FitnessWorkouts

This is what it’s *really* like to take a spin on Flywheel’s new at-home bike

Here's everything you need to know about Flywheel's new at-home spinning bikes and FlyAnywhere platform from how much it costs to what it's like in the saddle.

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Photos: Flywheel
Published Nov 15, 2017

Written by 

Rachel Jacoby Zoldan

As a long-time Flywheel devotee, it’s easy to share a litany of reasons why the indoor cycling studio is in my regular workout rotation in New York City. I love the motivation I get from seeing how my effort compares to other riders on the Torq board, and I’m inspired by the instructors and the killer playlists. But Flywheel—like other wellness brands that are investing in digital fitness—sees a big opportunity to reach thousands of would-be riders they can’t reach every day in their dozens of brick and mortar destinations, from Dallas to Dubai.

Following in the footsteps of Peloton, which launched its at-home bike in 2013 and is currently valued at a cool $1.25 billion, today Flywheel officially expands beyond the confines of studio walls with the launch of Fly Anywhere. Spoiler alert: Their first foray into at-home indoor cycling is pretty awesome. (And I frankly didn’t know what I could dare expect.)

“By offering rides anywhere, anytime, we’re helping more athletes crush their fitness goals.”

When asked why creating Fly Anywhere was so important, the company’s recently instilled CEO, Sarah Robb O’Hagan (who’s best known in the fitness industry for making Equinox, well, Equinox), explained: “We wanted to open our community of athletes to anyone, anywhere, who wants to sweat with the best,” she says, fairly confidently, given the competition. “By offering rides anywhere, anytime, we’re helping more athletes crush their fitness goals.”

I’ve been a Fly girl for the better part of the seven years Flywheel has been in existence, and got to test out the at-home ride. I am shocked to report that found it just as good as a real in-studio class ride. Here’s what you need to know…

Scroll down for 5 things you need to know about Fly Anywhere, Flywheel’s new at-home Spin bike.

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Photos: Flywheel

1. There are two versions of the Flywheel’s at-home bike (at different price points)

Although they both have the same tech and physical specs (including ergonomic seating and dual water bottle holders), you can opt for a bike with a built-in tablet or one that syncs with your iPhone or iPad. (Only Apple devices are compatible as of right now, but Android, Chromecast and Roku can be synced starting in 2018.)

Prices for the “DIY” bike start at $1,699, along with a monthly class subscription fee of $39, while the one with a built-in screen costs $2,099 plus the same monthly expense—and both can be purchased at several studios across the country or on flywheelsports.com. While you’re on the site, you might want to pick up a pair of their new spinning shoes ($128) if you don’t already own indoor cycling shoes of your own—just like in the studio, the at-home bike’s pedals are clip-ins. Bikes are delivered via white-glove service á la Peloton, assembled, and configured to your personal ergonomic settings.

2. Riders receive the same exact info they would in studio, including total exertion, average speed, and average power—oh, and killer playlists

In case you haven’t visited one of the amphitheater-esque studios IRL, there’s a major motivational component provided by the TorqBoard, a screen that displays your bike number along with real time data on your energy expenditure and pace. In each ride, participants get a total power score, which is measured from average speed and strength output (AKA “Torq”). You can compare your effort to fellow riders or simply race against your own personal best.

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In the case of Fly Anywhere, you see all of that data on your screen. (Either way, you can always opt out if you prefer to not know or share your stats.) But if you’re competitive like me, it’s fun and motivating to keep yourself up on that TorqBoard—whether in class or at home riding solo—so you can check out the in-class race countdowns, plus see how you stack up against the rest of the pack. Oh, and enjoy the same DJ-curated playlists you’d hear in studio.

 

3. There are three different types and lengths of rides that are available both on demand or live

Like studio classes, Fly Anywhere currently offers three types of indoor cycling classes. “Method” is the traditional HIIT ride, mixing sprints and climbs with recovery periods. “Power” is a more intense version of Method—but with longer sprints, steeper hill climbs, and shorter recovery times. And “Beats” is a rhythm-based ride incorporating choreography. (Flywheel hints that a fourth class will debut in 2018.) Plus, there are a variety of class durations, including 20-, 30-, 45- and 60-minute rides, so you can get in a quick sweat session or go full-on weekend warrior—your call.

