Peloton Tips and Tricks, Part 2
I had so many Peloton tips that I couldn’t fit into Tuesday’s post, I decided to make a part two. These tips are more workout centric rather than general Peloton tips, and they’re skewed a bit more toward someone new to workouts in general or who have mobility issues. These aren’t revolutionary ideas, they’re just tips that may not be easy for a newbie to find. A lot of these are mentioned by instructors in classes, but unless you take that exact class, it might take you a long time to learn. I’ve recommended r/pelotoncycle before, but it really is a great resource. I always thought of Reddit as the internet’s sewer, but the Reddit Peloton community is lovely. A lot of great advice can be found there, in case you are curious about anything not covered here.
Keep You Resistance Up, Even If You Have to Lose Cadence (Or Vice Versa)
Jess Sims and Tunde frequently mention this in bike bootcamps, but I wish they did it in every class. I can brush away the leaderboard without a second thought, but I have a NEED to stay within the cadence and resistance callouts. (Sometimes in on demand classes the onscreen cues don’t match the callouts and I HATE it. It makes me ITCHY.) Say the instructor cues 50-70 resistance, 75-90 cadence. I can do 50 resistance, but I’ll need to be at 70 cadence, that’s FINE! The point is to go as fast as you can with heavy resistance, so keep that resistance and lose some cadence. If that was kind of confusing, just remember that resistance is more important than cadence, at least when the resistance cue is high. Sometimes the sprint’s the thing, so you want to try and hit 100, 115, 120 cadence (I don’t think I have ever hit 120 cadence), even if your resistance has to be low to do so. Which brings me to…
You Can Probably Add Resistance When You’re at High Cadence
It might seem counterintuitive, but to go fast, you need more resistance. My minimum resistance at a high cadence is 32, and as I get stronger that number might go up. If my resistance is low, and I start pedaling as fast as I can, I have no control. If I wasn’t clipped in, my legs would go flying off the pedals. You need a little pushback so you can control your muscles and keep up that fast speed. You can always take off resistance, so try adding it. See how it feels.
Core Workouts Can Be Easily Modified
I had three abdominal surgeries within a four year span of time. My core muscles are SHOT. I am working to rebuild strength, but so many core exercises are just not possible for me, even if I follow the modification an instructor suggests. So I just do crunches. Any time I don’t want to or can’t follow the routine: Crunches. I tend to start any bootcamp or strength stack with a 5 or 10 minute core workout, and, because you can’t see what’s in the class before you start it, I have ended up doing a solid 5 minutes of crunches. It’s FINE! (It really is fine, I asked my PT). If you find a core class that is manageable for you, bookmark it! Take it over and over. This 5 minute core class with Matty is ENTIRELY dead bug variations. I have taken it at least 20 times.
No One Can See You
This is my biggest tip for someone new to Peloton. The instructor can’t see you. They don’t know you did crunches when they were doing side planks. They don’t know that you went to get more water while they were doing a 5 minute climb. Jess Sims likes to say near the end of Bootcamps, “There’s no such thing as a 42 minute bootcamp!” and sometimes I’ll announce, “THERE IS TODAY.” and just quit. They can’t see you, they don’t know you, and they don’t know what your best looks like today. Maybe a 42 minute bootcamp is a HUGE accomplishment!
I took a pilates class for awhile with an amazing instructor who was very helpful with modifications and pain management. She would tell the class to add more weight or extend more, and once she saw me following her instructions and said something that has been helpful in every workout (pilates or not) since. She said, “Some people need to hear that they’re not trying hard enough, or that they can do more, and need to challenge themselves. I’m not talking to you when I say that. Just ignore me! I’m not talking to you!” When a Peloton instructor says something like, “You can add more resistance! You just think you can’t!” I know now that they’re not talking to me, and I can choose to listen or not, doesn’t matter, because they’ll never know.
