I’ve been doing peloton yoga classes for the last couple of years. Obviously, I haven’t tried them all (Peloton has over 4,600 classes so it would take me over 10 years to do it.)
Today I will give you my honest review of peloton yoga workouts, as well as compare them to the actual yoga classes in the studio.
In general, peloton yoga classes are good because they offer classes that can enhance your recovery, improve athleticism and increase your performance. They also balance the classes in difficulty levels so people who never did yoga before can get started, without feeling intimidated.
Here you have my overall answer, but to learn more details on the whole peloton yoga program, keep reading.
Peloton Yoga: Overview
In a nutshell, Peloton yoga is #3 the most popular class on the app that range from beginner tutorials to advanced yoga poses.
Regardless if you want to touch your toes or put your legs behind your head, yoga classes can help to improve your fitness.
For the last couple of years, peloton consistently uploaded new yoga classes to their app library. There is no extra charge for yoga, however, you cannot access these peloton classes without subscription.
- You use a peloton app that comes with a $12.99 per month fee.
- You can also use an all-access membership for the peloton bike or tread users for $44 per month.
Are peloton yoga classes worth it?
I think peloton yoga offers a great deal, regardless of which membership you have.
For the price of one yoga session in the regular studio (around $50), you have access to over 4,600 classes that range in style, intensity, duration, and difficulty level.
The only difference is that you don’t get personal attention and help directly from the instructor.
For me, yoga is a great supplement to my regular bike workouts.
On the days when I feel like I don’t wanna get my heart rate up, I simply start a yoga class. This helps me to relax and loosen up tension in my muscles.
They have a lot of styles. Everything from power yoga, yoga flow, restorative, and yoga anywhere (more on that later.)
How does it work?
Peloton yoga works by giving you access to a variety of short and long-form workouts. To join the class you need to log in to your peloton app and select some of the newest Yoga classes.
In the main menu, you will find the list of the most current release classes. If you wanna find more specific workouts, go ahead and use the filter tab and search for the class by category, length, your favorite instructor, or difficulty level.
Who can use peloton yoga?
This program can be used by literally everyone, depending on your goals.
Endurance athletes
If your goal is to run faster or cycle long distances, restorative yoga will help you get better recovery and prepare you for your next big race. I did a lot of yoga during my peloton marathon training, which helped with muscle soreness.
People with lower back pain
If your goal is to relieve back, hip, neck, or knee pain, peloton yoga basics offer step-by-step instructions where they take you by hand through each pose. I’ve added this class to my article about the best peloton classes for back pain, which I recommend you read.
Office workers
This is great for people who spend all day behind a desk. If your goal is to improve flexibility, but you feel intimidated by yoga studios, chanting mantras, and 20-year-olds who can touch their toes before the class even starts, yoga flow will challenge your mobility.
Advanced yogis
If your goal is to get on the cover of Yoga Journal while doing a handstand, peloton advanced power yoga is a good milestone.
In other words, the classes are for everyone.
Benefits
Needless to say, there are dozens of benefits to doing yoga.
- It helps to enhance recovery after intense running or cycling workouts.
- It helps with mobility and flexibility by reducing movement restriction and improving the range of motion.
- It also helps to relax and downregulate after a long day or week.
However, I also think that doing online yoga classes has its own list of benefits, compared to attending a regular yoga studio.
1. Save time
You don’t need to budget your time for commuting, showering at the gym, and getting organized for every class. You can literally do the session whenever you want, at your fingertips.
Also, most local yoga classes run for a minimum of 60 minutes in the yoga studio. Which means you either do all or nothing.
With peloton yoga not only you can adjust the class to your fitness level, but also choose the duration specific to your needs.
2. Full body strength
In peloton classes, you will see several poses that challenge both the upper and the lower body. That is a great way to complete your fitness program.
For people who like to train for events like a marathon run, cycling event or simply wanna lose weight, peloton yoga has several classes that can build up your strength in the whole body and be a supplement for your current workout.
