MYX Plus Review: All-encompassing total body fitness

The world of connected fitness equipment has blown up this year. Many gyms and studios have shut down in the pandemic, and a lot more of us are working from home. Naturally, we want to be able to work out at home as well. There are a lot of things to consider when deciding which piece of connected fitness equipment is best for you, such as modality, price point, and additional membership costs. For me, I like to switch my workouts up, so I appreciate the option of different exercise modalities within one system.

That's why I've been using MYX Plus. MYX Plus is a full-body exercise system that includes a stationary Star Trac bike, bike stabilizing mat, extra-large floor mat, foam roller, set of free weights and kettlebell (in increments of your choice), resistance band, and a Polar OH1 Heart Rate Monitor. It's a great option for anyone looking to bring the studio experience home with them.

The bike, The equipment, The app

The MYX Plus review: What I like

The bike

There are a lot of things I like about the MYX Plus system, but one of my favorite components is the swivel 22-inch interactive touchscreen. This system was designed so you could transfer seamlessly from the bike to the floor, and the swivel screen enables you to do exactly that. You can swivel the screen 360-degrees and angle it up and down vertically for convenient adjustments while riding out of the saddle, or sweating it out on the floor.

The bike itself is a commercial-grade cycle by Star Trac. It offers four-way adjustments. You can adjust the height of the saddle and handlebars and move the saddle and the handlebars forward and backward for a personalized fit. It comes with two convenient water bottle holders located on the handlebars, and versatile pedals that offer shoe cages on one side and toe clips on the other. I'm an indoor cycling instructor and a strong advocate of clipping in. It's the best way to get the most out of every rotation. The MYX Plus toe clips are SPD compatible.

The MYX bike's footprint is compact and doesn't take up a lot of space. It measures 54-inches long by 21-inches wide by 47-inches tall. MYX recommends setting up a space that measures four feet by six feet, so you have ample space to ride and move. The MYX bike comes in two colors: natural white or deep charcoal, so you can pick the color that suits your space best. I went with white, and I love it! The bike looks absolutely stunning in my bedroom. I was really concerned about putting a workout system in my room because I was afraid of throwing off the feng shui, but I'm happy to report that it suits the space and looks great.

The bike features quality construction. It's durable, rust-proof (amazing), and hypoallergenic. It uses a mechanical-friction braking system and a 41-pound flywheel to keep your ride super smooth. MYX offers free delivery and assembly, which is an enormous plus! Most connected fitness competitors do not. The delivery service did a great job arranging my delivery and setting up my equipment. The screen that came with my bike initially was damaged, so I contacted MYX customer service to let them know, and they overnighted me a new screen that arrived the next morning. They were super attentive and resolved my problem immediately – that's an A+ for MYX customer service!

The equipment

I love that purchasing the MYX Plus comes with all of the necessary equipment to create your own little home gym. It includes a bike stabilizing mat, which is just a touch longer and wider than the bike itself. An extra-large workout mat designed for cross-training, yoga, meditation, barre, Pilates, dance cardio, and strength workouts. A set of dumbbell pairs plus a kettlebell in increments of your choice. You can choose from light: three, six, and nine-pound dumbbells plus a 15-pound kettlebell, medium: six, nine, and 12-pound dumbbells plus a 20-pound kettlebell, or heavy: nine, 12, and 15-pound dumbbells plus a 25-pound kettlebell. I went with light, and it's perfect for me. If you're not sure which weight set is right for you, MYX has a step by step guide on how to choose on their website.

It also comes with a resistance band for your strength training workouts and a foam roller so you can roll out and rehabilitate your muscles after you exercise. Most importantly, the MYX Plus includes a Polar OH1 heart rate monitor. This is paramount because MYX Fitness focuses on personalized heart-based training. The Polar OH1 helps you keep tabs on your heart rate zones and is extremely accurate when it comes to calculating your overall calorie burn. If you're serious about tracking the calories you burn while you work out, monitoring your heart rate is, hands down, the best way to do it.

