The NY Times has a new “day in the life” profile of Peloton CEO John Foley, 49, who co-founded the very expensive fitness equipment company in 2012. It’s a look into his Sunday routine, when he’s still sort-of working. I could relate to that because I don’t take a full day off on the weekends. John’s profile is getting the most headlines for his very weird habit of drinking “40 sips of water” from his hand at the bathroom sink first thing in the morning. He started doing this when someone told him the key to having a good day is staying hydrated. It sounds kind of punishing, like he’s been trying to prove something to himself. I was also struck by how many risks he’s taking during the pandemic. He still goes out to eat (although it looks like the place he mentions leaves their giant windows open) and he’s in “a pod within” his kids’ school. It comes across like he and his wife are socializing with at least a handful of people who come over to their house regularly. I have a lot of questions about people who do that. I would not be comfortable with it, especially if anyone has older kids who live with them. Here are some of those sections from that profile:
His morning routine
Twenty years ago a colleague told me the key to your day is to hydrate at much as you can, so the first thing I do is drink 40 sips of water from my hand at the upstairs bathroom sink. It’s efficient. I drink until I feel like I’m going to throw up water. Every day.He takes his kids to activities then they go out to eat
And then a kid’s activity starts, for which my wife and I divide and conquer. Since Mae’s soccer ended two weeks ago, ice skating is her new anchor activity. She says she doesn’t like it because she’s not good, but we want to toughen her up (and get her outside). Coming off a soccer game, the place we loved and had been going to for 10 years, Hudson Diner, closed. Now, when I’m with Quinn, we go to this other pancake place on Hudson Street, Bus Stop Cafe. He orders strawberry pancakes; me, egg white omelet.They have “a couple of people over” at night
Oftentimes Jill and I have a couple people over in the late afternoon. We’re in a pod within the kids’ school, which includes one of my best friends from business school, Amar Lalvani. We’ll all order sushi from Amber on Christopher Street, mix Manhattans, put the football on. It’s fun to have on in the background. Nostalgic, right? The sound brings me back to my childhood in Florida. We‘ll get the fire going and break down politics and life. Oh, and Amar is dating my ex-girlfriend, so we talk about girls.At 8, we’re kicking friends out, which isn’t difficult since they’ve got kids too. Doing laundry, organizing clothes. Then at 9, when I want people to get ready for bed, I adjust the lighting again
[From NY Times]
Peloton is launching a “cheaper” $2,500(!) treadmill in January and I think this was promotion for that. Their sales have of course skyrocketed due to people not being able to go to the gym. I started doing their spin classes with my used Schwinn and realized that the $13 a month I pay for the class subscription would increase to $39 if I decided to shell out over $2k for one of their Peloton bikes. I’m not kidding, they charge triple the subscription fee after you buy their equipment and there’s no way around that. Their classes are excellent though and I really like most of the instructors.
As for this guy’s lifestyle, I guess I’m not surprised that he’s still socializing. Of course it could be a limited number of people who are super safe, but it really sounds like he hasn’t changed things much. I tried to google whether you should be drinking that much water and reports vary. I’ve heard you should have about a half gallon a day, but I’ve also heard that you don’t need as much water as people recommend. Surely you don’t need to drink so much at once that you feel sick.
Hannah is one of my favorite instructors because she’s hard but not punishing:
Olivia is intense!
Jess is wacky but you get a good medium-hard workout
Yeah I don’t drink stuff out of my hand. they do sell little paper cups you can put in your bathroom for things like brushing your teeth. Drinking 40 handfuls of water? So unhygienic but I am sure this is meant to be one of those cool tech bro things to get everyone abuzzing.
Ugh, I think you nailed it. These guys seem to love their schtick. Jack from Twitter is on some sort of starvation regimen, Steve Jobs had had black turtleneck wardrobe and aversion to conventional medicine…I guess I never really thought of those quirks as calculated to generate buzz but that’s exactly what they are.
yeah what the heck? Just get some cold water from the fridge or something
I don’t get this at all. Has he some aversion to glasses, or as you state, its said to become his “thing”.
I drink a large glass of water first thing every morning and then several throughout the day. I have done this for years as I don’t drink tea or coffee, and I definitely notice a difference if I don’t (feeling sluggish).
