Fitness

FITNESS UPDATE – HOW I’M LIKING THE PELOTON TREADMILL + WHAT I’M UP TO NOW

01.13
FITNESS UPDATE - HOW I'M LIKING THE PELOTON TREADMILL

If you’re new around here, you may have missed that I purchased a Peloton treadmill in November! It got delivered right before Thanksgiving, and then the week after Thanksgiving I managed to injure myself (not on the treadmill!) and sprain my ankle. Because of that, I’ve really only had one full week to use the treadmill and can’t very well give a comprehensive review on it just yet. I’ve been doing physical therapy and am getting mobility back, but I definitely don’t want to force it and risk messing it up again! I’m hoping to start back up on the treadmill in the next week or so, but in the meantime I thought I’d share my initial thoughts! I also wanted to share an update on my current workout “routine”, which is a generous term if I’m being honest. At the bottom of the page I’m also sharing a roundup of links to previous fitness posts like my Peloton bike review, how I put together my Peloton workouts, photos and links to everything in my home gym, etc!

INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THE PELOTON TREAD +

You can read about the order + delivery process here, but it arrived much faster than I anticipated! The bike was a much longer wait last spring. I do wonder if it’s because of my location – we have a Peloton store here in Dallas, and I do know more people are ordering the bike than are ordering the tread. While the Peloton Tread + feels huge when you’re on it, it actually doesn’t take up that much space – click here to compare the dimensions and specs of the two Peloton treadmills. I had been told that the treadmill can feel short on tall people with a long gait, but it feels fine to me! I’m 5’9 and have a long stride, myself. I’ve also read complaints about how big the screen is, but I love it. I’m super ADD (very much diagnosed, ha!), so it’s nice to have it pull all of your attention right there! It’s also great for bootcamps when you have strength exercises off of the tread. I also love the shock-absorbing slats! I tend to get shin splints when I run, so hoping that will be helpful – haven’t had an issue yet.

There are two knobs that control speed and incline, and while they don’t bother me, I’m still getting used to using them. They’re very sensitive! The only thing that I can think of that is somewhat bothersome about the tread is that it is loud – but most treadmills are, from my experience. Luckily you can just turn up the volume on the screen to overpower the sound of the treadmill itself! I will say it also takes a while to load once I wake it from sleep mode, but I think that might just be my internet. So far, I’m really enjoying it! Since I had used the bike and app for strength workouts before getting the tread, I was already super familiar with most of the instructors. Jess Sims is by far my favorite instructor! I love her longer bootcamps, both on the tread and on the bike. Her strength and cardio workouts are killer too! I also love Adrian Williams, Selena Samuela, and Olivia Amato who do tread workouts as well. I most recently tried one of Becs Gentry’s classes for the first time and loved her teaching style, so I’m definitely going to try her tread classes as soon as I can! Be sure to check out my Comprehensive Peloton Bike Review post from last summer for more information on that and the instructors!

I’ll be sure to give another update on the Peloton Tread + once I’ve been able to start using it again for awhile, but hopefully that mini review answers some initial questions!

WHAT MY WORKOUT “ROUTINE” HAS BEEN LOOKING LIKE LATELY

As I mentioned above, my usual routine of working out daily has gone out the window since I sprained my ankle. I still work out several times a week and walk Reeses (my dog!) daily, but I’m not as consistent and rigid with my routine as I normally am! I’m trying to listen to my body right now and only work out when things feel right. For example, last week my left hip was really out of joint and sore, and instead of pushing through like I normally would I just took the day off. I think if 2020 and injuring myself has taught me anything, it’s that I need to slow down and give myself some grace.

For the two weeks following my injury, I only did two workouts and they were arms and upper body only. Since this happened during the holidays, it was actually a nice break and I didn’t feel much pressure to perform anyway. When I returned to Dallas after Christmas, I had my first PT appointment! After an examination of my ankle and a few exercises at the physical therapist, he said I could try using my bike again. My specific sprain is really only painful when my ankle is at a certain angle, so he thought I’d be ok with doing the bike – and he was right! So that was the first workout I added back. I still took it slow, only taking a class here and there versus pushing it every day. I also started adding in some strength exercises again using the Peloton app, only modifying certain exercises as needed. I’m still not doing any plyometrics (no jump lunges or jump squats yet), but I’m able to do most everything else!

In addition to doing some cycling classes and strength classes on the Peloton app, last week I decided to add The Sculpt Society back in the mix. If you recall, I used this app at the beginning of quarantine last year! It’s a mix of dance cardio and sculpting classes (similar to barre, but way more fun in my opinion), but I’m only doing the sculpting classes right now. The reason I added it back in is because the sculpting classes are low impact and easy for me to do on my ankle! While Peloton has some low intensity Barre and Pilates classes that I’ve tried, there’s not really anything similar or as challenging as The Sculpt Society’s sculpt classes. I love the way The Sculpt Society targets smaller muscle groups, like the inner and outer thigh to combat saddle bags!

Once I’m able to get back on the tread, my routine is sure to look at a lot different! But for now, it’s a mix of cycling, strength and sculpting. I’m honestly just doing whatever sounds good each day!

HELPFUL LINKS TO PREVIOUS FITNESS POSTS

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