Magic exercise mirror has anyone tried it

I will have to try and find a live guide class before they finish to get the proper peloton and experience!

I think for strength I prefer Caroline Girvan so far. you only get 3 cardio classes a month with the £12 peloton membership and I have a cheap spin bike and walking pad/treadmill in my house so probably better off with the £24 membership which includes unlimited cardio (not scenic routes though sadly). I don’t think I would get a yearly membership and be a permanent member, but a few months here and there would be good. If I keep the guide I am a lot more likely to renew the membership - not sure if that’s an incentive or not!

Also I’m paying the £39 a month sub as I have the bike so I get the Guide stuff included with that, so I’m not having to pay extra for it. But I might think differently if I was deciding between the app at £12 a month and the sub to include the Guide at £24. I wonder if they might change the subs though with the Guide becoming deprecated.

Yes I saw that, weird timing! You can use the Guide for any class, not just the movement tracked ones, and I imagine you will continue to do so, but it seems likely they will drop making the Guide-specific classes so there won’t be any new ones of those, but you’ll still get all the stuff the app sub gets and you can use the Guide to play it on TV. They aren’t that many Guide classes anyway really, the classes never really took off, but the device does allow you easy access to the whole catalogue of classes on your TV with the sub. You can also just cast from app to the TV if you didn’t find much value in the camera for form checking and the improved metrics and UI on screen. I think the sub is cheaper too?

I still think it’s a good deal for £40-odd, I use it for loads of non-Guide classes like Yoga as the camera is really useful for me and I much prefer the UI and ease of use, but everyone’s mileage may vary. It was about £200 originally so the fact it’s now on for £40 was probably a sign that it hasn’t been the hit they hoped for! I don’t think it was that well marketed either.

weirdly peloton have now removed the guide from sale. Now I have to decide if I want to keep it or put the money towards new weights. Particularly if it is now not going to hsve new classes etc.

Set up was terrible but sorted by a factory reset. A tip if anyone else gets the few remaining ones on Amazon - sign up for the peloton 1 month free trial first as you can’t use the guide with it. Very annoying as I wasted the free trial.

I think this also shows a risk with the magic mirror if you spend £1000 and they don’t work well so they don’t sell enough, the company may not provide software updates etc at some future point.

I thought it is losing weight for you 😂 no no, I still have to do the hard work 🤣

I run, spin in front of YouTube and follow YouTube Pilates classes. If I need to check my form (generally I don't, I'm mid 60s and just glad that I can get up and down off the floor some days) I prop a full length mirror up where I'm exercising (which the dog then sits in front of so I can only see either my top or bottom half). I haven't died yet or pulled any muscles or become hugely inflated in the wrong places.

I can see the use for these sorts of things if you are working towards competition perhaps, but for most people who are just working out to stay fit and trim - it's an awful lot of money to spend when, like many pieces of exercise equipment, it's probably going to be gathering dust in a year or so.

I didn't know about that one, really good price!

I have Apple Fitness +. I bloody love it. Billions of workouts. I do HIIT 3 times a week. Costs £90 a year, but I already have an Apple TV, watch and phone so it’s not much extra

Emperors new clothes!!!

You can go to the Fun House at LeisureLand and see the magic mirror in there for €3😁

No experience of the mirror but I recommend the Peloton Guide too. I already had a bike but the guide has spurred me on massively with strength training. The instructors are great. Lots of variety. I've done several programmes and love all of the classes.

Looks like an expensive gimmicky cash grab. Anyone who does regular exercise doesn't need an interactive mirror telling them to get into the right posture.

I have been working out at home for 20yrs and can't see that it would improve my current set up. I know enough about fitness and my own body without AI which doesn't have a clue how I feel or what I need. I track progress with a pen and paper.

On a side note, I can't think of anything worse than "sinking into a Jacuzzi" after a workout. Having a public bath in other people's skin cells and sweat is not my cup of tea. Long live the home workout!

