Peloton's Robin Arzón challenges you to exercise for 30 minutes every day for a month

Peloton's Robin Arzón challenges you to exercise for 30 minutes every day for a month

The thought of waiting until January 1 to start a new fitness challenge or routine makes wellness icon Robin Arzón react "viscerally," she explains over the phone. “I don’t think we should wait,” says Peloton’s head coach and vice president of fitness programming.

“I think we need to have an urgency in our lives,” she continues, throwing out one of her signature nuggets of inspirational wisdom. “This is not a dress rehearsal.” And that's why she's doing the #3for31 challenge again this year, after dreaming about it for the first time in 2012.

The concept is simple enough: exercise for 30 minutes a day on all 31 days in December. Any month with 31 days is enough, Arzón adds. But there's something about setting priorities during the often stressful and busy holiday season when the weather outside is chilly that makes December a prime time to set and achieve such a goal.

The Benefits of Running in Cold Weather—Plus How to Do It Safely

“When I wrote my book Shut Up and Run, I told myself if I could get off my butt in December, one of the coldest months of the year for a lot of people, then I could do it any time,” Arzón explains. At the time, her goal was to run three miles every day, but the challenge has evolved since then.

Now she suggests that people exercise whatever feels good for them for 30 minutes every day. This could be a 15-minute walk in the morning and another 15-minute walk in the evening. Or it could be 30 minutes straight on the treadmill, in a yoga class, on the bike, or in the gym for strength training.

It's not lost on Arzón that promoting a fitness challenge in the middle of the holiday season, which is often associated with relaxation, may seem counterintuitive to some. But she thinks it's all about "listening to that internal conversation about what [your] mind really needs," she says. "I think when [you] create a framework in a fun challenge like this, there's no pressure... it's actually meant for [you] to enter a headspace where [you're] prioritizing how [you] feel, [your] mental health, [your] physical and mental connection."

For Arzón, “exercise is medicine,” she says. "It's fertilizer for the brain. It gives [you] more energy; it gives [you] more patience." These are two things that certainly make a big contribution during the Christmas season.

14 simple things you can do to minimize holiday stress

As someone who has made a career out of fitness, Arzón's idea of ​​recovery may look different than others. Instead of taking time off, she varies the intensity of her workouts and the type of workout she does. “One day I’ll do heavy upper-body strength training,” she explains. “Next time it could be a longer run or a bike ride.”

However, she understands that “slowing down is a strength”. It's something she got a crash course in after having her daughter Athena in 2021. “I have repaired myself physically from the inside out and in many ways mentally,” she shares. “It actually takes confidence to do something that’s slower.”

Peloton's Robin Arzón takes her postpartum recovery routine very seriously

So when it comes to her #3for31 challenge, Arzón does what works for her and encourages others to do the same. “It’s unique to me because I run every day, but again, I’m trained to be able to do this, right?” She says. “This isn’t necessarily right for everyone, but 30 minutes of exercise a day, varying the intensity of [your] workout is possible.”

It's this mentality that Arzón recommends people take advantage of when considering the idea of ​​developing New Year's resolutions, which have historically been difficult to maintain. Instead of resolution, “I like to think of them as nibbles,” she says. "It's important to start small. I think wholesale change is really daunting for anyone. So, start with one achievable thing and then do it again and then again."

The key is to be consistent and create habits, she explains. “I don’t care what someone is willing to do once or even ten times,” says Arzón. "I care much more about what you're willing to do consistently than fret about intensity."

Now, if you're looking for a way to build a consistent movement routine, Arzón's #3for31 challenge might be a good place to start. Participants can track their progress using a calendar graphic and tag @Robinnyc on Instagram or @swaggersociety on Twitter, along with the hashtags #3for31 and #SwaggerSociety every day of the month. Anyone who completes the challenge can earn a spot on the pre-registration list for the trainer's new Web3 lifestyle membership club, Swagger Society. The club has a move-to-earn model and offers users exclusive access to Arzón.