Welcome to Peloton Diaries, where Peloton Members write about a week of their workouts. If you're a Peloton Member and would like the chance to submit you own Peloton Diary, you can do so here.
About Me
My name: Maggie C.
Find me on the Leaderboard: hashtagmaggie
I've been a Peloton Member since: March 2020
I use: The Peloton App and Bike
My occupation: Brand Director, P&G (Tampax)—I'm in the business of empowering women and normalizing period talk!
To introduce myself: I’m 28 years old and a very proud University of Michigan alum—so that’s fun, now that I live in Ohio. Cycling has always been my activity of choice, as I used to go two or three times a week to a local studio. A fun fact about me is that I have traveled to 53 countries, and have even been to Antarctica! As the pandemic changed both my travel and fitness routine, it was time to jump headfirst into Peloton. It’s nice to be moving, even when you’re at home! Pretty much everyone I know now has a Peloton, and it has been so wonderful. Peloton, despite not being a traditional “social media” or messaging platform, is a huge way that I keep in touch and have remained so close to friends all over the country, especially in the last year. We ride for each other’s birthdays and milestones and send texts about the best classes we’ve taken. (We also discuss how correct Cody’s latest hot takes about Dua Lipa or McDonald’s are.)
A recent fitness achievement I'm proud of: I worked out every single day of 2020, and will do that for 2021 as well! While I did lose weight, it wasn’t my goal—my main goal was to demand that I take the time for myself and de-stress through doing some sort of workout every day. (Going into the new year, I want to stretch every day and run a sub 8:20/mile 5K consistently.)
My most frequently taken class: I don't repeat classes almost ever EXCEPT Chase Tucker's 20-min Punk Rock Run from 10/16. Literally all my favorite songs ever on it, and every time I run it, I get better and better and better!
My advice to other Peloton Members: Stretch and warm up! I never used to and always got injured running, but with Peloton, I've been disciplined enough to do hips yoga before a class or pre-run warm up. It's paid off so much with a healthy, uninjured body, a much higher average Bike output versus a year ago and my fastest consistent mile time ever!
My favorite...
Instructors: Alex Toussaint and Cody Rigsby for cycling, Jess Sims and Adrian Williams for strength, and Chase Tucker for those pop punk runs.
Recovery day class: Low Impact Ride
Class playlist genre: Cody Rigsby pop and Chase Tucker pop punk. Those are *chef's kiss*!
Post-workout snack: Honestly ... Ruffles. Sometimes you just gotta indulge.
Time to work out: Love a lunchtime workout, so normally on the Bike around 12 PM. If I don't have time, then it's right after work. I also work out in the morning before work (normally just to get my life together) with some yoga and the occasional strength/cardio just to wake myself up. I will change my eating schedule to fit a 7:30 PM Monday night live class with Alex though—a tradition that my friend John and I have had!
My Week
MONDAY
20 min HIIT Cardio with Adrian Williams
30 min 2000s Ride with Alex Toussaint
5 min Post-Ride Stretch with Alex Toussaint
I’m an early riser, but normally it takes a couple of hours for my body to truly feel awake. That’s why, especially on Mondays, I liked to squeeze in a class before work—it serves as a warm up to my day and even week! Today I chose a 20-minute HIIT with Adrian because … I apparently like getting destroyed?! This man made us do an AMRAP of just burpees and push-ups! I definitely got the wake up call I was looking for! Bonus: I’m rewarded and surprised with my 60th-week-in-a-row badge!
I shoot a text to my friend John to make sure he’s in for tonight’s Alex Toussaint live ride at 7:30 PM. One of the greatest parts about Peloton during the pandemic is how it has kept me connected to my friends. It is so fun getting to ride “together” for milestones and birthdays—even when we’re thousands of miles away! John confirms he’s in, and we joke about changing our eating schedule around since we will likely not eat dinner till 8:30 PM, but it’s worth it for AT!
Alex is easily my favorite instructor on the platform. His coaching style and attitude are exactly how I like to be motivated; almost all my PRs are with him. His ride tonight doesn’t disappoint as he gives sweet shoutouts to his past teachers since it’s Teacher Appreciation Week. I give John a quick high five, take a post-ride stretch and I’m off to shower so I can finally eat dinner.