There’s an archive of (non-live) classes to pick from along with the option to catch a live ride and get in on the action—quite literally—on the TorqBoard in the new New York City Fly Studio where Fly Anywhere classes are filmed.

4. The Flywheel Fly Anywhere bike has some seriously smart bells and whistles

Every bike comes tricked out with the The Fly Intelligence Engine, which tracks performance data to provide preferences and make class suggestion’s based on the rider’s unique needs and past experiences. So if you’ve ridden with two instructors and taken a few Method classes, maybe it’ll encourage you to try the more aggressive Power ride with a new instructor.

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What’s more, the bike’s software begins customizing your experience from the get-go. For example, when you hop on for your first ride, you’ll be nudged to answer a series of questions—based on your baseline data, you’ll get some ride suggestions. From there, you can bookmark options, schedule yourself into upcoming classes, and check out profiles of fellow riders (if they opt in to sharing their personal info).

As mentioned, it’s also got those dual water bottle holders that a super-sweater like me seriously needs. And also thanks to a high-tech belt, gives a nearly silent ride (great for people with roommates, or neighbors in an apartment downstairs), has a re-chargeable USB device tray, and a flexible frame that provides “give” to reduce pressure on joints.

5. Fly Anywhere lets you follow along with Flywheel’s other killer workouts, too

In addition to rides, Fly Anywhere gets you access to Precision classes, which means off-the-bike workouts offered in 10-, 20-, or 30-minute lengths. These currently include FlyBarre, a total-body barre-inspired sculpting class, as well as Strength: Upper Body, Strength: Lower Body, Core, plus Stretch + Recover. (They’ll be debuting even more modalities in 2018.) Each of these cross-training options are designed to complement the body benefits of riding to create a balanced fitness program.

Bottom line? Fly Anywhere takes Flywheel’s workouts and makes them accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime. And while I haven’t had the opportunity to check out the new Fly Studio where NYC peeps are part of a filmed ride, I’m planning on doing so ASAP. (And if you’re coming to NYC for a vacation anytime soon, you too can book yourself a bike, too.) Then when you stream your Fly Anywhere classes, keep your eyes out for an oversized blonde topknot because that’ll be me. See you on the bike, I hope?

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All that spinning will make you work up a serious sweat, so make sure to wash your face the right way afterwards and treat yourself to a $3 shower bomb for a spa-like experience. 

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FitnessWorkouts

Doing This Type of Breathing as Part of Your Pilates Practice Can Help Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

Here's how hypopressive breathing, a deep breathing exercise, can help you with your Pilates practice and other forms of movement.

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Photo: Stocksy/Atolas
Published Jan 29, 2025

Written by 

Kelsey Kloss

If you’re obsessed with all things Pilates, you already know about the best athleisure, accessories, and self-care moments to incorporate into your practice. However, you may be less familiar with a type of breathwork that can improve your practice — and help you feel more grounded.

Experts in This Article

Anouska Shenn

certified Pilates instructor and founder of The Office Yoga Company

Blair Mauri

a pelvic floor therapist and owner of Blair Mauri Pelvic Health

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Enter hypopressive breathing, a deep breathing exercise that involves emptying your lungs completely. It’s similar to the uddiyana bandha in yoga (or an “abdominal lock”).

“It involves breathing in a way that creates a vacuum-like effect in your thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities by decreasing the pressure, causing a lift and toning of the pelvic floor,” says Anouska Shenn, a certified Pilates instructor and founder of The Office Yoga Company.

But before we get into how to do it, let us clear up one thing: Don’t try any breath-holding exercises during your practice, since Pilates focuses on breathing through movements.

That said, practicing hypopressive breathing before, after, or separate from your Pilates workouts can help support your practice in a number of ways.

What is hypopressive breathing?

Hypopressive breathing is a technique that involves completely emptying your lungs and holding that breath to create a vacuum. It serves as a core exercise that can benefit your pelvic floor health.

Think of it this way: Your abdomen is a closed pressure system. That means that when the pressure changes—like with a cough, deep breath, or force like a lift—your abdominal structures need to be able to manage that pressure properly. That’s where pelvic floor exercises, like hypopressive breathing, come in.