I'm not knocking exercising at home, it works great for loads of people.

Honestly I'm just dubious about anything that is spendy that relies on you suddenly being motivated to exercise at home because you've spend $$$. There's so much on youtube and charity shops are full of old exercise DVDs. Try that first. If you're not into any of that, are you really going to suddenly start doing something on your telly because you've spent $$$ on it?

If you can find a group fitness class nearby that is welcoming and suitable for your fitness level, normally you can get a free first go, and then try a few classes for less than £30. Rates for group classes are from as little as £5, rarely more than £10 a go. Most instructors offer bulk or subscription discounts because it helps their retention and cash flow.

For example here's a way to find your nearest Boxercise class (not all instructors are on here, but it's a good start)

https://www.boxercise.co.uk/instructor-search#/

If you want to go with home exercise and are thinking of a paid subscription, could get Les Mills Plus for a year for £135, usual price £180 per year. There is a huge selection on there (but honestly you can only do one thing at a time so having 100 Body Pump tapes online isn't actually much more use than having 5)

https://try.lesmillsondemand.com/summer-sale/

Good luck!

I have it and I love it, I've done all sorts over the years but there is something about his mirror that is really pushing me to go extra. I feel it could have more features and classes but ultimately anything that is getting my lazy arse to lift weights 5 times a week is worth it. It cost me about £1k which I got interest free for three years and that included free life subscription. I had my own weights and bench but it's pushing me up weights so I will need to buy more

@Billybagpuss But the Betamax had a far superior picture 😀

Never heard of such a thing but am interested now Ive looked it up. Not at that price but once things come down.

My need would be for the guidance about what Im doing, if that is accurate and the advice is correct, thats a major selling point for me.

I dont do any exercise by the way. So it may well end up just being 'a mirror'.

The difference is that the AI uses the mirror to see you, so it corrects you if your form is wrong. It can advise you on how to progress based on what it sees of your body, etc. So it sounds great, very different to YouTube.

But it's £1200 for the mirror and after the first year costs £300 a year, so it's expensive and if you don't already have them, you need to buy your own weights, resistance bands, other equipment. Whereas my gym membership costs the equivalent of £350 a year and includes pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. I used to workout at home all the time, but there's nothing like doing a full body workout and then sinking your worn out body into a lovely hot jacuzzi followed by a steam/sauna.

@Billybagpuss Sorry, a mirror? I can't think of any worse way to exercise than having to stare at myself while I'm doing it.

@Billybagpuss i have the mirror. No issues with delivery.
personally I love it and it really works for me. I can fit it in during lunch breaks and am progressing/getting results much faster than I have with years at the gym as I am less self conscious and more consistent.

Yes it’s very expensive, I purchased after a bit of an unexpected bonus so was a treat, however 3 of us in the house are using it so saves on gym memberships and PT sessions.

I was doing CG before I got the Guide and ended up switching my sub to Peloton because I liked all the other content as well as strength stuff, but I did like CG’s stuff. I did some of Iron. There’s a Crush your Core programme in Peloton that you might like. I too am a bit rubbish at planks but getting better! Tunde on the Peloton app does amazing strength classes, her upper body ones are brutal in the best way!

@doodleschnoodle Thank you! I am rubbish at bodyweight stuff (planks, push-ups, dips) so hopefully it will help me. Really intrigued now! I have two more weeks of the current Caroline Girvan programme I am doing (iron) so in theory I should wait to sign up to the peloton app, but will most likely sign up once the guide arrives and try to do both for a bit!

Yes I have the Peloton Bike+ now and it’s amazing (v spendy though!) but I started with the Peloton Guide and thought it was really worth the subscription and a good entry point for the sheer amount and variant of content on there. I used it every day for something, even just stretching on rest days. But it’s not very well advertised, I only discovered it by mistake. Even with the Bike+ I still use it for standalone strength workouts when I’m not stacking with a ride.