TUESDAY
20 min Focus Flow: Hips with Anna Greenberg
20 min Pop Walk with Jess Sims
20 min Punk Rock Run with Chase Tucker
10 min Full-Body Stretch with Jess Sims
One of my 2021 goals is to get to a consistent 8:20/mile running pace, and so I try to run at least twice a week. Today, I feel motivated enough to make it a run day. I have found that warming up has both prevented injury and made me faster, so I start off with some hip focused yoga before heading up to my apartment building’s treadmill to get a walk in. I almost never repeat classes on the Bike, but for runs I always come back to my absolute favorite class which is a 20-minute punk rock/pop punk run with Chase. It is so much fun, and it takes everything in me to not belt out “The Great Escape” by Boys Like Girls or “Check Yes, Juliet” by We the Kings. Luckily for my neighbors, I refrain from doing so and am rewarded with a 8:33/mile pace! Getting closer and closer to my goal! After, I put in a longer stretch as I prep for what will likely be a lower-impact day tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY
30 min APIHM Pop Yoga Flow with Aditi Shah
30 min Low-Impact Ride with Alex Toussaint
45 min Full-Body Strength with Jess Sims
After two heavy cardio days in a row, my body is feeling a bit tired, so I make today a low-impact and strength day. To start my day off right, I do Aditi Shah’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month yoga which puts me in a good mood. Over lunch, I hop on the bike for a 30-minute low impact with Alex. Lunchtime is my favorite time to work out, because it gives me a physical break from sitting at my desk all morning and more importantly, a mental reset so I can be focused in the afternoon. It ends up being a busy afternoon of meetings, but I feel good enough after work to put in a 45-minute long strength session with Jess Sims. She didn’t put in any burpees which was a shock but I’m secretly thankful.
THURSDAY
45 min Intervals & Arms Ride with Cody Rigsby
10 min Full-Body Stretch with Ben Alldis
Cody is my go-to when I need a little more motivation to actually get on the Bike, and today is one of those days. He makes working out so fun and distracts me enough with his hot takes (which I agree about 99.9% of the time with him on) that the rides fly by. I debate between doing a 30-minute or a 45-minute class with him over lunch—ultimately I go with the 45 because he has not one but TWO Dua Lipa songs in it. And as predicted, Cody doesn’t disappoint and talks about a couple of my absolute favorite topics: obviously the queen Dua Lipa, Little Mix, millennial faux pas and Taco Bell … *chefs kiss.* I didn’t get a chance to stretch right after the ride but do so after I’m done with work. Stretching has become a huge part of my routines, and because of it, I’ve seen so much improvement in my cycling output, running pace and most importantly, not being injured!
FRIDAY
5 min Pre-Run Warm Up with Jess Sims
30 min Usher Run with Chase Tucker
5 min Post-Run Stretch with Olivia Amato
A morning workout was just not in the cards for me today—I stayed out late with friends and felt super sluggish as I woke up. In the late afternoon, I feel so much better and figure I can use my newfound energy to get another run day in. After a warm-up, I head to the treadmill and decide on a 30-minute Usher run. Through my job, I signed up for a virtual 5K that needed to be completed in May, so I decide this run will be the 5K time I submit. My goal is a 27:00 minute 5K, and I got sooooo close … but clocked a 27:07. I’m definitely not beating myself up about it though—over the past two years, I’ve shed about three minutes off my 5K pace, and that’s something I’m super proud of!
SATURDAy
15 min Pop HIIT Cardio with Olivia Amato
30 min AT’s Ride to Greatness with Alex Toussaint
10 min Focus Flow: Hamstrings with Kristin McGee
Some days you just don’t have it, you know? I start my day off with some HIIT cardio just to wake myself up and feel pretty good. A couple hours later, I jump on the Bike in anticipation for the always intense Ride to Greatness ride and … my body really wasn’t feeling it. I contemplate quitting the ride in the first five minutes but AT keeps me going—I just take the modifications. It ends up being a low output for my standards but ultimately, I showed up, and that’s what matters most. Post ride, I can feel my hamstrings asking for some love, so I head to my mat to do a quick 10-minute flow with Kristin. Hopefully, I’ll be back to top form tomorrow!
SUNDAY
10 min Low Impact Ride with Tunde Oyeneyin
10 min Extra Mile Run with Chase Tucker
It was a surprisingly busy Sunday as I had a ton of errands to complete. This made it so I really didn’t have a ton of time to exercise, but I maximized 20 minutes between my two favorite ways to work out: spinning and running. I decided to keep it low impact (but not low fun!) with Tunde on the Bike and then headed to the treadmill to put at least a 10-minute run in. In the ride, Tunde talked about how some days she doesn’t feel like exercising, but you know how she copes? She just does it anyway. It felt amazing to have that sentiment reinforced and it’s why I love Peloton so much: No matter how much energy or time I have, the platform has helped me just find a way to put the work in. The rewards of finding a way shaped how much better and healthier I’ve felt in the last year, and makes the hurdle of “just getting on the Bike” so worth it!
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