The drinking out of his hands thing is strange. I also drink water first thing in the morning in my bathroom, but I keep a pretty purple stained glass cup next to my sink that was given to me years ago by a friend. I get so much joy just looking at it every day.
I start the day with 24 ounces of water, but I use a glass because drinking out of your hand is only acceptable if you are lost in the woods and find a stream. Hydrating first thing makes a big difference for me. Wakes me up better than coffee.
Why even the bathroom though? I drink about a litre of water most mornings, but from a big glass in the kitchen, over a period of about an hour.
I keep a big stainless steel bottle next to my bedside and I drink it as soon as possible. I refill and drink when I get downstairs. So it’s awhile before I want coffee LOL!
Paper cups? Just a good’ ol glass. It’s not necessarily unhygienic to drink from your hand but it’s definitely a waste of water cuz you let water run for longer than needed. And drinking until you feel nauseated seems like a low-key eating disorder.
Drink water when you are thirsty, there’s no amount you absolutely need to ingest, it’ll vary based on your activity, the food you eat, etc. After that, it’s just pee waiting to happen
This is what I was thinking, what a waste of water! Also, it can’t be comfortable to be bent over the sink for that long?
Eating disorder, OCD compulsion or something, because no, it’s not efficient, comfortable or superior to drinking out of a glass. If he wants to quantify how much water he consumes, use a container with measurements! Drinking until you feel sick sounds like punishment, the opposite of staying hydrated to feel and perform well.
That’s what I thought K, it sounds like some kind of compulsive behavior. Just because someone told him to “stay hydrated” doesn’t mean he has to do it that way. Just get a glass and drink a reasonable amount throughout the day!
A person can drink TOO much water (“water intoxication”), because it messes with your body chemistry/electrolytes and can cause stroke, heart attack, lung problems. If his body is telling him to stop by sending a warning through nausea, I just can’t imagine that is healthy for a person, especially every day!
Listen to your body, not your tech bros, dude!
Blech, why would anyone want to drink out of their hand?! Unhygienic and wasteful. Be a civilized human being FFS.
Your hands are unhygienic? Do you eat burgers and pizza with fork and knife? Cultural differences I guess.
My first question is why tf does he drink sips of water from his hand? What does he have against using a glass? 40 sips doesn’t sound like very much, but I also get queasy when I drink water on an empty stomach. I drink a ton of water every day, so I’ve learned to wait until after I eat and after I’ve worked out so my stomach isn’t sloshing around.
I side eye their pandemic social life, too. Seems a lot more open than most everyone I know.
Now that winter is setting in and I’m not keen to go biking in the cold I need some kind of paid workout assistance. $13 a month seems reasonable and I think my cyclist husband can put my regular bike on a stand to make it stationary.
I was curious how much 40 sips is so I counted while I drank this morning. I had a large glass of water and 10 sips was about 3/4 of the glass. So 40 is a lot! Very strange and inefficient to drink it out of his hand.
And he calls it “efficient.” He must be gulping so much air down that’s probably why he feels sick afterward.
I don’t think he’s making any friends describing his relatively normal pandemic life either. I haven’t set foot in a restaurant since late February and it’s part of his regular routine?
Pods are pretty common if you have young kids. You establish rules and as long as everyone complies it could work. We looked into it, but realized it could quickly turn into a mess. I know a bunch of people who do it and it works really well for some, not as well for others (lots of drama). You have to really like and trust the people you pod with.
I hear you. My sister tried it with friends, it did not work out. She felt unsafe and since she grocery shops for our parents she didn’t want to take any chances.
But how “safe” are these pods if he’s still going out to eat? That means being around strangers, NOT people in your “pod”. Same thing with sports lessons. His kids are interacting with others. Even if it’s a private lesson, I’m sure they are not the ONLY client this coach works with.
It’s all just a BS excuse to do what they want to do. Period.
@The OG
Not really as safe as they think unless they are keeping it completely closed. We talked with some other families about keeping it locked down tight (no activities outside of the pod), but then what happens if one family changes their mind? Or if the families disagree later on? Nightmare.
EXACTLY my point, Startup. These “pods” are ONLY safe if you are 100% committed (and can trust) the others to not have contact w/ ANYONE else outside your pod. And if even ONE person “steps out”, it can screw you all.
