Peloton Tread Review: Cult workout is utterly brutal but worth $4445 price tag

Running is not something I enjoy. In fact, I’d go as far as to say I loathe it.

But as I officially enter my late 30s, my body has inevitably changed, and now it seems I’m prepared to take once unthinkable measures in the name of “being healthy”.

After all, health is wealth as the saying goes, and it has never rung as true to me as it does now.

Like millions of us Aussies, the past few years has been brutal on my body, both physically and mentally.

My five times a week CrossFit habit was bought to an abrupt halt in March 2020, and when my gym closed as a result of financial strains caused by lockdown, I struggled.

But when US fitness brand Peloton launched in Australia in the middle of 2021, I ended up joining in a bid to get moving again. Spoiler alert: I loved it.

The gruelling workouts were highly addictive and despite the fact buying the Peloton Bike+ cost me $3500, it felt easily justifiable, especially as we went into our second lockdown.

While we’re now able to attend gyms again, I’ve grown quite partial to working out at home.

I’ve dabbled in going back to a standard gym, and for those of you who have read my various reviews on news.com.au over the last four years, I also enjoy sweating it out at Barry’s Bootcamp when I get the chance.

But with early morning shifts as a digital journalist, I find most class timetables don’t work for me, which is why I love Peloton’s on-demand library of workouts.

As well as being able to do guided spin classes at home, the app – which costs $16.99 a month, or $59.99 a month if you have a bike or tread – also has an array of HIIT and strength sessions as well as yoga, pilates, boxing and dance classes.

However, Peloton’s cult treadmill sessions have been notoriously hard to access as the device wasn’t available in Australia.

I’d tried following them in a gym on a regular machine, and had just about survived, but the experience was clunky.

I’d have to shove my phone, which was playing the workout video, in the drinks holder and listen as best as I could to the instructor without being able to see them.

I also didn’t have auto-adjust functions available on the official Peloton Tread – or the slick “jump button” – so I’d have to go from high speeds to low speeds by furiously taping on the screen.

Which is why when the brand launched the highly sought after item in Australia this month I knew I had to give it a go.

“We’ve been really excited by the uptake and positive response from Australian consumers who have been quick to embrace our digital fitness experience,” Amanda Gilmore, Peloton Australia’s country manager, told news.com.au in December.

“In fact, during our first 12 months of being in market, Peloton’s Australian Members completed 1.95 million workouts, with cycling leading in popularity and accounting for over half (1.02 million) of classes taken.”

When I’d first experienced the spin classes, I’d been shocked by how hectic they could be – so how would the Tread compare?

A quick scroll on Twitter shows many people have branded the workouts “killer”, “insane” and “crazy”.

“Do Peloton want to kill us? These runs are wild,” one declared.

“Latest HIIT run on Peloton Tread is killer,” another agreed.

Luckily, the team at Peloton allowed me access to the Tread in one of its Sydney showrooms several times in the name of research, and it turns out, the workouts are just as savage as they sound.

With a $4445 price-tag, it will also hit your wallet hard too.

Like the bike, the treadmill comes complete with a digital screen that allows access to a comprehensive library of workouts. It also has an auto-adjust option on the machine’s incline, that goes up and down automatically at the instructor’s cue to save you having to think about anything other than survival.

This function isn’t available on the speed for safety reasons, however it has an adjustable knob known as the “jump button” on the right arm which enables you to roll up and down the speed dial easily.

It’s by far the best feature on the device and no other treadmill (as far as I’m aware) has anything like it. It’s makes moving between sprints and slower paces completely seamless and a joy. I honestly can’t rate it enough.

I’ve also really enjoyed the variety of workouts available on the Tread, which include “hikes” and “Tread Bootcamps”, both of which I have given a whirl.

The hikes are surprisingly brutal, encompassing fast paces and steep inclines, while a tread bootcamp can be likened to Barry’s easily.

I went for a 30 minute class, which saw me move between sweating my socks off on the treadmill and performing body weight and weighted movements on the floor.

It’s no exaggeration to say my lungs felt like they were going to explode, a feeling I hate in the moment, but froth over once the workout is over.

The biggest surprise comes in the fact the Tread has made me want to run for the first time in legit forever.

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Even testing out just a few classes, I could feel a difference between my first go on the treadmill, and my most recent. I felt like I was getting more comfortable in my surrounds (no mean feat when it feels like you’re running through the red hills of hell) and I noticed my output – a measurement in (kilojoules) Peloton uses to show how much work you’ve done – was significantly higher on the Tread than on my Bike+.

As someone who struggles to find time to workout, getting the most out of the time I do exercise is a focus for me, so I found this detail super appealing.

In fact, I’m so taken with the Tread, I’m currently clearing out the junk corner of my apartment to make room for one. I just need to rob a bank now (I’m joking on the last part, obviously).

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