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    Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy Steps Down as Company Cuts 15% of Workers

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    Barry McCarthy took over as C.E.O. in February 2022 to revive Peloton from its late-pandemic slump, but the company has struggled to become profitable.Peloton said on Thursday that its chief executive, Barry McCarthy, was stepping down and it would lay off more workers, as it continued to struggle in the fitness market.The connected-fitness company announced disappointing quarterly earnings on Thursday, with revenue down 4 percent from last year. The company, which has not turned a profit since December 2020, is also looking to refinance more than $1 billion in debt.Peloton had a spectacular rise at the start of the pandemic, when gyms and fitness centers closed and consumers were hungry for at-home workout options. But after gyms reopened, Peloton began to face stiffer competition from companies like Bowflex and Lululemon.Barry McCarthy, a former Spotify and Netflix executive, joined Peloton in 2022.Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesIt is reducing its head count by 15 percent, or 400 workers, in an effort to cut its costs this year by $200 million. Peloton has had several other rounds of job cuts in the past couple of years, most recently in October 2022, when it laid off about 12 percent of employees, or about 500 people.“Hard as the decision has been to make additional head count cuts, Peloton simply had no other way to bring its spending in line with its revenue,” Mr. McCarthy said in a statement.Investors appeared optimistic about the news; Peloton’s stock price rose about 9 percent in premarket trading.The company said it was looking to reduce its retail footprint and instead invest in “software, hardware and content portfolio and in improvements” for paying subscribers. Mr. McCarthy, a former Spotify and Netflix executive, joined Peloton in February 2022, taking over from the company’s founder, John Foley. Two board members, Karen Boone and Chris Bruzzo, will serve as interim co-chief executives. More

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      The Treadmill Desk Might Really Be Worth It

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      Research shows they can indeed deliver fitness benefits while you work — but only if you use them wisely.Experts have long known that extended inactivity can be bad for your body, increasing your risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and other illnesses. As the saying goes, “sitting is the new smoking.” At the same time, decades of studies have shown that walking — even just 4,000 steps a day — is good for the mind and body.Treadmill desks — a setup involving a standing desk with a treadmill beneath it — seem like an ingenious antidote to sedentary office life, and a way to get in a few more healthy steps. But are they worth the investment?As treadmill desks have become more mainstream, researchers have begun to ask how effective they are. A growing body of studies, though often limited, suggests they do help keep people moving, adding perhaps an average of two extra miles of walking per day.What’s more, one small 2023 study suggested regular use of treadmill desks increased peoples’ energy, improved their moods and, in some cases, even made them more productive at their jobs.“Having the ability to add in little bits of activity over the course of a day can add up,” said Akinkunle Oye-Somefun, a doctoral candidate at York University in Toronto and the lead author of a recent meta-analysis of treadmill-desk research. However, he noted, “walking on a treadmill desk is an add on, not something meant to replace your regular exercise routine.”The key to getting the most health benefits out of a treadmill desk, and avoiding boredom or frustration, is to go in with the right expectations and strategy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What Is VO2 Max?

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      VO2 max has become ubiquitous in fitness circles. But what does it measure and how important is it to know yours?Fitness is full of numbers meant to help you become faster and stronger. There’s your mile run time, your resting heart rate and measures of strength and flexibility. But perhaps the gold standard is VO2 max.A handful of years ago, the test — which tracks how much oxygen your body absorbs — was an obscure tool mainly used by elite athletes. Today, it’s touted by fitness professionals and wellness experts like Peter Attia as being a useful measure for all exercisers.But getting an accurate number requires an expensive and exhausting lab evaluation. And estimates provided by wearable devices might not tell you much. So how useful is it to invest time and money in the full work-up, and how important is knowing your VO2 max?For everyday people who want to be healthy and live a long time, the measurement is “the best piece of empirical information we have on health and longevity,” said Kate Baird, a clinical exercise physiologist and the coordinator of running and metabolic services at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.The key, she said, is acting on what the data tells you.What is VO2 Max?“VO2 max” is a two-digit number that expresses how effectively your body metabolizes oxygen. The measurement itself is the milliliters of oxygen consumed in a minute per kilogram of body weight.As you exercise, your body needs ever more oxygen. The more you can efficiently consume, the more energy your muscles will have, increasing the time and intensity you can exercise. Generally speaking, someone with a higher VO2 max will be able to sustain a run or an aerobic activity at a given pace longer than someone with a lower VO2 max.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lenny Kravitz’s Viral Workout Video

