How to Get Ripped with Peloton (Build Muscle)

In case you haven’t heard, strength training is possibly the single most important thing you can be doing — at least according to Instagram… and every scientist I’ve ever met.

Peloton has never screamed strength. It’s always screamed CARDIO… and not subtly. But it’s since been improved, and now you can get ripped with it!

Here’s how.

What Is the Peloton?

Peloton Interactive was created in 2012. The name comes from cycling, meaning a large group of riders bunched together. After getting the startup money, founder John Foley began the development of their equipment.

Initially, Peloton wasn’t created to feature strength training, heavy weights, or full-body workouts in their training. They were solely focused on HIIT workouts (cardio workouts) and lower body strength.

In 2013, they sold their first stationary bicycle. The first internet-connected stationary bicycle was sold in 2014, and its first original treadmill, Tread+, was released in late 2018.

Peloton also went semi-viral in 2019 for one of its commercials featuring “Peloton Girl”:

As you can see, they’ve been developing tools and other means to work out that’ll allow for a more complete fitness level, and other brands — like Tonal — have since followed suit.

Today, Peloton provides an array of equipment, including:

• Bike and Bike+
• Tread and Tread+ treadmills
• Peloton Row indoor rower
• Guide
• Digital Membership

Furthermore, they also have some other nifty features that’ll make both cardio and strength workouts better:

• Classes and instructors
• Interactive and gamification features
• Showrooms
• Peloton Homecoming event
• Peloton studios
• Peloton apparel (in case the Peloton hasn’t completely taken over your personality)

So, what does this all mean to you and your endeavor to build muscle, burn fat, and improve your energy levels?

Well, with the addition of the Guide, you have the ability to do more than just a cardio workout.

You have the freedom to train a singular muscle group. You have the ability to use Peloton strength classes and resistance training to make sure you retain muscle mass while trying to lose body weight (fat).

Lifting weights is, after all, the best thing you can do to look muscular.

Step 1 – Follow a Strength Training Program

Before we even step foot on a treadmill or pump leg muscles with cycling classes, I want you to understand one thing: being ripped means having muscle, and having muscle means you need to do Peloton strength classes a few times per week.

Why, you may ask?

Well, being ripped inherently means you have some muscle mass. It means you’re muscular enough that once we remove the fat, you look good — great, even. Full-body strength is, therefore, essential.

So, let’s focus on strength training first.

You’ll be using the Guide mainly, which is focused on improving muscle growth and muscle strength rather than cardio. More muscle strength training with the right diet will lead to more muscle growth — granted, you rest enough.

You plug this device into your TV (it looks similar to the XBOX Kinect), and it’ll videotape you and display it on the TV. There, you’ll have access to on-demand pre-recorded workouts and classes, or you can just do movements on your own instead.

You can, of course, follow the Peloton workout they provide and use split training.

However, just make sure you adhere to a few general rules (if the goal is to get ripped):

• Focus on improving mechanical tension (increase the load or the reps done).
• Split the workouts across all the muscles (upper body and lower body).
• Ensure you do appropriate warm-ups.
• If you’re unsure about the form, use the Peloton instructor to see how it’s done.
• Allow for ample rest between training the same muscle (at least 48 hours).

These are pretty much the basics you need to be following. Don’t be afraid to really enforce progressive overload. It’s the only thing that’ll lead to more muscle.

Step 2 – Eat Correctly

You put the dumbbells down, and now it’s time to get some grub. KFC has chicken, so, like, all those fitness bros eat chicken… KFC is good, right?

Let’s backtrack for a moment. Peloton classes won’t teach you what I’m about to do.

To lose weight (and get ripped), you need to be in a calorie deficit. This simply means you need to be consuming less food than your body needs to sustain its current body weight.

For instance:

• Person A weighs 280 lbs and trains 10 times a week. Thus, they need 5,000 calories per day to sustain 280 lbs.
• Person B weighs 150 lbs and trains once in a blue moon. Thus, they might only need 2,100 calories to maintain 150 lbs.

