This man created a personalized Peloton workout for his girlfriend on her birthday: 'Her love language is exercise'
A doting boyfriend has created what might be the ultimate pandemic present: a personalized Peloton workout for a girlfriend whose “love language is exercise.”
Brooklyn-based Adrian Brandon makes his living as an artist, but embraced the short-lived role of fitness instructor to surprise his live-in girlfriend, Talia, for her Jan. 12 birthday. The couple, who have been together for about two years, are workout buffs who have been “glued to” their Peloton during lockdown life. (After ordering their bike in August, it only arrived last month thanks to backorders and a pandemic rush on fitness equipment as people grow dependent on at-home workouts.)
“I love celebrating birthdays and trying to do creative things for her,” Brandon tells Yahoo Life. “Obviously with the pandemic, I was kind of limited with my options and was trying to find ways to make the day feel special since we can’t go out on a fun date.”
Brandon admits that both he and his girlfriend are “obsessed with Peloton” and work out all the time on it. “We just value that a lot in our day,” he says. “So it just popped into my head, like, how can I make that element of her day a little bit more special?” Reminded of how instructors shout out birthday greetings to members in group classes, Brandon thought: “Maybe I can become the instructor and just do a completely personalized workout?”
The result, per his Instagram post sharing a snippet of his workout, “might be my best work of art yet,” he quipped to followers. Running 20 minutes long, Brandon’s custom workout featured five songs, ranging from Skrillex’s remix of Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” to Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” for a cooldown, chosen for their ability to both pump Talia up and spark some “fun memories” from their relationship. Brandon says it took him about an hour to record the workout — which required him to “essentially kick her out” of their shared apartment — and edit it down. To make sure Talia got in a good workout, he added on-screen resistance cues for her bike and linked it to Peloton’s Just Ride feature so that she could track her cadence and progress without being in an official Peloton class.
He says he wanted the birthday surprise to be “just something playful and a little bit different that she can kind of laugh at and enjoy, but also get a good sweat in.”
On the day itself, Brandon says he struggled to play it cool until Talia announced she was ready for a workout, at which point he whipped out the iPad loaded with his custom routine. While she was “super-confused” at first, the birthday girl grew “excited” as she realized the surprise he’d pulled off, trying to work out and document it all on her own phone at the same time. It was “hilarious to witness,” he tells Yahoo Life.
The custom workout wasn’t the only birthday treat Talia received from Brandon, who says he tried to “make each normal part of her day just a little more special.” That included bringing her eucalyptus, gifting the fitness fanatic a new yoga mat and workout clothes, serving her favorite baked goods for breakfast and having a celebratory birthday dinner — little gestures to make sure she “felt the love.”
To that end, he also made sure his workout included the sort of “positive affirmations” the couple’s favorite Peloton instructors — Ally Love, Alex Toussant and Hannah Frankson — typically dispense during workouts to empower members. Brandon says the group Peloton classes have provided them with a mental health boost in addition to a physical one during the pandemic.
“[They help] make sure you’re in the right mental state to take on the day,” he says. “I wanted to emulate that.”
And so he sprinkled the workout with reminders for his “incredible person” to “take the day as a day of reflection, and to recognize the amount of love she has around her and to really slow down and recognize all that.”
He adds, “There’s so much love in both of our lives, and I just wanted to make sure that she felt that and just give her another reminder that: ‘I’m here, this s*** is crazy, but I got you and I don’t want you to lose sight of that.’ It feels good to let the people that you love know that and spoil them with those messages.”
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, will other lovebirds in lockdown swap candlelit dinners for two for custom at-home workouts à deux? Consider this a romantic gift trend to watch.
Read more from Yahoo Life:
How Gen Z is using art and creativity to improve their mental health
Black gardening community grows amid pandemic and racial unrest
Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.
