I Replaced My Fitness Studio Membership With a Peloton Tread+

When David L. first joined the Peloton community last fall, he was an avid Orangetheory Fitness member who occasionally rode the secondhand Bike he'd purchased. But, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March, the 45-year-old attorney couldn't have been happier to have Kendall Toole or Denis Morton telling him to crank up the resistance in his living room.

“I was thrilled that I had it,” he says. “I started riding the Bike more and more, but also doing some of the strength classes. I started taking HIIT and cardio classes too, so that worked out really well.”

Despite his newfound passion for cycling, David still missed the bootcamp-style running workouts he'd grown accustomed to during his three-year stint at Orangetheory. So the Zionsville, Indiana native began considering the highly coveted Peloton Tread+.

“I started looking at the Tread+ and really liked the design,” he says. At the time, sales weren't active in Indiana because of the pandemic, but he kept an eye on the site. “Then, one day, they began selling them again so I thought, 'Go ahead and pull the trigger!’”

To this day, David says investing in a Tread+ remains one of the best decisions he's ever made. He maintained his fitness by finding a workout similar to Orangetheory that he can do in the comfort of his own home—and there's the added benefit of having thousands of live and on-demand classes to take anytime of day, even if he has a 6 AM conference call. That’s helped him stay accountable when it comes to exercising, even on especially hectic days.

“The first day it was delivered, I did a 30-minute interval class with Becs Gentry and a 20-minute class with Andy Speer,” David says. “I was like, 'This is awesome. I want more!' But I was already 50 minutes in at that point, so I thought I should probably stop.”

Luckily, the father of two—who is still working from home while his kids attend school part-time—has found countless ways to crush his fitness goals with Peloton. “I like to mix it up with the Bike, the Tread+ and some strength training,” he says. “I typically do a couple of bootcamp classes a week. Then I mix in one or two other classes, as well as a 45- or 60-minute endurance run once or twice a week.”

So far, the results have been on par, if not better, than his experience at Orangetheory.

“Peloton and Orangetheory are different, but I think this is definitely a very worthy replacement,” David says. “The Tread+ has a huge screen, and the metrics definitely help you feel more connected. I'm pretty competitive, so I like to look at the Leaderboard. I like to see if I can beat my previous PR, so the metrics are very important.”

Even better, his Tread+ has been a lifeline mentally and physically for David during the pandemic. “It's just been a tremendous resource for stress relief,” he says. “It's been very, very good for my mental state. The equipment is great, the instructors are great and the classes are great. I think I will stick with it even after the pandemic is over.”

Read on for more reasons why Peloton is way better than the gym.