Peloton instructor Andy Speer shares his tips for motivation, his current workout philosophy, and important form cues.

After taking almost 300 strength classes, 300 cycling classes, and 150 running classes with Peloton, it’s safe to say it’s my primary form of exercise. 

I bought the bike during the pandemic, and when I was isolating for a couple of two-week periods, it was a lifesaver. The treadmill followed a few years later. 

Peloton launched kettlebell classes in February, and they’ve become my new hyperfixation. Learning a new skill keeps me motivated and interested in exercise.

Andy Speer, a coach with Peloton for seven years, is one of few teaching the kettlebell classes. I had the chance to do a 20-minute in-person class with him, learning the fundamentals of strength and conditioning with a kettlebell. And even with hundreds of classes under my belt, when Andy is watching IRL, I no longer know how to pick up weights. But my nerves worked to my advantage—Andy shared so many form, skill, and technique cues, I learned way more than I thought I would.

Whether you’re trying out strength training for the first time or have been working out for a few years, Andy has tons of tips to get the most out of your workout—and life!

Q&A With Peloton Coach Andy Speer

Photo by Peloton

Canadian Living:  How many times should you be strength training a week if you're new to working out? 

Andy:  My big thing is, regardless of what type of training you're doing, it’s about setting time and making the routine for yourself. 

Initially, two days a week of strength training is a great place to start. Maybe something like a Monday, Thursday with your strength training, and then you can work in your cardio. Ideally, some sort of mobility, yoga, or recovery too. 

But that's a really nice sequence that is simple to follow. If you do a strength day, a cardio day, and an active recovery day—cycle through that two times each week.

CL:  Okay, let’s say you have your ideal schedule set, now how do you get yourself to show up for your workouts? Life is busy, and with summer coming up, there’s always a barbecue or patio to go to.

Andy: The best way to do it is make it part of your routine where you set aside a set amount of time every day. 

If you can have a routine where you do your strength, your cardio, your recovery, and then rotate, great. But if you show up one day and you're like, “Man, I'm beat right now. I did not sleep well last night. I don't think a strength class is going to feel good for me, but I'm gonna do a 15 minute stretch.”

As long as you're showing up for yourself and saying, “I'm gonna do something in this time. I’m going to fill my glass in the way I need to,” you're winning.

I also think it's important to have some sort of plan to follow. It goes a long way into helping you not overthink and talk your way out of something. And on the other side of that is feeling good about having achieved what you set out to do.

CL:  That's good to hear. When you were saying that if you're showing up and your supposed to do a strength workout, but you had a bad sleep, it's okay not to, then the whole goal is showing up for yourself?

Andy: You show up and you use the lighter weights than you're used to using. Great. You're still going. You gave yourself that time.

CL: What is your ideal workout routine?

Andy:  I want to feel athletic. I want to feel like I can still handle myself, move how I want to move. I'm much less concerned about the amount of weight I'm lifting at this point in my life versus how I feel every day, how I feel teaching my classes, how I feel showing up for gym, how I feel running around with my dog.

I want people to know it's okay to train just to feel good, to feel confident in yourself. I think one of the big ways to do this is making your goals a little more internal than purely external.

Lifting a heavy deadlift bar, riding a fast mile time are confidence builders, but they're also fleeting. Think about what maintains your health, your functionality, and what you want to do in life, and then ask yourself how do you support that through training?

CL:  How do you know you’re using the right weights when you’re working out?

Andy:  One of the best ways that I like to gauge weights for ballistic moves and upper body moves is finding a weight that you can press overhead, single arm, for five or six reps that feels heavy-ish. That’s probably going to be a good weight for you to do your cleans and snatches. With that said, everybody's a little different in their pressing and weight ratio, but that's a good starting point to find your ‘everything’ weight.

You'll probably get a decent amount of work at it with your squats and single-leg deadlifts. Then you might want another kettlebell that's a little lighter for mobility work, such as halos or higher-rep exercises. 

CL: What are the advantages of training with kettlebells or introducing them into your routine?

Andy:  It's a great way to learn a new skill. You have to do the same thing over and over again to get good at it. If you do a lot of cardio, I'd probably suggest leaning towards strict strength classes. If you're lifting and you want to do something different for your body, try a conditioning or strength and conditioning class. Kettlebells are a different stimulus that balances every type of athlete out nicely.

CL: What are some of your favourite form cues for people to remember when they're working out with kettlebells?

Andy:  For the deadlift, hips back and down. There's more knee bend than we think in this hinge position for the kettlebell. 

Then there’s lat packing. Pulling your shoulders down, away from your ears, and feeling a little tension through the lats on the side of your body. That carries over through the deadlift, through the clean, into the start of the swing, for your cleans and your snatches.

Pin your elbow to your rib cage when you’re moving the kettlebell overhead. Think about holding a newspaper there, and it staying nice and tight. Keep a straight wrist and a vertical forearm. Try not to let the elbows flare.

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