Peloton Strive Score: The Secret Metric That Will Transform Your Biking Sessions

Hey, fellow Peloton riders! Ever heard of the Peloton Strive Score? If you haven’t, let me assure you this is not just another statistic to clutter up your dashboard.

The Strive Score is a powerful tool that can help you track your fitness progress and achieve your biking goals. It’s a unique metric that takes into account your heart rate and personal fitness level to give you a score that truly reflects your efforts.

What is the Peloton Strive Score and Why Should You Care?

If you’re a Peloton bike owner and a fitness enthusiast, you probably want to get the most out of your workouts and track your progress over time. You may have heard of the Peloton Strive Score, but do you know what it is and how it works? And more importantly, why should you care about it?

The Peloton Strive Score is a personal non-competitive metric that measures the intensity of your workout based on your heart rate. It shows how much time you spend in different heart rate zones during a workout, from the bike to the floor. The higher your heart rate is, the higher your Strive Score will be.

The benefits of using the Strive Score are:

• It gives you an easy way to compare your performance across workouts, including those that don’t have power-based output from a connected device, like strength, HIIT, and bootcamp classes.
• It helps you tailor your workouts to your fitness goals and preferences. You can choose to focus on endurance, power, speed, or a combination of them by adjusting your heart rate zones.
• It motivates you to challenge yourself and push your limits without compromising your health or safety. You can see how hard you’re working in real time and adjust your effort accordingly.
• It tracks your fitness progress and improvements over time. You can see how your Strive Score changes as you get fitter and stronger.

The challenges or limitations of the Strive Score are:

• It requires a compatible heart rate monitor, such as Peloton’s Heart Rate Band, to work. If you don’t have one or forget to wear one, you won’t be able to see your Strive Score.
• It may not be accurate for everyone, as it is based on general guidelines from the CDC and your birthday on your Peloton profile. If you have a different max heart rate than the average for your age group, you may need to adjust it manually in your settings.
• It may not reflect other factors that affect your workout intensity, such as fatigue, hydration, nutrition, mood, or external conditions. You should always listen to your body and not rely solely on your Strive Score.

How the Peloton Strive Score Works

The Peloton Strive Score is calculated based on time spent in each heart rate zone. You will earn a fraction of a point for each second that you’re in a zone. The higher the zone, the more points you’ll earn per second.

The heart rate zones are:

Zone	% of MHR	Description	Points per second
1	50-60	Warm-up and cool-down	0.1
2	60-70	Endurance	0.2
3	70-80	Tempo	0.3
4	80-90	Threshold	0.4
5	90-100	Max effort	0.5

For example, if you spend 10 minutes in Zone 1, 15 minutes in Zone 2, 10 minutes in Zone 3, 5 minutes in Zone 4, and 5 minutes in Zone 5 during a workout, your Strive Score will be:

(10 x 60 x 0.1) + (15 x 60 x 0.2) + (10 x 60 x 0.3) + (5 x 60 x 0.4) + (5 x 60 x 0.5) = 690

Your Strive Score will be displayed on your touchscreen as you work out, along with your heart rate and heart rate zone bars on the “All-Time” and “Here Now” Leaderboards.

You can also see your Typical Strive for the type of workout you’ve selected at the start of a class, which is calculated based on your previous Strive scores for classes of similar type and length.

After class, you can view your Strive Score for that workout in your workout history and compare it to previous workouts.

How to Use the Peloton Strive Score to Improve Your Fitness

Alright, now that we know what the Peloton Strive Score is, let’s talk about how we can use it to supercharge our fitness routine. Here are a few tips:

• Push Your Boundaries: Use your Strive Score as a benchmark to challenge yourself. If you notice your score is consistently in a certain range, aim to increase it by 5-10% in your next few rides. Small, incremental changes can lead to big improvements over time.
• Consistency is Key: Remember, it’s not just about hitting high scores in individual rides but about consistently maintaining a good average over time. Consistency, folks, is the name of the game.
• Track Your Progress: Keep a close eye on your Strive Score over time. This can help you identify trends, like if your score is improving, stagnating, or even declining, helping you adjust your workouts accordingly.

Success stories? You bet we’ve got them. Take Jenna, a Peloton user who utilized her Strive Score to train for a triathlon. She used her score to make sure she was consistently pushing her limits but not overdoing it, and successfully completed her first triathlon last summer. Stories as Jenna’s show us how the Strive Score can be a crucial ally in reaching our fitness goals.

Looking for resources to track your Strive Score? The Peloton app has you covered. It displays your Strive Score for each ride and keeps a running total, helping you monitor your progress over time.

How to Access and Interpret Your Peloton Strive Score Data

Finding your Strive Score is easy peasy. Simply open the Peloton app or log into the website, navigate to your profile, and click on the ‘Workouts’ tab. Here, you’ll see your Strive Score for each ride and your overall score.

The Strive Score works best when compared with other metrics like power, heart rate, and cadence. For instance, if you see a high Strive Score but low power output, it might indicate you’re working hard but not generating much force. This could be a cue to focus on improving your pedaling technique or strength training.

Compare Your Peloton Strive Score with Other Riders

The Peloton community is vibrant and supportive, and comparing your Strive Score with others can be a source of motivation. The leaderboard allows you to filter by Strive Score, giving you a sense of how your efforts stack up against other riders.

