FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ABOUT PELOTONS

Peloton is now a publicly traded company, with thousands of employees spread out across the world.  The company sells their products in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia.

Even with all of these employees, the Peloton instructors remain the public face of the company.  They are who the members virtually interact with on a day to day basis – which means the coaches are who members associate most with the company.

With this pressure and importance to the company – Peloton fitness instructors are well rewarded for their work.

Peloton Instructor Salaries – How much does a Peloton Instructor Gets Paid?

As with any company, the salary range for each Peloton coach varies based on their specific role, experience, and other factors – however, in several interviews a range of salaries has been alluded to for the coaches.

In 2019, Peloton instructor Jess Sims revealed that she earned a “six figure salary with stock options” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

An unnamed coach who was hired in 2020 was also revealed to have a “six-figure salary and bonus offer”, in a separate interview with Bloomberg.

In that same Bloomberg report, it was shared that the more senior instructors can make “upwards of $500,000 in total compensation” as of 2021 – which would include both salary, stock options, and bonuses.

How Much Do Peloton Instructors Make?

As covered above, the specific amount of money a Peloton instructor makes is dependent on their specific job and experience.

When the company was starting out, the company likely had to pay more money for the first instructors to lure the talent they needed to create classes that would bring in new members and keep them coming back day to day.

As the company and platform has grown, working at Peloton has become more desirable, and there are people beating down the door to try to work at the company – meaning Peloton doesn’t necessarily have to offer quite as much money as they would have before. However, they still want to attract the best talent, so will still pay their instructors very well, whether they are teaching on the Bike, Tread, Yoga, or any of the other workout types.

Peloton instructors are also able to make advertising deals & partnerships with other companies as well.  Just visit any instructor’s Instagram page, and you’ll find them sharing paid posts with several brands.  This is a way for the coaches to supplement their income, as well as promote other companies they support and believe in.

How Much Does Cody Rigsby (Peloton Instructor) Make?

Over the last year, Cody Rigsby was catapulted into the spotlight thanks to his appearance on Dancing With The Stars. As such, that has made people very curious about how much money he is making with Peloton.

In addition to being a senior instructor, Cody Rigsby is also the Director of cycling at Peloton – he was personally responsible for recruiting & helping with hiring many of the newer instructors to work at Peloton in the early days of the company.

With this added responsibility, comes additional income – it’s widely believed he is one of those coaches who makes more than $500,000 in total compensation. Cody was recently able to purchase a nearly $1.5 million penthouse in New York City. However, this was also when Peloton stock was near its peak, and with the amount of time he has been at the company, he is assumed to have quite a bit of of net worth from that Peloton stock price.

Like many of the other coaches, Cody Rigsby has a number of external sponsorships as well that he promotes through TV commercials, traditional advertising campaigns, as well as posts through his own social media channels. It’s not known exactly the value of each of these campaigns – but Cody has worked with some large names like GM, Capitol One, and more.

How much money does Peloton CEO John Foley Make?

Peloton’s public regulatory filings have revealed that Peloton CEO / Peloton founder John Foley earned $17.8 million dollars (in total compensation, including stock awards & equity awards) for Peloton’s 2021 Fiscal Year (from July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021).

How much money do Peloton employees make?

Peloton’s filings have also shown that the median Peloton employee earned $56,084 during the 2021 Fiscal Year (from July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021). This includes both hourly as well as full time employees.  However, in part as a result of declining stock value, it has been reported that the salary & bonus structure of showroom employees was modified due to declining demand for Peloton products.

To cut to the chase – No, there is not a Peloton elliptical.

Peloton has stated how one of their goals is to “win cardio”.  To date, they have tried to do this through their existing devices like the Peloton Bike, Peloton Treadmill, and the rumored Peloton Rower.  Their next focus is on Strength through devices like the Peloton Guide.

Will Peloton Make an Elliptical Machine?  Does Peloton Have an Elliptical?

There are no known plans, or reliable rumors, that Peloton is working on an elliptical machine.   At time of publishing, there is no Peloton elliptical machine.

