High-intensity Peloton use linked to mixed mental health outcomes for working mothers

A new study in Mental Health and Physical Activity offers a detailed look at how high-intensity home exercise impacted the mental health of working mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings suggest that while parenting stress is a consistent predictor of lower quality of life, engaging in vigorous physical activity may offer specific psychological benefits. But the data also reveals complex and sometimes counterintuitive relationships between intense exercise and a mother’s sense of parental competence.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique set of challenges for families, particularly for mothers who often bear a disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities. Schools and childcare facilities closed, forcing many working mothers to manage their professional lives alongside increased domestic duties. Public health organizations documented significant rises in anxiety and depression during this period.

With traditional support systems and gyms unavailable, many individuals sought autonomous ways to manage their well-being. Home-based fitness platforms grew in popularity as they provided accessible means to maintain physical activity. One such platform, Peloton, gained traction by offering structured workouts combined with social connectivity features.

The authors of the current study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of this specific type of exercise for working mothers. They sought to determine if maintaining an exercise routine using an online platform could buffer the negative effects of parenting stress.

“This study was motivated by the disproportionate stress and mental health burden experienced by working mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside limited access to traditional mental health supports,” explained study author Bethany Fleck Dillen, a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

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“While exercise is often promoted as a protective factor, little research had examined how structured, online fitness platforms such as Peloton relate specifically to maternal well-being. We aimed to understand whether maintaining exercise through an online platform buffered parenting stress and how it related to quality of life, self-efficacy, guilt, and shame.”

“More personal, I am a mother of two and an avid Peloton user,” she continued. “I am in the group #pelotonmoms on the Peloton platform and I am in some Facebook groups for Peloton moms. I also ride almost exclusively with the coaches from Peloton who are also mothers. This is a great community and I found so much personal and physical support by being a part of it.”

To gather data, the researchers recruited 144 working mothers residing in the United States. Participants were required to be at least 18 years old and have at least one child between birth and 18 years of age. All participants used a Peloton device for their exercise routines.

The sample consisted of a highly educated and affluent demographic. Ninety-two percent of the participants held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Seventy-five percent reported a household income of $150,000 or more.

Participants completed an online survey that included several validated psychological measures. To assess their mental state, they completed the Parental Stress Scale and the Short Depression-Happiness Scale. They also filled out the Caring Shame and Guilt Scale, which differentiates between feelings of regret about specific actions and global negative self-evaluations.

The researchers assessed quality of life using the World Health Organization’s brief questionnaire. This instrument measures well-being across four distinct domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health. Participants also completed the Parental Self-Efficacy Scale to rate their perceived competence in raising their children.

For physical activity data, the study utilized self-reported metrics from the participants’ Peloton history. The survey asked for the total number of workouts completed in the last 30 days. It also asked for a breakdown of specific activities such as cycling, running, and strength training to calculate a high-intensity physical activity score.

The results highlighted a strong negative association between parenting stress and overall well-being. Mothers who reported higher levels of stress consistently reported lower scores across all four quality of life domains. These mothers also reported lower levels of happiness and a reduced belief in their ability to parent effectively.

The analysis also distinguished between guilt and shame. Parenting stress was positively correlated with shame, which involves a negative evaluation of the self. It was not, however, significantly correlated with guilt, which typically relates to specific behaviors.

Regarding the impact of exercise, the initial analysis showed that high-intensity physical activity was associated with better psychological and social quality of life. The researchers used regression models to test if exercise acted as a moderator. These models suggested that for mothers engaging in more high-intensity workouts, the negative link between stress and psychological well-being was weaker.

A similar buffering effect appeared regarding social relationships. High-intensity exercise seemed to mitigate the detrimental impact of stress on a mother’s satisfaction with her social connections. The platform’s community features, such as leaderboards and virtual groups, may contribute to this outcome.

However, the study produced an unexpected finding regarding parental self-efficacy. The data indicated that among mothers experiencing high stress, those who engaged in greater quantities of high-intensity exercise actually reported lower parental self-efficacy.

“One surprising finding was that higher levels of high-intensity exercise were associated with lower parental self-efficacy under conditions of high stress,” Dillen told PsyPost. “This suggests that for some mothers, intense exercise may feel like another performance domain rather than a restorative activity. It underscores the idea that how and why people exercise may be just as important as how much they exercise.”

It is important to note that the statistical significance of the exercise-related findings depended on the strictness of the analysis. When the researchers applied a Bonferroni adjustment to correct for multiple comparisons, the protective effects of exercise became less statistically robust. The negative associations between stress and well-being remained the most significant and consistent findings.

“Many of the effects were small to moderate, which is typical for psych research, especially during a complex and stressful period like the pandemic,” Dillen explained. “Importantly, parenting stress showed consistent and robust associations with nearly every well-being outcome we examined. These findings highlight that even modest effects can have meaningful real-world implications when stress is chronic and widespread.”

“The key takeaway is that parenting stress plays a powerful role in shaping mothers’ well-being, often outweighing the benefits of exercise alone. While high-intensity exercise was linked to better psychological and social quality of life for some mothers, it did not uniformly protect against stress and was even associated with lower parental self-efficacy. Exercise can be supportive, but it is not a cure-all. Context, motivation, and expectations matter.”

As with all research, there are some limitations to consider. The sample size was relatively small, which limits the ability to reliably detect small effects. The homogeneity of the sample regarding race and income limits the generalizability of the results to the broader population of working mothers.

Additionally, the study used a cross-sectional design, meaning data was collected at a single point in time. Because of this design, the study cannot establish a causal relationship. It is unclear whether exercise improves quality of life or if mothers with a higher quality of life are simply more able to find time for exercise. Future research would benefit from tracking participants over a longer period to better understand the direction of these relationships.

“A common misinterpretation would be assuming that more exercise is always better for mental health,” Dillen noted. “Our findings suggest that exercise does not automatically buffer parenting stress and, in some cases, may coincide with increased pressure or self-evaluation. Additionally, because this study was cross-sectional, we cannot draw causal conclusions.”

The researchers also note that the high variability in reports of guilt and shame suggests these are complex emotional experiences. Individual differences in how mothers internalize societal expectations likely play a role. Future studies could explore how body image and social comparison on fitness platforms influence these feelings.

“Future research should examine more diverse samples of mothers, include longitudinal designs, and compare different types of physical activity and platforms,” Dillen told PsyPost. “We are particularly interested in understanding how motivation, body image, and social comparison influence whether exercise supports or undermines maternal well-being. Ultimately, this work aims to inform more realistic and compassionate approaches to maternal self-care.”

This research underscores the complexity of maternal well-being during times of crisis. While exercise can be a valuable tool for maintaining mental health, does not completely offset the burdens of parenting stress.

“This study highlights that many mothers turned to self-guided strategies like exercise during a time when formal mental health care was inaccessible,” Dillen added. “While platforms like Peloton can offer flexibility and community, they exist within broader structural constraints that shape mothers’ stress and well-being. Supporting mothers requires more than individual solutions—it requires systemic support.”

The study, “Maternal Well-Being for Working Mothers in the U.S. who Participate in Peloton™ Exercise,” was authored by Bethany Fleck Dillen, Michael Rhoads, and Isabel Kool.