The Real Reason Peloton's Cody Rigsby Likes To Be Vulnerable With Riders

When you wake up at the crack of dawn and choose a Cody Rigsby Peloton ride, you know you're going to feel all the feels. In one 45-minute ride, you can go from intimidated but motivated to laughing and smiling and then finally, exhausted but inspired. And that might just be one ride alone. Rigsby puts himself out there as a Peloton instructor and acts like your BFF that you can tell all your problems too while making sure you also get an incredible workout you didn't even think you were capable of. And that's just the way Rigsby wants it to be.

Rigsby has spent seven years with Peloton as of this writing, becoming the at-home fitness company's director of cycling and one of the most popular instructors on the bike (via People). His rides are filled with his favorite music and his favorite musicians — Britney Spears, anyone? — and just Rigsby being Rigsby, at his most invigorated and at his most vulnerable.

Giving riders a good time when taking one of his rides is Cody Rigsby's aim, and he does it by making sure to have a good time being nothing more than who he is. "If I am not living my truth in everything I do, then I am not doing it right," Rigsby said on his official Peloton bio.

When you start your morning, take a midday break, or end your day with one of Rigsby's "XOXO" rides, you never know exactly what you're going to get, but you do know you're going to get Rigsby telling his truths and keeping it real.

"I think a lot of what we consume is so filtered and so staged," Rigsby told People. "You know, we've grown up with like the eight to 10 years on Instagram, where everything needs to be perfect and everything needs to look exactly right. And you kind of get these distorted ideas of who people are and how you should be."

In February 2021, Cody Rigsby joined millions of others across the globe when he tested positive for COVID-19, admitting that he "never felt sicker" in his life, but by March, he made a triumphant return to Peloton and his legion of cycling fans and by the fall, the former backup dancer was performing on "Dancing With the Stars" with Cheryl Burke as his partner.

After he recovered, Rigsby shared his experience with People, saying he learned to "be more centered around gratitude, just being grateful for what I can do, grateful for what my body is capable of. Instead of letting that fear kind of drive me, I landed in a space of gratitude and just taking every day as it is, and to celebrate what I can do in that day."

Unfortunately, a fully-vaccinated Rigsby tested positive for COVID-19 again on September 30, 2021, just days after "Dancing With the Stars" dance partner Burke tested positive with her own breakthrough infection. Fortunately, he said on Instagram that his symptoms are much milder than they were earlier in the year.