Peloton Drives Health and Wellness Market Through Medical Expert Initiatives
Peloton, the largest interactive fitness platform, has just announced the creation of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council. The group, which includes medical professionals, doctors, and researchers, will develop community-focused content and products for the platform and help Peloton grow into a unique provider of balanced fitness regimes.
What Is Peloton?
Since its launch in 2012, New York-based exercise equipment and media company Peloton has been growing at an impressive rate. According to an estimate from May 2020, its stock price increased by 36%, tripling year to date, and quarterly sales leaped almost 61% to $420.2 million.
Peloton is one of the companies that actually benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic, as its products allow users to participate in daily classes remotely. One of Peloton’s main offerings is a stationary bicycle and a treadmill. The equipment is designed to facilitate connection, as the bicycle and treadmill have 22 and 24-inch screens that stream classes from the company’s fitness studio in Manhattan.
Peloton’s classes, available through a monthly fee, include cycling, running, yoga, and meditation. They are given by celebrity instructors such as Robin Arzon, Cody Rigsby, Ally Love, Alex Toussaint, and Jess King. The app allows users to track their progress with in-depth metrics and even climb a live leaderboard. The company’s comprehensive services have also recently expanded to offer accessories and apparel.
The Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council
Men’s Health has defined Peloton as “the best cardio machine on the planet.” The company prides itself on having profoundly impacted the physical, mental, and emotional health of thousands of users. It can now continue to do so with the formation of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council.
The Council was announced in September 2020 as a way of leveraging scientific research and medical expertise to help produce better content and products. It includes some of the best minds in medicine, such as cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum, physiology expert Aimee M. Layton, neurologist Richard Isaacson, neurologist Vernon Williams, and neuroscientist Jay Alberts.
Many medical professionals report that they have “prescribed” Peloton to their patients. Exercise has been proven to decrease the major risk factors of heart disease (cholesterol, blood pressure, sugars, weight, and stress) and can help maximize cardiac functioning. It also protects brain health, helps reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and can positively impact the lives of people with chronic disease and disability.
The Council’s team includes medical researchers, doctors, professionals, and experts who have explored how emerging technologies such as augmented and virtual reality can help engage patient populations remotely.
Peloton’s Products
Peloton offers several accessories and products in addition to their bike and treadmill, and more are expected to be included with the creation of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council.
One of Peloton’s most popular add-ons is their heart rate monitor. The ANT+ and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) chest strap connects instantly to the app to track a user’s heart rate every workout. However, the company’s value proposition has centered around connected fitness: The ability to access fitness from home and via technology, and the possibility of doing so without owning a specific piece of equipment.
Peloton recently released a new Apple Watch app that lets users track their heart rate (HR) and running pace using Peloton’s user interface (UI). Because the app tracks HR in “zones,” instructors can refer to them in class and guide users around workout intensity. Another advance was introducing the Fire TV app, which allows users to watch Peloton classes on their TVs (as opposed to their Peloton machines or mobile devices).
To attract more users, Peloton has also recently reduced the price of its mobile app from $19.49 to $12.99 per month — cheaper than competitors and affordable enough to be combined with physical gyms subscriptions. This brings a larger number of users closer to the programs.
The Future of the Peloton Ecosystem
The creation of the Council shows that Peloton is shifting its focus from the integration with high-performance equipment and into a provider of balanced fitness regimes that can be accessed remotely. With the aid of the Council medical experts, Peloton users will definitely benefit from a more tailored experience.
More than a cycling and running company, Peloton is beginning to use a combination of aspirational, affordable, and accessible classes to reach a wider audience and offer them a more comprehensive plan. This will most likely include not only fitness programs but also nutrition and mental health initiatives.
An important element of such a plan will be Peloton’s incredible ability to collect data about its users’ performance and development. This valuable information can allow the company to determine which classes to develop further and what pieces of hardware could provide better services.
Peloton’s future could even see the integration of a “virtual personal trainer” that works on demand and is highly personalized thanks to research based on a user’s specific data. For example, body mass index (BMI), pulse oximeters, and other devices could provide an accurate read on a person’s initial health and help set and track individual targeted goals.
Placing exercise at the center of physical health and mental wellbeing, it’s not hard to imagine a future where Peloton’s data can be shared with care physicians to achieve optimal health benefits and counseling.
This article was originally published in Startup Savant on Thursday, September 10, 2020. Link: https://startupsavant.com/news/peloton
