Peloton Postpartum Classes

One of the reasons that I love the Peloton postpartum classes is you don’t have to be a new parent to take them. In other words, it doesn’t matter how many weeks postpartum you are.

In fact, I joke that I’m 26 years postpartum and I’ve still benefited from these Peloton classes. Because postpartum fitness can help women years after they’ve had their last child just as it had with me.

Why I started taking Peloton postpartum core classes

You may think I’m crazy to take Peloton postpartum classes at my age. However, I’ve learned that many women go for years if not decades dealing with the after effects of having babies. And I’m not talking about baby fat.

This includes weakened core muscles and pelvic floor muscles, too. It’s one of the reasons I did pelvic floor PT and wrote my review of the Kegelbell pelvic floor exercise device. Why do you want to work on strengthening your pelvic floor muscles? It can help with incontinence, which can contribute to depression and anxiety.

Also, a strong pelvic floor helps prevent organ prolapse. We’re talking prolapse of the bladder, uterus or even the colon.

And this was a new one for me: if your lower back hurts a lot, it could be that you have a weak pelvic floor. So strengthening those muscles could help your back, too.

If you’ve read my blog post about Hardcore on the Floor (HCOTF), I’ve been focusing on strength training for the past year. Within the HCOTF Facebook group, someone brought up Robin Arzon’s postnatal core classes.

Robin actually recorded classes while pregnant (prenatal) and then after she gave birth to her first child. And since she’s just had her second child, I just discovered that she did a slew of new prenatal classes in 2023 before giving birth again.

Like me, this fellow HCOTF member was years past giving birth. However, she found that the postpartum core classes were giving her benefits that “regular” core classes didn’t.

So, she suggested that other women of a certain age try them out. And I did.

Collection of prenatal and postnatal/postpartum classes

At first the only classes for pregnant members or after they’d had a baby were the ones that Robin recorded years ago. You would find them under strength on the Peloton platform and then you could filter by Class Type to find them.

Then Peloton introduced a new collection. It’s called Strong as a Mother: Pre/Postnatal Collection. Unfortunately, Peloton Collections are very hard to navigate because you can’t search within them. So, you’re left scrolling and scrolling to find the one you want.

As of this writing, they are broken out into four categories:

• Prenatal strength classes
• Postnatal strength classes
• Postnatal yoga classes
• Prenatal yoga classes

Some of the instructors teaching these classes were pregnant when they recorded them. This includes Robin Arzon, as mentioned earlier, but also yoga instructors Chelsea Jackson Roberts and Anna Greenberg. They both had babies in 2022.

Since then a number of Peloton instructors have been pregnant, had babies or have announced they’re pregnant. This includes:

• Selena Samuela
• Jess King
• Callie Gullickson
• Becs Gentry

So, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see additional classes from them, in their respective disciplines. Finally, not everyone teaching these classes is a mother. For example, Emma Lovewell teaches some of these fitness classes. I don’t believe she has any children.

On the other hand, from following Kristin McGee on social media, I know she has three children. So, it seems natural for her to teach prenatal and postnatal yoga flows.

Where to find Peloton postpartum classes

As mentioned, you can find these classes for postpartum moms by filtering within strength classes and also within the aforementioned Strong as a Mother collection.

However, since that collection includes yoga classes, you can use the filter within yoga classes to find them, too. They are grouped with Peloton family fitness classes.

Finally, you can type in the term prenatal into the Peloton search bar to find a few additional classes in this category. Unless Peloton does a purge, I can tell you that Robin Arzon has two prenatal cycling classes on the Peloton bike. And they are not low-impact spin classes.

Then again, she’s wearing yellow in one of those classes, which happens to be a HIIT ride. So, if you know about Robin wearing yellow on the Peloton bike or in a strength class, then you know it’s going to be a tough workout.

Postpartum vs postnatal

By the way, throughout this blog post I will be using the words postpartum and postnatal interchangeably. While they both mean the time after you’ve given birth, most people use them as synonyms.

However, technically they mean different things. Postpartum refers to the mother; postnatal refers to the baby. So, really Peloton is using the term incorrectly.

But for our purposes, all of the postpartum and postnatal exercises I’ll be discussing are for mom only, not baby. Same with the prenatal classes.

What are Peloton postpartum core classes

While Peloton has a whole variety of postpartum classes, I’ve focused on the Robin’s postpartum core classes. They’re definitely slower and more gentle than other core classes.

As she said in one of them, these are plank-free classes. They’re also crunch free.But that doesn’t mean you don’t work. Robin takes you through breathing exercises.

In addition, she teaches you about bracing. Boy, do you feel your core muscles engage.

In fact, Robin talks about the importance of these kinds of core classes. Her goal is to help you rebuild from the inside out. She talks about wanting you to tap into those deep core muscles that likely were affected during your pregnancy.

I’ve found that some of the Peloton yoga healthy back classes have elements of these postpartum core classes. Same with Peloton Pilates classes.

Diastasis Recti safe core classes

In addition, Robin explains that her core exercises are all Diastasis Recti safe. So if you’re wondering if Peloton has Diastasis Recti classes, the answer is yes.

What is Diastasis Recti? It’s when your abdominal muscles have separated due to your belly expanding during pregnancy. If you have any symptoms of this or feel any discomfort when doing core classes, stop doing these exercises and talk with your doctor, physician’s assistant, certified nurse midwife, nurse practitioner or whomever you see for your postpartum care.