With that said, in 2021 Peloton acquired the Precor brand and their suite of devices.  There are Precor ellipticals – so in the future, it is possible these could be running Peloton software.  If Peloton were to make an elliptical, it would probably not require an extra monthly subscription if you own a Bike or Tread – as Peloton allows you to use one device of each category on the same subscription.

Is Peloton working on an Elliptical Machine?

Peloton CEO John Foley has alluded to the fact they always have lots of interesting devices being worked on in their research & development lab – so it’s quite possible there could be one in development.  However, even if they are working on in an R&D lab, that doesn’t necessarily mean it would be released – a lot of factors go into Peloton picking & choosing what devices to release.

There have been one-off reports of Peloton delivery team members hinting that a Peloton elliptical is in the works – but these have not been the most credible reports, and there has never been any supporting evidence to back this up.

Can you use the Peloton App with an Elliptical?

There is nothing stopping you from running the Peloton app on a mobile app while using an elliptical – so technically, yes, you can use a Peloton app with an elliptical machine.  This would allow you to watch or listen to any Peloton class on a phone or tablet while working out an an elliptical.  This might pair especially well with the Peloton Outdoor Run, so that you can listen to your favorite instructor while on an elliptical.

To do this, simply download the Peloton app to your smartphone – it’s available for both iPhone and Android.  Once you have the app downloaded, you have access to the tens of thousands of Peloton classes – and can play any of them from your phone or tablet.  You’ll need to place your device on the elliptical so you can see the class – just make sure you can still see the console if you need to adjust the resistance of the elliptical.  The Peloton app does not provide a way to record speed or power data natively into the Peloton app, but you are able to connect an external heart rate monitor to record data.

Peloton instructors generally structure their bike classes by calling out both cadence (the speed you pedal, or rpm your feet are moving) and resistance (how hard it is to turn the pedals).   most ellipticals will have a resistance adjustment you can use to map to the resistance a Peloton coach calls out – you’ll have to figure out for your specific device what the appropriate level of resistance mapping is for the resistance called out on Peloton.  However, there won’t be a cadence you can change on the elliptical machine.  You can fix this by either adjusting your speed, or if the elliptical you are using has an adjustable incline, you could change the incline as the instructor changes the cadence.

Best Peloton Classes for Elliptical Trainers

If you have decided you want to try using a Peloton workout with an elliptical trainer, Peloton’s on-demand class library has tens of thousands of classes to choose from – and there are dozens more being added every day.  It’s somewhat of a personal preference, however, here are some classes that might be worth trying out if you are new to the platform.  Both Peloton bike classes and Peloton Tread classes would work.

Bike Bootcamp & Tread Bootcamp Classes

Both the Peloton Bike & Peloton Tread have bootcamp classes available, where you alternate cardio with strength segments. One thing to keep in mind with these classes is you’ll need some extra strength around the elliptical to do these workouts, as you’ll be jumping between the elliptical and the floor to alternate your strength sections with minimal transition time (although there is enough time for people to change their cycling shoes).  Some classes will have the strength segment be body weight only, while others might require free weights & dumbbells. This might be more of an issues depending on if you are working out in a home gym vs a public gym.

HIIT Classes or HIIT & Hills Classes

HIIT classes, or high intensity interval training, are a popular type of class on the Peloton Bike.  Many instructors like to throw these tough workouts in their routine from time to time, and are much more difficult than other workouts like low impact or recovery rides.

Tabata Rides

Tabata classes are a specific type of HIIT workouts – you can read more about the differences between HIIT and Tabata here.  Like a HIIT class, these are sure to work up a good sweat.

Climb Rides

If you’re looking just for a slow, consistent (sometimes grueling workout), try a Peloton climb ride.  These will generally have you at a higher resistance but much lower resistance to try to simulate what it’s like climbing up a hill.  In fact, Peloton instructor Christine D’Ercole has a 5-class series that simulates her ride up the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii – many members train to take all 5 classes back to back for an epic day of training.

Peloton Vs Elliptical. Difference in Workout Between Peloton Bike & Elliptical (Calories Burned, Muscles Worked, Intensity, etc)

While many see session on an elliptical providing a more low impact workout than a Peloton Bike or any other spin bike, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything about the quality of the workout itself.

