Jennifer Mossalgue

Are you a natural early riser or someone who prefers to sleep till noon? Oura’s smart ring can now analyze your body’s natural circadian rhythms, or chronotype, while offering up a new set of metrics based on your “optimal” sleep schedule. Good news is this allays all guilt for those of us who are grumpy and underperforming in the early morning hours.

Oura’s coveted health-tracking smart ring may have some stiff competition with a new, lower-budget wearable called RingConn, which has just started shipping to early backers on Indiegogo and looks to provide a fresh, affordable option to the now-limited smart ring space.

Love those predawn or evening outdoor workouts? Well, let’s be honest, if you’re a woman, probably not; for many women, exercising when the sun isn’t up just isn’t worth the risk. And now Strava has culled data from its nearly 95 million users to confirm what we’ve always known: Women have a lot more barriers to working out than men.

Peloton’s top instructors, from Cody Rigsby to Alex Toussaint, have turned their motivation-packed cycling classes into a unique brand of stardom, amassing millions of Instagram followers and devoted fans. So it’s no surprise that they’ve created an entire cottage industry of late by parlaying that success into new books on lifestyle and fitness. If you’re looking for a new read to flip through between your Peloton workout sessions, here’s a list of what books are coming out this year.

Good news for lovers of gamified fitness, particularly those who hate gyms but love gaming: A new player on the scene, Quell, announced a $10 million Series A funding round from Chinese-owned Tencent to support the global launch of a new immersive fitness system that promises to torch calories all from the comfort of your home. While that may all sound like a familiar pitch these days, here is what the company is doing a little differently:

It’s no secret that the high-end at-home trainer Tonal has seen better days. After facing massive staff layoffs, store closures, a nagging lawsuit with its major supplier, and a burn rate that has soured investors, the company is now rumored to be exploring a sale. But who will pick up the tab?

In a move away from premium white-glove service, Peloton plans to redesign its bikes for at-home unboxing and self-assembly, to further slash costs on the heels of a third round of layoffs at the company.

Today, Peloton’s newest strength instructor, Logan Aldridge, is launching his first class, a 20-minute full-body strength class at 7 p.m. ET. A CrossFit Games competitor and para-athlete, Aldridge is the brand’s first “adaptive instructor” who plans to bring an inspiring mix of inclusive fitness training and accessibility to Peloton members with varying physical abilities. From the looks of this teaser, expect to seriously be challenged by what you think is possible.

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Peloton is looking for a lifeline by actively exploring investors to buy a 15% to 20% stake in the company.

Rolling out your mat and starting an at-home yoga practice has never been easier – and honestly, who couldn’t use a bit of mind, body, and spirit connection these days? If you’re looking to ramp up your at-home yoga practice, here are a few of the best apps to help you do that (all personally tried and tested by yours truly), all with monthly subscriptions similar to what you’d pay for a single yoga class at a yoga studio.

Fans of the ever-inspiring iFit endurance athlete Tommy Rivers “Rivs” Puzey can tune in now for a live iFit Race Series during the 2022 Boston Marathon, today, April 18, with events starting after 9 a.m. ET. iFit is filming the race live as part of its multi-year sponsorship as an official partner of the Boston Marathon.  

The metaverse isn’t just for Facebook and Microsoft – digital health companies are starting to see some early funding for metaverse concepts that bring immersive AR and VR into health and fitness realms, from gamified fitness classes to virtual telemedicine and group therapy. Just this week, Indian health startup Goquii received $10 million to seed its ambitions of developing a “metaverse ecosystem” where users can earn NFTs in a gamified health space.

Hong Kong-based game software and venture capital firm Animoca contributed to the funding round, adding to Goqii’s $50 million it received in February in a Series-C funding round led by Sumero Ventures.

Peloton’s brand-new CEO Barry McCarthy tried to quell rumors that the company is teeing up for a sale, saying instead that it will “double down” on content and international expansion, according to a new report.

A new report claims that Peloton owes at least five of its employees across various divisions within the company pay for work they performed. Concerns have been raised by sales and delivery staff, assembly workers, and video production employees around the country.

Beyoncé, David Bowie, Taylor Swift – and now Peloton is adding The Real Slim Shady to its list of featured mega-stars. Today marks the company’s first-ever dedicated boxing series with music from the multi-platinum rapper Eminem’s entire catalog.

While Peloton faces its own financial upheaval, iFit, the maker of NordicTrack, could be potentially pushed toward bankruptcy due to a $300 million lawsuit from an investor.

Universal Music Group announced yesterday that its Central Europe division just signed a catalog-wide licensing agreement with Scandinavian company Mentra, makers of a connected mirror similar to Lululemon’s Mirror, as well as an on-demand interactive workout service available in Norway and Sweden.

Peloton CEO and co-founder John Foley published an open letter yesterday in response to media reports that the company will temporarily halt production of its bikes and treadmills, stating that leaked internal documents were “incomplete, out of context, and not reflective of Peloton’s strategy.”

If you like to run outdoors to music or podcasts, you know that the fit of your earbuds is about as important as the fit of your running shoes. Nothing can break your flow more than earbuds slipping out of your ear due to sweat, rain, or moisture. Luckily, those days are long gone, and runners have never been so spoiled for choice when it comes to terrific wireless earbuds for tackling the hardest, windiest, wettest outdoor runs. Here are our top five picks to take along on your next workout.

Update 12/12/21: Peloton has responded to the situation with a video that confirms they were aware of the storyline from the beginning.

Well, Mr. Big is dead. Sorry, too late for spoiler alerts! And “I couldn’t help but wonder,” to quote the now-bereaved Carrie Bradshaw, is Peloton in on the game or not? Last night’s first episode of The Sex and the City reboot saw Big’s death while vigorously pedaling on a Peloton – the company is denying any involvement in the plot twist. The company stock did take a dip after the show aired, but this product placement, intentional or not, is likely a good thing for the brand.

Strava just released its year-end review with heaps of interesting data on its 95 million subscribers around the world. While the data is obviously specific to Strava users, with a data pool that large, it does shed some light on how people are exercising during yet another tough pandemic year. One big surprise: The new hot sport this year is walking.