Peloton, stay your course

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The camera zooms in on two well-shaped cheeks wearing white pants. these The buns of steel belong to Hudson Williams, the star of the hockey romance Hot competition. As the camera pans up, beads of sweat drip from his chin toward his collarbone. Sweaty abdominal muscles appear. The music swells. The Hollywood hunk is at the moment swaying his chiseled image back and forth, almost spinning on… a Peloton treadmill. The $6,695 Tread Plus, to be exact.

Listen to a funky dance sequence to David Bowie’s “Fame,” as Williams begins doing dumbbell squats with celebrity Peloton trainer Tunde Oyeneyin. The camera continues as Williams planks, shadow boxes, pumps iron, runs on the treadmill, and oozes that guy charm I told you not to worry about.

Yes. Veteran Peloton watchers know what this means. new Celebrity ambassador announcement? A Rebranding In progress, my dear

It may seem strange to read Peloton tea leaves in an exciting commercial. But I would argue that viral Peloton commercials tend to reserve certain periods in the company’s history. Four years ago, former CEO Barry McCarthy tried to shift the company’s focus away from expensive hardware and toward subscriptions. In that era, the company developed Advertisement starring the surprising Christopher Meloni Extolling the virtues of application during exercise…in the buff.

Likewise, take that A popular holiday commercial. He – she He was In 2019, I watched a husband gift his wife an exercise bike, but the commercial itself said a lot about how Peloton sees itself — a company for internet geeks, the young, and the affluent who view a premium exercise bike as a status symbol in their idyllic West Elm homes. What followed was Peloton Dream of a fever fueled by an epidemica wild and bumpy ride of dramatically increased demand, trading missteps, recalls, and questionable product placements that culminated in… Mr. Big is dying on Peloton At the movie premiere And like that…. Again, it followed A cheeky ad for Peloton starring Chris NothThe actor who portrays Mr. Big. That 2021 campaign ended up backfiring, as Noth was later canceled due to sexual harassment allegations. Weeks later, Peloton Bombastic CEO John Foley has stepped down.

Given this history, it’s worth noting that in Williams’ latest commercial, a Peloton bike is nowhere to be seen. Instead, Williams is doing multiple types of workouts, and most importantly, he’s not in a nicely furnished home. It’s in a spacious gym.

All of this dovetails with the business machinations of Peloton’s third CEO, Peter Stern, the former Ford executive and One of the founders behind Apple Fitness Plus. Stern’s arrival has come Comprehensive hardware update Which led to increased fees and the introduction of artificial intelligence — or Peloton IQ, as they call it — to the Peloton platform. (plus two Layoffs, though At this point, I’ve lost count of the number of layoffs Peloton has made.) On earnings calls, Stern also mentioned that he no longer views Peloton as a fitness company. It’s a health The company now, and In his wordsThis means expanding on “strength, stress management, sleep and nutrition.” Modern Bloomberg The report posits that Peloton IQ may play a larger role in the platform beyond strength training, using wearable data to suggest personalized plans. She also notes that Stern plans to attract GLP-1 users “who are looking for additional fitness options,” taking Peloton beyond the home by partnering with gyms and lifestyle brands, and prioritizing treadmills — not bikes — going forward.

coincidence? I don’t think so.

I used to joke that Peloton was the company most likely to send me to an early grave. From 2020 to 2023, it seemed like there was a new Peloton disaster every few weeks. Every time the news came out, my blood pressure rose and I was confused as to how a company could keep shooting themselves in the foot when they had such a powerful product and… A ridiculously loyal fanbase. Things have calmed down a bit since then, but the struggle for Peloton’s prosperity continues.

The Peloton Paradox is one of the things I’ve been thinking about for the past three months while testing the new Cross Training Bike Plus series. On the one hand, not much has changed regarding the product. The “most comfortable” bike seat still hurts on long rides. The coaches are still inhumanly energetic. I love the new phone holder, and the built-in fan is even more useful. There’s a camera now when I strength train; Sometimes it counts the number of repetitions correctly, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve tried creating some power programs with AI, and that can be helpful sometimes. But despite all the hype around the Peloton IQ, it’s the one I liked most It’s a little indicator above new exercises that tells me if they’re harder, the same, or easier than what I usually do.