Does a Peloton Bike or Elliptical Burn More Calories?

As far as how many calories you would burn on an elliptical compared to a Peloton bike – it depends on the class type you are taking, and a number of other factors.  Different studies have come to different conclusions as to whether you burn more calories on an elliptical vs a spin bike – but both are great workouts which can increase your calorie burn and work up a good sweat.

Does a Peloton Bike work different muscles than an Elliptical?

There are slightly different muscles involved.  The elliptical is seen as being easier on your knees, hips, and other joints as compared to a Bike, Treadmill, or other stationary bikes.  In addition, On the Peloton Bike, your arms (and core) are involved simply by ensuring you don’t fall into the handlebars. When using an elliptical, your arms are more involved as they are actively working to move the handles back and forth.  This is why some people look at a workout on the elliptical as being more of a full body workout, as it tends to be more of a workout for your upper body.

Peloton tries to solve this by their Bike Bootcamp classes – where you spend half the class on the bike, and the other half on the floor doing strength moves.  Peloton has a similar style of classes for the Tread workouts called Tread Bootcamps – just replacing the time on the bike with time on the Treadmill.

No matter whether you choose to do your workouts on a Peloton Bike, Peloton Treadmill, or Elliptical machine, you should be able to target muscles like your glutes, calves, and hamstrings, depending on which class you pick and how you adjust your cadence and resistance.

At this time, there are not any full Taylor Swift Peloton classes available on the Platform. However, as of November 2021, it appears Peloton has finally acquired rights to play Taylor Swift songs in Peloton classes. The first Peloton class to include a Taylor Swift song (which was “22 (Taylor’s Version)” was a Sundays With Love ride taught by Ally Love on Nov 14, 2021. Now that it appears Peloton has rights to some of the Taylor Swift songs, this means we might see a Taylor Swift Artist Series on Peloton in the future – but there is no guarantee of that.

The short answer is: nobody knows right now.

Peloton closed their studio to the public for classes on March 14th, 2020. It has remained closed ever since then. As various health restrictions have been lifted, many people have been wondering when the studio will reopen so people can sign up and take classes in person with their favorite coaches.

Peloton has stayed quiet on the subject, providing no guidance. They have simply said there is no set in stone date for the Peloton studio to reopen. It’s likely Peloton will proceed very cautiously – although visiting the studio is a great experience for those who can, and also helps provide some extra energy for instructors to feed off – at the end of the day, there are millions of members worldwide who all take the classes remotely.

Peloton will want to protect the health of their instructors, to ensure they can keep teaching classes. It’s possible the the studio will stay closed for all of 2021, and not open until sometime in 2022.

We will be sure to update this article once more information is available.

As Peloton grows in popularity, more and more professional athletes, actors, musicians, celebrities, politicians, and famous people are joining the Peloton family. The great thing about Peloton is if you know their leaderboard name, you can ride with them and see how you rank up on the same ride! The following list will contains an updated list of Peloton usernames of famous people & celebrities, professional sport athletes, and more. If you know of one we missed just leave a comment and we can get it updated. Note that where we know it, we have added the leaderboard name. If we know someone is a Peloton user but aren’t sure of the leaderboard name, we still listed them just so you know they are on the leaderboard there with you somewhere! Note that if you are looking for the leaderboard names of your favorite Peloton instructor, you can find that on our list here that has just Peloton coaches!

This list is divided into 4 sections – first the athletes, then the musicians, followed by the celebrities (actors, comedians, etc), and finally, the politicians. You can click on the name of the section to jump to that area!

Peloton usernames of Professional Athletes (Peloton leaderboard names)

Peloton usernames of NFL Players & Football players

Wondering what the Peloton leaderboard name is for some of your favorite NFL or college football players? Or what NFL players have a Peloton? The list below is some of the famous football players who ride a Peloton or run on a Peloton Tread! This list is a work in progress, however, you can likely check out who Booger McFarland is following to find out some more! (and let us know in the comments if you do!)