3. Doesn’t intimidate you
I know a bunch of guys who never did yoga in the studio becasue they think it’s for women. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Yoga is for everyone and if you feel uncomfortable attending a yoga studio full of women doing splits and headstands, start from peloton yoga online.
3. Core strength
Of course, yoga is not a typical peloton abs workout where you do countless reps of sit-ups and planks. Nevertheless, this workout does challenge your core strength, as much as flexibility.
Many poses work on your posture, balance, and stability, which is important if your main workout is either running or cycling.
I know that runners prefer to complete miles rather than stay in the class doing crunches.
Regular yoga helps to work on your “weak spots” and develop strong core muscles, which decrease the likelihood of lower back or hip problems.
4. Foot strength
Peloton yoga is done barefoot, so it not only works on your feet muscles but also impacts your overall health.
For me, doing barefoot yoga helps to connect with the ground, which not only energizes me but also has a mild calming effect and helps me feel more “centered”.
Plus, I spend all day wearing shoes (often with extra cushions or arch support) so doing barefoot workouts helps to spread my toes a bit.
On a side note, my wife says that doing barefoot yoga helps her to reduce headaches, so it’s worth a try.
5. Counteract bad posture
Spending too much time in the compromised position (e.g. sitting) leads to pattern adaptation where the body develops a habit of keeping the muscles short and restricted.
Adding some quick sessions of yoga helps to counteract those patterns that the body develops throughout the day.
Obviously, this translates into better form while you’re cycling, running, or weight training.
6. Builds mental strength
Good mental strength is critical for anyone who has a long-term sport-related goal.
Whether that’s to lose weight, run faster, or cycle for 90-minutes straight, you need to be psychologically healthy and equipped with resilience to pass through obstacles.
I like to have access to on-demand yoga classes because I can be more consistent. And consistency is what builds up this mental flexibility.
Plus, it makes you more humble as you try to perform more advanced poses and helps you to appreciate those small achievements from session to session.
7. Improves flexibility
Better flexibility, especially in the hamstrings and lower back is essential for long-term health. If you’re a swimmer, runner, cyclist, or you sit too much at your desk, you probably experience hamstring tension at some point.
Adding high frequency but short duration yoga sessions helps to restore some of this range of motion and improve muscle suppleness.
(Yes, I’m a little bit obsessed with yoga and I cannot recommend them enough.)
Classes
Peloton yoga comes in multiple shapes and forms, from basic tutorials of single positions to power yoga for more advanced audiences.
There are 10 yoga types (categories) in the peloton library.
- Yoga Flow
- Yoga Focus Flow
- Yoga Slow Flow
- Yoga Restorative
- Yoga Theme
- Yoga Anywhere
- Yoga Basics
- Yoga Family & Pre/Postnatal
- Yoga Beyond the Pose
- Yoga Power
Programs
In addition to single workouts, the peloton also has 3 yoga programs that focus on a specific long-term goal.
For example.
- Beginner yoga teaches basic poses and explains the philosophy of yoga. This is something I advise you to start if you never did yoga classes before.
- Power restorative yoga is a 7-day program led by my favorite instructor, Ross. In this program, Ross explains the concept of restorative yoga and gives you a taste of different ways to add it to your day.
- Path to Inversion is a 2-week performance-focused yoga program. It gives you step-by-step tutorials on how to get started with inversion poses like headstands, crow pose, or handstands.
Peloton Beginner Yoga Program Review
One of the best peloton programs on the app is beginner yoga. This course is for people who are completely new to yoga and stretching.
The peloton beginner yoga program includes 3 weeks of on-demand classes. Once you completed the first class, it automatically unlocks the next session, so you need to follow the set routine.
This is one of the best peloton programs for seniors, especially those who are brand new to yoga and don’t feel comfortable going to the full 60 to 90-minute class in their local yoga studio.
For people who’ve never done yoga before, doing a 60-minute class in a normal studio is a big deal. People usually feel a bit intimidated, which can be discouraging.
I also like to recommend this program to overweight beginners who never did yoga before, but are thinking about it.