The app

The MYX Fitness membership costs an additional $29 per month (lower than top competitors). This membership grants access to a large library of virtual classes that feature many different fitness modalities. Once you have your MYX Plus, download the MYX Fitness app to create your profile and get well acquainted. MYX will ask you to add your gender, height, birthday, and weight. You'll also choose your personal fitness level, the number of days you want to work out with MYX, and your typical stress level. You can follow a few tutorials that guide you through things like your bike setup, heart rate zones, how to pair Bluetooth headphones, and how to use your heart rate monitor if you need help. Additional tutorials are available for pre and postnatal training, which is really cool!

After you've created your profile, MYX will ask you to complete your MYX Assessment Ride. This is the foundation of the entire MYX training system, so it's a very important step. Your MYX assessment identifies your benchmark heart rate zones so you can track your progress and heart health over time. MYX uses a patented algorithm that produces a unique score to determine your personal fitness level called your MYX Mark. It uses your MYX Mark to customize your workouts – making each sweat session as effective and efficient as possible. MYX recommends that you take the assessment ride every six weeks so you can track your progress and watch your heart health improve over time.

Once you're all set up and have logged into your MYX profile on your touchscreen, you're ready to rock! The MYX app is easy to use. It's clean and straightforward. You can choose from various classes, including cycling (obviously), barre, Pilates, yoga, HIIT, strength training, and cross-training classes. You can also choose from various mindful classes that include meditation, yoga, and general stretching. The app also gives you the option to schedule your workouts, which is a great way to hold yourself accountable.

Once you choose the class you want to take, you have the option of pairing your Bluetooth headphones and your heart rate monitor. Pairing these devices has always been really easy for me; MYX picks them up right away. MYX strongly recommends pairing your heart rate monitor every time you work out to get the most out of your session and to track and record your stats. You also have the option to play the class out loud via the speakers located on the back of the tablet if you choose.

One of my favorite features in the MYX app is the ability to adjust the volume of the instructor and the music separately. There are times where I really want to jam out, so I'll turn the music all the way up and the instructor all the way down. There are other times where I really need to concentrate on what the instructor is saying, so I'll bump the instructor way up and turn the music down. This is a unique and excellent feature. I've never had this capability in any other fitness app I've used. You can also pause your workouts instead of completely ending the workout altogether if you need to use the bathroom or take care of a distressed baby (me often).

I've really enjoyed MYX's offering of classes, and they're adding to their library all of the time. There are tons of great instructors to choose from, and the playlists are fire! The music is excellent in general, and a lot of the rides feature different themes like 80's Hits, 90's Hip Hop, Disco, and Country, to name a few. You can also choose from different kinds of rides like rhythm rides where you ride to the beat, HIIT rides where you concentrate on timed intervals, and endurance rides designed to, you guessed it, boost your endurance.

If you're trying to search for a particular class, you can filter your search according to instructor, duration, level (they offer levels one through three), and type. You can take classes ranging from five to 60 minutes. Some of my absolute favorite MYX classes are the scenic rides! I've been able to ride like a local on the road to Hana in Hawaii, and bike my way through faraway, exotic places like Northern Italy, Costa Rica, Patagonia, and New Zealand. These scenic rides are truly awesome and provide fully immersive, amazing views of places around the globe. They're also accompanied by killer playlists, and you can adjust the volume of the music and the ambient noise separately.

A few other amazing features within the app include streaming the news so you can keep an eye on top headlines while you squeeze in a workout. Mat Chats, an original interview series with industry and subject-matter experts hosted by MYX coaches; and Coach Diaries, intimate interviews with the MYX coaches who share personal stories about their real lives to strengthen the bond between coaches and members. MYX also just started releasing their collection of influencer workouts titled In The MYX, where you can take classes with guest all-star instructors.