It seems NONE of them are *really* in a pod, they’re just a small group that wants to socialize, and STILL keep to their own routines (sports, eating out, getting together, etc). Yet, I’m sure they’ll be SHOCKED, I say, SHOCKED if one tests positive … idiots.
Exactly – it’s safe if everyone restricts themselves to that pod only. But if just one of them gets together with other family or friends, the risk gets much bigger. I also wouldn’t pod with anyone going out to eat indoors in a restaurant.
We have a four person pod, it works well cause it’s people I trust (and one is a doctor) and all four 11 year olds girls are very low drama which is rare.
the kids are online in school at their different houses all day. They meet twice a week with a teacher outside at one of our houses ((it’s LA) for two hours with masks on. Last night we had a holiday party still outside with the 4 distant moms mostly masked ( drinking wine through straws) in a different location than the kids . That was the extent of my poor youngest one’s ( and my) socializing this year but if we didn’t have that I think this year would have been even worse for her as she is pretty social.
I love Hannah , she is my fav.
Robin Arzon is my go-to. She says crazy things, but she is so motivating. She can turn my day around.
40 sips is a lot. That sounds time consuming and unnecessary. Just chug a large glass of water. You get that full, nauseous feeling right away instead of hunched over a sink. Plus why is he using his hands? Like just get a cup dude.
I have a hot water dispenser (Panasonic classic Japanese style) in my bedroom., since my bedroom is quite large and my kitchen is small. I do have better mornings when I start with water and maybe fruit and a couple hours later coffee and bread. And I drink warm water before sleeping. In the morning either cold water that I didn’t finish or more warm water. Having it handy helps me stick to starting with water. this guy should consider a carafe though!
Hearing about this dude’s life and seeing his smug face makes we want to barf… ugh
Thank goodness I’m not the only one.
Does he think he has to be weird/rigid with himself to be successful? I take a glass of water to bed at night and if I haven’t drink it by morning (which is usually the case), I finish it as I get ready.
We get water from all sorts of places as pretty much everything we eat has water in it. Plus most of us just need to pay attention to our body, if you’re thirsty take a drink. But I’m speaking as someone who pretty much only drinks water and I know some people can’t stand it, are used to drinking soda, etc.
Why does he make his daughter do something she doesn’t like to do so she can “toughen up?”
He sounds a little weird, intense, and oblivious given the so called pod. Classic driven rich guy.
Forcing a kid to play a sport she doesn’t like it pretty cruel. She is likely to develop anxiety versus “toughen up.” Not good.
In context with his other statements, it sounds crappy, but we did have to “force” our first two children to play soccer their first couple of years. Now they both love it and my oldest son is playing on his high school team as well as the local recreational league. But they both needed encouragement to stick with it long enough to enjoy it.
I’m definitely side-eying this guy, though, given what else he says and what his attitude seems to be as a “top CEO” (thanks, Kate!).
I hate the phrase “toughen up”, but I do think it is good for kids to do things they aren’t inherently good at. It is good to learn that some of the most rewarding things start off as a challenge. There’s been studies about the benefits of praising a child’s effort vs. their ability.
Eating disorder much.
Yes to this. All these bizarre, rigid, controlling things these tech bros do with their diets is exactly that.
Excatly! I read that I just thought that tech bro’s gonna tech bro
They’re just as ridiculous as GOOP. Working in engineering doesn’t make you knowledgeable in life sciences and physiology and this is plain quackery.
It’d be really interesting to study why that particular type of person gets so into these wellness fads, and if they were like that before their success.
Can whoever it is that thinks they can criticize Lizzo go for this guy instead? 40 sips FROM YOUR HAND until you want to hurl makes me recoil. Back in the day I would tape Letterman and then watch it while I cycled hard on a recumbent bicycle. If you are laughing, it’s not work. Some ancient Helen Gurley Brown book (Sex and the Single Girl maybe?) said she did 30 minutes on the bike every morning and it really woke her up and got her moving. So I just made my own cardio version that I could do, for a lot less than $3K.
That’s not an eating disorder. Ugh.
I’m just imagining the sloppy slurping sound he’s making while hunched over the sink. That makes no sense. Slapping water into your mouth from your hand sounds like the most inefficient way to “hydrate as much as possible”. But here we are talking about it so if that was his objective, well done lol
It sounds so wasteful to me! I’m spending too much time thinking about this.
