A few Peloton tidbits to share today in case you missed them.
Are People Falling in Love With Their Peloton Instructors?
First, is it possible you are falling in love with your Peloton instructor?
In the era of COVID and Zoom and distance learning and WFH and shelter-in-place it would natural for relationships — even imaginary ones? — would evolve to an online form.
Such is the crux of a piece “Are People Falling in Love With Their Peloton Instructors?” posted on InsideHook. It’s an interesting and light-hearted read with some serious undertones. Though a few Tweets isn’t exactly the most rock solid evidence I’ve ever seen before the article does raise interesting questions as society socially retreats.
The idea reminded me of virtual reality experiments such as Second Life (still around!). There you can escape to an online world populated by avatars and various mingling locations. Chat away and interact and do what you might not otherwise have the opportunity or the will to do in the real world. With the democratization of VR headsets these worlds are increasingly more immersive and engaging — for better or worse.
For me the Peloton bike is simply that: a Peloton bike. An excellent one at that. No doubt. But for me, at least, the instructors are there for motivation and to get me not only on the bike, but also to get me working out as hard as possible. They are successful at that in spades. I guess so far I’ve resisted the allure or spell of the likes of Ally Love, Ben Alldis, Denis Morton, Alex Toussaint and the wonderful rest. I do love that I’m in relatively okay shape thanks to them. And I’m thankful with the local gym closed here in San Jose that I can still have an opportunity to workout. But once I’ve clipped out, I’ve clipped out. Onto the rest of my day. This, folks, is strictly platonic.
In any case here’s the Peloton love article if you want to explore the idea more.
Pelotaunt Bike by SNL — say goodbye to motivational speeches
If the topic of Peloton love is the proverbial “shot” then the “chaser” is fittingly:
Pelotaunt
A new exercise bike you may never heard of before. Here’s the ad:
Watch: Pelotaunt by SNL
A commercial advertises an exercise bike that replaces the usual motivational speeches with criticism.
I’ve written on Stark Insider about shout-outs — those notorious and random things instructors say throughout a ride to get us digging deep when the going gets tough.
They’re often borderline cheesy.
But I will admit when I’m reaching the finish line and ready to melt into a pool of sweat and Alex T. shouts out something about how your brain is saying one thing and your body is saying another or something like that and something about champions and practice and something about maybe willpower and we’re all in this together and something else and that he would never ask us to do something he wouldn’t be willing to do himself… that it can actually work.
In fact a well placed motivational expression — or simple call-out to care for your posture during a ride — can put me over the top and yield a result I previously thought unattainable.
ALSO SEE: Peloton Top 10: Best accessories for your bike
Still, the idea of a Pelotaunt? Keeps it all in perspective thanks to SNL.
I’m ClintTheMint. Be good out there. If you can’t be good… be careful!