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      The rock star’s viral social media post showed him doing a furious three-in-one routine, with weights. Gym professionals had thoughts.Regardless of what Us Weekly says, celebrities are not just like us.One had only to see the workout video Lenny Kravitz posted on Tuesday to know that.Thank God for today! Grateful. Never been better. There are no shortcuts so seize your day. It is all possible. Love! pic.twitter.com/BHqQ63oNOt— Lenny Kravitz (@LennyKravitz) April 9, 2024

      First, there was Mr. Kravitz’s outfit: a plum-colored muscle tank, complete with leather pants, black boots and his signature sunglasses.Then there was the exercise itself, which took place on a decline bench and involved a barbell with weights on each side.At the starting position, Mr. Kravitz is supine, with the bar extended below his head. Then, while hoisting the upward with a furious motion, he appears to do a combination of a pullover and a situp. At the upright position, he does a shoulder press, bringing the bar over his head.In the video, Mr. Kravitz, 59, performs seven reps before handing the weight off to a trainer, who, in his wraparound shades, bears a resemblance to Joe Manganiello, Channing Tatum’s hulking sidekick in “Magic Mike.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Weed and Exercise: Why Some People Use Cannabis Before a Workout

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      Some exercisers say cannabis eases their pain and anxiety — and makes fitness more fun.The first time Samantha O’Brien took a boxing class at her building’s gym, she was overwhelmed with anxiety. The instructor was loud and intimidating and ran the class like a boot camp. If someone fell behind, everyone had to work harder.Ms. O’Brien, 36, left the class thinking she’d never return. A few days later, her partner came home with some cannabis gummies he said might offer her a burst of energy. She thought of the boxing class, and how she wanted to show the instructor he hadn’t scared her off. So she ate half a gummy, got into her workout clothes and went to the class.The shouting didn’t bother her anymore. “I was brighter, lighter,” Ms. O’Brien said, adding that the small dose kept her going through the session. Now she frequently mixes cannabis and exercise, regularly attending the boxing class along with Pilates and boot camp workouts after taking weed products.Scientists have refuted the idea that marijuana is a performance enhancer for competitive athletes. But some amateurs are turning to it before exercise because it eases their chronic pain and anxiety — or just because it makes working out more fun.Alex Friedrichs, 30, a manager of a chiropractic clinic in Vancouver, Canada, said that cannabis puts her in the moment during exercise. “I appreciate what my body is capable of, what my body is doing and the things I’m seeing around me,” she explained, “like running in a beautiful area or a pretty day.”Addressing Chronic PainIn a small 2019 study, the top reasons people used cannabis before exercise were to increase enjoyment and focus. But close behind was pain relief. Research has shown that marijuana can help some patients alleviate chronic pain, which affects some one in five people around the world. When the pain is treated, people become more functional, said Dr. Alan Bell, a physician and assistant professor at the University of Toronto who was the lead author on a set of clinical practice guidelines for using cannabis to treat chronic pain.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How to Check in on Your Emotional Well-Being

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      We know we should get a physical exam every year; we have annual reviews at work; some couples even do periodic relationship audits. And yet many of us don’t regularly check in with our emotional health — though it is arguably the most important contributor to overall well-being. The New York Times talked to experts […] More

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      How Democrats Should Sell Themselves to Avoid Electoral Disaster

