Age 51 Why I Tried It To get the indoor cycling experience without joining a gym. I taught indoor cycling for years, and when I wasn’t teaching, I was taking classes. But over a decade ago, I stopped teaching and kissed my gym membership goodbye. I still exercise regularly (at-home and outdoor workouts are my preference), but I started missing the indoor cycling culture — and a good bike. I’d been using a low-quality stationary bike, and it was time for an upgrade, hence the MYX Plus bike now sitting in my walk-out basement. It may not offer the same exact experience as being in a studio, but I’m having a blast on the bike again. For starters, the bike has been a killer addition to my home gym. It’s as sturdy as any of the leading bike brands I’ve ridden in studios. And it rides smoothly and quietly. But the benefits extend beyond that, as the MYX Plus bike is not only a bike but a whole fitness system. Even if you opt for the more basic model, you’ll still have access to all of the fitness programming, which includes cycling classes and tons of others, too. And the price is noticeably lower than other products with similar features. RELATED: How to Start (or Restart) a Cardio Habit You Can Stick With
What Is MYX?
MYXfitness is one of the newest additions to the home gym market, offering a stationary Star Trac bike as its main feature. The bike comes with a 21.5-inch tablet and heart rate monitor (to wear on your arm) and gives you the option of wearing regular workout shoes or cycling-specific ones. You have two model options: You can stick with the base model, called the MYX ($1,299), or upgrade to the MYX Plus ($1,499). If you upgrade to the Plus model, in addition to the bike, tablet, and heart rate monitor, you’ll get three pairs of hand weights (there’s a light, medium, and heavy set with three different weights in each category, and you make the choice when you purchase the bike), as well as a kettlebell (the weight you receive — 15, 20, or 25 pounds — will depend on whether you chose light, medium, or heavy hand weights). The Plus model also comes with a yoga mat, a stabilizing mat for under the bike, a 24-inch foam roller, and a resistance band. Using the tablet and its accompanying app, which is available for iOS and Android, you can access an array of hundreds of on-demand classes (that go beyond cycling) taught by certified instructors. There are five main categories: bike, floor, recovery, cross-training, and MYX Media (a multimedia area where you can find scenic rides, interviews with instructors, and a designated news station called Newsy if you prefer to watch news while you sweat). Within the floor category, you’ll see barre, kettlebell, Pilates, yoga, and pre- and postnatal classes (with sculpt, yoga, and other classes designed specifically for women in these phases of their pregnancy), to name a few. There are dozens of class offerings in each category, and you can further filter classes by duration, intensity, length, and instructor. Music is part of each class, and you can adjust the audio of the music as well as the instructor separately. RELATED: How Strength Training Boosts Your Health and Fitness MYXfitness classes use zone-based heart rate training, which is a way to monitor how hard you’re working by using your heart rate. After pairing the heart rate monitor with your tablet, you’re encouraged to go through a customized heart rate training assessment to determine either the specific target heart rates for three training zones or the heart rate ranges that indicate what intensity level you’re working at. Once you do this, you’ll know the specific target heart rate ranges you should be in when instructors cue to a specific zone. Based on the goals that you specify, the app will use artificial intelligence technology to create workout programs personalized for you, including a weekly schedule of recommended workouts and an analysis about how much time you’ve spent in each heart rate zone. You can even earn badges based on your progress.
Here’s What Happened When I Tried It
Because I’m an indoor cycling fanatic, I went straight to the cycling workouts. And while I would have preferred less chatter from the instructors at the beginning of workouts, I enjoyed having dozens of classes at my fingertips. I could easily find a class length to suit my schedule, and when I needed to adjust the intensity (usually higher, as my fitness level is advanced), I either added more resistance to the wheel or increased my leg speed or both. The only bummers? MYX doesn’t offer live classes. And if you’re a cyclist like me who’s ridden outdoors and likes to monitor cadence (or your pedal revolutions per minute), the bike doesn’t do that. I also loved trying classes in the app not usually on my personal fitness menu, like kickboxing, barre, and foam rolling. I’ve now been using the bike for about eight months, and I generally hit about three or four cycling classes and a handful of noncycling classes every week to supplement my other activities.
3 Things I Liked About the MYX Plus Bike
Here are three reasons I would recommend the bike and workout app to friends:
3 Things I Disliked About the MYX Plus Bike
Here are my biggest dislikes for the bike and app overall: RELATED: 75 Gyms, Studios, and Fitness Instructors Offering Online Workouts Right Now
The Bottom Line
I would recommend MYXfitness to friends, especially those who want to build their home gym or crave a wide variety of workouts to keep themselves motivated. Exercising solo at home, after all, isn’t easy (even for those of us dedicated to fitness), which is why having a fun piece of equipment like this can help.