He may sound cray but gosh, he built an amazing company. Obviously, a pelo-addict here.
“…I do is drink 40 sips of water from my hand at the upstairs bathroom sink. It’s efficient.”
Hey CEO guy? I know I’m neither a scientist nor a Very Special Entrepreneur, but filling up a damn glass and drinking out of it while turning the tap off is efficient. Not whatever this silly display of “bio-hacking” is. Good grief.
every time he talks it reaffirms my decision to not buy a Peloton.
The outrageous price tag is my reason LOL!
I’ve never read a thing this guy has said until today. And I will never read another thing this guy has to say.
I was a cycling instructor for a few years. Their bikes are on the cheaper end with resistance. They use the crank band which can vary bike to bike and be annoying to adjust. The magnetic keisers imo are superior and a little cheaper.
Weird. And self-punishing.
Yes, if you are eating whole fruits and vegetables throughout the day you will not need to drink as much water.
I have to take a handful of pills every morning so I will drink between 8-16 oz after I take my pills to drain my water cup. I also try to center whatever I’m eating on vegetables so I find I don’t drink as much water throughout the day.
Alex Toussaint is my man!!!!!!!!!!!! I teach spin and he is simpatico with my vibe!!!!!!! Love him and love all his rides!!!!! So real!!!
I do Alex’s rides a lot too but I have to want to work out hard that day!
That’s awesome!!! You have to find what works and do that.
I love Alex bc he is so intense! But he is also funny, sexy AF and MOTIVATING!!!!!! I enjoy Robin too in small doses – not bc she isn’t great, but she sometimes strikes me as inauthentic. Alex is the real deal every time. You can achieve greatness if you are willing to let yourself fail until one day you are killing it!!!! Plus his taste in music is the best IMO
The pod thing is common where I am but i don’t think it’s as effective as people think – the idea is that you are in a bubble with your pod but you can’t really be if anyone is still going to work or seeing any family or whatever. It reminds me of the FB image about what you think your bubble is vs what it actually is.
As for the water thing – that’s weird. Get a glass.
Well, obviously it’s not a pod if he’s taking his kids to group sports and going out to restaurants. People toss around the word “pod” a lot when what they mean is that they reduced their social circle.
This, exactly. I know college kids who told their parents they were in a pod but they really weren’t because of all the contact everyone would have with people outside that pod. My son kept his social circle much smaller and his activities were reduced to almost nothing this past semester but he knows he wasn’t in a pod, lol.
The way I think about the pod is that you are sleeping with them – LOL. Who else are they sleeping with? Do you trust them to be safe? Agree that if anyone in the pod is going to work then they are sleeping around and the pod isn’t as safe as you think it is!
I feel like “pod” is one of those words that people throw around to mean whatever they want it to mean. Another parent told me recently that she feels safe putting her kids in school, because each cohort is in a “pod.” Um, okay, but every kid in that pod has parents, siblings, etc., so… not a pod at all?
I’m in a three-family pod. It feels pretty safe to me, because none of us work outside the home, the kids are all under age 7 and none of them go to school, none of us spends time indoors with anyone outside the pod, we all wear masks outside the home, we don’t go into stores or restaurants, etc.
I have a treadmill, a yoga mat and a set of hand weights in my home gym/office/guest bedroom. The peloton app has saved my sanity. After the first four months of pandemic eating and drinking, I buckled down and committed to working out every single morning from 7-8am. My kids (2nd and 4th grades) are full remote, I work full time (from home mostly), as does my husband. It’s not hyperbole to say that my morning workout has boosted my mental health and reduced my stress. I use the peloton app at least 3 days a week (yoga mostly but also strength training) and run on the others. I feel like his “40 sips of water” was a bit of an exaggeration. He struck lightning with peloton. Remember when we were all laughing at them last winter with that stupid ad? Now the moms on my local FB group have practically formed a cult.
Good to know I am looking for an at home program because working out on my own isn’t enough. I’m curious if you can also use the app while running? Like could you get an interval workout?
Yes..they have a whole section of outdoor running, walking and HIIT workouts. Have done the run and walk ones, never tried any of the treadmill workouts but maybe those outside too? I think you can do a one month, free trial. They did a 3 month free trial during early pandemic and was great to experience a variety of workouts and see if I’d actually use the app.
