What is the Tunde Arm Challenge
I decided to update this Tunde arm challenge article to reflect the new Arms with Tunde program. I just finished week 4 of this newer Peloton program. So I’ve added a review of this latest Tunde arm challenge, if you will, into this article.
Now, onto the original article.
A few weeks ago I started the Tunde arm challenge. IYKYK–if you know you know. What do I mean by that?
Well, for starters when I talk about Tunde, I’m talking about the Peloton instructor Tunde. I think everyone just knows her by one name now–like Cher or Madonna–but her proper full name is Tunde Oyeneyin.
Tunde joined Peloton in September 2019; I took her Premiere class live on September 11, 2019. That was back when there were riders in the studio. Of course, for her debut ride in 2019, there were lots of other Peloton instructors in the studio with her, cheering her on.
What is the Tunde arm challenge
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We’ve already established that Tunde taught her first live Peloton cycling class on 9/11/19. Well, she recorded her first ever 10 minute Arms Toning class (now called Arms & Light Weights) on 9/10/19. So this gave us the first opportunity to notice how fit and strong Tunde’s arms are.
I can’t remember since Linda Hamilton in the Terminator movies or Michelle Obama in sleeveless dresses wanting to make my arms look like someone else’s. Those muscles were definitely something to aspire to achieve.
Who created the Tunde arm challenge
Seems I wasn’t alone because soon enough someone in (I think) the Hardcore on the Floor (HCOTF) group or maybe it was the Stay Home Stay Motivated group that put together what’s called the Tunde Arm Challenge. It was a six-week challenge of Tunde arm classes, done three times a week. Or maybe it was a four-week or 30-day program.
Either way, you would take one of these arms toning or arms & light weights classes (always 10 minutes long), and do them three times a week. Then you would move onto another, single arms toning or arms & light weights classes, and do those three times a week. Lather, rinse, repeat.
How many classes in the Tunde arm challenge
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Then, in March 2021, when the classes transitioned to be called arms & light weights, Tunde started talking about how she designed these classes. Basically, she would tell you that she would release a new class once a month.
After that, she expected you to do that month’s class three times a week for the entire month. Then, the next month, when she released a new class, you would move onto that new one and do it three times a week for the whole month.
Right now there are 23 Tunde arms classes on the Peloton. So, if you wanted to create your own Tunde arm challenge, you would have 23 weeks of classes to follow. Or a little more than five months to get your arms looking buff.
My goal before the 2021 ended was to take every single Tunde arms toning or arms & light weights classes. At that time there were just 18 of these classes, and I wasn’t trying to take them three times a week. I just wanted to say that I’d taken them all, and I did.
What do you need for arms and light weights classes
For all of the Peloton arms and light weights classes, which are always 10-minutes long, the instructor offers weight options. That is, you can use one, two or three pound weights. Basically, these are the small dumbbells that you store on the back of your bike.
We have three pound weights as our light weights, and let me tell you this: some of the Tunde arms classes are real burners. Before 10 minutes is up, three pounds feels like 30 pounds.
You wouldn’t think that such light weights could hurt so good, but that’s the point. Tunde talks all the time about how with lighter weights, you have to do more reps. And boy does she have you doing tons of reps. Sometimes the reps for a single movement last for an entire song.
Dumbbells for arms and light weights classes
You may also be interested in this article about the best weights for Peloton.
Arms with Tunde program review
The original version of this Tunde Arm Challenge article focused on her arms and light weights classes stacked throughout the week. Then, Peloton went and created Arms with Tunde, which they announced around the same time as Homecoming 2022.
First, the program was available for Peloton Guide users only. Then, it rolled out to the greater Peloton-sphere and everyone had access to it.
I’m updating this article to include my review of Arms with Tunde so you’ll know what you’re getting yourself into. Because if, previously, you’d only done her arms and light weights classes, Arms with Tunde is so much more than that.
Four weeks of arm classes
When you start the Arms with Tunde program on Peloton, you have committed to taking four weeks of classes. That’s not class everyday but it does go for four weeks straight. You can’t miss a week or you have to start all over again. (I hate this new design of Peloton programs, as I’ve written here.)
Anyway, most weeks you’re taking three classes over seven days. Some days you’re taking two classes a day, but don’t worry. One of these classes is a warm up; the other class is the real lifting.
If you give yourself credit for being stronger than you realize, you will progress quickly over the four weeks.
I started Week 1 of Arms with Tunde using 5 pounds and 8 pound dumbbells. By Week 4 I was primarily using 8 pound and 10 pound dumbbells. Then, on the last day, I picked up a 15-pound weight.
Tunde arms before and after
Originally, I’d taken before and after pictures of my arms once I’d completed four weeks of the Tunde Arm Challenge. However, now that I’ve finished Arms with Tunde, I’ve updated my before and after pictures.
Granted, this only shows my biceps, because those are the easiest to capture in pictures. However, I can tell you this: when I’m getting dressed in the morning, I really see more definition at the tops of my shoulders. This is in a way I’ve never seen them.
I’m being vulnerable and sharing those before and after photos here. I really can’t see a big difference. But, then again, I’ve been lifting weights for years.
So, for someone like me, with existing muscle I probably shouldn’t expect to see a huge difference.
Tunde book tour
If Peloton is using all new classes, I’m guessing they had her record them in the past few months. That is because on May 3, 2022, she released a new book. It is called Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
So now Tunde is on a nationwide media and book tour. Someone in the HCOTF group even posted a picture of Tunde’s book cover on a Times Square billboard.
Here is my article on the Hardcore on the Floor group and calendar.
Tunde Speak book
Here is the blurb that publisher Simon and Schuster shared about Tunde’s book Speak:
“From Tunde Oyeneyin, the massively popular Peloton instructor, fitness star, and founder of SPEAK, comes an empowering, inspiring book that shows how she transformed grief, setbacks, and flaws into growth, self-confidence, and triumph—for fans of Brene Brown and Glennon Doyle.
On any given day, thousands of devoted people clip into their bikes and have their lives changed by Tunde Oyeneyin. From her platform in a Peloton studio, she encourages riders with her trademark blend of positivity, empathy, and motivational “Tunde-isms,” to push themselves to their limits both on and off the bike. Now, fans and readers everywhere can learn about her personal journey, and discover how they too can “live a life of purpose, on purpose” with Speak, a memoir-manifesto-guide to life inspired by her immensely popular Instagram Live series of the same name.
Taking us through each step of the SPEAK acronym—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—Oyeneyin shares the lessons she has learned about loss, love, body image, and how she has successfully created an intentional, joyful life for herself, offering an accessible blueprint for anyone looking to make a positive change in their lives.”
Here is my article on Peloton instructor quotes, including from Tunde.
Final thoughts on the Tunde arm challenge
Let me know if you have any questions about the arm challenge, the Arms with Tunde program, my before and after photos or anything else. For now, though, I’ll have to get my daily dose of Tunde on the bike or via the Peloton app. Her Fitness Flipped podcast is on the Peloton app, under outdoor content. It’s great to walk and listen to when I’m out with my dogs.