A few weeks ago, my friends and I—women ranging from our mid-thirties to mid-forties—all started weight lifting.

This is for several reasons. In general, strength training and functional fitness are more popular. But also, women between the ages of 30 and 50 lose about 3 to 8 percent of their muscle mass per year, and the drop in estrogen that happens during menopause can accelerate this. I no longer care about bulking up; I just don’t want to collapse in a rickety bag of bones when I’m 50. Lastly, I’m not saying that my sudden desire to be able to, say, fireman’s carry a body across state lines has anything to do with the results of the US presidential election. Then again, I’m not saying it doesn’t.

Courtesy of Peloton

That makes the launch of Peloton’s latest app very timely. Today, the company launched Strength+, its first stand-alone app apart from the core Peloton app. It will be available on iOS devices with a limited number of introductory memberships for $1 per month for the first six months. After the introductory period, memberships will be $10 per month, and at no additional cost for All Access, Guide, and App+ Members.

Ambient Noise

The Strength+ app is designed specifically for use in the gym, so it may look slightly different from the core Peloton app or other apps with similar offerings, like FitOn, WorkoutWomen, or even Apple Fitness+.

I’ve been using Strength+ for a week. When you open it, you can select from several different types of workouts. A workout generator lets you customize a strength workout, with six different inputs that include how long you want to work out, which muscle groups you want to target, what equipment you have, or whether you want to include a warm-up.

You can also click to follow specific training programs. I’m currently enrolled in instructor Andy Speer’s Ignite Your Strength 4-week program, which is kicking my butt. You can also watch short instructor clips, which range from everything like gym procedures and etiquette—how to load and unload a barbell, or what a plyo box is—to watching Speer look at old pictures of himself. A progress-tracking tab gives you data about your journey, showing your total lifting volume, which workouts you did, and which weights you’ve lifted.

Courtesy of Peloton

Because the app is designed for use in the gym, it’s designed to be pretty flexible in how it asks you to follow along. You can listen to your own music or podcasts while using the app, and your audio will pause temporarily whenever instructions or timers need to interrupt. You can skip or switch exercises if the necessary equipment is being used, or if you want to tinker with the rest periods. (I simply can’t sit there and do nothing for two whole minutes. It’s impossible.)

Overall, the app is meant to make the gym much less intimidating if you don’t go there often, and much more effective even if you do. No matter how convenient it is to have workout equipment in your house, since the Covid pandemic, we humans have decided that we do not want to stay at home. I love going to the gym. I have weekly gym dates. The neighborhood gym a few blocks from my house hosts dance classes after work. It’s like going to the club, except you can be home by 9 pm.

“Maybe you like getting out of your house,” says Andy Speer, a longtime Peloton instructor whose workouts are prominently featured in the Strength+ app. “I like taking that time for me. At home, we don’t have a pull-up bar or a leg press machine. I’m really happy and proud of what we do on the mat, but at the end of the day, there are limitations.”

Follow Along

Even though my colleagues and I on the WIRED Reviews team have found Peloton’s home workout gear to be some of the most attractive and easy-to-use that we’ve tested, the company’s killer app has always been its instructors, who are good at what they do, pick great music, and have an uncanny ability to form intense parasocial relationships with the people who take their classes.

It’s worth noting here that Peloton’s brand-new CEO, Peter Stern, is a cofounder of Apple’s Fitness+, and Peloton’s stock has surged over the past few months as it has indicated that it will refocus its efforts on its subscription-based business.

I spoke to Brent Tworetzky, Peloton’s senior vice president of product, prior to the new app’s launch. He says that strength training is already the leading fitness category in the main Peloton app. “We wanted to go where our members are going and to meet an unmet need,” Tworetzky says. “Peloton that fits into your life, and we aim to deliver that for you.”

Courtesy of Peloton

Working out with Speer on my phone is a little less fun and entertaining than going to the gym with a friend, and I still have to figure out how and where to prop my phone when I’m watching clips of how to properly do a lawnmower row. Still, I just learned how to do cable workouts, and I finally got the confidence to pick up a barbell for the first time in my life, so it’s hard not to argue that I’m already getting a great experience. And I’ve only been doing it for a week.

“I’ve been a gym guy,” Speer said. “I really grew to love what we were doing at Peloton in the studio, but for me, this has been a great experience to bring that Peloton energy to a different environment.”

Pro tip for Speer fans: He has posted an early video clip of himself with ’90s-style David Beckham bangs. You’ll have to get the app to see it for yourself.