In the first week of workouts, I had to restart the tablet several times to reboot it after the screen froze while it was searching for my Wi-Fi, but that hasn’t been an issue since the first few days. Otherwise, the tablet is excellent. At 21.5 inches, it’s not so big that you’re overwhelmed while watching it up close wjen riding the bike, but it’s also big enough to use for floor workouts several feet away. The touchscreen swivels 360 degrees for off-the-bike sessions.
But obviously, the star of the show is that stationary bike. It’s a heavy piece of machinery, and it has a solid feel that is a welcome feature when you get on it and start pedaling. There’s no shaking, no wobbling, just a grounded, secure feeling you’d get in that bike at the gym that everyone rushes to get to first—which makes sense, as you’ll often see rows of Star Trac bikes in commercial gyms. The bike is also nearly silent, which is great for people who live with light sleepers or share walls with fussy neighbors.
Using touchscreen controls on the tablet, I connected the Myx system directly to my Bluetooth earbuds and the included Polar heart rate monitor. For me, each connection was quick and reliable. Bluetooth devices can be finicky (I’ve often stood at a trailhead, waiting impatiently for my earbuds to connect), so it’s great to be ready to ride within seconds.
The Workouts
When I went into the database to check out Myx’s workouts, my first impression was, “Wow, this is way more than just a bike.” The hundreds of preprogrammed workouts available span four categories: Bike (which contains the traditional spin/cycle type workouts), Floor (workouts using equipment and/or bodyweight to build strength and endurance), Recovery (yoga, meditation, and recovery movements), and Cross-Train (workouts that contain mixes of all three).
In each category are dozens of workouts in three different difficulty levels, led by coaches that hit just the right tone—positive without being saccharine. The pretaped training sessions range in time from five minutes to 60 minutes, and they have the feel of a one-on-one experience. That’s a huge perk—Myx focuses on positive reinforcement to motivate you, so you won’t find the merit-based leaderboards like those in Peloton workouts or indoor cycling apps like Zwift. There’s less of a competitive feel; it’s more like a really fit friend is encouraging you through a workout.
As a certified trainer (CrossFit L1, L2, USPA Powerlifting, Precision Nutrition L1) with experience programming workouts and owning a gym, I’m immediately skeptical of any programming that I haven’t done myself. But Myx has done its homework: Every workout I’ve done so far has hit that perfect zone of difficulty, taking you right up to the “I can’t do this” line and easing it back just a bit so you can keep going. I’ve left every workout tired and sweaty, but invigorated, rather than ready for a breakfast burrito and a nap, which is my usual state after a rough gym session. I was pleasantly surprised to find higher level CrossFit movements presented in a way that beginners could understand. I even saw some movements that I haven’t come across in my programming experience.