Benefits of the Peloton Beginner Yoga program
- Comprehensive content – they explain and demonstrate most of the commonly used yoga poses.
- Attention to detail – instructors spend a lot of time on form and teaching and making sure you know what you’re doing.
- Progressive overload – In each week, you progressively increase the intensity and duration.
Best Peloton Yoga Classes
In the list below, I will only talk about the classes that I believe will have the best impact and can supplement your current workout routine.
1. Peloton Flow Yoga
You can think of peloton flow yoga as a combination of vinyasa or ashtanga. Here you go from one pose to another, without spending too much time in one particular position.
In a nutshell.
- Flow Yoga helps to restore range of motion but doesn’t require excessive flexibility, so it’s great for people who do sports.
- This is also great for cyclists and runners because it helps to improve mobility, without compromising or losing muscle stiffness.
Let me explain.
Muscles need some level of stiffness to absorb the force from the running stride or maintain a high cadence on the bike.
However, adding more flexibility training can reduce muscle stiffness and its ability to create this output.
Studies have shown that “higher tendon stiffness and plantar flexion force were related to faster turn and sprint times” (Houghton et al. 2013)
Peloton yoga flow vs slow flow
Yoga flow and slow flow are two completely different classes. Peloton yoga flow is the combination of yoga poses where you transition from one pose to another.
Peloton slow flow yoga is a series of classes with a slower pace where you stay for longer in positions. In this class, you can feel the stretch a bit deeper, and focus more on the alignment, and proper form of each pose.
- Yoga flow helps to maintain flexibility, without compromising your total output on peloton and FTP score.
- The slow flow impacts the flexibility at a greater level, but it also can reduce the ability to develop power output.
Benefits of Peloton Yoga Flow
- Great supplement for running, cycling, and weight training.
- Helps to restore range of motion without compensating your speed or power.
- Helps to match the movement with breathing.
- Great to alternate between the days of your regular workouts.
2. Peloton Restorative Yoga
Another fantastic option that isn’t spoken enough about is restorative yoga.
In a nutshell.
- The peloton restorative yoga is the easiest yoga class focused on staying in one to two poses with minimum effort.
- It helps to unwind, decompress, and brings the body back to neutral. This class is perfect for a day off from any physical activity.
Restorative yoga is a session designed not to stretch, but to unplug. This is one of the best peloton recovery classes because it helps to engage your parasympathetic system.
This is a perfect yoga session after a long week, or after a hardcore endurance event.
In this type of class, you will see a lot of yoga equipment like pillows, blankets, bolsters, eye pillows, candles, and sandbags.
Your goal here is not to burn as many calories as possible. Your goal is to unplug, relax, and kick-start the recovery process.
You should have at least 1 restorative yoga in your peloton workout plan, together with other mobility classes.
For me, restorative yoga is a total time-out. No competition or leaderboard. It’s the exact opposite (almost like a massage.)
Benefits of Peloton Restorative Yoga
- Accelerate recovery
- Great at the end of a long week or hard endurance event
- Great for a rest day practice
3. Peloton Power Yoga
Another class you can try from the peloton app is power yoga. This is part of my morning yoga routine on peloton on the days when I skip my regular gym training, but it still feels like doing a good workout (Yes, it’s intense.)
In a nutshell.
- Peloton power yoga is a combination of strength and yoga movement.
- The goal of this class is to keep you moving throughout the whole session and hold on to the most strenuous poses for longer.
- This class offers both beginner and advanced levels.
If you’re looking for a more functional alternative for your peloton strength classes, or you just want to try something new, this class will hit home with you.
Peloton flow vs power yoga
The difference between flow and power yoga is that flow moves you around more, and power yoga holds on to the most difficult poses. It works on your strength, balance, and flexibility at the same time.
That being said, this class is made for all levels. So just because it has “power” in the title, it doesn’t mean that beginners should feel intimidated.
Benefits of Peloton Power Yoga
- Great to build performance, strength, and athleticism
- Great to develop mental fitness
- Great for people who want to try different forms of strenuous physical activity
4. Peloton Yoga Anywhere
Peloton yoga anywhere is something that I haven’t seen before. This is an innovative and cutting-edge approach to on-demand classes for busy people.