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      More from our inbox:Children’s Painful LossesMy Exercise Ethic  Cristina DauraTo the Editor:Re “Can Democrats Find a Winning Message?” (column, Sunday Review, Oct. 10):Ezra Klein’s discussion of David Shor’s predictions about impending disaster for the Democratic Party in upcoming Senate elections was both fascinating and frustratingly incomplete.For one, he did not discuss the specific seats in play and in jeopardy in 2022 and 2024. Surely local issues and the attractiveness of individual candidates will play some role in the outcome.Second, if a decent part of the Biden agenda finally becomes law and if the pandemic wanes, isn’t there a reasonable prospect that a significant piece of the electorate will want to keep it going? We keep hearing how popular infrastructure renewal and long-overdue safety net improvements are.Perhaps the ingrained disadvantages that Democrats face in the electoral system can be overcome by people feeling better about their lives. Messaging may well be less of a factor than Mr. Shor fears.Larry SimonbergBronxThe writer was a spokesman for Mayor Ed Koch of New York from 1983 to 1989.To the Editor:I’ll tell you why David Shor is wrong, like many of the consultants I’ve encountered who often have a brand rather than a unique skill: 1) Focus groups and polling aren’t real life. 2) Human beings are irrational actors and their motivations shift unpredictably. 3) Most voters don’t vote for issues; they vote for candidates who appear powerful, in charge and decisive.Donald Trump explains all of these things. Most of the issues he spotlights are unpopular in polling and focus groups, yet he got more than 70 million votes in 2020 and is quite likely going to win in 2024. Democrats need passionate, vital candidates, not reactive data jockeys.David BillottiRockville, Md.The writer is a communications consultant.To the Editor:The Trump base is not reclaimable by Democrats. Donald Trump exposed the undercurrent of anger, fear and racism lurking in our country and made expressing those feelings acceptable within the Republican Party. Worse, he prodded that base to vote. And there is every reason to believe that will happen again.The Democratic Party’s only hope is to appeal to moderate, traditional and rational Republicans who have already abandoned Mr. Trump and his minions. Policy communication alone doesn’t hold the power that David Shor thinks it does. Accomplishment is what is needed.The Democrats need to coalesce behind President Biden’s agenda, abandon the extreme progressive wish list, and pass the infrastructure and Build Back Better legislative initiatives. Then, and only then, will they have a product the American people are ready, maybe even eager, to buy.Jay AdolfNew YorkTo the Editor:As a 45-year marketing and communications professional, I think the messaging of the Democrats for the last 10 years has been feeble and chaotic. There has been no consistent, simple messaging from the Democratic National Committee. In contrast, the Republicans have had the discipline to do exactly that, albeit poisoned with lies.You want a winning message to combat the Big Lie about the stolen election? Start a campaign with a catchy slogan like “Trump has done zilch for you,” and hammer that message home over and over again.This is a battle over hearts and minds. These voters have been lied to, used as pawns, as dupes. It’ll take time, but once they get it, they will react in fury against Mr. Trump.Randolph W. HoblerNorwalk, Conn.To the Editor:Did I read this article correctly? Democrats need to hide who they are in order to win elections? What a damning, unintentional self-indictment.Richard SybertSeattleChildren’s Painful LossesAmethyst, 5, and a portrait of her father, Erin Tokley, a Philadelphia police officer who died from Covid-19 in March.Laurence Kesterson/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “120,000 Children Lost Caregivers to Covid” (news article, Oct. 8):I am usually a pretty stoic person, but the enormousness of pain reflected by the story about 120,000 children who have lost a parent or caregiver broke me.To think there are Americans running around screaming about the injustice of being asked to get a vaccine or wear a mask while the smallest shoulders among us are bearing the heaviest of burdens really makes you wonder what has happened to the soul of our country.Have we become so callous and vicious with one another that a tragedy like this is not enough to bring us together so we can fight this scourge as one?Michael ScottSan FranciscoMy Exercise Ethic  Ping ZhuTo the Editor:Re “Unable to Walk, She Needed to Run” (Science Times, Oct. 5):Elisabeth Rosenthal’s confession that her running is “more spiritual than pragmatic” struck a chord with my exercise ethic. As a longtime daily runner — three miles around the block with our fox terrier, Socks — I understand Dr. Rosenthal’s need to run, even after an accident.After two hip replacements, more than a decade ago, stopped my daily runs, I began substituting other exercise. It doesn’t work — not the elliptical, a bicycle or weight training.The only close relative to running I have found is aquafit classes. The thumping music and smiling water compatriots allow a mental escape from the daily grind and anxieties of living. But it’s a facsimile, not the real gold standard.So I wish Dr. Rosenthal a rapid return to running and to recapturing the “emotional sustenance running provides.”Mary Lake PolanNew Canaan, Conn. More