A few weeks ago, my friends and I, women in their 30s and 40s, started lifting weights.
This is due to several reasons. In general, strength training and functional fitness are more popular. But women between 30 and 50 also lose approximately 3 to 8 percent of your muscle mass. per year, and the drop in estrogen that occurs during menopause can accelerate this. I no longer care about gaining volume; I just don’t want to collapse into a rickety bag of bones when I’m 50. Finally, I’m not saying that my sudden desire to be able to, say, have a firefighter transport a body across state lines has anything to do with the results of the US presidential election. On the other hand, I’m not saying it’s not like that.
Courtesy of Peloton
That makes the launch of Peloton’s latest app very timely. Today, the company launched Strength+, its first standalone app in addition to the main Peloton app. It will be available on iOS devices with a limited number of introductory memberships for $1 per month for the first six months. After the introductory period, memberships will be $10 per month and at no additional cost for All Access, Guide and App+ members.
Environmental noise
The Strength+ app is designed specifically for use in the gym, so it may look slightly different from the main Peloton app or other apps with similar offerings, like FitOn, WorkoutWomen, or even Apple Fitness+.
I’ve been using Strength+ for a week. When you open it, you can select from several different types of workouts. A workout builder lets you customize a strength workout, with six different inputs including how long you want to exercise, what muscle groups you want to work, what equipment you have, or whether you want to include a warm-up.
You can also click to follow specific training programs. I’m currently enrolled in instructor Andy Speer’s 4-week Ignite Your Strength program, which is kicking my butt. You can also watch short instructor clips, covering everything from gym procedures and etiquette (how to load and unload a barbell or what a plyo box is) to watching Speer look at old photos of himself. A progress tracking tab gives you data on your journey, showing your total lifting volume, what workouts you performed, and what weights you lifted.