5 Best Peloton Instructors for Strength Training

Even if you’re a proud owner of the Peloton Bike+ — and a fully committed spin-head — I highly recommend you check out the rest of what Peloton has to offer.

The floor classes are some of the best workouts around.

Core, strength, yoga, and cardio classes are an excellent compliment to your regular cycling workouts.

But if you’ve never ventured outside of cycling, who are the best strength instructors on Peloton?

Here are some of the best and most popular Peloton instructors for strength workouts:

  1. Adrian Williams
  2. Olivia Amato
  3. Jess Sims
  4. Rebecca Kennedy
  5. Andy Speer

Let’s take a look at each of them so you can find which style and personality is the best fit for you!


Adrian Williams

Style:

  • Playful
  • Upbeat
  • Good rest to intensity ratio

Adrian, one of Peloton’s newer instructors, quickly became a fan favorite for his awesome strength workouts.

They’re well-known for being easy to follow, intelligently programmed, and injected with just the right balance of rest to intensity.

Remember, a proper strength training workout needs a little bit of rest to be effective! So pure, nonstop intensity isn’t always the right call.

Peloton members say Adrian’s workouts get great results, are fun to do, and leave them hurting — but stronger.

Plus, he’s just a genuinely upbeat and playful dude. It’s a joy to follow along with his classes.


Olivia Amato

Style:

  • Business-like & intense
  • Core focused
  • Stays by your side

As a guy, I love Olivia Amato — you can read more about why she’s one of the best Peloton instructors for men here.

I primarily take her for strength classes and, even more specifically, core strength workouts — which are her specialty.

She’s a firecracker who’s all business. You’ll get a few dollops of motivation and inspiration from Olivia but mostly she’s there to kick your butt.

But one thing I love about Olivia is that she’s down in the trenches with you. I haven’t seen another instructor who works as hard as she does during the workouts.

She sweats and grunts and struggles right along with you the whole time!

Her workouts are extremely intense with little rest, but easy to follow.

Her choreography usually isn’t that complicated and you can usually keep up with the moves without falling behind even your first time through.


Jess Sims

Style:

  • Radiates positives vibes
  • Simple maneuvers
  • Extremely high-intensity

Jess Sims is known, hands-down, as one of the best and hardest Peloton instructors in the game.

Her 30 and 45 minute strength classes are notorious for destroying people — in a good way!

People love that she keeps her routines and exercise selection simple; there’s not a lot of complicated choreography here.

But Jess loves AMRAPS and other high-intensity techniques that leave your muscles absolutely burning.

Pair that with her extremely outgoing, enthusiastic personality and it’s easy to see why people get addicted to her strength classes.


Rebecca Kennedy

Style:

  • High-intensity, low rest
  • Complex moves and lots of variety
  • Gymnastics-inspired

If you’re bored of basics squats, planks, and curls — you’re ready for a Rebecca Kennedy class.

She’s known to be just as hard as Jess Sims and Olivia Amato, but expect a lot more variety in her routines.

Where some other instructors focus on burning you down with high reps of basic moves, you’ll incorporates some elements of gymnastics, dance, and other choreography into your workouts with Rebecca.

It can be tricky to learn all the moves, but stick with this former cheerleader and gymnast for a few sessions and you’ll improve rapidly.

Her unique workouts will be an extreme challenge in both form and intensity. She’s not for everyone, but if you’re craving something new, you’ll love her strength sessions.


Andy Speer

Style:

  • Highly intelligent programming
  • Challenging workouts, but not devastating
  • Lots of mobility work & proper warm ups

Andy isn’t known as the hardest strength instructor on Peloton.

But he’s all about working smarter, not harder.

Andy’s classes will warm you up thoroughly and improve your mobility, making sure you’re really ready for the workout at hand.

You’ll also usually get a really solid cooldown and stretch afterwards.

The programming is extremely well-done. The classes may not leave in a heap on the floor, but you’ll get stronger and see excellent results. 

And isn’t that the point?

Andy isn’t for everyone — some people prefer a higher intensity and a more dominant personality. But if you’re serious about strength training, try his full Total Strength program and you’ll definitely see improvements!


Wrapping Up

When you ask Peloton members who their favorite strength instructors are, you almost always hear glowing reviews of Jess Sims and Adrian Williams.

They’re the two most popular for sure.

But make sure you try out Rebecca Kennedy for unique workouts, Olivia Amato for a butt-kicking core workouts, and Andy Speer for smarter training.

For more, check out:

Hope this helps!