I’m squatting with a dumbbell next to my sofa as a digital sweat drop fills up next to my face on the TV. My instructor Callie — luckily more prominent on the screen than me —tells me to switch to the heavier dumbbells as the ticker passes the 150 kcal mark. Normally I’d put the dumbbells down for a break by now but there’s something motivating about getting credit if I last the full 30 seconds — plus my Strava followers will see how hard I worked. A stats box pops up after the cool-down: apparently my glutes bore the brunt of today’s workout, taking 12 per cent of the strain. Looks like it’s arms day tomorrow then.
It’s a rainy Sunday in London and I’m lucky enough to be one of the first to try Peloton’s first connected strength gadget, the Peloton Guide, a hit new fitness webcam that tracks your at-home weights workouts, checks your form and racks up rewards. Just pair it with your £24-a-month all-access Peloton subscription and connect the camera to your TV to be guided through any of the app’s 10- to 60-minute strength workouts. All you need is a yoga mat and a some weights to get stuck in from your living room and you can filter by instructor, class length, body activity or difficulty, just like with ride classes.