Peloton usernames of PGA Golfers & Professional WPGA Players

The PGA, WPGA and pro golf communities are quite active on Peloton. Bubba Watson and Rory Mcllroy have organized several group rides for PGA players. The list below answers the question of What are the Peloton leaderboards name for professional golfers (both PGA & WPGA), as well as what golfers have a Peloton bike or Tread.

Peloton usernames of NHL Players & Professional Hockey Players

Peloton is growing in popularity among NHL players and other professional hockey players! You can find the list below of Peloton leaderboard names for professional hockey players and NHL players, answering the question of ‘What NHL hockey players own a Peloton?’

Peloton usernames of NBA Players & Professional Basketball Players

This is an inital list of some NBA players and other basketball players who own and workout with a Peloton. It was reported that almost the entire Golden State Warriors basketball team was doing team rides on the Peloton using it as cross-training. Below we’ll list the names (and where known the leaderboard names) of some of the basketball & NBA players using a Peloton bike or Tread.

Peloton usernames of MLB Players & Professional Baseball Players

Another list we are just starting – this time of the MLB & professional baseball players that are part of the Peloton family. When known, the Peloton leaderboard name (or username) of the pro baseball players & MLB athletes will be listed.

Peloton usernames of Swimmers

At this time not a ton of pro swimmers are known to be a part of the Peloton family – although Michael Phelps, arguably the most famous swimmer of all time is. Unfortunately his leaderboard name is not known.

Peloton usernames of Pro Tennis Players

Peloton usernames of Pro Soccer Players

Peloton usernames of Track & Field Athletes

Peloton usernames of UFC Fighters

Peloton usernames of WWE Wrestlers

Peloton usernames of Gymnasts

Peloton usernames of Surfers

Peloton usernames of Lacrosse Players

Peloton usernames of Nascar Drivers & Motocross Racers

Peloton usernames of Weightlifters & Fitness Professionals

Peloton usernames of Musicians & Singers (Peloton leaderboard names)

Ever wonder what musicians & singers own a Peloton bike or tread? Several of them have public Peloton usernames, while others have private accounts. If you know of any other musicians who have Pelotons, let us know and we will add them. Don’t forget Peloton has created the featured artist series where entire classes are dedicated to one musician – many of whom are on this list!

Peloton usernames of Celebrities (Peloton leaderboard names)

Every day it seems like another celebrity, actor, or comedian posts an Instagram story where you get a peek of their Peloton in the background. Being public figures, many of them don’t share their leaderboard names, however, if they’ve shared they are part of the Peloton family, we will list them here. Finally, you can find out what celebrity, actors, or comedians own a Peloton bike or Tread!

Peloton usernames of actors & TV hosts

This first category lists the Peloton leaderboard names of actors, TV hosts, and other people in the entertainment industry.

Peloton usernames of comedians & stand up comics

This list is the Peloton leaderboard names of comedians, stand up comics, and other related people

Peloton usernames of contestants on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette

Many contestants from The Bachelor own Pelotons – and in fact in recent seasons it appears Peloton has been doing some paid product placement on the shows. Below is the Peloton leaderboard names of contestants from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette

Peloton usernames of reality TV stars

Many reality TV stars (including Real Housewives actors) share that they workout with Peloton. Names & usernames are shared below.

Peloton usernames of misc celebrities

Some people are celebrities who have Pelotons who don’t fall into any other category. Their names & usernames are listed here.

Peloton usernames of Politicans (Peloton leaderboard names)

Many politicians use Peloton as well. Below you’ll find some of the world leaders who workout with Peloton.

Update – On March 4th we revealed Peloton Sessions would be returning soon, thanks to a FAQ page update, and will contain an integration with Scheduling. On March 9th, Peloton began to tease the return too.

In the winter of 2020, Peloton released a new feature known as Peloton Sessions. This was described as a limited time beta when it launched, but not much more was said. The feature allowed people to join classes together and have the leaderboard synced up. After less than a month, the feature was removed.

When it was removed, Peloton stated “we’ll make it even better when it’s officially released.” – confirming that Peloton Sessions would return. However, the exact date has not been confirmed, but it looks like it will be early March.

Now that the Peloton scheduling feature has been released, there is the potential for Peloton to integrate it more closely with Sessions when it returns. For example, it could be updated so that the class you schedule is a private session for you and the friends you invited to it.

