FitnessWorkouts

I Never Thought I’d Be a Fan of At-Home Spin, but the Stryde Bike Changed My Mind

A Stryde bike review from a spin studio fanatic reveals that at-home fitness with the right classes and instructors are just as good as being IRL.

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Photo: Stryde
Published Jun 12, 2020

Written by 

Nora Grenfell

I was closing on my 300th ride at a certain grapefruit-scented spinning studio when New York City issued a stay-at-home order. Working at a wellness company, I’m well aware that online fitness has never been more popular (especially when it comes to stationary bikes), but prior to COVID-19, I’d been a skeptic of the at-home bike experience. I didn’t doubt the efficacy of the workout, but for me, half the fun of spinning was going with my friends, getting high-fives from the instructor, and being encouraged by the energy of other riders.

But we’re living in a different world, one that no doubt will continue to reverberate with the effects of this pandemic once the immediate danger has passed. And so, looking towards the future of my fitness routine, I was eager to try the at-home Stryde bike. If you haven’t yet heard about it, you’re about to. This new entrant into the at-home spinning scene is competitive with the heaviest hitters in pricing and product.

In Stryde, you’ll recognize elements from other popular at-home bike options, including a tablet to watch classes on and a real-time display of your output. “Stryde’s key difference is content,” says founder Pasha Chikosh. “We partnered with the best independent boutique studios from around the country. These studios have incredible instructors and also a wider range of class styles than what’s available on other at home cycling options, from pure performance rides to beat-based choreography.”

In addition to offering classes on the Stryde app, you can use the tablet to access the internet, Netflix, and even other fitness classes. “We give consumers greater choice in how they want to engage with our bike and content,” Chikosh says. “Our bike and app work best together, but also work independently of each other.”

How much does the Stryde bike cost?

Stryde’s bike is priced at $1,750, currently discounted to $1,550. You can access classes via an app for an additional $29.99 per month.

In the pantheon of at-home stationary bikes, this price puts it in the middle of the pack: You can get an effective at-home workout for as low as $300 with some low-fi bikes, whereas Peloton and Soulcycle’s home offerings will run you $2,245 and $2,500, respectively.

I had to swap out the cleats on my spin shoes to match the SPD clip-ins on the bike (which ran me about $15). The first few times I rode, I used the sneaker cages on the bike, and while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for anyone not trying to have an America’s Funniest Home Videos fail while riding out of the saddle, it did mean that my husband could use the bike even though he didn’t have his own spin shoes.

What is the set up like?

I chose to have the bike delivered unassembled as the elevator in my uniquely old New York building wouldn’t allow space for an assembled bike.

Setting up the bike was very simple, and I am not being hyperbolic when I say it was love at first sight. That’s both a reflection of the bike’s elegant design and representation of how deeply I love spinning. It’s black, sleek—and, perhaps best of all for those with NYC Zipcodes—smaller than I was anticipating. Because of this fun fact, it really didn’t overpower the entire space like I was expecting. Score one for at-home fitness already.

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The bike is four feet long by two feet wide. The frame weighs 125 pounds, and the 21.5-inch tablet adds another 10 pounds to the setup. There are also rests for dumbbells underneath the seat, so you can do your best Jane Fonda while spinning, although dumbbells do not come with the bike.

The frame plugs into an outlet, which powers the touchscreen, and two cables also connect the bike to the monitor so that you can view your stats—cadence, resistance and output—during class. I’m not especially driven by numbers when working out, but I did like to be able to measure my resistance (which you can’t do in many studio spin classes). That’s another gold star from me.

What are Stryde workouts like?

Stryde offers classes taught by instructors from studios around the U.S. You can also access the internet browser on the tablet to watch Netflix, YouTube, or even other cycling workouts if you so choose.

For my first class, I took a class with High Ryde Cycle’s Allissa Benson. Two months of quarantine fitness notwithstanding, it was a truly challenging class, even by my frequent spinning standards. During each class, you can see where your total effort ranks relative to those who have taken the class before you. But if that’s a little too competitive for your liking, you can hide these stats and just lean into the beat and how the workout makes you feel.

Living in a very dense part of New York City has made going outside sometimes seem too stressful to be worth it during the COVID-19 outbreak, so it’s been tough to get cardio in during quarantine. Strength training has helped me feel like my body isn’t atrophying, and yoga has been great for my mental health, but nothing releases endorphins for me like good old fashioned cardio—especially on a bike. I felt euphoric after my first Stryde class.

I liked the energy of the instructor I’d chosen, and while I was slightly discomfited by the newness of the experience, I found myself looking forward to round two, and I was pleasantly surprised when I hopped on the bike for the second time. I set up the bike to better fit my measurements and I wasn’t as startled by aspects that had given me pause during round one, like having my face so close to the screen and having my feet in the cages.

The most challenging aspect of the bike for me is its weight and stability. Some moves, like tap-backs and arm choreography, feel less stable on the Stryde bike. However, based on my research on at-home competitors, such as Peloton on subreddits, this is pretty standard for non-studio bikes.

Is the Stryde bike worth it?

Just like any workout, there will be some instructors you like and some you don’t, and ultimately it’s up to you how challenging you make the workout. The classes I took through Stryde’s app definitely pushed my limits. I also enjoyed being able to try classes from instructors outside the app and being able to watch YouTube videos and rock out on my own. My dream of taking a spin class set entirely to music from The O.C. has finally been fulfilled!

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The price of the bike is equivalent to about 50 studio classes, which I would probably burn through in four or five months, so while the cost is significant, the bike would “pay for itself” in less than a year.

Could I see myself continuing with this even once studios reopen? Absolutely. The convenience can’t be overstated, and it’s an incredibly effective and fun workout. I don’t think it will permanently replace studio classes for me when they do come back, but I can see myself doing both regularly if and when it feels safe to return to studio classes in New York. I would recommend the Stryde bike to anyone who’s missing spinning in quarantine or is looking for a different modality of workout at home.

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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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