October is a popular month for core workouts, and nobody does Coretober better than my Peloton Breakthrough Crew Facebook group. The volunteer leaders created a calendar of workouts to keep us crunching and planking through Halloween.
Do you notice anything about the classes?
Coretober
The first Breakthrough Crew Coretober challenge was in 2020, just a short while after the group was created for Peloton’s official Pelothon challenge. The Breakthrough Crew was an official Peloton group and Peloton coaches Matt Wilpers, Chase Tucker, Emma Lovewell, and Adrian Williams were “our” coaches. For that Coretober, the challenge was to do all of their core classes. This year’s challenge has a different twist. If you read the calendar closely, you may notice that each class is with a different instructor. The ABC’s of Coretober has us taking one core class from every instructor who has one in alphabetical order—so creative!
Pelo-Drama
Last week Peloton announced a lot of changes that left many members confused and upset. I’m sure their messaging could have been better, but people are always going to complain about change.
First, they announced an all-new product line, called the “Cross-Training” series. The new equipment (bike, tread, and rower) have swivel screens that make it easier to “cross-train” with Peloton strength, yoga, and stretching classes, and built-in cameras and technology that can count your reps and give form feedback on your strength exercises. Somehow the announcement of new products had people jumping to the conclusion that their “old” equipment would stop working. I sympathize with recent purchasers but those within the 30-day return period could do an unofficial trade up by returning the current model and ordering a new one.
Second, they announced Peloton IQ—an “AI” based feature that will analyze your class data and generate “Personalized Plans, Performance Estimates, Insights and Analysis, and Personalized Recommendations.” It will do all of the above regardless of the equipment you have (or don’t have), but because Peloton touted it as a new feature of the new equipment, people assumed it only worked with the new equipment. Adding more confusion, there are some Peloton IQ features that only work with the new equipment, mostly related to strength training: “Rep Tracking, Form Feedback, Weight Rack and Suggested Weights, Self-Paced Strength, Workout Generator, and Strength Benchmarking.” So, if you are like most Peloton members and mainly take cycling classes, you are not missing out on anything.
The final blow was the announcement of a $5/month price increase for equipment users and a $3/motnh price increase for the highest tier of App-only users. This caused people to lose their minds because they saw it as making them pay for features they won’t have and/or don’t want. People are second-guessing Peloton’s messaging, saying announcing everything at once led to more confusion than necessary, but let’s face it, people are never going to be happy about a price increase no matter how much you sugarcoat it.
Oh, wait—there was one more unannounced change that brought complaints out of the woodwork—they changed all displays (App and equipment) to “dark mode.” Now my screen shots look like this:
I hear they are working on an option for light mode.
One new feature that people aren’t complaining too much about is Club Peloton. Peloton is way late to the game adding in-app social features (it’s always encouraged/supported ad hoc Facebook Groups) so I don’t think those will ever take off, but it added status levels that are earned by engagement—taking classes, completing programs, participating in official groups, etc. It rolled out the program retroactrively, and I am already at the highest level.
I always appreciate how Peloton gives me credit for past workouts if I join a challenge late, but I thought it was pretty funny that it determined when I reached prior levels that didn’t exist at the time. One reason not to complain about this new feature is that different tiers come with different discounts on Peloton merchandise. Legends like me can get 25% all the time. 🛍️
Scooby Miles
That’s enough about Peloton, so for my recap I’m just going to share my post-run selfies from my recent runs with Scooby. I missed last week’s recap, so I’m including photos from the past two weeks. You can follow the up-and-down changes in the weather by what I was wearing.
September 28: 6.0 Scooby Miles
October 3: 5.1 Scooby Miles
October 4: 6.0 Scooby Miles
October 6: 4.5 Scooby Miles
October 10: 5.1 Scooby Miles
Temperatures plummeted this weekend, so it may be a while before I wear a tank top outside again!
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
Are you doing any Coretober challenges?
What core exercsie do you find most challenging?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
I noticed the black mode & thought it was interesting… I honestly don’t pay much attention to equipment-related changes since they don’t really affect me. We’ve had some temperature fluctuations as well… my two full moon pics reflect about a 40-degree shift in temps, LOL.
We’re considering getting a Peloton bike and I’m hoping they’ll be available at Costco again this holiday season. I think the white print on a black background is very difficult to read – I’m sure it has to do with being older.
I bet Scooby loved all those miles!
I have no problem with Peloton upping their prices by $5 for all access members. If you average how many classes a month you take for the fee, it is more than worth it. You cannot go anywhere else like core power or any gym and get the same value.
I need to catch up on my core challenge this weekend!
Ha! Pelo-drama really is the perfect name for it — they should just trademark that. It seems that Peloton could avoid half these meltdowns if they’d just hire someone who knows how to communicate clearly. Announcing everything at once was like tossing a kettlebell into a hornet’s nest.
At least they haven’t messed with Scooby Miles! He’s looking as consistent as ever. 🐾
Interesting how they changed to dark mode only when there’s very common technology to have both or auto (whatever you are using on your device). People can be so over-sensitive about design changes! I get it about the changes with equipment, account tiers etc though.. the world is drowning in subscriptions that just keep increasing in price and adding features people don’t want. Personally I’m currently replacing subscription-based apps with free, open source or one-time licenses where possible. My problem isn’t paying a monthly fee (in most cases) but the fact that with a subscription the service can just be taken away, crazy price increases (like with Adobe), and the constant risk of enshittification.
Anyway – I understand there was a confusion about Peloton and I hope you’re right that it’s just confusion and that it will still remain a good service for most people.
The core challenge looks great! I think I said the same last year!
Oh..people being people, lol. I’ve never used Peloton, so I kinda skimmed over that section. It sounds like pretty big changes, though.
Love all the Scooby selfies!
I didn’t hear about the Peloton stuff, but I do see what you mean about how people could get confused or upset about it! I haven’t switched any of my apps to dark mode… and my kids tease me about it. LOL!
I hadn’t noticed the ABC order of the instructors until you mentioned it. Very creative!
Sounds like all these changes require a lawyer’s interpretation- and luckily, that’s you! Yes, people will always complain about changes- especially if it includes a price increase! I’m sure all will be well once people get used to the new features.
Love all the Scooby photos! And yes- we can see the weather changing with your outfits.
You know, Peloton used to be all over with their advertising, but I don’t hear about it nearly as much anymore. Those are a lot of changes and it definitely sounds like they missed the mark on getting that across to their customer base.
Scooby is always the most adorable guy!
I didn’t hear about that with Peloton — but I don’t have one! I have an exercise bike that I rarely use (I prefer running), but one of these days I may make the investment if I start to prefer cycling. I have taken a few virtual classes on my own bike, but again, it’s not my favorite form of fitness. Love all the Scooby selfies as usual 🙂 So photogeni
Loved reading this! The ABC’s of Coretober is such a clever twist. Totally agree on the Peloton updates too people always panic at first, but most of these changes sound like solid improvements once you dig into the details. And those Scooby Miles runs are impressive consistency, especially with the weather turning colder. Its frozen here!!
people being people indeed!
I saw the Cross Train ad on the bus shelters today and it reminded me to come back and read this.