In a nutshell.
- Peloton yoga anywhere is a series of classes designed for doing high-frequency and low-duration stretching.
- This class can be done on the go, at your desk, at the airport, in the shopping mall, or on the train and it doesn’t require yoga mats or yoga blocks.
(High frequency and low duration mean doing shorter, 5-minute classes multiple times per day.)
This type of class help to focus on the practice, not on the performance.
It’s about the acute effect from the stretch, not the ability to do the headstand. It’s about the basics. And basics will serve you well for longer.
Just like it’s better to run three times a week for 30 minutes, rather than one time for 90 minutes. The time is the same, but the physiological adaptations are different.
For best results, I recommend doing these classes 3-5 times per day. You can also do this yoga before or after peloton (both works).
It not only helps to restore your range of motion but also maintains optimum muscle stiffness, so you still have the ability to develop power for other sports.
I know a few people who experienced knee pain after peloton and said that restorative yoga actually helped them.
Benefits of Peloton Yoga Anywhere
- Counteract muscle adaptations developed throughout the day.
- Doesn’t need any equipment.
- It’s short and you can do it anywhere.
5. Peloton Yoga Focus Flow
This class is all about doing one specific pose like backbends, inversions, floor poses, and more. They show you a step-by-step methodology of how you can get there.
In a nutshell.
- This class is designed to work on specific muscle groups or to help to improve some more complex positions.
- You work on the pose that is most challenging to do. I like to look at this class as “filling the gap” or “working on your blind spot” movement.
I don’t use that class a lot (my wife uses it more often), but I know it can be extremely beneficial.
For example.
- It can be good solution for people who have sore hips after peloton or as a part of the rehab program after back injury.
- It is also good for people who want to get better at yoga poses, and that’s the primary goal.
Benefits of Peloton Focus Flow Yoga
- Great to work on single poses
- Great for people who are looking for more complex yoga movements
- Good alternative to regular strength training
- Good for people who are doing rehab training
6. Peloton Yoga Basics
Peloton yoga basics are the list of tutorial sessions that introduces you to yoga.
It’s similar to the aforementioned beginner yoga program, but it allows you to choose specific poses you want to learn.
In a nutshell.
- Peloton yoga basics have over 100 sessions that range in duration from 5 to 10 minutes.
- It covers all basic moves that you would do in the regular yoga class like sun salutation, cobra pose, downward dog, warrior pose, etc.
I always recommend this class to my clients who have peloton membership and want to explore yoga at their own pace, without attending a regular 60-minute gym class.
It helps you to polish the foundation of the moves. It’s almost like having a teacher’s eye on you.
The peloton yoga basics library is in the filter tab under the “class type”. You can further filter the class by its length, instructor, and music type.
Benefits of Peloton Yoga Basics
- Great for people to get started with yoga
- Helps to choose single basic poses to practice
- It’s short and effective
How to combine peloton yoga with workouts
Combining peloton yoga with your other workouts will depend on the type of exercise you’re already doing.
If I would combine yoga with other classes to enhance my performance or recovery, here is how I would do it.
| Activity | Type of yoga / When to do |
|---|---|
| Best peloton yoga for beginners | Yoga anywhere (every day) Peloton Yoga Program (as scheduled) |
| Best peloton yoga for runners | Restorative yoga (days off) Yoga anywhere (every day) Yoga flow (1-2 days per week) |
| Best peloton yoga for cyclist | Restorative yoga (days off) Yoga anywhere (every day) Yoga flow (1-2 days per week) |
| Best peloton yoga for strength training | Restorative yoga (days off) Power yoga (alternate with weight lifting days) |
| Best peloton yoga for golf | Power yoga (1-2 days per week) |
| Best peloton yoga for weight loss | Power yoga (1-2 days per week) Yoga flow (1-2 days per week) Restorative yoga (days off) |
| Best peloton yoga for sleep | Restorative yoga (days off) Yoga flow (1-2 days per week) |
| Best peloton yoga for digestion | Restorative yoga (days off) Slow flow yoga (2-3 days per week) |
Best Peloton Yoga Instructors
One thing is to find a class that you can do, but another is to find an instructor that you can connect with and feel confident about.