Membership, no leaderboard, brand new

The MYX Plus review: What I don't like

Like most connected fitness systems, you must purchase your MYX Membership at an additional cost on top of your MYX Plus. It's a month to month membership that costs $29 a month, and you can cancel at any time. Like I mentioned when I delved deep into the inner workings of the app, the membership gives you access to all MYX classes, Mat Chats, Coach Diaries, and the new In the MYX series. Even though the membership is an additional fee each month, it's still less expensive than the memberships of some top competitors like Peloton or Echelon.

MYX's training system concentrates on heart-based, one on one training. Meaning, you're not competing against others while you ride, and there's no leaderboard nor sense of community. This is totally a personal preference thing. If you are motivated by competition and your fit community, choosing a program with leaderboards and a community-driven atmosphere is your best bet. If you're looking for a customized, personal training system, MYX reigns supreme.

MYX Plus entered the mix on January 7th, 2020 making it a brand-new name in the connected fitness game. That being said, MYX is still building its online virtual library. There are many different classes to choose from, but there are no live class offerings, and the MYX virtual library is smaller than some of its top competitors'. However, MYX is adding new content to their virtual library all of the time and currently hosts plenty of classes to keep you sweating steadily.

The competition

Peloton

It's hard to think about connected fitness without thinking about Peloton, the pioneer. Peloton is an excellent and reputable brand. What puts the MYX Plus above Peloton, in my opinion, is all of the extras and additional equipment you get along with the bike for $1499. The entire MYX Plus system costs significantly less than the Peloton bike alone. The OG Peloton Bike starts at $1895. The new Peloton Bike Plus (featuring a new swivel screen) starts at $2495. All additional equipment like shoes, weights, resistance bands, and foam rollers, will cost you extra. The Peloton membership is more expensive at $39 a month than the MYX Fitness membership, which costs $29 a month. The MYX Plus bike also has a slightly smaller footprint. If you're looking for the most affordable, accessible, all-encompassing system, the MYX Plus is definitely the way to go!

NordicTrack S22i

The NordicTrack S22i is another worthy competitor. The cool thing about this connected commercial cycle is that it comes with a one-year iFit membership, so there is no additional cost each month for those first 12 months. The S22i's screen also swivels, which allows for easy transitions from the bike to the floor. However, the S22i is still more expensive than the MYX Plus at $1999. A set of three-pound dumbbells are included in that price, but any extras you want on top of that will come at an additional cost. After your free year of iFit expires, you'll pay either $396 a year for a family plan, $39 a month for a monthly family plan, or $180 a year for an individual plan. MYX Plus wins again as the most affordable total body system.

The MYX Plus review: Should you buy

You want all necessary equipment included in one price

The MYX Plus includes all of the equipment you need to set up your own home gym under one price. You'll get a connected bike, bike mat, extra-large floor mat, resistance band, six-piece dumbbell set (in increments of your choice), kettlebell (in increments of your choice), Polar OH1 heart rate monitor, and a foam roller for $1499. Plus, free delivery and setup!

You want the option of shoe cages and toe clips

The MYX Plus bike features shoe cages on one side of the pedal and SPD compatible toe clips on the other. It also comes with SPD clips to affix to your spinning shoes.

You're looking for an affordable full-body system

The MYX Plus is the most affordable, total body connected fitness system I've found on the market today.

You don't want to pay for a monthly membership

The MYX Fitness membership costs $29 a month for access to all of their virtual content. If you opt-out of the membership, the bike touchscreen cannot be used for anything else.

You want leaderboards and community

MYX fitness concentrates on heart-based, one on one training. You do not compete against others, there are no leaderboards, and there's no online community.

The MYX Plus is the best accessible, affordable, total body system on the market today. It includes everything you need to set up your own little home gym. You'll get a commercial-grade bike, bike stabilizing mat, extra-large floor mat, six-piece dumbbell set, kettlebell, Polar OH1 heart rate monitor, resistance band, and a foam roller all under one price. The MYX Fitness monthly membership is also more affordable than its top competitors, making it a slam dunk when it comes to the best connected fitness equipment. I highly recommend this system to anyone and everyone looking for a high-quality, total body system to work out with at home.