Fitness

The strength-training startup had a funny campaign last year, ribbing Peloton for allegedly copying the Ladder app for its Strength Plus app. Now it’s flexing that it poached Peloton instructor Jennifer Jacobs (who Peloton originally poached from Ladder) and offering Peloton members a three-month, all access subscription. Word has it Ladder is also planning to send trucks with digital billboards outside Peloton’s NY headquarters advertising the campaign.

The company’s first chief technology officer (CTO), Francis Shanahan, has a remit “to focus on artificial intelligence efforts,” announced alongside a new head of marketing. New-ish CEO Peter Stern has already said AI “has the potential to give humans superpowers,” which in Peloton’s case so far means personalized workout plans and AI-powered subtitles for classes.

After last month’s acquisition of Runna, mostly to get at its running plans, Strava is repeating the trick in cycling. It just acquired The Breakaway, an iOS biking app with a focus on... AI training plans.

Garmin’s Connect Plus subscription raised fears of enshittification, and lo, the company confirmed in its Q1 earnings call that going forward “certain [features] we will likely reserve for premium offerings.” This isn’t surprising — this is, after all, how subscriptions tend to go. But it does sting given how vocal Garmin has been in the past about not having a paywall. That said, the conversation revolved around features, not data so hopefully raw data will remain free.

The feature is part of “Performance Predictions,” a feature for subscribers that uses a “machine learning model” to give you estimated finish times for 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon races, Strava says.

Last week, I reported that all but two Zombies, Run! staffers had been laid off. Now we have an official statement from Six to Start, the company behind the game, confirming that the ZRX app will remain “available and fully functioning.” Zombies, Run! and Marvel Move subscribers will also retain access to episode catalogues and Rofflenet, its message board. New episodes, however, are on pause.

After a bunch of teasing, it’s finally official. Kettlebell training is now in both the Peloton App and the newer Strength Plus app. On the Peloton App, you can take four types of classes with popular trainers Jess Sims, Rebecca Kennedy, and a bunch of others. Meanwhile, the Strength Plus app has a two-week dedicated program led by guest instructor Dre Mayes, a former D1 football player.

I tried out Syntilay’s AI designed, 3D-printed footwear, which had me scan my feet with my phone for custom sizing. Syntilay says it wants to be “the content creator shoe company” by quickly designing shoes for YouTuber’s merch stores, but it’s just using consumer software like Midjourney to design these. Can’t anyone do that?

CEO Peter Stern made his public debut in today’s Q2 2025 earnings call. It was mostly a ho-hum affair relating Peloton’s ongoing recovery, but he did drop this tidbit about tariffs:

The big update is a new integration with Strava, but there’s also a new roster of Time to Walk guests, musical Artist Spotlights, and training programs. Including one for pickleball. Yes, pickleball.