You Can (and Should) Do Peloton Co-Workouts With Friends
The home fitness space is more or less dominated by Peloton, which probably makes you think that whether you ’re stretching with the company’s app or riding one of its exercise machines like a bike , you’re working out alone. One of the biggest downsides to working out at home, frankly, is that you’re missing out on the shared, communal experience of going to the gym, and without that, you can fall off your schedule or lose accountability or motivation entirely. While you might assume that Peloton’s offerings are a solo experience, and of course they are, the brand makes it surprisingly easy to show up for classes and exercise with friends. To add a little variety and accountability to your fitness routine, you really should.
How to Organize On-Demand Classes with Friends
The Peloton app makes it easy to schedule a ride, stretch, walk, run, or whatever with a friend. (Note: This feature is technically called “Sessions,” so if you see that term , it just means “on-demand class with friends.”) First, you’ll need to make sure you and the person you want to work out with are both signed in to each other’s Peloton profiles. Go to any on-demand class in the app (and I recommend doing this on your phone, because it’s a lot easier than trying to find it on the touchscreen of one of Peloton’s signature devices, like the Tread or Row), and you’ll see a bunch of options. The first is a button to add the class to your Stack , which is like a playlist of classes you can create so that all of your routines, from stretching to riding to cooling down, flow into each other when you’re ready to workout. The second button is Schedule , so if you want to, say, attend a specific yoga class at noon in two days, you can schedule it so you get a notification on your calendar. The third button is what we’re looking for, Invite , and the fourth button is Preload , which lets you preload the class so it doesn’t buffer and eat up too much data while you’re attending it. The fifth button is the Bookmark button , which adds the class to a list of ones you want to save for later.
Obviously, we’re aiming for the third button, Invite . Clicking this will bring up a list of the people you’re following. Select the one or more you’d like to workout with—there’s no limit!—and click Continue . On the next page, select the date and time you’d like to attend the class with your chosen friends, and click Continue again. You can then choose a reason to workout together, such as a holiday, birthday, or “just because.” The final screen is a confirmation page that details the class, time, and invitees.
How to Attend Live Peloton Classes Together
Whenever you choose a class, whether it’s on a bike, track, rowing machine, phone, tablet, or Roku, you’ll find an Invite button. You don’t have to schedule a time in advance using the calendar feature. If a friend is available, they can jump in and join you. This is great because it means you can easily host live classes, too. When you enter a class, simply find the Invite button, select the name of the person you’d like to train with, and continue as normal.
It goes without saying that it’s much easier to coordinate all of this via text or phone than it is to just send random people invites. Agreeing on the type of workout, music genre, and time of day are all pretty important components of effective group workouts, so let your friends know if you’re interested in attending a class and want them to join, then use the Peloton app to make it all official.
Peloton Classes with Friends
Once your invitee confirms their attendance, you both need to show up at the designated time. It’s helpful to set a calendar reminder. On the main page of the app, look for the calendar icon in the upper right corner. This is your schedule, and you should see the class you scheduled with your friend in advance. Tap it and tap Add to Calendar , then choose Google Calendar or iCal and set an alert.
In fact, signing up for a class is as easy as opening the app, whether on your phone or on a Peloton machine, a few minutes before it starts. From the main screen, go to the Calendar button, then select My Schedule in the upper left corner. A countdown to your scheduled class will appear, along with a Start Class button you can tap if you and your friends are ready, or you can just wait for the countdown to end and start right at your chosen time.
I tested this in a few ways. One time, I was doing a meditation with a mutual follower and following him on his phone. As the class went on, I could see his name in the “Here Now” section and send a high-five in the app, just as I could do with any stranger who might be attending the class at the same time as me. Then we moved on to Bike, having previously scheduled the class on the mobile app. Same thing there: I could see his name on the leaderboard with me, send a high-five, and see his results reflected in his name.
More specifically, there’s nothing else. There’s no audio or video component, meaning you can’t hear or see your friends. There’s no breakdown of your stats versus theirs or anything like that when you finish a session (though you do get the “Dynamic Duo” achievement badge if it’s your first time working out together). You’re doing it “together” only in the sense that you’re both doing it at the same time, vaguely aware of each other while focusing on your own workout.
I like it, though, because it can bring some accountability to what might otherwise be an unstructured activity. Even just knowing that someone expects you to get on your bike at a certain time can force you to do it. That’s why I love in-person classes so much and am a little weary of — but still supportive of — virtual options.