Periodically, the video screen on the Peloton Bike & Tread will say a software update has been downloaded and installed. However, there is typically no screen or message saying what has changed with the update. This prompts the question of how do you find release notes for what changed in the most recent Peloton update.

Unfortunately, there are no official release notes provided. When major new features are released, Peloton will display a special popup promoting the feature. For most updates, no prompt will be provided. Many updates are bug fixes and performance increases.

Peloton has slowly been growing more global over the years. They first expanded to Canada, then a few years later, over to the United Kingdom. Peloton then branched out into their first foreign language market – Germany. Once this happened, the floodgates of questions opened about What language will Peloton classes be in next? In particular, a lot of people seem to hope that they will be able to take their next bike ride, or tread run, in Spanish.

In April 2021, Peloton officially announced they would be introducing Spanish language Peloton classes. To start off with, only Peloton yoga classes are available in Spanish, led by new instructor Mariana Fernandez, who will be teaching out of the NYC studio.

It seems likely that the next step will be for Peloton to add Spanish language cycling classes on the Bike, or Spanish language running classes for the Tread – but at this point it isn’t clear how long it will be before Peloton expands their Spanish language classes offerings.

With the new class stacking feature that was just released, members are already wishing for a few extra additions.

Can you share a class stack on Peloton

Unfortunately, there is no social or sharing functionality for class stacks at this time.

Bookmarking a Peloton Class Stack

Since there is no sharing of class stacks, there is also no bookmarking. Once Peloton allows members to share class stacks with friends, perhaps a bookmark feature will be added.

Can you create multiple class stacks for Peloton

Again, the answer here is unfortunately no. You can only have one stack. As you complete a stack, it disappears from the stack automatically.

Is Peloton Class Stacking available for iOS or Android?

You may start a stack that you created somewhere else. At time of publishing, stacks can only be made on the Bike, Tread, or Peloton website (which you can access from the mobile browser of your phone).

Definition of HIIT for Peloton Bike or Run

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. With HIIT, intervals can be of varying lengths, which are done at either high or max intensity. What makes a workout HIIT is repeating short duration, high intensity blocks of work, with some active recovery / moderate work in between each interval. The high intensity work blocks can be anywhere from 10 seconds to 2-3 minutes. Sometimes the active recovery block will be the same amount of time as the HIIT interval (i.e. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off), while sometimes they will be varying lengths. HIIT is sometimes referenced as a 1:1 workout ratio, for example when doing 30 on 30 off. Peloton HIIT workouts are usually described as either “bursts of effort followed by active recovery” or “short bursts of anaerobic exercise mixed with recovery periods”

The following is an example of what output might look like for a HIIT workout. You’ll see bursts of effort, followed by periods of rest. Note that the exact format can vary greatly – don’t read too much into the structure of this single example!

Definition of Intervals

Whereas the intervals of HIIT are done at max or high intensity, with generic “Interval” training, the work is usually done at a more moderate intensity. This allows work blocks to be longer length, since the intensity isn’t at such a high level.

Definition of Tabata for Peloton Bike or Run (What does Tabata Mean?)

Tabata is a specific form of HIIT – defined by doing 20 seconds of work (also at high or near max intensity, like HIIT), followed by 10 seconds of rest/recovery. This can also be said as a 2:1 workout ratio of effort to recovery for Tabata. In the textbook definition, this should be done for 4 minutes total. Peloton Tabata workouts usually stick to this textbook definition, but every now and then a class might appear that slightly modifies these time – but keeps the 2:1 workout ratio.

The following is an example of what output might look like for a Tabata workout. This is one where Peloton calls it Tabata, but rather than 20 seconds on then 10 seconds off, the workout is 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off (still that 2:1 ratio).

