I got in on the very last day for a 90 day free Peloton app trial. I have recently finished that trial, and I’m staying on. I actually took some form of class every day in July except for one.

What I liked about it:

• The variety: there are classes in: Strength, Yoga, Cardio, Meditation, Running, Outdoor (audio classes), Cycling, Stretching, Bootcamp, Walking. There are different kind of classes within each category, too (warm up, low impact, etc.).
• The instructors. There’s someone for everyone, and they’re all very encouraging and upbeat. You may not jive with everyone, of course, but there’s enough instructors that you’ll find someone you like.
• Music. I think that’s one of the key draws for Peloton — there’s music with all the classes, and you can choose what sort of music you want.
• You can preload classes. I did that so I could take a warmup when I drove somewhere to run and it worked fine for me. And I have an older iphone that can be balky about connecting.
• You can bookmark favorite classes.
• You can filter each type of class: bookmarked, taken by you, length, class type, instructor, music, and difficulty.
• When you filter classes, you can also sort them by: new, trending, popular, top rated, easiest, and hardest.
• If you’re motivated by challenges, there are quite a few to choose from. I have not joined a challenge yet (lone wolf that I am!).
• There are a variety of classes linked together into what Peloton calls “programs” — these are usually multi week programs with a variety of instructors on a common theme: strength, training for a 5k or marathon (hello, what about the other distances?), meditation, core, and a whole lot more.
• Then there are collections. Don’t ask me what the difference between a collection and a program is, they seem rather similar to me.
• Finally there’s a schedule of upcoming live classes to choose from. I haven’t tried a live class yet.
• The community. Actually I haven’t really done much at all with the community aspect of the app, but it’s there. If you want to connect with others to motivate you, it’s possible.

What I didn’t like about it:

• This is my biggest complaint: there is no way to search! Seriously? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to search for something, like when it was mentioned that there are some foam rolling classes on the app. Darned if I’ve been able to unearth them.
• Sometimes things just weren’t where I expected them to be, and of course I couldn’t search on them, since there’s no way to search (unless I’ve somehow missed the search function?). For instance, I expected a run warmup to be under “running”. I suppose it makes sense for it to be under “stretching”, but that wasn’t intuitive to me.
• Not to beat a dead horse, but there’s so much available it can be hard to remember where you found it — or find it in the first place. Because there’s no way to search.
• I guess I’m old enough that a lot of the music doesn’t really appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found plenty of classes whose music I enjoy. I’ve also looked at a lot of classes that look interesting, only to not be excited by the music choices. Sometimes I take them anyway, but more often I keep searching until I find something with music that I’ve at least heard of.
• The instructors have a tendency to talk too much for my taste. Hey, I came for the music, let me actually listen to it! OTOH, they usually have inspiring, upbeat messages.
• I’m not a big fan of the strength classes. It’s not that they’re not good (most), but I find most of the instructors are rushing through it too quickly — and sometimes, quite frankly, using bad form. They will admonish you to take your time and then they’re actually kind of throwing the weights around — it’s a recipe for injury for those who don’t know better.
• Why no Pilates? You know I love me some Pilates. There’s a Crush Your Core Program, and that is somewhat-Pilates based. There’s also a lot of crunches in that program. Crunches work mostly the superficial muscles in the abs — the showy 6 pack abs, not so much the deep abs that really give you core stability. Otherwise there’s no Pilates. Yet, anyway.
• Sometimes I wanted longer classes. Why are there no post run stretches longer than 10 minutes, for instance? I totally get a short pre run stretch, in the summer I rarely do more than 5 minutes — but after sometimes I do want a longer stretch. There are also no strength classes longer than 30 minutes — which is fine by me, and  you can stack classes together; still, sometimes it left me scratching my head.

Final Thoughts
You can see that I liked more things than I didn’t like. I didn’t mention that you get badges as you complete a certain number of classes, or particular series — it’s cute, and I know some people are really motivated by it.

There are a lot of things I haven’t even tried: walking, running (yes, since I had been trying to do my runs outside), cardio, outside.

I think the two things I love most about Peloton:

1. The music: before the app I was rarely on my stationary bike longer than 20 minutes and I wasn’t getting that productive a workout — I’ve definitely felt some of those cycling workouts! Music definitely motivates me, but on my own I rarely use it for my workouts. That has its advantages too; music can keep you too disconnected from your body — but it definitely has advantages.
2. The instructors: you have to find the instructors that resonate with you, but they all have such upbeat, inclusive messages. There’s no shouting or no pain, no gain attitude.

It always come down to: would I pay for it? Obviously my answer is yes.

One last thought: yes, I think I would love a Peloton treadmill. Mine is ancient. Of course $$$. They stopped selling them for a while because they come with in-home setup (nice!), but they are being sold now. I haven’t really researched them to see what people really think about them, but I know many bloggers who love their bikes, so I have to imagine the treadmills are good too.

What’s your favorite fitness app? 

Are you intrigued by Peloton now?

If you’re on the Peloton app — or lucky you, own a bike or treadmill — what’s your favorite thing about Peloton? 

Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.