Peloton has proven to be one of the most effective at-home cardio equipment that can not only strengthen your legs but also increase metabolic rate and burn calories. However, does the peloton have arm workouts?
In general, the peloton does have specialized arm workouts available in the peloton app. The mix of classes includes strength and cardio where all the work is focused on the upper body. It also has dozens of Bootcamp classes that combine arm workouts with bike or tread.
Keep reading to learn more about the best peloton arm workouts, different training methods, and tips for getting stronger, without getting bigger.
Best Peloton Arm Workouts
In general, some of the most savage peloton arm workouts you can find not only in the strength category but also in the classes like yoga or Bootcamp.
Does the peloton work your arms? Overall, the peloton does work your arms because it has thousands of strength and cardio classes. Most of them focus on full-body exercise or strict arms workouts. Each class varies depending on the difficulty level, equipment used, and session duration.
Are peloton arm workouts effective? As a whole, the peloton arm workouts are effective because each class consists of 4-6 rounds of supersets with 4 different arms and shoulders exercises, done back to back. The supersets enhance training efficiency and stimulate muscle hypertrophy while reducing training time.
How long until you see results from the peloton? As a general rule, you can see the results from the peloton as long as 12 to 16 weeks. The results will depend on the frequency of your workouts, as well as the calorie deficit and other lifestyle factors like stress, sleep, hydration, and recovery from workouts.
#1 Arms and Shoulders Strength
What I like about the peloton arms and shoulders strength class is you can do it either on its own, or you can do it at the need of your bike session.
What is peloton arms and shoulders strength? As a whole, the peloton arms and shoulders strength is a series of 5 to 20 minutes upper body workouts. Each class is focused on doing exercises that target only the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and upper back. The class can be found in the “strength” category.
Why peloton arms and shoulders is effective? As a whole, the peloton arms and shoulders is effective because it applies the supersets and progressive resistance training method. Each class contains multiple rounds of arms exercises, performed back to back. This increases the time under tension and enhances muscle development.
Is a 20-minute Peloton workout enough? As a whole, the 20-minute peloton workout is enough, as long as it’s done daily. Doing 20 minutes sessions per day at moderate intensity equals 140 minutes per week, which is in line with World Health Organization guidelines for physical activity.
My favorite class is with Adrian Williams. He not only uses a mix of medium to heavyweights but also several isometric exercises at different joint angles.
Studies have shown that working isometric strength training not only helps to improve strength and leads to muscle endurance adaptations but also enhances the oxidative metabolism in the muscle (Komi et al. 1978).
In other words, it increases the rate of how much oxygen the muscles will take during the workout, and as a result burn calories.
#2 Focus Flow Sun Salutation
The peloton focus flow sun salutation isn’t a typical strength training session. This class is derived from the yoga category. This means you work on your strength, without getting your arms jacked.
What is focus flow sun salutation? In general, the focus flow sun salutation is a class where you repeatedly perform the sun salutation, also called “Surya namaskar”, for several rounds. Sun salutation is a combination of yoga poses that predominately uses arms and shoulders.
Why peloton focus flow sun salutation is effective? As a whole, this class is effective because it not only works on building strength in the arms but also stretches the shoulders and improves posture. The element of sun salutation is a downward-facing dog, which involves the extension of the shoulder to the full range of motion.
What I like about peloton sun salutation is it can be used on its own as a regular workout, as long as you do it for long enough. It requires constant transitions from standing poses into floor poses, which is a great cardio workout.
Try it.
You’ll be surprised at how such a simple sequence can not only get your arms working, but also increase the heart rate.
In fact, studies have shown that doing the sun salutation for 30 minutes resulted in 80% to 90% of maximum heart rate. On average, the oxygen consumption was 26 ml/kg/min during each round, which accounts for 230 calories per 30 min session (Mody 2011).
Let that sink in for a moment.
That’s the equivalent of doing boxing punching bag or even swimming at a leisure pace (Ainsworth et al. 2000).
Another thing I like about sun salutation is it helps to restore a neutral position in the thoracic spine, improve shoulder mobility, and help to achieve a more upright posture while working on your arms.
#3 Arm Balances
Peloton arm balances are another way of getting an arm workout, without making the arms look like Hulk. Those exercises are commonly used in many gymnastics programs where you use your own body weight as resistance.
What is peloton arm balances? As a whole, the peloton arm balances is a series of individual focus flow yoga classes that work specifically on the upper body strength. The goal of the class is to teach and prepare for challenging arm balancing poses like crane pose, handstand, or firefly pose.
Why peloton arm balances is effective? In general, the peloton arm balance is effective because it helps to build the foundation and strength, without making adding size to the arms. The classes include several upper body exercises like chaturanga and multiple plank variations.