Wondering where the name Tabata came from? A team of scientists in Japan, lead by Dr. Izumi Tabata, conducted a study looking at two groups of athletes. One group worked out 5 days a week for 6 weeks, with each daily workout being one hour of moderate intensity work. The other group mixed some moderate/low intensity work with an added daily HIIT workout that was 4 minutes and 20 seconds total (consisting of 20 seconds of high intensity work with 10 seconds of rest). At the end of the study, the first group (moderate intensity only) saw gains in aerobic systems, but no anaerobic gains. The second group (short high intensity) had slightly higher aerobic gains than the first group, but also had gains in their anaerobic systems. Based on this study, the 2:1 workout ratio of HIIT (or 20 seconds on 10 seconds off), was named after the lead scientist – Dr. Izumi Tabata.

Difference between Tabata & HIIT & Intervals for Peloton Bike or Run

The difference between Tabata & HIIT for Peloton is that Tabata is a specific type of HIIT with a 2:1 workout ratio (i.e. 20 seconds on then 10 seconds off, or 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off) while HIIT intervals can be of varying lengths of work to rest. The difference between those and intervals is that the intensity level is generally lower for regular interval training, which allows for longer duration of work blocks.

One frequent question is “What are the usernames of the Peloton coaches”. Peloton instructors will occasionally ride along to rides like regular users, and you’re able to see their stats, and give and receive high fives. The following is a list of Peloton instructor’s usernames, that is correct at time of publishing. If one has changed, please let us know! Like any other user, the Peloton coaches are able to change their usernames at any point, or make them private.

The Peloton coaches are becoming celebrities in their own rights, but there is also a separate list of Peloton usernames of celebrities, professional athletes, and musicians you can check out as well if you want.

One common question people have is they start out by trying Peloton through the Peloton Digital app. After the free trial expires, the Peloton Digital subscription is only $13 a month. They then purchase a Peloton Bike or Tread, and find out their cost has jumped from $13/month to $39/month. What is the reason for this big difference in price?

With the app, you get no metrics (besides heart rate), are limited to one user using the subscription, and don’t show up on the leaderboard.

With a full subscription through a Peloton device, you get full metrics (power, cadence, heart rate), are able to compete via the leaderboard, and can have multiple logins through your subscription (so you and multiple people in your household can work out on Peloton digital through the same subscription).

Some people have reported that when they go to ride their Peloton they get an error screen with a message that says “No Command”, and has a picture of a dead Android icon (sometimes also referred to as the Peloton Dead Robot or Peloton Sad Robot). The bike obviously won’t work when this is happening. The first step would be to try turning it off and on again, as well as unplugging it from the wall, waiting 1 minute, and plugging it back in again.

If those steps don’t fix the “No Command” issue, try the following steps:

1. Press and hold the power button and “volume up” buttons at the same time.
2. Once the screen turns on, let go of both buttons at the same time.
3. Use the volume down button to scroll to the menu item that says “Wipe Cache Partition”. Press the power button to select it.
4. Once this process completes, use the power button to reset your Peloton.

If the steps above don’t work, or you don’t get to the system screen to select “Wipe Cache Partition”, try again, but only hold the power and volume up button for 3 seconds.

All your data is stored on the cloud, so you won’t lose any rides or history by resetting the cache partition. You will have to re-add your user profiles again, but once those are added, it will import all your history again!

The Peloton app, website, bike and tread allow you to “Count Me In” for upcoming classes. At this time, there is no way to import that list of upcoming classes you are scheduled for into a calendar of any sort (Outlook, Google Calendar, iCal, gCal, etc).

However, if you visit the Peloton schedule from a desktop web browser and click “Count Me In” for a specific class, the popup then gives you an “Add to Calendar” link for that specific class. Your options are iCal, Google, Yahoo, and Outlook. You have to repeat this for each individual class that you want to appear on your calendar.

If you want an upcoming list of all classes for specific instructors, there is no native way to do this that Peloton provides. However, the team at reddit has created individual calendar links for each instructor. These are not updated dynamically or automatically, but rather once a week or so as the moderators have time.

The short answer is after 100 workouts of the same type, Peloton will email you a code for your Peloton Century club shirt. We have a whole guide just for the century shirt though, including topics like shipping, sizing, eligibility, and more. Check out the full guide here!

While not officially announced, it is very likely Peloton will have a Black Friday sale in 2019. Previous years have seen Black Friday specials where you get a free “The Works” accessory packages with the purchase of a bike. You can find details of any specials & sales here once they are announced!