During her four years at Syracuse University, Jenn Sherman was one of “the best worker-outers” you could find on the Hill. She and her friends would pile into her 1980-something Volkswagen Cabriolet convertible and head to Sundown Fitness on Erie Boulevard to sweat through a step-aerobics class.
Then they’d hike down the steps to the Carrier Dome for some Big East basketball, and then to Varsity Pizza just to hear “Jenn S, your wings are ready. Your. Wings. Are. Ready.” Eventually, they’d land at Harry’s Bar on South Crouse Avenue where they talked about Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas and the other Orangemen.
So it’s only fitting that 34 years later, she is leading a heavy-cardio spin class last Sunday in front of 16,000-plus Peloton subscribers who pay $39 per month to sweat along with her. And it’s oh-so expected that she give not one, not two, but three shout-outs to followers with a Syracuse connection. Two of those shout-outs mention Buddy Boeheim, SU’s leading scorer in the Orange’s upset win over San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament two nights before.
“How about Cuse the other night?!” she said during her 9:30 a.m. 45-minute ride. “This is what they do! Right? They’re not even supposed to be in the damn thing. Then they get there and do what they do.”
Sherman, who earned her communications degree here in 1990, became Peloton’s first instructor eight years ago. She was about to open her own spin studio in New York City when she saw a story about this startup company that sought to bring on-demand studio-style workouts to your home. She emailed John Foley, Peloton’s founder, and said he should hire her.
“He could’ve gone after the hottest, the youngest 25-year-old out there in fitness and say this is our first instructor,” Sherman said in a recent phone interview. “Instead, he chose me.”
In the past year, Peloton sales skyrocketed as gym memberships plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic. A recent study shows the trend will likely continue, even as our population gets vaccinated. Nearly 71% of gym members worldwide are still not exercising at their gyms, the study shows, and a third say they don’t intend on ever returning.
Sherman is now one of 32 instructors who guide the 4.4 million Peloton subscribers through whatever type of workout they want whenever they want, whether it’s on a stationary bike, treadmill, yoga mat or outside on the open road.
At 52, she’s also proud to say she’s the company’s oldest instructor. She directs you through a 20-, 30-, 45- or 60-minute ride, telling you how fast to pedal and how much resistance to add to simulate a steep hill like she used to tear through during her days here.
Some workouts are low-impact, some are downright brutal. The one thing her rides all have in common is good music (usually classic rock), and most carry the “explicit” warning label because of her salty language.
“I speak a different language than my younger co-instructors,” she said. “I don’t try to be hip and cool. I speak like an authentic 52-year-old mother of two. I think that speaks to a lot of my riders. My sweet spot is knowing who’s riding with me.”
Her loyal followers view her as a teacher who encourages them to pedal faster because that’s how you get better and reach your goal. They see Sherman as a player-coach when they realize she’s sweating just as much as they are as she orders them to up the bike’s resistance to 65%. They consider her as a drill instructor when she barks that NOW is not the time to let up because “you’ve been stuck with me for 45 minutes on a bike that goes (expletive) nowhere.”
They also see her as just a middle-aged mom who boasts about her 17-year-daughter going to Indiana University in the fall and commiserates about her son’s second bout with Covid while studying at the University of Wisconsin.
Take it from these Peloton riders from Syracuse who rode side-by-side (virtually) with her last week:
BigMammma: “She’s relatable. She’s like me. She looks like me. She acts like me. She rides like me.”
amdono12: “It’s like working out with one of my neighbors, one who has great taste in music and swears a lot.”
ristoff25: “Jenn Sherman is a boss! She’s an incredible representation of strength and her workouts are vitalizing. Plus, she bleeds orange!”
Howard Stern, Sirius XM Radio’s top personality, has detailed Jenn Sherman classes he takes on the air. “She’s great,” he said after she called into his show last year. “I’ve never met her, but I spend more time with her than anybody. That’s my teacher.”
Actor Rob Lowe has publicly professed his affinity for Sherman and boasted how he was rising on her ride’s leaderboard.
Yet it all comes back here. Sherman says Syracuse still influences the way she goes about her job, especially when it comes to creating the “kickass” music playlists she blasts during her rides.
“I saw some of the best concerts of my life at Syracuse: Billy Joel. Pink Floyd. Rolling Stones,” she said. “How cool is that to have shows like that on campus? Right next to my dorm, the infamous Flint Hall, where everything went down. That was one of the reasons I chose to come to Syracuse in the first place. It was the best experience ever.”
Not much has changed. This Jersey girl has seen Bruce Springsteen live 75 times, and she vows to keep going as long as he and the E Street Band keep playing. “His new album is outstanding,” she said on a side note. “They just keep getting better. I will see them as much as I possibly can.”
The only artist who might compete for her heart is Billy Joel. Sherman’s done two Billy Joel-themed rides that Peloton members can pedal along to. Throughout the workout, she teaches a little Billy Joel history while NOT playing just his hit songs. She tells the story of meeting him in London’s Heathrow Airport when she was studying abroad during her senior year at SU. She just happened to be playing his “Stormfront” CD on her Sony Discman when he walked through the terminal. She stared into his eyes, removed her headphones and placed them over his ears. He appreciated her taste, she said, and then he signed the CD’s jewel case and posed for a photo.
Throughout any Jenn Sherman ride, you’ll see her scrolling the leaderboard on her bike’s 24-inch touchscreen looking for people celebrating milestones such as their 100th ride, 1,000th ride, etc. She also trolls user handles, hashtags and locations. Chances are pretty good that you’ll hear some form of Syracuse in her list of shout-outs.
“#SyracuseGrad, #SyracuseAlumni, or just Syracuse, New York. There’s just something about seeing that. I just can’t not acknowledge it,” she said. “I’ve been at Peloton for many years, and there are a lot of people who’ve been riding with me for a long time, and they’re sick and tired of hearing about Syracuse. That’s how often Syracuse comes up.”
Getting a shout-out used to be easy, back when she’d have 100 or so people on a ride at once. Subscribers would message her on Facebook or Instagram and she’d easily add them to the list. Now they’re highly sought-after as her audience has exploded. During her 60-minute pre-game ride on Super Bowl Sunday, 26,000-plus people rode along. That’s more people than were actually allowed into Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, for the game on Feb. 7.
Her first Syracuse shout-out came 13 minutes into the workout. This one went to “Ryan up in Syracuse, New York.”
“I get it,” she said of the shout-out phenomenon. “You’re in your basem*nt, and you’re not expecting to hear it and then you hear your name. It’s like “Holy (expletive)! Did she just say that?” I can imagine if the roles were reversed.”
She’s since handed out more than a dozen Syracuse shout-outs. This is the time of year she misses Central New York the most. That first stretch of nice weather would be one of the few times she’d take the top down on her Cabriolet.
“It was freezing there, it was gray, and it was cloudy. But to me, it was sunny and 70 degrees every single day in that place,” she said. “That’s how I felt for four years. As an 18-, 19-, 20-year-old, I was standing outside in line waiting to get into Harry’s or Faegan’s. I don’t even know if I had a jacket on. It didn’t matter. I was in Syracuse (expletive) New York.”
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at 315-382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him on Twitter @HoosierCuse. And you can find him on the Peloton leaderboard under as HoosierCuse using #SyracuseAlumni.
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