I love love love my peloton and don’t regret a penny of it! And this guy seems quirky but who doesn’t?
I’m another who loves the app but I have neither the room nor the budget for the bike. I did use one for the first time last week and I liked it, mostly because the one thing I can’t quite tell with my hack version is if I’m using comparable resistance and using the Peloton it’s all integrated. But otherwise, pedaled the same as my less than 1/4 of the price spin bike and my seat is way more comfortable.
And I like Cody Rigsby’s classes. I just want fun, aimless chatter vs anything deep.
“… Oh, and Amar is dating my ex-girlfriend, so we talk about girls.”
Girls? He is almost 50 years old. His best bro surely is around his age range. How old would this tech bro’s ex be? Surely bestie bro not dating a child, so–in effect–she’s not a “girl.” (At leas…one would hope that this ex is a full-fledged woman.)
Right?
“We talk about girls” is really pathetic coming out of the mouth of a nearly 50-year-old man.
That’s what stood out to me too. I mean, his kids have to be preteen/teen for the sports described, I would think. So if he’s been married long enough to have kids that age, his ex would have to be from way back.
So number one, not a girl.
Number two, so long ago he could just say ex, it’s kind of weird to specify ex girlfriend. I mean, he seems weird overall so….
Rich people are weird and OCD
I have a used Spinner and the Les Mills On Demand app. Great cycle programs and I think it was $9.99/month but I may have gotten a discount for paying for a full year. I just can’t find a way to fit it in my schedule with any sort of regularity. Distance learning with four kids is a real beating.
I love so many of their instructors. Hannah is awesome. Cody makes me laugh. I also really enjoy Jess and Matty’s strength classes. I live in a rural area so having access to all these classes has really helped me.
His “pod” sounds more happening than my pre-pandemic social life.
This!!
I’m on medstaff at a psychiatric hospital and just want to say, drinking water unnecessarily until you feel like puking (medical term: polydipsea) is very common in psychotic people and extremely dangerous. You can throw off your metabolites (sodium, potassium) so severely that you die. Here in CA, we had a case where a mom died in a radio contest (hold your wee for a Wii) that was incredibly tragic. This guy’s morning routine is beyond idiotic.
Yea I’m thinking this all sounds less about being stupid and more about mental instability.
That’s just plain stupid. Start your day with a glass of water before breakfast. Then do your thing. Have a glass mid-morning, then right before lunch, mid afternoon, right before (and with, if you want) dinner, then mid evening, and possibly before bed. That way you’re keeping yourself hydrated during regular intervals during the day.
It IS possible to overhydrate. It throws your electrolytes out of whack and can be pretty serious. So drinking at intervals instead of a ton at once is a better and safer idea.
I came here to say the same thing. Also, drinking from his hand significantly increases the amount of air he’s taking in with the water, which certainly contributes to feeling nauseous. How odd to take pride in self-induced bloat and potential electrolyte imbalance.
I pod with my 6 children & their husbands & my grandchildren and one of my daughters-in-law’s immediate family ( her parents who are retired & mom has breast cancer so they are super careful and her only sibling, his wife who was pregnant up until July & now with new infant so they are all super careful too). Everyone follows the pod rules ( masks in public along with social distancing, no in restaurant dining, no gyms, no crowds, no more than 10 of us inside at any time, we go weeks without seeing each other to minimize contact). We have had complete success with this.
It depends on your pod members & how trustworthy they are and how often you see each other and in what circumstances. We spent Thanksgiving in our own homes but will spread out Christmas holiday visiting to each individual family at a time instead of gathering in a larger group inside at one time.
So much money and such an idiot.
This reminds me of the former CEO of zappos who just died tragically. There were a lot of red flags. Something ain’t right here.
His son is dating his ex-girlfriend. OH REALLY?!! Disfunction Junction 🤔
I chug quite a bit of water in the morning, but not to the point of vomiting, because by the time I get up I typically haven’t had anything to drink for 10-12 hours and I like to get started rehydrating right away. I drink from a cup like a civilized human being, though. Everybody loses moisture through their breath while they’re sleeping, and nobody drinks while they’re asleep, so everybody is just a bit dehydrated when they first rise.
this entire interview reads like an android trying to sound human. 40 sips from his hand? sports on tv are Florida nostalgia? we talk about girls? yea, dude’s been zuckerberg’d.
