15 BEST PELOTON CLASSES FOR BEGINNERS

Over a year and half ago Brandon asked me if I would ride a Peloton bike if he bought one. My answer, in all honestly, was uncertain. I wasn’t sure if I would ride a stationary bike, let alone want to. I always heard a lot of people rave about it, but I’ve had little to none experience with cycling. My last experience with any cycling class was over 9 years ago while dancing in college. As a team we went in the early morning hours and I found it to be so difficult and not my preferred method of exercise.

Fast forward to today, I’m 200+ rides in and I am so thankful Brandon ended up buying a Peloton bike. I am 100% hooked (or dare I say obsessed). It gives me the opportunity to workout in the comfort of my own home, and as a mom that is such a time saving and convenient tool!  I love being able to exercise in my own home and it makes it easier to keep up with a regular exercise routine.

What I love most is how beginner-friendly the Peloton and the Peloton app are. I had little to no knowledge with cycling and found each instructor so helpful and great at teaching correct form, posture, and how to dismount the bike. There are a plenty of peloton classes to choose from in all ranges of difficulty and they even offer 20-minute classes for when you’re running short on time. As a newbie, I know it can feel a little overwhelming which is why I wanted to share a roundup of the Best Peloton Classes for beginners as well as some of my top favorite instructors.

15 BEST PELOTON CLASSES FOR BEGINNERS

I have been enjoying the Peloton bike for a year and a half now and I can testify that taking it day by day and class by class will help you see amazing results. I’ve been pretty consistent with taking Peloton classes since January and know it is keeping me healthy and overall making me stronger. It’s a great way for me to get my cardio in every day as well as get a little bit of strength training too. I can feel how much stronger I am becoming in my legs and my overall endurance. When it comes to Peloton classes for beginners, there is a lot of territory to cover, so here are a few things to note before your first Peloton ride.

If you still haven’t purchased a Peloton bike or treadmill but want to, use code MWJJHQ for $100 off.
Come be riding friends with me, search CamillaRose on your Peloton App.

 

 

Here are a few things to know before your first Peloton ride:

Adjust Your Bike to Your Height

There are introduction videos about how to set your seat height and depth to your personal body. It is so important to have the bike at a proper height and depth for you to prevent injuries and make sure your form is always correct. When we first got our bike, Brandon and I were still getting used to adjusting the bike. Before our first ride, we took a piece of chalk to mark the numbers that we both used and it was very helpful in keeping track of where we liked our bike set at. You could also keep a note in your phone as well if there are multiple riders in your home so you can remember and keep track of it. After awhile, you will naturally adjust to it and hop on the bike without even thinking about it.

 

Heart Rate Monitors

The Peloton bike comes with a heart rate monitor that goes around your chest. Both Brandon and I used it for several months before we decided on ordering this one off of amazon that is an arm heart rate monitor. It makes it so much easier to put on every day, and we found it less disgusting putting an already sweaty band on an arm vs your rib cage. Again, if multiple riders are in the same home, have multiple heart rate monitors to completely skip that gross step of sharing!

Either way you will want to make sure to use your heart rate monitor during each ride to get the most accurate calorie count.

Types of Rides

 

It sure took me awhile before I fully felt like I knew the slang and terminology that came with following the cycling classes. For me, I didn’t have much experience with cycling and therefore was left looking up terms after the class. Even things like “saddle” were very new to me. If you are very new the word, Saddle means the seat of the bike or the part you sit on while riding.

Beginner

Great rides to ride the first few times after first getting your Peloton. These rides help to get you more confident and comfortable on the bike. Learn the proper form and technique needed to improve your Personal records, and leaderboard goals. You can search around in the Peloton app or on the bike and you will find some “basics” classes to help get your started. The best Peloton classes for beginners

Low Impact

In general this class is spent most of its time in the saddle, and a cadence won’t be going over 100. These low impact rides are to help give your joints a smooth ride for recovering.

Power Zone

These rides direct you through 7 different zones of output from very easy to max effort. It is customizable to your personal fitness levels.

Climb

During these rides, you can expect to have high resistance as you are climbing a hill. These rides will increase your output levels as you make it to the top of each hill.

Live DJ

Just as expected, the instructors get to pair up with a DJ and play a live set while you ride. Perfect to sing along to.

Intervals

Also known as “Hit and Hills” rides. These rides are a great mix of climbs and speed intervals. Increasing your speed while increasing your cadence, or even alternating between the two. These are more of a high-intensity ride and will strengthen you from the inside out.

Heart Rate Zone

Usually based on five zones to maximize your performance. You begin the ride in zone 1 and work yourself up to level 5 which is the max effort you can achieve.

HIIT

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. Which is intense periods of effort followed by a short rest, and then back at it again. I wouldn’t suggest this for one of your first rides. They are rides that completely challenge you, but make you stronger.

Theme Ride

Anything from movies, favorite records from genres of music, RuPaul’s drag race, Feel good rides, and themed playlists. These rides always flow and are sure to get you moving.

Tabata

This is a type of HIIT ride, but follows a pattern. The traditional Tabata pattern is 20 seconds of effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. These classes are always a challenge and leave me a sweaty mess!

Groove

These rides are so much fun, from what I have heard they are also similar to a Soul Cycle class if you are familiar with those. In a Groove Ride, you will be riding to the beat of the music, following a choreographed ride while dancing to the music. This includes more movement on the bike with tap backs, walking and running. Another great Peloton classes for beginners

Pro Cyclist

There is only a total of 14 Pro Cycylist classes. These rides are more technical but you can find the same types of techniques as Tabata, HIIT, and Intervals just finely tuned.

