I'm officially 101 classes into my Peloton journey and I feel that I've experienced a great variety of classes. I know what I like and what I don't, what I need to challenge myself, and I've taken each instructor at least once. I could talk about my favorite instructors forever and there's not many I don't enjoy, but first I will talk about some of the class types available.
HIIT Rides: I compare these to the way I run. High Intensity Interval Training. Most of these rides utilize shorter intervals with equal recovery times. I was always an interval runner and I liked to keep things relatively short, so going all out for 30 seconds to recover for 30 seconds is familiar to me. That said, I still struggle and haven't taken many of these rides. I find them to be very challenging and each is different. There's no set formula for how many intervals or length of intervals you will do in a HIIT ride. HIIT and Hills is a variation of this and includes some resistance builds.
Intervals and Arms: I think I've taken one or two of these classes and it was just because I wanted to join a live ride. I do not enjoy anything having to do with upper body strength or weights. Heck, I don't even have weights for my bike. So, whenever I take a ride with an arms section, I ignore the instructor and try to do something challenging with my legs. It's less fun having to come up with your own workout though.
Tabata Rides: The most challenging. I've taken a couple, but prefer to keep them short i.e. the 20 min Tabata rides. Tabata is like HIIT except for each interval, your recovery time is shorter. If you're doing spin ups at 120 cadence for 30 seconds, you may only get 15 seconds of "recovery." And trust me, it's as hard as it sounds. My goal is to take more tabata classes because I know leaving my comfort zone will lead to success, but it is without a doubt the most challenging type of class.
Climb Rides: These are how they sound. Heavy builds on resistance to create various "climbs." I like resistance, so I don't mind these, but find I don't take very many.
Low Impact Rides: These rides are "easier" but not easy. I found out the hard way that a lot of these basically just mean no out of the saddle time/no standing. These are still the types of rides you would want to do on a rest day, but don't go in thinking you're not gonna break a sweat.
The Peloton app also has the following as class types to filter by: Beginner, Power Zone, Live DJ, Heart Rate Zone, Groove, Pro Cyclist, Theme, and Metrics. I didn't cover these because I either haven't personally done them (Power Zone, Heart Rate Zone, and Metrics) or I believe them to not actually be a category for workouts. A Live DJ ride is just a ride with a regular instructor and a guest DJ in the room, a Groove Ride focuses on using the beat of the music to create cadence and maybe some moves/tap backs, and a pro cyclist ride is just a class taught by Christian Vande Velde. Theme rides are fun, but aren't a genre of ride. The music may be themed after a certain musical, movie, decade, etc. I usually end up choosing my rides by music genre or instructor. A lot of rides cover intervals and climbs and are named after their music genre. I've taken a lot more "pop rides" or "classic rock" than Tabata or Climb because that's just how I select my classes.
I genuinely enjoy almost every instructor, so it's hard for me to make a list of my very favorites, but I'll try. If you're a newbie to Peloton these are the first few I absolutely suggest you MUST take.
Kendall Toole: She's the kindest, most beautiful, badass, strong, and openly genuine individual. I want her to be my best friend. I knew from the first few classes of hers I took that she was the right motivator for me. I don't find her cheesy, I find her words genuine and easy to follow her instructions. In a weird way, I want to impress her. I ran a 5k in February and my mantra for the day was "What would Kendall say?" I've also followed her on social media for awhile now and she's open about her mental health. This is something I'm passionate about as well. One of her frequently used phrases is "They can knock us down, but they will never knock us out." I dig it. I love her.
Robin Arzon: Robin is someone that inspires me deeply because of her life experiences and genuinely cheerful mood all the time. Her laugh makes me laugh. She keeps it real, but is such a positive light that always reminds us to never let our crowns fall. She calls us hustlers and frequently reminds us that its okay to feel whatever we're feeling. She's probably the closest thing to a therapist I have, yet she's so high energy.
Tunde Oyeneyin: This girl is just so much fun. She's high energy and so genuine. Which I know I've said about everyone so far and it's not as if any of the instructors are fake or inauthentic. I just really vibe with her and she has such a gorgeous smile. She's transparent about her self confidence struggles in the past and I just connect to that so much. She did a Black History Ride that made me cry because of how she was talking about beauty. I just get such a good vibe from her.
Cody Rigsby: If you just wanna have fun, this instructor is for you. I've never hated my life during a Cody ride. He feels like a bestie and he keeps is so so so real, which also reminds me of me. He's hilarious, which again, reminds me of me. How can you not love someone that frequently tells you "it's not that deep, boo" and "get your life together."
Alex Toussaint: My love and respect for him is growing... slowly. I used to hate his classes because I viewed them as too challenging. They do tend to be difficult and I don't like when he does a "freestyle minute" in his rides. If you let me decide what I wanna do for a minute, especially after you've been kicking my ass, I guarantee you I'm gonna take a recovery. I do a lot better with specific guidance. He's funny though and he sings all the time... but he can't sing. He's also really good looking and he's motivational in a boot camp type way. One of the phrases he says frequently is "This isn't daycare!" I PR'd on my 30 minute Alex ride (it was my 100th ride too) so I guess he can push me in the right way... some days... if I'm in the mood.
So that's it, people. That's my basics guide to Peloton Cycle rides and instructors. My next post in the Peloton series will cover the ways I feel that indoor cycle has improved me as a person and as a runner. Stay tuned!
xx Ashley
You are an inspiration and a light in a sometimes dark world. Don't ever change. Miss you.