However, remember that the Strive Score is personal and should primarily be used to track your own progress. Don’t get too caught up in the competition – we’re all here to support each other in our fitness journeys.

Set and Achieve Your Peloton Strive Score Goals

Goals give us something to strive for (pun intended!). Set realistic Strive Score goals based on your current fitness level and gradually increase them as your fitness improves. The Peloton app allows you to track your progress toward these goals, providing a visual reminder of how far you’ve come.

How to Connect a Compatible Heart Rate Monitor to Use the Strive Score Feature

Alright, to get the most out of your Strive Score, you’ll need a heart rate monitor that’s compatible with your Peloton device. The good news is, Peloton supports most ANT+ and Bluetooth-enabled heart rate monitors. Here’s a quick rundown on how to pair them:

1. Put on your heart rate monitor and turn it on.
2. Hop onto your Peloton bike and tap the ‘Settings’ button.
3. Select ‘Heart Rate Monitor’ and let your Peloton search for your device.
4. Once it finds your monitor, simply select it, and voila! You’re paired up and ready to go.

As for recommendations, the Peloton Heart Rate Monitor is a solid choice, designed specifically for the Peloton bike. However, other popular options include the Wahoo TICKR and the Polar H10. Each of these devices provides accurate readings and syncs seamlessly with your Peloton.

Having trouble pairing? Ensure your heart rate monitor is charged and in range of your Peloton. Also, check if it’s already paired with another device, as some monitors can only pair with one device at a time.

How to Calculate Your Heart Rate Zones Based on Your Age or Max Heart Rate

Heart rate zones, you ask? These are ranges of your heart rate during exercise that reflect the intensity of your workout. They play a crucial role in determining your Strive Score, with time spent in higher intensity zones earning you a higher score.

Peloton calculates your heart rate zones based on your age or max heart rate. The formula is pretty straightforward:

• Zone 1 (Very Light): 50-60% of your max heart rate
• Zone 2 (Light): 60-70% of your max heart rate
• Zone 3 (Moderate): 70-80% of your max heart rate
• Zone 4 (Hard): 80-90% of your max heart rate
• Zone 5 (Very Hard): 90-100% of your max heart rate

But how do you find your max heart rate? While there’s no substitute for a lab test, you can estimate it using the formula 220 minus your age. For example, if you’re 30 years old, your estimated max heart rate would be 190 beats per minute.

Keep in mind, these are just estimates. Everyone’s body responds differently to exercise, so listen to your body and adjust your effort level as needed. After all, you’re striving for progress, not perfection!

How to Set Up Strive Score on Peloton Hardware

The Strive Score is a handy tool available across various Peloton platforms – the Bike, Tread, and the Peloton app. Here’s how you can set it up on these devices:

On the Bike and Tread: The Strive Score automatically appears on your screen during every workout. You don’t need to set it up – just jump on and start pedaling or running!

On the Peloton app: Just like the Bike and Tread, your Strive Score will automatically appear during your workout, as long as you’re using a compatible heart rate monitor.

The Strive Score functions similarly across all devices. It calculates your score based on the intensity and duration of your workout. However, the visual representation of your score might differ slightly between platforms. For instance, on the Bike and Tread, your score is displayed in a circular graph, whereas on the app, it might appear as a numeric value.

To make the most of the Strive Score feature, ensure you’re using a reliable heart rate monitor. Also, make it a habit to regularly check your score during and after workouts to monitor your progress.

How to Interpret Your Typical Strive for Each Type of Workout

Your Typical Strive is your average Strive Score for a particular type of workout. It’s a great way to gauge your usual performance and effort level for different workouts.

Let’s say your Typical Strive for a 30-minute high-intensity interval ride is 80. This becomes your benchmark. If you score 90 on your next HIIT ride, that’s a sign you’ve pushed harder than usual. On the flip side, a score of 70 might indicate a less intense effort.

You can adjust your Typical Strive based on your fitness goals and preferences. If you’re aiming to improve your endurance, you might focus on increasing your Typical Strive for longer, low-intensity rides. If power and speed are your goals, you might aim to push up your Typical Strive for shorter, high-intensity workouts.

Remember, your Typical Strive is not set in stone. As your fitness level changes, your Typical Strive will too. Keep challenging yourself and watch as your Strive Score – and your fitness – soars!

Use the Strive Score Feature Safely and Responsibly

While the Strive Score is a fantastic tool, it’s important to use it responsibly. Pushing too hard to achieve a higher score can lead to overexertion, injury, or burnout. It’s crucial to listen to your body and respect your limits.

Remember, your Strive Score is a personal metric. It’s not about competing with others but about tracking your individual progress. If you’re new to Peloton or returning from a break, start slow and gradually increase your intensity.

Always warm up before starting a workout and cool down afterward. If you’re feeling faint, dizzy, or overly fatigued, stop exercising immediately and rest. It’s better to miss one workout than to risk an injury that could sideline you for weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions on Peloton Strive Score

Conclusion

The Peloton Strive Score is a powerful tool to help you monitor your workout intensity and track your fitness progress. It offers a new and exciting way to challenge yourself, set goals, and celebrate your achievements.

Remember to use your Strive Score safely and responsibly, listening to your body and respecting your limits. So, why not give it a whirl on your next workout? We’d love to hear about your experiences and see those Strive Scores soar!