What I like about the peloton arm balances is they not only work on your upper body but also help to strengthen the core. The arm balancing exercises require a strong upper body, as well as abdominal muscles.
If you join the class with Ross Rayburn, he’s showing nice progressions and literally takes you by hand to show step-by-step moves.
Learn more: Click here to learn more about how to get a “peloton healthcare discount“.
#4 Intervals and Arms Ride
If you like doing peloton intervals and arms, my best recommendation is to join the Tunde Oyeneyin class (if you like ass-kicking). Her class is all about doing supersets where you move from one exercise to another with barely any rest in between.
What is peloton intervals and arms? As a whole, the peloton interval and arms is a series of classes focused on implementing resistance training while riding the bike. It consists of multiple rounds of high cadence and resistance, followed by 3-5 minutes of arms work where you exercise your biceps, triceps, and shoulders.
Why peloton intervals and arms is effective? The peloton intervals and arms are effective because it incorporates partial reps, isometric holds, and supersets. Those training methods not only help to increase time under tension but also allows to achieve muscle failure with light weights.
How do you get to Peloton rides with arms? As a whole, to get to peloton rides with arms you need to choose the “intervals” category under the cycling tab. Peloton rides with arms are usually 30 to 45 minutes long, so you can filter them out by the “duration” tab.
Muscle failure is a moment when your muscles reach the point of exhaustion and fatigue, and you cannot perform any more repetitions with the correct form.
Can you tone arms with light weights? In general, you can tone your arms with light weights, as long as you reach muscle failure. Studies have shown that lightweights create significant muscular adaptations and can stimulate muscle hypertrophy. However, the results after heavier weights remain superior.
In other words, you can develop strong arms with just lightweights but this will require doing dozens, sometimes even hundreds of reps.
On the other hand, using medium to heavy weights delivers better results with less amount of time spend (Schoenfeld et al. 2015).
I won’t be covering here which dumbbells are best for the peloton. I’ve already covered that in “choosing peloton dumbbells“, which I recommend you read.
#5 Upper Body Bootcamp
The peloton upper body bootcamp is a class for people who are used to train at a higher metabolic demand. Here you basically go non-stop from one exercise to another (including running or cycling).
What is peloton upper body bootcamp? As a whole, the peloton upper body Bootcamp is a collection of classes where you combine upper body exercises off the bike (or treadmill), together with a 5 to 7 minutes cardio session. The class duration is between 30 to 45 minutes.
Why peloton upper body Bootcamp is effective? In general, this class is effective because it helps to extend the workout time, without causing muscle fatigue. Adding the cardio component in between sets helps to increase the blood flow and enhance lactate clearance from the muscles.
This means you can do longer arm workouts, without feeling this “burn” sensation in the muscles. Another thing I like about doing peloton Bootcamp is you get to move a lot.
The class is all about transitioning from cycling (or running) into the floor where you pick up your weights and follow the strength sequence.
This keeps the heart rate high, elevates the metabolic rate, and burns more calories than a traditional steady-state cardio session.
Still curious? Click here to learn more about “peloton bootcamp“.
How Do You Fix Saggy Arms With Peloton?
Overall, to fix saggy arms with peloton you need to implement arms workouts with progressive overload, combined with a diet rich in high-protein sources and calorie deficit. Progressive overload helps to stimulate muscle growth and increases metabolic rate to burn more calories.
In other words, on top of your workouts, you also need to get your kitchen in order. Doing lots of strength classes won’t outperform the wrong diet.
How many weeks does it take to tone flabby arms? As a whole, it takes between 16 to 24 weeks to tone flabby arms, as long as you implement calorie deficit into the regular training program. Doing exercises on its own won’t make significant changes unless you reduce calorie intake.
I’ve already written an in-depth article about how to marry good nutrition and peloton workouts for the best results, which I suggest you read.
Still curious? Click here to learn more about the “peloton diet to lose weight“.
Can You Build Arms with a Peloton?
In general, you can build arms with a peloton because most of the classes require you to use arms in your workouts. The classes use either light, medium, or heavyweights, as well as bodyweight exercises that help to heighten muscle growth.
Is a 10-minute peloton arm workout enough? In general, the 10-minute peloton arms workout is enough, as long as you do it 4-5 times a week. Reducing the duration but increasing the frequency of sessions per week still enhances the hypertrophic response and leads to strength gains.
Learn more: Click here to learn more about “best peloton classes for triathlon“.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are several options to choose from for your arms from the peloton app. In general, the peloton bike does work your upper body by constantly holing the handlebar, especially while being out of the saddle.
This however doesn’t provide enough muscle stimulus to growth and tone. So adding the specialized arms classes, together with a decent diet, not only helps to reduce body fat, but also tone and strengthen the muscles.