Peloton instructor Robin cries teaching class: Were all being robbed of rituals right now


I installed the Peloton app on my TV because it’s free for three months and you don’t need to give them your credit card number. It has the best on-demand spin classes I’ve ever done, some of the workouts even have live DJs! There is no way I would pay over $2k for a bike from them though. I have a used Schwinn that cost me $199 at Play it Again Sports. You can get a Sunny spin bike new on Amazon for $300 and when the Peloton app charges again it’s about $15 a month. It’s well worth that to me already.

Anyway I’m starting to feel like my favorite instructor, Robin Arzon (she’s mildly famous, I’ve seen her covered on Jezebel), is a friend. (I’m also doing some Zoom workouts but they’re expensive so I don’t do them as much.) The other day Robin did an at-home workout and she made me cry! She said she’s lost both of her uncles to covid and that she was upset that she couldn’t even go to their funerals. Robin has this impressive way of giving pep talks while seeming genuine.

I don’t know if I was going to share this today but I feel like I should because I know this is going to help someone out there. I’ve lost two uncles in the last five weeks, the second this week. My mom has lost two brothers and we’re all being robbed of ritual right now. From weddings to funerals to proms to graduations to retirements to jobs. When the ground is really shaky we have to create our own rituals. Being a human is so messy. It’s so messy, but one thing I’m able to control is getting on this bike and being with you. Together we go far. It’s always been more than a bike.

[From Peloton App, 10 minutes before end of “30 minute together we ride,” aired 5/2/20]

I had to watch that again for this story and it made me cry again so hard. She was so vulnerable and then she turned it around and perfectly explained what fitness means to so many of us. This is something we control, this is something we do for ourselves and we’re going to move past this into something new. We can still grieve for what we’ve lost.

USA Today did an interview with Robin about a month before the lockdown. She’s now the VP of programming at Peloton and she used to be a lawyer. She switched careers when she realized that she was using fitness for wellness and how much that meant to her. She’s done an ultra marathon of 100 miles(!) and she also had this wonderful quote when she was asked about balance. “What you haven’t achieved yet is worth getting uncomfortable and digging into, and that’s not always going to be a feeling of balance.” I’m definitely a fan.

Here’s a segment from that!

. @RobinNYC made me cry during an at home workout pic.twitter.com/EywBHR8ZRr

— celebitchy (@celebitchy) May 7, 2020

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