If person A were to eat 4700, they wouldn’t be able to sustain 280 and might drop to 270. If they consume enough protein and train correctly (i.e., Peloton strength training), they’ll most likely only lose fat mass.

What does this all mean for you?

Well, in order to lose fat while retaining muscle mass, you need to follow the guide below:

This might require a bit of mathematics, but you can obviously use an app to calculate these things for you.

If, however, you’re in the mood for education, here you go:

• Both carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram.
• Fats, on the other hand, have 9 calories per gram.
• Thus, subtracting the calories from protein and fats will reveal how many calories of carbs you should eat.
• Divide the calories from carbs by 4, and you’ll have the grams of carbs you should eat daily.
• Boom! Macros calculated!

In the beginning, this might be hard to follow, so allow for some wiggle room. But aim to be within 10% of all your calculated numbers.

You can also get ripped without any fitness supplements — so perfect you’ll diet and training program, and you’ll see results!

Step 3 – Consistency, Cardio, and Cucumbers

Besides the little joke in the heading here, it really is that simple. Strength training classes, some cardio in your fitness routine, and the correct diet is the fastest way to getting ripped, no questions about it.

But that creates a question: how much cardio is enough? Which of the Peloton cardio options is best — the Peloton bike, treadmill, or rower? How much should you lose per week, and how long should my weight loss journey be?

All great questions!

1. Cardio type doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent with it. There’s no such thing as a “specific body” reacting better to a “specific cardio.” Ensure the cardio you do doesn’t interfere with your split training classes (regarding recovery).
2. Cardio doesn’t burn fat; it merely increases your calorie deficit. Eating less and doing cardio do the same thing. Eating less is far easier and time-saving, though.
3. Aim to lose 0.5 – 1.0% of total body weight per week. This is a good ballpark to be in. Doing more might lead to burnout, and doing less tends to be boring and doesn’t feel “hard” enough.
4. A diet phase should not exceed 16 weeks. Thus, if you can’t lose enough weight in those 16 weeks, that’s okay! Take 4 – 6 weeks of “chill” and a maintenance diet. Not only will each workout be a great workout in this phase, but your body will get to rest a bit.

Lastly, learn to use your Peloton classes in all ways possible. We see quite often that those who choose to work out from home tend to get bored quite quickly.

Avoid this by trying other classes, such as Pilates classes. Try the HIIT workouts or some of the challenges like the “Power Zone challenge.” Your fitness journey should never be the same for your whole life, so don’t be afraid to try something new.

That said, if the goal is to lose the most amount of fat while retaining the most amount of muscle mass, it’s as simple as 1-2-3:

1. You gotta do the Peloton strength training to ensure you’re giving the muscle a reason to stick around.
2. You gotta follow a diet rich in protein, which also puts you in a calorie deficit.
3. You gotta rest and sleep enough to allow the body to recover between sessions.

Are Peloton Workouts Worth It?

The Peloton name has come a long way since its debut in the early 2010s and has transcended the cardio world into the world of core strength, heavier weights, and full-body workouts. This is something that potentially completes it as an at-home training option.

Is the Peloton perfect?

Well, nothing really is, but you do have the ability to get ripped at home with the Peloton.

The cardiovascular capabilities allow you to do cardio at home, and the new strength classes allow you to train all the muscle groups as well.

This, combined with the right diet, is the single fastest way to get ripped. Improving your body composition can have monumental impacts on your life, and building muscle is one of the healthiest things you can do.

Build Ripped Muscle With Peloton

To build ripped muscle with Peloton, you’ll need to:

1. Follow a strength training program.
2. Eat correctly.
3. Focus on “consistency, cardio, and cucumbers.”

The first week on Peloton might be a bit hard, but the workouts will only get easier while simultaneously also getting harder — a bit of an anomaly there…

But so is building muscle and losing fat at the same time!

To most, this is thermodynamically impossible. However, if you follow the tips in this article (and sleep as much as you can), you might not be able to break the laws of physics, but you’ll damn well be bending them.

(You’ll be building muscle and losing fat at the same time… that is what bending the laws of physics means… just a P.S.)

The Peloton memes also practically write themselves…