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I acquired a “magic circle” Pilates prop for personal use in my ever-expanding quest to get better at working out at home. I wanted to put it into action right away, so naturally, I turned to my beloved Peloton app, where I figured I’d load up a Pilates workout and get to work. Weirdly, though, that wasn’t as easy as it is when I, say, want to follow along with a yoga or stretching class. Eventually, I figured it out and the Pilates workout (which did incorporate my hoop, thank you very much) was great—and challenging, which is how I like it.
Where to locate Pilates classes on the Peloton app
I knew Peloton had Pilates classes. But when I opened up the app, there was no designated Pilates button the way there are buttons for Meditation and Cycling. I typed “Pilates” into the search bar at the top of the mobile app and it brought up 95 class results, some of which were actually categorized as yoga and others which were listed under strength.
So, there are Pilates classes, but they’re listed on different landing pages. Across the top of the search results page, you see Classes, Collections, Programs, and Music Artists. Tapping Collections yields a landing page called “Pilates with Equipment,” which has subcategories: Pilates with a Ball, Pilates with Sliders, Pilates with a Band, and—crucially, for me—Pilates with a Ring. There are only a handful of classes in each and they’re all technically filed as “strength classes” in Peloton’s system. I selected “15 min Pilates” from the section that incorporates the magic circle.
Things got harder from there. I wanted to play the class on my TV, which is possible because Peloton has an app on the Roku, but there is no search function on the Roku app. Instead, you have to look through the categories to find a class—which I couldn’t do, since there is no Pilates category. I ended up getting the one I wanted by adding it to my Peloton Stack, which is like a personal class playlist; deleting everything else from the Stack; and running the Stack on the Roku app. It wasn’t efficient or ideal, but ultimately, it worked.
What Peloton’s Pilates classes are like
As much trouble as I had actually finding a class, I hadn’t even technically done the “hard” part yet. Pilates is supposed to be challenging, after all, and the intermediate-level class I took definitely was. Armed with my mat and my hoop I followed along with some standard moves, like “hundreds” and clam shells. It was difficult, but not impossible, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Again, there are only 95 of these types of classes available and some are more about stretching while others are more strength-focused. That’s a small selection compared to how many other types of classes Peloton offers. But what is available is solid. The instruction is clear and precise, modifications are offered, and the audio/video quality is top-tier, making it easy to hear and see what you’re supposed to be doing.
I did the Peloton class last night and took an in-studio reformer class this morning. Granted, my in-person class was four times longer than the one I did from Peloton, but I’d say that adjusted for time, they were both equal in challenge. Because I am now the proud owner of a hoop and the knowledge of how to find high-quality, expert-led Pilates classes to play through Peloton, I’ll certainly be doing more of these. Here’s hoping we get a dedicated Pilates page on the Peloton app soon.
