This month marks my 8 year anniversary on my health & fitness journey. Eight years! On December 10, 2013 I joined my first ever gym, good ole Planet Fitness. I went from no workout regiment to full on committing to 5:30 AM workouts Monday through Friday. I maintained this schedule for a solid 2+ years until I became pregnant with the twins.
Mommyhood then obviously changed things. At first I joined an expensive gym that offered childcare, but totally underestimated being a new mom and the work involved to get there. Thankfully at six months postpartum I discovered at-home workouts with Beachbody and have been doing their programs for 4 1/2 years now… until recently.
Dare I say it, but I’ve outgrown Beachbody.
Don’t get me wrong. Beachbody came into my life at a time I didn’t know I needed it, and it has served its purpose in my health & fitness journey. However, this year I started to get a sour taste with the company as a whole, and during that time Peloton really started to hit my radar.
This past summer Beachbody merged with a Peloton competitor, Myx Fitness. This coincided with their new interactive system, BODi, where they’re now offering live classes including cycling. Beachbody even went as far as hiring an ex-Peloton instructor as their newest super trainer.
This was Peloton’s first major blip on my radar.
MYX Bike, who?
When the merger with Myx Fitness was revealed, I was like who? I had never heard of them, but thought cool, Beachbody’s going to sell a spin bike and offer cycling classes. I must “drink the Kool-aid!” (Despite never having done a spin class.)
Beachbody was offering an introductory price of $1,299 for the lower model bike, but coincidentally Peloton had dropped their price on their lower model from $1,895 to $1,495. So then my thought process was, well, for a little bit more, why wouldn’t I want the real deal, the leader in the spin bike industry?
This is when my gears really started to turn (pun intended) on Beachbody vs. Peloton.
Peloton is more than cycling
The more I researched MYX bikes vs. Peloton, the more I realized Peloton is more than cycling. They also offer strength training, yoga, meditation, cardio, stretching, outdoor running / walking, treadmill, and bootcamps.
#hardCORE On The Floor
While Peloton’s forte may not be structured programs (though they do offer some), thankfully #hardCORE On The Floor exists. HCOTF is an unofficial Peloton Facebook group created by a personal trainer who organizes a monthly calendar of Peloton strength training classes in “stacks”. I’ve been following this calendar for two weeks now, coming off an almost finished round of 80 Day Obsession (literally had 15 workouts left).
What I’m enjoying about HCOTF so far:
1. My workout can be as long or short as needed
Each day consists of a “stack” of workouts, typically two 10-minute workouts and one 20-minute workout. I also stack on a 5-minute post-stretch, giving me a solid 45 minutes. With this structure I can pick and choose to do less if I’m perhaps short on time. Honestly the hour long 80 Day Obsession workouts were starting to drain me.
2. The variety in instructors
Because the day’s workout is separate workouts combined, I’m training with different instructors vs. spending 80 days with the same trainer. Each trainer has their own style, and it’s been nice to switch things up.
3. The moves are simple yet effective
I’ve heard criticism through my years of Beachbody that some moves are high risk for injury. I’ve also recently discovered Briannah Jewel on YouTube, a personal trainer who reacts to Beachbody workouts. She gives credit where credit is due, but mostly her consensus is that Beachbody programs feature complex moves just for the sake of being hard, which can of course lead to injury.
Honestly having done enough Beachbody workouts, and now having experienced Peloton strength training classes, I concur with this notion.
4. Licensed music!
I didn’t think music would be an important feature to me, but it’s been a game changer! Beachbody programs are notorious for either the worst unlicensed music or no music at all. I remember when 80 Day Obsession debuted a lot of people complained because it features no music. Personally I wasn’t bothered by it. 🤷♀️ It was better than the cheesy music I had heard from older Beachbody programs. Now that I’ve done enough Peloton classes with good licensed music though, this is definitely an area Beachbody lacks, especially in the investment of their new BODi spin-off.
5. Never getting bored
The beauty of the HCOTF calendar is that it satisfies my desire to follow a program without the monotony of an actual program. I’ve done countless rounds of 80 Day Obsession, so I know all the jokes, all the mess ups, every time the workout runs long, etc.
6. No guilt if I miss a class
With HCOTF, the workouts are flexible. If you miss a day, just continue on with the calendar for the scheduled date. With Beachbody, if I miss day 79 of 80 Day Obsession, I still have to makeup day 79 in order to complete the program.
A lot of Beachbody users get hung up on losing momentum with programs or kicking themselves for jumping ship to another program because they got bored. You start off strong, like, “Yes! I’m going to go all in on 80 Day Obsession and get results!” but then life happens and you beat yourself up because you weren’t “perfect”. Remember, this is a journey!
Peloton isn’t a MLM
Arguably the most important difference between Beachbody vs. Peloton is that Peloton isn’t a MLM, which stands for Multi-Level Marketing, a.k.a. “pyramid scheme”. While I always knew Beachbody was a MLM, and I knew many people were put off by this, I don’t think my eyes were truly opened until I watched LulaRich.
LulaRich is a mini docuseries Amazon Prime debuted back in September that chronicles the unraveling of LuLaRoe, another infamous MLM company. Unsurprisingly there were many similarities I connected between LuLaRoe and Beachbody.
Four days after watching LulaRich, I cancelled my Beachbody coaching account, my Shakeology, Recover, and Energize supplements. Only my BOD subscription remains active, though it’s set to expire in June. I haven’t done an actual Beachbody workout since Monday, December 6th, 2021.
Closing Thoughts
It’s hard to say goodbye to something that’s pretty much defined me for 5 years now. Everyone knew I did Beachbody. Even when I wasn’t coaching, I still valued the workouts and supplements. But now… I’ve evolved. 🤷♀️ By no means do I throw shade to anyone who does Beachbody workouts though. It’s a convenient and affordable fitness solution. I’ve personally just outgrown it.
With the New Year in just a few days, I’m excited to start fresh with Peloton. Catch me on the leaderboards #ToningWithTwins.