𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 by Alex Toussaint is the latest among several Peloton instructor memoirs to hit the shelves.

This book is a lot like Alex is on the bike - a no nonsense approach filled with inspirational phrases meant to get you to your best. I loved learning more about his background. His experience in military school and his drive to rise within the spin community makes so much sense given his teaching style. In his classes, Alex is focused, prepared, and committed to giving his all.

If you’re not a fan of Peloton or not someone that finds motivation in inspirational quotes, this book might not be for you. But if you’re an Alex fan, I think you will love this one.

I am a big fan of Alex on the Peloton platform so I came into this book expecting to enjoy it. I did more than that. I couldn't put it down. Read in one session.

Alex talks about his family, his childhood, what event occurred to make him into the man he is today. This is a motivational book with some biography thrown in as well. If you want to know how he came to be a Peloton instructor, you will not be disappointed when reading this.

I really enjoyed it, much more than I expected to, honestly. I would recommend this to anyone that's a Peloton fan, an Alex fan, or just needs a book of inspiration.

4 1/2 stars.

4 stars

An interesting and motivational book. Mr. Toussaint has a compelling story. The language in the beginning was a turn off but worth the read.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

💪🏼 Activate Your Greatness - Alex Toussaint

Ah, Alex. My favorite instructor when I need a hard ride, when I need my ass kicked, when I’ve hard a hard or stressful day. The guy who even though he’s teaching a hard ass ride, leaves me wanting more when it’s over. Inhale confidence, exhale doubt, and read (listen to!) this book.

I learned so many things about Alex and life from this book. I have always loved his drive and how hard he works in his rides, but it was so inspiring to hear where he gets his drive from. His family, the military, his work as a janitor. When all life challenges could have and should have gone wrong and lead Alex down the wrong path, he continued to fight and find his way to the right one. He worked hard to be where he is today and I have so much more respect for him.

I can’t finish this review without mentioning a connection I was so happy to learn about. Not only are we connected by Peloton but his mom was an educator, specifically an English as a New Language teacher! Guess what? So am I! Alex always does teacher appreciation rides and I never miss them. He attributes a lot of his success to his favorite teachers and educators and acknowledges that he wouldn’t be where he is without them. Shoutout my fellow Peloton teachers!

Alex’s story and beliefs on how to feel good, look good, and do better is nothing short of inspirational. I definitely recommend this to all my Peloton people, anyone who needs a little encouraging, or anyone looking to push themselves to do more.

Thank you NetGalley, Henry Holt, and MacMillian for the early advanced copies and the box of AT merch!

⭐️2.5 stars⭐️

"How we do anything is how we do everything."

Alex Toussaint is a true inspiration. He has overcome so much negativity and self doubt to succeed. Rewriting the narrative of his life, he's owned up to and learned from his mistakes, turning his pain into power, working hard while remaining authentic and true to himself. He acts with purpose and intention, expressing gratitude and staying disciplined. He picked himself up in the face of adversity, persevering to emerge stronger from the darkness of his past, enlightened and able to lift others up along the way.

"When you stay ready, you never have to get ready."

I've never taken a Peloton class but I love spin classes for the sweat, the motivation, the energy. I think Alex would be incredible as an instructor and motivator in a class setting and I would love to take his classes someday. However, I don't think his book worked as well from a self-help perspective as it did as a memoir. It felt long-winded and repetitive, sprinkled with motivational sayings and affirmations, yet not enough to draw out into a full length book and not including much I haven't already seen before. I believe his messages encouraging positive physical, mental and spiritual growth would be better received on the bike but this book may be good for others to draw inspiration from.

"Every single day, we are blessed to have two things: a chance and a choice. And the choices we make that day determine the chances we get."

Alex's authenticity and vulnerability truly shined through the pages of this book, making his journey seem accessible and achievable. I admire his courage and strength, his fortitude and resilience as he rose above his past to feel good, look good and do better. I enjoyed reading about his respect for his mother and her values and how that influenced his transformation. And I especially liked reading about his relationship with his father, how it evolved over time, how he came to understand his father's perspective. I was intrigued by Alex's early years at military school and I would have liked to read more about his time there. I also wanted to read more of his experience as a second-generation Black Haitian immigrant. And I wanted more details about his foundation, the work they do, how they lift others up. Instead of what sometimes looked like name dropping, I would have preferred to read individual stories about others who were struggling and specifically how Alex has made an impact on their lives. I think others will find inspiration in the words of this book to make changes in their lives for the better. I wish Alex much continued success and I look forward to seeing him on the bike one day.