 

15 BEST PELOTON CLASSES FOR BEGINNERS

15 min Groove Ride with Cody Rigsby – 2/23/21

Groove rides are going to be the closest ride you will find to a typical Soul Cycle spinning class. Lots of dancing, 8 count movements, tap backs, and all in all TONS of fun! (my personal favorite type of rides, and Cody Rigsby nails each class) Combine any 15 or 20 minute Groove ride onto any other Peloton class for another way to help improve your endurance.

 

20 min Pop Ride with Cody Rigsby  – 4/18/21

Cody Rigsby has a way of taking your mind off the difficulty of peddling as he carries on a conversation that is sure to make you laugh. You can find that with all of his rides. This Pop Ride has a difficulty level of 6.9/10.

 

20 min New Tracks Ride with Emma Lovewell – 3/21/21

 Any 20 minute Peloton classes for beginners is the best place to start, but don’t let the time fool you. You will break a sweat in only 20 minutes. I love 20 minute rides for days I am in a rush. This New Tracks ride with Emma Lovewell has so many great hits with a combination of speed challenges and climbs.

 

20 min Low Impact Ride with Tunde Oyeneyin – 2/25/21

Most low impact rides are spent in the saddle. It helps give your joints a rest while still working on a sweat. These rides are great for those days when you are sore or recovering from an injury and still looking for ways to move your body.

 

20 min New Tracks Ride with Alex Toussaint – 02/09/21

Alex Toussaint is always a great instructor, his classes are always ones I can count on to push me a little harder. This New Tracks Ride has a difficulty 7.5/10 and is a great Peloton class for beginners. It’s 20 minutes, very manageable, and you get to enjoy some of the latest hits while climbing. This ride does include songs in the Hip Hop genre.

 

20 min Pop Ride with Tunde Oyeneyin – 2/18/21

Any Pop music ride is always a hit. It’s almost like you forget you are even working out 🙂 This ride has a difficultly of 7.4/10 and has a fun playlist of Britney Spears, Dua Lipa, The Weekend and more. You can expect to climb in this ride.

 

20 min HIIT Ride with Tunde Oyeneyin – 2/26/21

Any HIIT ride is always a little more of a challenge. But this cycling class is a great one to start off with. It’s only 20 minutes and is efficient.
Difficulty level of 8.7/10.  Every HIIT class stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Which usually means you alternate between periods of high intensity and low intensity. In this class you can expect to have some climbs that build your cadence and increase your heart rate.

 

20 min Country Ride with Ally Love – 2/21/21

It’s always fun to switch up the genre of music during your ride. In fact, trying out new genres of music, throwing it back to 80’s or 90’s is one way you can get a feel for what type of rides you prefer. It even helps you decide what instructors you will tend to gravitate toward.  Ally Love always has a great Country music ride and she makes them so fun.

 

30 min Groove Ride with Emma Lovewell – 4/01/21

No experience needed, as Peloton describes this ride. Groove rides are always fun! If it is your first time experiencing a more choreographed based class, Emma will take it step by step and teach you how to groove. Things like how to follow the counts of 8, how to do tap backs and dance while riding the Peloton. Great Peloton Classes for beginners

 

30 min 70s Ride with Hannah Corbin – 3/11/21

During this 30 minute class, you can expect to find a recovery period for a chance for your heart rate to slow down. This helps leave you full of more energy to finish the ride. This Peloton beginner class has a difficulty level of 7.3/10. A great transition when you are ready to embrace a longer ride.

 

30 min 90s Pop Ride with Ally Love – 4/22/21

I always have a good time riding the Peloton in any 90s track rides. Gives me all the nostalgia. Ally Love treats every single ride as if it is your first ride on the bike. She is so great at reminding you to fix your posture, take a deep breath, loosen up your joints, and take a drink of water. So many small things you tend to forget as you are riding. It can be so helpful to hear the words “straighten your back, or sit up taller” while riding. Surprisingly, may not realize you have tensed up during the ride.

 

30 min Justin Bieber Ride with Olivia Amato – 4/7/21

Peloton kills it with the Artist series. This Justin Bieber ride was so much fun. You can expect to climb and do speed intervals all while jamming out to the top hits of Justin Bieber.

 

30 min Pop Ride with Cody Rigsby – 4/6/21

Finding your genre of music is so important to get the most out of your ride. This Pop ride will make you want to dance with songs from so many fun Pop artists you love. Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Kesha to name a few. The difficulty level of this ride is 7.4/10.

 

45 min Power Zone Endurance Ride with Matt Wilpers – 4/21/21

When you are finally feeling ready to go for a longer beginner ride, Matt Wilpers always has great classes that are 45, 60 and 75 minutes long.
This ride has a difficulty of 7.0/10 and focuses on building aerobic endurance with 7 zones of output. You can easily customize each power zone to your personal fitness level.

 

45 min Power Zone Endurance Ride with Mat Wilpers 3/31/21

This endurance ride has a difficulty of 6.9/10. This class focuses on building aerobic endurance with intervals in zones 2 and 3.

 

 

I can’t wait for you to get riding!!
You can read our IS THE PELOTON WORHT IT post here where we share our favorite Peloton instructors