“When we’re not managing that pressure properly, gravity takes it and sends it down into the pelvic floor,” says Blair Mauri, MS, OTR/L, a pelvic floor therapist and owner of Blair Mauri Pelvic Health. “Repeated downward pressure not only weakens the pelvic floor, but can also cause it to become extremely tense.”

That tension may lead to symptoms such as incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, painful sex, low back pain, or chronic constipation. “Hypopressive breathing is an excellent way to optimize pelvic floor function, as it provides a natural lift to these tissues without increasing the tension,” says Mauri.

Improving your pelvic floor function can relieve pelvic pain or low back pain, improve your oxygen and energy levels, promote digestion, and support your movement throughout your Pilates practice.

In fact, an eight-week program of hypopressive exercises improved pelvic floor muscle strength and urinary incontinence symptoms in women ages 18 to 60 with pelvic floor dysfunction and urinary incontinence symptoms, per a 2022 study1 in Neurourology and Urodynamics.

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Plus, hypopressive breathing can work your lungs in a way that benefits your Pilates practice. “Optimizing your rib mobility is also important for diaphragm function and getting the most out of your breaths,” adds Mauri.

How do you do it?

First, take a few deep breaths and see where you notice that pressure (in this case, your breath):

  • Is it focused in your chest or belly?
  • Are your ribs moving apart as you breathe in?

You should feel some mobility in all of these areas, not just one. “Rib mobility is especially important for proper hypopressive technique, so you may need to start here,” says Mauri. “Take some time to retrain your breathing so that everything expands on the inhale and comes back together on the exhale.”

Once you’ve honed in on that, you can move on to your hypopressive breathing exercises, following Mauri’s instructions:

  1. 1.
    Gently exhale as if you are fogging a window. Don’t send any pressure or force down into your lower belly or pelvic floor.
  2. 2.
    After you exhale, hold your nose and close your mouth and “pretend” to inhale without actually taking in any air. Think about widening those ribs, which will make your stomach begin to look concave.
  3. 3.
    Hold this for 3-5 seconds and then inhale.

How does it benefit your Pilates practice?

This breathing technique shines as an add-on to your Pilates practice. You don’t want to hold your breath during Pilates moves (after all, Pilates is all about coordinating movement with breath), but hypopressive breathing exercises can serve as bumpers for an effective workout.

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“Hypopressive breathing is designed to stand alone, but you can use it as part of your warm-up or to close your Pilates practice,” Shenn says.

Pelvic floor strengthening is already often a key element of Pilates. In fact, a 12-week Pilates program focused on pelvic floor strengthening significantly improved stress urinary incontinence symptoms in women ages 45 to 70, with the results lasting even six months after the program, per a small 2020 study2 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

“Hypopressive breathing complements a Pilates routine, as it also retrains and strengthens the deep core along with your pelvic floor,” says Mauri.

A strong and coordinated deep core and pelvic floor gives you more stability as you move your body throughout your Pilates practice—and throughout the rest of your day.

“Our pelvic floor muscles work together with our deep core muscles to stabilize the spine—supporting our posture and providing a solid foundation for all of our movements,” says Shenn.

Tips to get started

As you integrate hypopressive breathing into your Pilates routine, Shenn recommends keeping these tips in mind:

  • Start with 1-3 sets of 3 repetitions, resting between sets.
  • If you’re a beginner, practice your breathing lying down or seated, before progressing to more challenging positions like side-lying or quadruped (a four-point kneeling position).
  • Do your hypopressive breathwork on an empty stomach (it’s recommended to not eat at least two hours beforehand, since this type of breathing involves suctioning the abdomen inward and upward).
  • Avoid wearing clothes that are too tight—including collars, waistbands, and belts—as they can impede your breath.

Very little research has been done on the effect of breathwork on babies in the womb, so avoid hypopressive breathing if you’re pregnant.

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One more thing to note: Certain preexisting health conditions like high blood pressure can also be contraindications for breathwork, so always check with your doctor first and consider working with a trained provider to make sure your form is correct.