Finding the right yoga trainer is like finding the perfect fitter running shoes. It makes all experiences better.
In the list below, I will show who is the best peloton yoga instructor.
Ross Rayburn
His instruction is very detailed and has helped many people improve mobility and overall practice.
As a yoga instructor, you can learn with him and his biomechanics background.
He understands movement and human anatomy and works that into his instruction to the benefit of his students.
Anna Greenberg
I like Anna’s classes because you don’t have to watch the screen, you can literally just listen to her voice as she guides you so well.
Very calming and super easy to follow the instructions for yoga poses. She has great energy and I enjoy her playlists.
As a whole, I think all of the peloton crew is dedicated to their work. However, teaching yoga live versus on-demand requires different skills and approaches.
Peloton yoga instructors don’t say namaste
Yes, that’s right. Peloton yoga teachers don’t say namaste because people who are new to yoga can be turned off by this eastern culture component.
Chanting and mantras are normal for regular and long-term yoga practitioners, but for regular people, they can feel intimidating and foreign.
Peloton Yoga vs Stretching
The difference between peloton yoga and stretching is that stretching classes are designed to be done after the running, cycling, or strength training session as an extension of the cooldown.
- Peloton yoga is a series of classes that followed the traditional yoga practice.
- Yoga classes have designated times for warm-ups where you prepare your muscles and enable them to lengthen.
- Stretching classes start immediately with the stretch without the prior need to warm up because they are meant to be done after physical activity.
Peloton Yoga difficulty levels
Peloton Yoga Beginner vs Intermediate
The difference between peloton yoga beginners and intermediate is that intermediate class is recommended for people who are already familiar with the yoga practice, they’ve done multiple classes and understand the flow of the session.
- The peloton yoga beginner is more for people who are just getting started with yoga.
- It’s also good for people who have minimum practice or don’t feel confident yet to follow a more intermediate routine.
- That being said, each intermediate class comes with modifications.
- Even if you’re new to yoga and you want to try more challenging poses, you can always down-regulate if necessary.
Peloton Yoga Intermediate vs Advanced
The difference between yoga intermediate and advanced class is that advanced class is for people who’ve been practicing yoga for a long time, are fully confident on the yoga mat, and have strong body awareness.
The intermediate class is more for people who know the practice but still need to develop certain skills and improve their strength or range of motion to be able to maintain the advanced poses.
My thoughts on Peloton yoga
After doing peloton yoga for over 2 years, I can tell you that this class is not about the competition, but about the effect.
It’s not about the volume, but about self-awareness (doing less is more).
It’s less important to do complex poses or perform the more advanced sessions. It’s also not about comparing yourself to others.
You don’t have to be ultra-flexible, ex-gymnast, or have a 500-hour yoga teacher training behind your belt to use yoga to your benefit.
I think this peloton made a good choice in selecting the right type of instructors to accommodate all types of people, both beginners and advanced.
It’s good for beginners
If you’re getting started, I find the yoga flow and slow flow with Ross Rayburn to be very effective at instructing you through positions. So start from there.
The easiest peloton yoga is restorative yoga.
In that class, your focus is more on relaxation, rather than a range of motion. Classes range from 5 to 45 minutes, where you use several blankets, bolsters, and eye pillows.
Conclusion
- If I would recommend one thing to take away from this post is to remember about doing small chunks of work but more frequent.
- Frequency always trumps duration, even if you do only 15 minutes sessions.
- Another takeaway is that people who want to get better at the sport they are doing don’t need to be as flexible as the people from the yoga magazine.
- If your goal is to move better then it is much heavier to do less work, rather than add more stress on the body.
- However, if your goal is to bring your legs behind the head, you will need to practice much more, at the expense of muscle power and stiffness.