Robin Arzon
I chose Robin Arzon’s Hip Hop class this morning. Robin is a ultra marathoner and Peloton’s VP of fitness programming. As I’ve stated in the past,”That girl is Crazy”. There was no way I could match the cadence and resistance pairing Robin called out for the duration of her pushes, even with nearly a year on the cycle. The inner conversation (shouting match) that goes on in my head as I try to push through is revealing. I push on, hold on, then some time later collapse as Robin says something like, “Just another sixty seconds then we’ll increase resistance by three to five.” Sure. I bookmark her rides thinking I’ll take them again and do better. All in all this was a grueling work-out. It ran the full range from easy, fun, through sustainable and exhausting, to let me outta here I can’t do this, then back to recovery, easy, fun and over again.
Michael Phelps?
So Michael Phelps trains on a Peloton. I’ve marveled at the total output displayed at the top of the leaderboard. I’ve thought, these guys are either pro athletes or their bikes are way out of calibration. I suspect many have detuned their cycles to bump their standing. I also think there are pro-cyclists who actually make those outrageous output numbers.
OlympicTalk: I watched your CNBC interview today, and you mentioned being on the bike. It reminded me of a Men’s Journal interview you did last year where you mentioned doing a competitive spin class. Is biking your primary form of exercise now?
PHELPS: It’s all I do. I pound it. I went 30 straight days on the bike. (Pulls out phone to look up statistics) 500 miles in 30 days, 1,100 minutes and 28,000 calories. I was just basically at the point I just was like, I’m just going to grind for a month and see what happens. Somebody said, what are you going to do after that month? Probably keep going. I like having that competition on the bike. I ride a Peloton, so I ride in classes. I have an alias. No one knows it’s me.
That’s something that gets me going because I know how it was in the pool. If I didn’t feel well, if I was tired, this or that, I knew I still had to do it. For me, having that leaderboard on the right-hand side of the screen that tells me where I am in the list drives me a little bit. So it’s now basically I’m probably top five, top 10 percent every single time I’m in there. I just try to push myself. The biggest thing for me now being retired, I know how important it is for me to get that energy out, to be the best version of myself. So I make sure I have to get a workout in six or seven days a week. I mean, I was up this morning at 5:15 to get a workout.
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/04/12/michael-phelps-2008-olympics-swimming-peloton/
Me?
For comparison I just checked my stats for the past 30 days. I took 28 rides in that time and logged 366 miles and 13,780 calories. Phelps burned more than twice as many calories? I’d guess he takes 30 minute classes and his output is more than twice mine.
Here’s another reason I really enjoy Peloton. Where else can you have fun and compete with an international community?