  1. Molina-Torres G, Moreno-Muñoz M, Rebullido TR, Castellote-Caballero Y, Bergamin M, Gobbo S, Hita-Contreras F, Cruz-Diaz D. The effects of an 8-week hypopressive exercise training program on urinary incontinence and pelvic floor muscle activation: A randomized controlled trial. Neurourol Urodyn. 2023 Feb;42(2):500-509. doi: 10.1002/nau.25110. Epub 2022 Dec 8. PMID: 36482844; PMCID: PMC10107869.

    ↩︎

  2. Hein JT, Rieck TM, Dunfee HA, Johnson DP, Ferguson JA, Rhodes DJ. Effect of a 12-Week Pilates Pelvic Floor-Strengthening Program on Short-Term Measures of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Pilot Study. J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Feb;26(2):158-161. doi: 10.1089/acm.2019.0330. Epub 2020 Jan 9. PMID: 31916840; PMCID: PMC7044776.

    ↩︎

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FitnessWorkouts

The 10 Best Pilates Exercises for Beginners, According to a Peloton Instructor

A Peloton instructor shares the best beginner Pilates exercises and how to do them, plus the benefits of Pilates.

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Photo credit: Peleton
Published Jan 27, 2025

Written by 

Kristin Jenny

Pilates was created in the 1920s in New York City by Joseph Pilates and many of its exercises were originally used to help World War I patients rehabilitate injuries. Today, Pilates is used more for fitness than for physical rehabilitation, although its focus on building a strong core may help prevent or speed along healing from other injuries.

Experts in This Article

Rebecca Kennedy

certified personal trainer and Peloton instructor

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If you’re considering giving this mind-and-body-focused workout a try, it’s key to have a grasp of Pilates’ foundational moves so that you can safely make the most of this muscle-building, endorphin-inducing workout.

The benefits of Pilates

Pilates is a unique fitness practice in that it focuses on more than just burning calories and achieving toned muscles—although you’ll do both of those things with a regular cadence of classes.

Pilates is focused on three principles, according to the Pilates Foundation: breath, whole-body health, and whole-body commitment, with “the whole-body encompassing mind, body and spirit.” Within those principles, the concepts of breath, concentration, centering, control, precision and flow are mainstays in any well-rounded Pilates practice.

“There are many benefits of Pilates that go beyond toning muscles or getting in a great workout,” says Rebecca Kennedy, CPT, a Peloton Pilates and Tread instructor. “Some of the top benefits of Pilates for me are that it improves posture and balance, helps with overall flexibility and mobility, and is low-impact and low-stress on your joints.”

Additionally, Kennedy notes Pilates can be an excellent complementary workout to other fitness activities like running, cycling, or strength training.

Lastly, Kennedy believes the mind-body connection that is achieved from a frequent Pilates workout is unmatched in the fitness world. “A regular Pilates practice will improve your mind-body awareness while improving mental focus and concentration,” Kennedy says. “Its emphasis on enhancing breathwork can also have the effect of reducing feelings of stress and anxiety.”

Beginner Pilates tips to keep in mind

Before diving into Pilates head first, remember to listen to your mind and body—it’s better to forego a move or modify it than cause yourself pain or injury. While it may be tempting to launch into some of the more advanced Pilates moves, it’s better to view each movement with “curiosity, instead of just trying to do each move and check off a box,” Kennedy says.

She recommends nailing the basics of the moves featured below—and not just acing the look of a move, but truly internalizing the breathing rhythm, form, and alignment of these foundational Pilates movements before becoming overly concerned with time spent in a movement, number of reps, or moving into more challenging variations of a move.

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“A common misconception about Pilates is that you need to be flexible and also have a ton of equipment to get started with your practice,” Kennedy says. “Neither of these things are true. You do not need to be flexible to start a Pilates practice, and much of the equipment used is all extra, so don’t let either of those misconceptions hold you back from beginning a foundational practice.”

Finally, Kennedy reminds those who are new to Pilates that this is a slow, methodical practice. “Move slower than you think you need to, and always move with control,” Kennedy says. “Take modifications for any exercise that feels too challenging—it’s better to take a modification that allows you to maintain good form, breath control, and pelvic floor connection than to rush through a movement.”

The best Pilates exercises for beginners

Kennedy demonstrates each of the 10 moves in the video below. Follow along with her or scroll down for detailed exercise instructions.

1. The hundred

The Pilates hundred works your core and introduces the concept of timing your breath with your movements.

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