"Remember, it’s the little things that matter. Fall in love with the journey. Embrace that destination."

* Special thanks to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Quotes subject to change at time of publication. Available October 10, 2023. *

Anyone who has taken one of Alex's Peloton rides know how motivating and fierce his rides can be - I loved getting to know more about him and what has shaped him. Alex starts with a harrowing middle grade experience and weaves in how family, friends, mentors, and his own mental fortitude carved a path to where he is today.

It's a fast read, as I couldn't put it down easily. I would have liked it to have been longer to get more in depth on how his relationships, particularly his immediate family, changed in his adult life.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt for an ARC.

Alex Toussaint is one of my absolute favorite Peloton instructors. I was so excited for this book and squealed with delight when I was approved to read the ARC. Alex is a great storyteller and I loved his story and left feeling so inspired. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. for this free digital review copy.

I'm making my way through all the Peloton instructors' books, and this one was right about what I expected. Alex isn't an instructor I take a whole lot, but reading his book made me want to take more of his classes, so that's good! His story is definitely interesting, and it's a little surprising how much he has to write about, being still relatively young (I think he's my age). He uses a lot of sorta cliche fitness instructor motivational speech, which isn't my favorite, but I get that it's what he's going for with his particular audience.

I LOVE Peloton so I was excited to receive an advanced copy of Alex Toussaint's book! This is half-memoir, half-advice/self-help book. As such, only half of the book worked for me. AT has an interesting story. I enjoyed learning more about his background at military school, his childhood, and how he arrived at Peloton and became one of the company's most beloved spin instructors. I was particularly interested to learn more about AT's time at Flywheel; Flywheel was the company that first made me fall in love with indoor cycling, and it was charming to see what an influence Flywheel founder had on AT's career. The advice half of the book fell flat. Honestly, I skimmed several advice sections to get back to AT's life story. It all was incredibly trite; AT kept repeating the same phrases over and over (many of which he uses in his classes). His signature nuggets like "This Ain't Daycare" and "Feel Good. Look Good. Do Better." work well in Peloton classes, but there wasn't enough content there to build it out into a motivational book. AT also has no authority to be dispensing such lofty life advice, as he's not a licensed therapist. I grew tired of the platitudes, but I enjoyed learning about the specifics of AT's life and how he achieved success.

"Authenticity is our source of power, our source of being."

As an avid Peloton user, I was really excited to get a copy of this. One of the things that drew me to Peloton in the first place was the diversity of the instructors and how each one brings something different to the table. Alex has always been one to push me and remind me that I can power through, and I've always liked and admired that about him,

I have mixed feelings about this book. What I liked were the details about his childhood and the environment he grew up in. He's really vulnerable about his difficult relationship with his father and how his time in military school affected him. The amount of perseverance he needed to overcome his childhood issues is admirable and I think that a lot of people will relate to that. There is so much potential here and it feels like we never push over the edge.

I feel like other than his issues with his father, other family members are glossed over, even his mother. She is this great educator and role model, but we don't get much more on their relationship. This book also leans too far into being self-help without really saying anything. It felt like there were a lot of cliches and I never really felt engaged with his story or journey. I think that this book could really have benefitted from more direction and editing. It feels disjointed, without a real direction.

I do think there may be things that he did not want to share which is absolutely valid. It just doesn't feel cohesive and it's feels too much like self-help disguised as a memoir.

As a member of Peloton, and a follower of Alex, I was drawn to this book. Alex tells his story, shares his life lessons, and provides inspiration to his readers. I enjoyed learning about his background, the challenges he faced, and the opportunities he seized. He is not just self aware, but others aware, which is inspiring. His mantra - feel good, so good, and be better is one we should all adopt, and therefore worth reading about.

Activate Your Greatness by Alex Toussaint
This is going to be a super bias review because I am a true AT fan, a feel good family member, and have a small crush on him. 😊. His story is real, his heart is big, his strength, grind, and passion is like no other. His words of motivation come through the pages with real emotion and encouragement. He knows how to activate his team and validate the greatness within not only himself but all of us. You are the GOAT Alex! Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. 5 ⭐️

Activate Your Greatness
Genre: Memoir/self help
Rating: loved/4⭐️

Thanks @netgalley and @henryholtbooks for the advanced digital copy. Review to come on bookstagram closer to publication.

