by Coach Chris
I saw an article yesterday about Peloton. While they’ve been in the news lately for a controversial ad, this article was about short-seller Citron predicting the bike/treadmill company’s stock to fall to $5 at some point. Their reasoning was because Peloton doesn’t actually have a unique advantage – they sell hardware and software that can be reproduced for much cheaper by bigger companies which are already doing so.
Whether the stock falls doesn’t matter to me – I’ve got no skin in their game. But between Peloton, Mirror, and other emerging tech companies, I’ve been thinking a lot about this growing trend of technology + fitness and working out at home and how they’re really just today’s version of the Bowflex and P90x.
Working out at home seems so convenient. You don’t have to drive anywhere, you can workout on your schedule, and you can customize how long you workout. The problem is that no one sticks with it long term. I see Pelotons pop up on Facebook Marketplace all the time. Or worse, they just bought themselves a really expensive clothes hanger. People did P90x for 90 days and then said “Now what?”
Working out at home can definitely be a time-saver, but only those disciplined enough will stick with a routine. And frankly, most of us (myself included) are not disciplined enough to do things on our own. So what’s the trick? Accountability through community.
We are social creatures. Even self-described introverts need to be around others. If you simply look at human history, community matters a lot. At first, it was to simply to survive (A few of us will hunt for the tribe while a few of us take care of the kiddos, etc) and now it’s built into our DNA to connect with others face to face.
Look, many of you are very smart people. But you wouldn’t have put yourself through a college education by going to the library and reading textbooks on your own. You went to a physical place where you had professors guiding you through the curriculum and correcting you when you needed it. You had peers surrounding you for both the academic push, but also the social interactions. And you progressed a heck of a lot faster because of both.
At Kanna, you have coaches to guide you through our workout curriculum and correct you when you need it. You have peers surrounding you for both the physical push, but also the social interactions. And you will progress a heck of a lot faster because of both.
At Kanna we push each other to do more in workouts; we create accountability to show up (in an obvious “Hey, see you tomorrow!” or a less obvious “I RSVP’d for the 8:30 class – I can’t back out now!”); and we relieve stress when we’re able to laugh and connect with others. When you are chatting with others before and after a workout and have people that genuinely care about what’s going on in your life, there’s a connection that can’t be made through a screen. This is what Peloton and many other companies are missing and it’s what we pride ourselves on.