In fact, kudos to Robin Arzon for constantly reminding you about this, that it is OK to stop if you’re unsure if you feel OK enough to take these fitness classes. And I applaud her for suggesting people speak to a medical professional about it and not deciding for themself or, worse, asking Dr. Google.

When can you start Peloton postpartum workouts

I am not a doctor. I don’t play one on TV. Neither does Robin Arzon.

Which is why at the beginning of each of her postnatal classes, there is an extensive warning about speaking with your medical team before starting to exercise. Robin reiterates this in the intro of the classes, too.

In fact, these prenatal and postnatal classes are the only ones I’ve encountered where you can’t skip the intro. I’m sure it’s for your well being and to protect Peloton from any liability.

So, that’s a long way of saying that this review of Peloton postpartum classes is for informational purposes only. It is not meant as medical advice. Please speak with your medical team before starting on this or any other exercise program.

What kinds of postpartum classes does Peloton offer

As I mentioned, there are prenatal classes aka maternity workouts and postnatal classes in the following areas:

• Cycling
• Strength
• Yoga

If you go into each of these sections on the Peloton website or app, you’ll need to use the filter to find them, as I showed you earlier.

Addition postpartum collections

Also, the Strong as a Mother is not the only collection of postpartum classes. There is a second collection called Anna’s Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga and Meditation.

Not surprisingly, Anna Greenberg teaches these classes. Also, the classes are broken up by trimester. Anna recorded these classes when she was in each trimester.

Interestingly, in addition to the first, second and third trimesters, Anna has a few classes for the fourth trimester. That’s a clever way of talking about the postpartum time when your body is recovering from childbirth.

Previously, there was a Pre and Postnatal yoga collection featuring both Kristin McGee and Anna Greenberg. But that’s been deleted from the Collections page.

Collection of Robin’s Prenatal and Postnatal Class Series

Unfortunately, you have to scroll way the hell down in Collections to find Robin’s Prenatal and Postnatal Class Series. But when you get there, here’s what you’ll discover.

There are 29 classes in this collection. It is listed under cross training, because there are strength classes and cycling classes. Interestingly, this class collection is organized more like Peloton Programs. That is, they’ve broken out class groupings by week, going for three weeks.

How long are the prenatal Peloton strength classes

The prenatal Peloton strength classes run the gamut.

So far they are:

• 5 minutes
• 10 minutes
• 15 minutes
• 20 minutes

The prenatal strength and prenatal rides were all she filmed while Robin was pregnant with daughter Athena. The postnatal core strength classes were filmed while Robin was postpartum.

Honestly, it was refreshing to see her looking like a normal woman whose body just gave birth. Of course, by the end of the postnatal series, Robin’s body looks a lot fitter.

While she doesn’t talk about losing weight, she clearly firmed up and got stronger. Finally, Robin uses some yoga props during her classes, specifically Peloton yoga blocks. You can buy them on Amazon.

Talk to your doc before doing exercise

I’ll admit that I was surprised to see some moves in prenatal yoga classes that have you lying on your back. When I was pregnant and taking yoga, my certified nurse midwives told me not to spend a lot of time on my back.

This was especially true later in the second and third trimesters. That’s because lying down this way can put pressure on the vena cava. This can affect blood flow to your heart.

However, I was pregnant in the 1990s.So, it’s possible that thinking about that has changed. Therefore, if you’re interested in the Peloton prenatal yoga classes, I would definitely speak to your healthcare provider.

You may even want to bring up the classes on your phone during an appointment so you can play a portion of a class. Then your practitioner can give you the thumbs up or thumbs down for a class. Or, maybe offer modifications to keep you and your baby safe.

Also, after you’ve had your baby, you may want to ask your provider what their guidelines are for getting back on a spin bike. You may not be comfortable sitting on a bike seat until you’ve had enough time to heal. So maybe ask when they think spinning again makes sense for you.

Other Peloton classes that might be good for postpartum issues

As I’ve explained throughout this article, many of the postpartum exercise classes that Peloton offers focus on strengthening your core. So, another discipline within strength you can try to firm up your core is Pilates.

In fact, when taking Pilates classes through Peloton, you’ll hear instructors talking about the pelvic floor. To me anything involving the pelvic floor makes me think about when I was pregnant or recovering from giving birth–even some two decades later.

However, it’s never too late to try pelvic floor exercises. As I mentioned earlier, I even went to pelvic floor physical therapy. It was terrific.

Here is my review of the Peloton Pilates classes.

Nike Maternity

If you’re looking for maternity workout clothes, Nike can help. There is a complete Nike maternity line that includes leggings, tops, bike shorts and more.

In addition, Nike Maternity has launched its own series of prenatal and postpartum classes on its app. You can learn more about that on the Nike Maternity page.

Final thoughts on Peloton postpartum exercise classes

I realize that this article on Peloton postpartum classes also gave information on the prenatal series of classes. That seemed to make the most sense since I’m guessing anyone looking for postnatal was, at some time, also prenatal.

Again, even though my daughters are adults, I’ve enjoyed Robin’s postpartum core classes. And that just goes to prove that this collection of classes can be for all participants, not just new moms.

If you’re new to strength training and intimidated by core classes that do tuck ups or planks, these Peloton postpartum core classes may be exactly what you’re looking for. And you don’t even have to be a mother to try them out. They really are made for people of all stages of life and fitness levels.