An ode to Steven Little at Peloton
Oxygen fuels your muscles; story fuels your mind.
Who are you?
How would you describe yourself?
How do you introduce yourself to others?
How do you introduce yourself to you?
Everyone charts a different path toward self-discovery. One of the biggest surprises I’ve had in the last year is seeing how much I can learn about myself by riding an exercise bicycle.
The Peloton bike as a place for self-discovery
My wife and I ordered our Peloton bike in April 2016. We’ve both ridden regularly ever since. I just finished my 101st ride this morning. My wife is a bit ahead of me.
In case you don’t know, the Peloton bike lets you take indoor bicycling classes in your own home. You can stream live classes. You can take on demand classes. You can choose amongst different instructors, different durations, different themes.
I’ve ridden six days in a row, starting on New Year’s Eve. The instructors have focused on finishing 2016 strong, and starting 2017 with an eye toward a better you. It’s exactly the message you’d expect. And for a number of reasons, I’ve internalized this message much more deeply now than in years past.
Why? Because the Peloton system is a group fitness environment where the group is dispersed. While I’m riding with hundreds of other people, I’m riding by myself, in my own home.
The instructors guide me through the class. I’m free to follow their lead, or to cut corners. And even though I’m working in a group, I don’t have other people watching me. No one will really know if I cheat.
Peloton is unique, because I have a coach, but my coach isn’t watching me. She’s with me. She’s giving me instructions. She’s telling me when to push forward, and when to pull back. But she’s not in the same room. Again, she doesn’t know if I’m taking a break or working my butt off.
And for me, that tension between having a coach that guides me, but having to rely on myself for accountability…that’s the heart of the new, more profound sense of self-discovery that Peloton offers.
My favorite instructor? Steven Little
Of my 101 rides, I’m guessing Steven Little has been the instructor for half, maybe a little more. (My second and third highest ride counts are probably with Alex Toussaint and Cody Rigsby, respectively. Both are also great instructors.)
Steven relies extensively on his heart rate monitor to guide himself through a ride. He calibrates the ride based on what he wants to accomplish, and how his body responds that day. He wants you to know what he’s thinking, and why he makes the decision he makes. He urges you to develop your own intuition, so you can build the ride that works best for you.
Here are three reasons I like riding with Steven so much:
- He relies on, and talks a lot about, heart rate data. And I’m a data nerd.
- I have a family history of early onset cardiovascular disease. Staying in front of heart problems is essential for me, and Steven focuses on heart health.
- I like how Steven encourages every rider to make the ride his or her own. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. It’s a powerful message.
Steven explains a lot about the mechanics of exercise. He talks about how much recovery you should allow after different kinds of rides. He emphasizes the need for stretching, hydration, and sleep. He focuses on proper breathing techniques, and how you can use your breath to control your heart rate. He encourages you to be deliberate with your riding posture, to build muscle and prevent injury.
But he doesn’t just talk about your body. He talks about your mind. He encourages you to identify all the ways you bullshit yourself. He points out how counter-productive it is to compare yourself to someone else.
He opens your eyes to the fact that you sabotage yourself in more ways than you think. It could be as little as whispering harmful messages to yourself. “This is too difficult.” “I need a break.” “I’ll never be able to finish at this pace.”
It could be that you compare yourself with the instructor. You can’t maintain their cadence, or their resistance. You get discouraged and you quit. What a freaking bummer.
Again, that’s the challenge of not having a personal instructor. You don’t have someone else whispering empowering messages in your ear when you need them most. Occasionally the Peloton instructor will offer something right when you need it. But that’s a coincidence.
You have to rely on yourself. And as you practice this self-reliance, you’ll move further and further into self-discovery.
Oxygen fuels your muscles; story fuels your mind
Like I said, Steven shares a lot of information about the principles of exercise. He tells you that as you practice more on the bike, your body will use oxygen more effectively. That’s why breathing is so important. It supplies the fuel your muscles need to keep turning those pedals.
At the same time, it’s clear, if you take enough of Steven’s classes, that he’s also helping you fuel your mind. With your mind, rather than oxygen, you need story. You need the right story about yourself. You need the right story about the class you’re taking. You need the right story about the instructor who’s guiding you.
You’re strong. You’re committed. You’re improving.
You need to leave the bullshit behind. Don’t think about the workouts you skipped. Don’t think about old goals that you didn’t meet. Don’t think about the climbs you cut short because you were too tired. Don’t think about the intervals you skipped because you were out of breath. Don’t think about the fact that you’re not on pace to break your personal record.
Only think helpful thoughts. Sounds ridiculously easy, right? Sounds like something no one would even need to say out loud. Until you get on the bike. Until you start feeling the burn. Until you see the upcoming challenges staring you in the face.
Peloton is the perfect laboratory to practice productive storytelling
That’s the power of Peloton. Sure, it’s an exercise bike. We’ve all ridden exercise bikes. There’s not much new there.
But Peloton isn’t really an exercise bike. Peloton is an experience. It’s a chance to receive top shelf instruction from world class coaches in the comfort of your own home. And it’s a chance for you to rely only on yourself for accountability.
For me, that’s the beauty of Peloton. It’s the asymmetry. If I had a personal trainer, I’d have one person to help me set goals, push me to reach those goals, celebrate with me when I win, and hold me accountable when I lose. This one person, my trainer, would be the focal point of my exercise experience.
With Peloton, it’s different. I still get the guidance and the encouragement from an instructor. But I have space. My instructor isn’t staring me down. My instructor isn’t critiquing my form, or my choices. I’m in charge, for better or worse.
That’s the part I like. Peloton forces me to train my storytelling muscles. No crutches. No one else to hold me accountable. Only me. Me and the story I tell myself.
By paying closer attention to my body, I know when I’m really pushing myself, or when I’m taking it easy. I pick the story based on how my body is responding, and what goals I set before the ride.
Sometimes I’m at maximum effort, and I’m still underperforming. At that point, I need a compassionate story. I need to be happy that I’m on the bike, working as hard as I am, regardless of what the numbers show. Other times, I’m coasting, starting to fall behind my goal. Then I need to tell myself that I’m stronger than I realize, and I need to push harder. Different circumstances require different narratives.
Thank you Coach Little
That’s what I appreciate most about Steven Little. He doesn’t pretend that he’s your personal trainer. He acknowledges that this is a group fitness environment. And in a group fitness environment, you’re in charge of your own experience.
You make the choices that are right for you. You set the stage and tell the story that either helps you succeed, or helps you fail. I love that challenge.
Thank you Steven. Thanks for setting boundaries. Thanks for playing your part, and thanks for encouraging me to play mine. Thanks for the tips on how to improve my muscles, and for the wisdom on how to improve my mind.
And here’s to some serious ass kicking in 2017.
I am the founder and author of STEM to Business, where I help scientists and engineers build their business acumen.
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