Alex is in my top 3 favorite @onepeloton instructors (love his club banger rides especially!), so I was stoked to read this early. From his rides, I knew he had attended a military school, but wow - what an intense experience. It was pretty interesting to see his complete shift in attitude unfold, as he learned and grew, and he shared some tips of what helped him with readers. I really liked the 48 hour rule and yelling out negative energy- I’m going to try to adopt those in my life.

Overall, a great read with a nice balance between memoir and self help - the mix actually reminded me of Speak, from fellow Peloton instructor, Tunde Oyeneyin, which was another amazing read.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC. As a big Peloton fan, I have also taken quite a few of his classes andi wanted to read his book.
While the book is a great memoir of his upbringing and how he got to be a Peloton instructor, I felt that all his motivational talk was unrealistic and definitely not something I would want to go by. How all of a sudden does he feel or think that he is a licensed therapist to give all this advise?? I also found it very unrealistic on what he claims he thinks about and goes through in his mind every single morning. Sorry, but unless he sits there half a day doing absolutely nothing, no person will have the time to do all this self pep talk and mind exercise!
While I enjoyed reading about his upbringing, I still feel that he believes that everything bad that's happened to him is all his father's fault. While I appreciate the rawness of it all, he sounds at times like he was a spoiled kid not understanding what his family did for him.
The end of the book felt rushed and all I could hear was that he wishes he could be Jayz and is very jealous of him. He definitely lost me when he brought up George Floyd and what happened to him instead of looking at the full picture. I was ready to give this book 5 stars, however, when all this was brought up, I lost interest in the book and also lost some respect for Alex.. It seems to be a common theme of the instructors to put that in their book as Tunde did the same. While I understand this is his memoir and is supposed to be inspirational, it felt like he sounded very entitled and almost like a bragger.. Alex is a great instructor but the book didn't do it for me.

I’m unfortunately choosing to DNF this book at 25% because I love Alex Toussaint and this book is frustrating me. The writing isn’t great, but I really thought I was getting a memoir and not a self help book. I was hoping to get to know more about Alex and instead I feel like I’m being preached at in a repetitive manner.

As someone who is in recovery from an eating disorder, I unfortunately just don’t think reading this book is in my best interest. I will only review this on goodreads and not on my page as I do really enjoy Alex’s classes and wish him the best with this release. I just don’t think it’s a good fit for me.

Thank you very much for the advanced copy in return for my honest review!

A fascinating inside scoop on how what you see on the outside is not what is the reality inside. I would have never imagined the life Alex has had given what I know of his confidence and positivity embodied as a Peloton instructor. He shares his wisdom and lessons learned every step of the way and opens up about the challenges he faced and continues to face.

Alex Touissant's memoir is a welcome and inspirational expansion on all of his motivating words during Peloton workouts. I appreciated the thoughtfulness in unpacking what's behind his "look good, feel good, do better" maxim and the tie in to specific moments in his life. I would have liked to have even more of the book cover his story and personal experiences - those parts were incredibly moving and fresh, unlocking a deeper understanding of him as a multidimensional person.

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of Activate Your Greatness. Alex is one of my favorite peloton instructors, especially when I need to be motivated to push myself. I really enjoyed reading his story, where he came from, how he got to where he is today. A few parts were a little slow for me, but overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Feel good, look good, do better.

Alex Toussaint, Peloton instructor, is transparent and vulnerable regarding his upbringing and lowest points of his life before he made crucial changes. There’s a lot of life lessons and tips on how to make small changes in your daily life that will lead to the big changes.

I am going to go ahead and say that i am a Peloton Fanatic, and that Alex Toussaint is one of my favorite instructors. So when I say I was excited to read this book, it's an understatement.

The often raw and personal stories of Alex's upbringing, the family dynamics and his journey to Peloton were such a great part of this book and the background story of how and why Alex is the way he is, were so compelling.

But this was HARD to read.

I think the problem is that many of his catchphrases just need to stay motivational affirmations for his class. I found it jaring sometimes to go from a story that had me near tears to a phrase i've heard over and over during club bangers.

All in all I wish it had been more memoir than motivational if that makes sense.

Thank you to net Galley for the Arc. All opinions are my own.