An estimated 42.4% of adults in the US were obese by the end of 2018 (1). Obesity has many effects on the human body and places a burden on public healthcare systems. An annual healthcare cost of $147 billion is suffered due to the impact that obesity has. People with obesity are often affected by other health conditions too, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. 

Exercise and diet tend to form the basics of successful weight loss. With the right strategy, it is possible to reduce weight effectively, without experience adverse effects. For most people, however, weight loss is much more difficult than it appears to be. Researchers have even suggested that dieting is not an effective way for losing weight (2). 

Peloton is a complete home workout system that comes with both physical products and a series of digital offerings. The service has been used by many people and helps you get access to training programs that have been proven to be effective. We’ll share a few tips to help you make the most out of the Peloton platform. 

1. Home Exercises Are Effective, But Only If You Make Them

When looking at weight loss methods, it is always important to consider the science behind a method. Here’s the thing – there is evidence that suggests home exercises can be effective at helping with weight management. 

According to one study, there are several benefits that can be achieved through indoor cycling. Oxygen consumption, body consumption, and blood pressure are all areas of health that improves with this activity. LDL and HDL cholesterol profiles have also improved among study participants who performed indoor cycling activities (3). 

Studies also show that using a treadmill indoors can still provide improvements in physical fitness (4). Studies also show that a treadmill can be a great indoor exercise method for high-intensity training sessions (5). 

Furthermore, there is also evidence that a home-based training program can yield effective results (6). This, in particular, is where our first tip comes into play. While training at home is effective, participation from your side is a critical factor in deciding just how successful the program can be. 

No matter how effective a specific weight loss strategy maybe, you won’t experience results without putting in an effort. With Peloton, you need to avoid buying equipment and subscribing, without ever touching anything. Take full advantage of what you get, and add scheduled times to your calendar to ensure you can work out without any interruptions. 

2. Avoid Focusing Only On Calories

Calories are generally used as a sole indicator of how much weight you gain or lose. You focus on burning as many calories as possible when you exercise. It’s a good indicator, but shouldn’t really be the only factor that you take into account. 

When considering calories burnt during an exercise session, most people would look down at their smartphone or rely on their fitness tracker to give them an estimation. This is, however, just an estimation – it’s not a 100% accurate measurement that you can rely on as the only indication. 

Researchers have shown that calorie estimation depends on a large number of factors (7). When you rely on a smartwatch to help you count calories, it will give you a very generic figure. Studies report that body type, body weight, exercise type, intensity, and many other factors need to be considered. 

With this in mind, it is important that you do not rely too much on the fitness trackers used to monitor the number of calories you burn. Instead, consider getting a more personalized training program from the trainers available on the Peloton platform. The program will take all your factors into consideration and lead to long-term benefits – as long as you keep up with it. 

3. Food Shouldn’t Be A Reward

Motivation plays a bigger role in weight loss than most tend to realize. This is especially the case during an earlier stage of a weight loss program. You have become used to your daily habits – and moving out of this “comfort zone” can bring about feelings of fear, confusion, and uncertainty. 

Studies show that motivation is an important tool in weight loss (8). When a person is motivated, they feel more eager to join in on an exercise program. Your motivation levels may have an association with the time and effort you put into your daily program. 

The problem is you may not be sure how to keep your motivation levels up after subscribing to the Peloton system. 

A lot of people turn to food as a reward system. Being able to reward yourself for completing an intense workout session is a highly effective way of ensuring your motivation does not drop. Unfortunately, food as an award isn’t the best idea. 

Sure, you need to get enough nutrients to support your body throughout the daily exercises. You may also consider pre-workout and post-workout shakes to help you boost your performance and results. These, however, are not the rewards we are referring to. 

We are referring to cakes, pastries, and other unhealthy foods – which people often use to reward themselves for having a great training session. These “treats” tend to be filled with a large number of calories – which means the exercise session you just had would likely have been for nothing, considering your goal is to lose excess weight. 

4. You Still Need A Calorie Deficit

Weight loss can be broken down into simple explanations – and when we look at keeping things simple, then calorie deficit is something you should be focusing on. This is something that people often overlook. You might think that exercising every day is going to get the extra weight off without any extra effort from your side. This is not how weight loss works, though. 

There are studies that show that one of the most important elements of fat loss is an energy deficit. This is also called a calorie deficit (8)(9). 

First, understand what a calorie deficit is and what the term means. 

There are calories in food and liquids that you consume. The calories count up over the day. The more you eat and drink, the more calories you consume. 

When you move, you burn calories. You also have a specific number of calories burnt during your daily bodily processes. Move more and you are burning a higher number of calories. 

Exercise is the most effective way to increase your daily calorie expenditure. A more intense training session can yield a higher calorie burn. 