This structural tightness is not unique to Peloton. I wrote about it in Last week Mohsenbut there’s a tendency these days for health tech companies (if that’s what Peloton has become) to focus on overall health trends to inform their latest features and products. There’s nothing wrong with studying trends, especially if they align with your core business. The danger is to get caught in an escalating hype cycle where the product you started with becomes increasingly unrecognizable within a few short years.

For all its turmoil, Peloton has so far remained fundamentally the same. But I will admit that some of my experience testing the Cross Training Bike Plus, as well as anecdotes from… Bloomberg Article, made my eyes twitch.

First, I was prescribed GLP-1 as part of a treatment plan for my metabolic dysregulation of fatty liver disease that I reported in My latest CGM feature. On paper, BloombergConfirming that Peloton is keen on targeting GLP-1 users makes perfect sense. This market is booming, so everyone in the health and fitness-adjacent industries is doing it – Including viral gummy bears. Strength training is extremely important for GLP-1 users, as prolonged appetite suppression can contribute to muscle loss. Marketing yourself as an easy way to get in strength training from the comfort of your own home is smart, as gyms can be incredibly intimidating. Personally, I don’t like competing over weights or equipment.

But I’m very skeptical about the reality of “personalized” plans built using wearable data and AI. In all the testing I’ve done so far, I’ve yet to see an AI-powered wearable that’s actually able to customize the platform to my specific needs.

Let me be perfectly clear: it was bullshit. Artificial intelligence training? Terrible for accountability because they are easily bullied. Features of AI feeding? I can’t tell when I’m making healthy swaps, and they are He makes Logging in is so boring I’d rather not eat. (Which is counterproductive!) AI exercise insights? The book reports regurgitated things I already knew. Peloton hasn’t yet integrated all of these features, but this one We are Areas that Stern himself noted the company is looking at next. As for what’s currently available, Peloton IQ’s AI-generated, self-less-coach strength plans are quick to create, but often fall short of what I need and what my current health allows. I usually end up switching several moves, which makes me wonder why I didn’t write my own program or take a class to begin with.

For me, true fitness personalization is being able to say, “Hey, I recently started these medications and have had side effects of Week, energy permitting, here’s my wearable data, in which you can see all the ways my cardiovascular fitness has deteriorated and my sleep has been severely disrupted So, honestly, what’s a realistic, sustainable, adaptable four-week plan for me, given that my new medications have made me hate eating animal protein, chronically dehydrated, and prone to dizzy spells and get a plan?

Spoiler: I can’t get a good answer for this. Most wearable and fitness chatbot attempts to respond to this claim have followed the same trend. Well, the recovery plans I had to write out by hand, full of festering data trends and some basic suggestions I could have Googled. Strength recommendations are summarized as “light strength exercises.” Whoop’s AI was the closest I came to an actual, organized plan, but it was still too ambitious for where I am now.

I love Peloton no Down this trendy rabbit hole. Specifically because there have been several times in the past three months when testing the Bike Plus has benefited me. However, none of the features were new. It was great being able to get lessons and some teacher-led incentives in the privacy of my own home. I understand that Peloton is exploring gyms to attract new users. I realize that treadmills are a faster growing segment than bicycles. But Peloton’s core product is how these classes and teachers create people feel. That’s the main reason dozens of die-hard Peloton fans chimed in when I did In-depth report On the Peloton business again in 2024.

Ultimately, I have no idea how this newest pivot from Peloton will land. I stopped trying to predict a company’s fortunes a long time ago. But for as long as I’ve been following Peloton, its greatest successes have come from relying on what people already love about it. The pressures to be bigger, grow faster, and do more seem to constantly blow up in her face. Would it be so bad if Peloton He was “Just” a fitness company?