Does he realize there are receptacles one can purchase that can hold water and he can bring said receptacles up to his lips and take a drink? This is so extra.
Drinking water until you’re almost throwing up every morning sounds really awful. But the fact that so many people are like “wow, he’s a rich weirdo genius” vrs “that sounds like disordered behaviour” is really odd to me. Can you imagine if Lizzo said she started her day off like this? Lol.
White guys like to package dysfunctional behavior like it’s a hack to superiority. 40 sips of water from his hand…with the tap running? Does he have a whole house filtration system? I’ve got 3 boys, ages 13-23, and they are getting the disordered eating message through tik tok and YouTube…intermittent fasting being the most dangerous. (One has an eating disorder already) Teen agers who are still growing really don’t need to fast. I’m all for healthy food and mindful eating, but the systems and rigorous limits are concerning.
I love the Peloton app. Completely worth $13 a month. I used the suggestions on here for putting together a cheaper set up with the Sunny spin bike and I’m really happy with it. I did do a yoga class that jacked up my knee (of course there are no modifications offered), but now that I’m avoiding that guy, I’m good. I got 90% of the benefit for about $400. I don’t need a leader board, so if that’s what drives you, I could see the full Peloton experience being worth it.
We got the bike in 2017 and live it. The subscription is for the bike so as a family with multiple users it’s cheaper than the app. The metrics and everything in the tablet is beyond worth it to me
Has anyone bought the Sunny bike Celebitchy has previously linked to on Amazon? I think I am going to give myself the gift of a stationary bike and online spin classes to end this year . . . .
It’s actually biologically very unhealthy to drink that much water. Hyponatremia, hypocalemia… ugh, No. How many massive gym rats to you have to watch pass out before you get the idea that everything is bad in the extreme.
Drinking and counting 40 sips does not sound efficient at all. The way he described his day makes me think he doesn’t even work, like what? CEOs and tech guys just love their disordered behavior disguised as “biohacking”.
I hate this person so much. Can you imagine going on a date with a guy who describes starting his day as “40 sips of water from the bathroom sink til I wanna vom” omg alien.
I go to bed with a 600 ml carafe of water that I keep beside my bed.
I usually wake a few times during the night and will take a few sips but not too much as I don’t want to have to get up and pee.
But the moment I wake up in the morning I drink the entire carafe first thing. I will then usually drink another 600 – 800 mls of water over the next hour or so and despite having to pee a few times whilst I’m getting ready for my day, the water really sets me up for a hydrated, headache and brain-fog free day.
I cant for the life of me understand why this guys just doesn’t take a bottle of water to bed with him. The cupped-hand thing sounds crazy.
I live near the Peloton studio in NYC. Fun fact – pre-pandemic they offered free walk-in studio classes at 9, 10, and 11 AM. I’ve never paid for a class because they liked to pack the studio for recordings:)
hyponatremia – learn about it. It is deadly, a leading cause of hospitalization, and results from too much water consumption at any age or fitness level.
I’ve got a cat who drinks water like that. She dips her paw into the water bowl and licks it off her paw. I have to keep a lot of large bowls out and everyone in the family has to change out the water several times a day or it gets gross fast. Maybe this guy was a cat in a previous life?
I am really weird, I guess, because I just drink water when I’m thirsty.
I have a morning coffee. A mid morning herbal or occasional black tea, then water the rest of the day. I tried drinking “the recommended glasses of water” a day, whatever it was the last time I did that, and I spent the bulk of my day having to pee a lot. It was a total waste of a day.
Your body does get accustomed to it but yes, at first there’s a lot of peeing!
Lol.
Oh ugh. I’m so sick of these self-absorbed white billionaire wunderkinds thinking that just because they are super successful at something, that every idea they come up with is genius by default.
Sometimes your “groundbreaking” ideas are actually just stupid, bro.
Or you could just, like… drink a normal amount. From a glass.
As someone with kidney problems, I can say with confidence that consuming too much water is just as dangerous as not drinking enough.. I wish someone as powerful as him would know better than to lead with such a harmful example.