence in just 20. After that, I tackled a 10-minute Core Strength session to round out my workout. The core plan required no equipment and incorporated moves like dead bug, scissor kicks, Russian twists, forearm plank, and more. The next day, I was so sore that I took a rest day from any type of fitness.
Since then, I've followed several other Peloton Gym workouts. All have been well-planned and effectively trained the targeted muscle groups.
I'll admit, these new self-guided Gym workouts are a bit boring compared with Peloton classes. In Peloton's traditional class format, the metrics-heavy interface, engaging trainers, excellent playlists, and fun social features all help to combat workout boredom. Peloton gained a cult-like following for its entertainment value as much as its sweat-inducing workouts; these new self-guided workouts take a step back on that front.
When you're working out at the gym, though, you need to be aware of those around you. This is especially true when you're using free weights, so the gym is not the best place for a traditional Peloton strength training class. Since they don't require as much sustained attention, these new self-guided workouts should be a much better option for gymgoers. The Gym workouts also lend themselves to customization better than the class format. For example, if you want to exceed the prescribed rep count, skip an exercise altogether, or take a long rest break to chat with your gym crush, you have the freedom to do so.
I can also see this being a helpful tool for newbies who want to learn some basic free weight exercises they can do at the gym, or anyone looking to spice up their usual routine. The self-guided format with video and written demonstrations for each move makes it easy to learn the exercises, and Peloton's trainer-curated Gym workouts can save you the time and effort of having to plan your own routines.
Monthly Fees to Use Peloton's New Gym
As part of its brand relaunch, Peloton announced three new app membership tiers: Peloton App Free, Peloton App One ($12.99 per month or $129 per year), and Peloton App+ ($24 per month or $240 per year). The new Peloton Gym feature is available exclusively in the app, across all tiers.
The free app gives newbies a taste of the Peloton experience with no investment. The tiered offerings allow you to start on the cheap and, as you improve or gain interest in different styles of exercise, jump into the higher tiers which offer more varied workouts.
Unfortunately, Peloton's new app pricing makes it more expensive to stream classes from the company's app while using a more affordable indoor cycle or treadmill from a different brand. On the new App One tier, you can only take up to three hardware-based classes per month. For unlimited access to Peloton's cycling, treadmill, and rowing classes, you'll now need a more expensive App+ membership. For a detailed breakdown of the new pricing options, head here.