Peloton vs Beachbody: Which Workout is Better?

Back in 2011 I tried my first at home workout – Insanity. I constantly saw the ads on TV and thought those were amazing results, especially for an in home workout. So I ordered the DVDs and was so excited to begin.

I ended up lasting 5 days on the program before I threw in the towel and went back to the gym. These were the early days before facebook groups were a thing so doing an at home workout just made me feel alone and quite honestly, silly.

Fast forward a few years (and baby) later, I no longer had the luxury of time and being able to go the gym so I decided to give at home workouts another shot. A lot had changed since my Insanity attempt!

I’ve now gone on to try a few different at home workouts and wanted to share my recent experience with Beachbody and Peloton.

My Beachbody Experience

I started with Beachbody in early 2019 when the new Transform:20 workout came out. I had tried Shaun T in the past (I think everyone at one point has attempted to do the Insanity program?) and liked his style. The Transform:20 as a cardio based program using a step that promised a killer workout in only 20 minutes a day. I joined a virtual gym for accountability and signed up for the program as well as an annual Beachbody on Demand membership.

Fast forward, I completed that program, 80 Day Obsession, 21 Day Fix and started dabbling into Morning Meltdown 100. I liked the structure of all the workouts and how they provided me a schedule on what to do every day. I just had to wake up, check the schedule and hop into whatever workout was on the program. Easy!

After a while I started to get a little bored of doing the same workouts. Beachbody on Demand gives you access to all the Beachbody program, but after a while they felt repetitive and stale.

The workouts also began to felt kind of beginner. The 20 minute workouts appealed to me at first, but I started wanting longer workouts and something hat would challenge me more. I also started to miss going to the gym and especially my Orangetheory workouts and the high intensity that provided me.

When my annual Beachbody membership was up for renewal I decided to cancel it and switch to Orangetheory. I loved getting back into my Orangetheory workouts but that ended up lasting only a few months before my gym was shutdown for the pandemic. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because on day 1 of the lockdown I discovered the Peloton app.

My Peloton Experience

I was vaguely familiar with Peloton from the commercials, but they were running a 90 day free trial during lockdown so I decided to give it a shot. I tried a Jess Sims 60 minute tread bootcamp class and instantly I was hooked.

Related Post: Peloton Bootcamp Review

The tread bootcamp class reminded me exactly of the Orangetheory workouts and it was tough! It challenged me just like Orangetheory did and was the hardest at home workout I had ever done.

I quickly became obsessed with bootcamp and tread workouts – until I got a stress fracture on my foot and had to take it easy for a few weeks. I was able to still use the Peloton app and switched to strength workouts.

Within a few months I decided to get a Peloton bike so I’d have a low impact cardio option and I haven’t looked back! I love with Peloton there are so many class options and I don’t get bored. If I start to get tired of one type of class, I’m able to switch it up and try a different type class or

Beachbody Pros and Cons

So now let’s breakdown the Pros and Cons of Beachbody compared to Peloton:

Pros:

Cheaper (kind of) – If you just do the Beachbody on Demand membership and no early access, the membership can be cheaper than a Peloton bike membership.

Structured – Beachbody provides structure through programmed workouts. When you commit to 21 Day Fix, for example, you’ll get 21 days of workouts and which ones to do.

Group Fitness – If you join an active coach’s group, you’ll get an accountability group that you can interact with. This can be hit or miss and some groups can be super active

Cons:

Salesy – You’re always going to be pushed to buy something. Whether it be new equipment the latest program requires, or the Shakeology shakes there will always be something

Hit or Miss Coaches – Some coaches are fantastic (I was lucky and had a great one!) but some are completely MIA.

Focus on Latest and Greatest Programs – Whenever there’s a new program that comes out you’ll find that coaches jump to that and really only support that program and focus on it. This can be great if you’re interested in the program, but for me it was a negative because I like more picking my own workout based on what actually interested me.

Boring After a While – If you’re like me and like to switch up workouts, you might get bored of Beachbody after a while. There were only so many times I could do the same 21 Day Fix workout (and hear the same jokes!) before I got bored.

Not Very Cardio Focused – I found most of the programs were geared towards strength and only had a little cardio added in. I’m a runner and would have liked to see more ways to incorporate running into a program. I did hear they added on a new running coaching program to help train for a 5K, but it would have been nice to have a program for more experienced runners.

Music – This bugged me way more than it should have LOL The music they used in their workouts was just generic music (it seemed like super old school and cheesy) that never really got me amped up like a gym class did. They later went on to record the workouts without any music and had a suggested playlist on Spotify you could stream, but it wasn’t the same. I’m sure there’s some legal issues here but it would have been nice to have current music playing.

Peloton Benefits

Let’s breakdown the Pros and Cons of Peloton vs. Beachbody

Pros

Variety of Workouts – My favorite thing about Peloton is the variety of workouts. They offer everything from strength to yoga to pilates to treadmill workouts, and are always expanding. The workouts also vary in difficulty so I can always find a class that fits me.

Community – the Peloton community is amazing. I love being able to see other people doing the workout with me and sending and receiving high fives. It’s little, but it makes the workout more fun and enjoyable.

Music – I love that they’re able to use normal music I would hear in my Orangetheory classes. Plus there’s a feature so I can see playlists to know what songs are in class, and can save them to my Apple Music Account.

Cons

Pricey – Peloton can be pricer than Beachbody if you have the bike or tread. Monthly bike memberships are $39/month (or $12 if you’re digital app only) so end up being about $450 a year. You do get unlimited memberships under that so your whole family can have their own. For me, this is way less than I was paying for my gym membership so I’m ok with the higher price.

Not as Structures (Kind of) – Peloton is more of a “choose your own adventure” workout which can be good and bad. They do offer recommended collections like beginner series, prenatal workouts, etc. and are continuing to add to those offerings.

My favorite way of creating a structured workout is by following a group challenge like the Power Zone Pack challenges or Hardcore on the Floor strength workouts. There are a ton of communities with all different types of free challenges and calendars!

Related Post: Everything You Need to Know About Power Zone Training

Need Equipment to Compete on Leaderboard – I’m competitive and once I learned about the leaderboard I wanted to be on it! The leaderboard is a competition between who is taking the class and their outputs – the higher the output (based on resistance and cadence) the higher you go up the leaderboard.

Update: Beachbody BODi

Beachbody recently announced that they’ll be releasing a new live streaming platform called BODi (or Beachbody Interactive) this fall. The new platform will allow you to stream live and on demand workouts, more similar to Peloton.

While the platform is promising and does seem more similar to Peloton, the experience will be more expensive. To get access to BODi, you’ll need to have an active Beachbody on Demand (BOD) membership and pay an additional monthly fee of $29. Beachbody on Demand memberships start at $39/quarter or $99 for an annual membership.

Conclusion

Ultimately, it’s up to you on which program is best for you. There’s no #1 program for everyone – it’s really a personal choice. Both Beachbody and Peloton can provide great workouts and programs.

For me, I prefer Peloton because there’s newer content and it challenges me more. I like participating in the monthly challenges (right now I’m hooked on the Hardcore on the Floor monthly calendar), and I find the community is way more engaged and friendly.

I’ve also found that Peloton has helped me become a more well rounded athlete instead of the cardio bunny I usually am. I’ve started adding in more and more strength training, stretching, pilates and even yoga!

Have you tried Peloton or Beachbody? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!