A calorie deficit is when you eat fewer calories than you expend in a one-day period. If you eat 2,000 calories and burn 2,500 – it means you are losing weight. In this scenario, you’d be losing 500 calories of weight. It’s not much, but it’s a start – losing weight slowly over time is a healthier way to reach your goal body composition. 

When you consider the programs and hardware offered by Peloton, always consider how many calories you could burn (as an estimate) with each activity. Calculate how many calories you are eating each day. Then, determine how much of each exercise you need to do, the intensity level, and duration, to ensure you are able to achieve a calorie deficit. 

5. Keep On Moving

After an hour session on your new indoor cycling equipment, you feel proud of yourself – at the same time, you’re tired and sore. For most people, this session of exercise is followed by a lengthy sit on the couch. 

When you join the Peloton platform, it’s important that you do not only focus on the exercises you get from the program. Getting up on your cycle or treadmill is great, and following the latest Pilates exercises helps you burn some calories, but don’t let this be the only time during the day that you actually move. 

You should continue trying to move during your day-to-day operations. If you’re sitting in front of a computer, try to get up at least once every hour. Even if you just take a walk to the water machine. When you go to the next story of the building, take the stairs instead of the elevator. These small things that may seem tedious at the time can really help to increase your calorie expenditure. 

Studies have shown that even walking can be an effective way to help with your weight loss strategy. The effect is dose-dependent according to one study (10). Another study shows that walking can help to provide an improvement in fat reduction, as well as improve the regulation of insulin in the body (11). 

6. Exercise Is Only One Part 

The Peloton subscription gives you access to exercise equipment, as well as several streaming services with useful training videos. This means by subscribing to Peloton will have your exercise and training protocols covered. This, however, is not the only thing to consider when you are trying to lose weight and be healthy. 

Consider exercise one part of your overall weight-loss strategy. Then, focus on other elements too. Without a thorough understanding of what it takes to lose weight, you may find it hard to achieve the results you desire. 

One study looked at how sleep and weight are related to each other (12). The study considered the impact of sleep deficiency in particular. Researchers explain that there seems to be a significant increase in the risk of obesity among people who are deficient in sleep. This means failure to sleep regularly and enough may cause you to gain weight. The sleep deficiency could also make it harder for you to lose weight through your strategy. 

Your diet counts – in fact, without the right diet, even tedious sessions on a treadmill may not give you noticeable results. Take a closer look at what you eat during your daily routine. If you’re grabbing a snack from the donut or hotdog stand for lunch, you’re packing your body with empty calories. This means you are filling up on calories without adding essential nutrients in your body. These foods are also high in calories, which means you’ll be reaching your daily calorie limit much sooner than you should. 

Another thing to consider is stress – a factor that most people do not even consider when they are struggling to lose weight. If you have a lot of stress, then your body is constantly releasing cortisol. According to one study, there seems to be a connection between stress and abdominal fat (13). If you constantly suffer from stress, you have a chance of gaining more weight in your tummy region. 

Try to introduce stress management strategies into your daily routine. This could be something as simple as trying out meditation before you go to bed. 

7. Understand The System

Peloton is not just a digital program. It’s a complete system. You can essentially think of Peloton as the Netflix of exercise. You get access to a combination of features, including a membership, that helps you exercise, lose weight, and build muscle mass at home. 

To take full advantage of the system, you need to thoroughly understand it. Simply signing up and hitting the first video you see is likely not going to give you the results you want. Instead, spend some time getting to know the system. Do research to determine which of the exercise equipment offered by Peloton will be the best option for you. 

When you know how everything works on the platform, it’s easier to see which program will have the features that you are looking for. It’s also easier to navigate the platform in such a scenario. 

8. Know Your Goals

Some people want to lose weight, others want to be healthy, and then there are people who want to build up some muscle mass while they are reducing their body fat. While all of these have a focus on body composition, the specific goal differs for each person. 

Blindly following an exercise and weight loss program is going to make you feel uncertain about what measurements to look at. This is why you should start out by planning your goals. Make a list of what you expect from your new program. If you can be more specific than just writing “lose weight”, you’ll find that it’s easier to track your progress too. 

Conclusion

The Peloton system gives you access to a series of indoor exercise equipment, as well as exercise programs that have been carefully developed. The “Netflix” of exercise can provide effective results, but you do need to understand a few things to ensure you have realistic expectations. The tips we shared will help you know what to expect and how you can maximize your results. 

References:

(1) https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

(2) https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832#:~:text=People%20on%20diets%20typically%20lose,be%20significantly%20higher%2C%20they%20said

(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6722762/ 

(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332004/ 

(5) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37982-w 

(6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856927/

(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5055397/

(8) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18025815/

(9) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3225890/ 

(10) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12439651/ 

(11) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28794207/ 

(12) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6196958/

(13) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5958156/



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