Peloton’s Robin Arzón has carved out a prominent niche in American culture while embracing all aspects of her identity. She’s a Latina, an athlete, an author, a mom, and she has diabetes, but her Puerto Rican heritage figures especially prominently.
Arzón, the daughter of a Puerto Rican father and Cuban mother, left a successful legal career to take a chance teaching fitness classes for Peloton, a company that combines exercise gear and fitness software. Her love of fitness proved to be contagious, and her fan base grew. Today, she is Peloton’s Vice President of Fitness Programming and author of the New York Times bestseller Shut Up and Run.
Robin Arzón is Puerto Rican
Arzón frequently teaches her classes against the backdrop of Puerto Rican and other Latino musical sensations, including Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and more.
She speaks of her Puerto Rican pride throughout her cycling and strength-building classes and on social media.
On her son’s first trip to Puerto Rico in 2024, she wrote on Instagram that she was “proud to bring [her son] where his blood is from.” More recently, she excitedly reported in one of her cycling classes that he had recently spoken some Spanish to her over the phone.
In March, she shared photos of her family in Puerto Rico and said “As a proud Boricua, it means everything to create new memories in Puerto Rico.”
Six weeks ago, she again posted a photo from a Puerto Rico trip, during which she saw Bad Bunny perform. She stated, “From dancing and crying my way through the Bad Bunny concert, to jet skiing with friends, to moments with Drew – la isla has a magic that can’t be bottled.”
Robin Arzón is Diabetic
Robin Arzón is a type 1 diabetic [T1D]. She was diagnosed in her early 30s in the midst of training for an ultramarathon. Type 1 diabetes used to be known as juvenile diabetes, and is most often diagnosed in childhood. Adults who haven’t received the diagnosis can easily be misdiagnosed or overlooked because of this.
“I was feeling thirst, frequent urination, weight loss. I really thought it was ultra-training or jet lag,” she admits. After her diagnosis, she nonetheless continued to train. For Robin Arzón diabetes is not a disability.
“T1D has never taken me out of a race,” she says. “It was helpful to have something to focus on so I always focus on what I can control. Like early screening.”
As a Peloton instructor, Robin is known for her encouraging style. She says that people with diabetes can “live really robust lives” and hopes her story will motivate others to reach high. “We become the stories that we tell ourselves,” explains Arzón. Diabetes is 50% more common in Puerto Rico than in the states, and the death rate from diabetes is also higher. Arzón’s Puerto Rican heritage makes her an especially important ambassador for early screening.
In July, Mattel introduced its first Barbie doll with type1 diabetes, modeled on Arzón. The Robin Arzón Barbie features a Continuous Glucose Monitor on her arm secured with pink heart-shaped medical tape and an insulin pump at her waist. The Barbie also has a smartphone with a CGM tracking app,
Robin Arzón is Jewish
Robin began her 2024 Hanukkah core strength workout with a Sephardic song she said she grew up with. Many Sephardic Jewish songs are sung in Ladino, a language that is a mix of Spanish and Hebrew.
Sephardic Jews have lived in the Caribbean since being expelled from Spain in the late 1400’s. Mikvé Israel-Emanuel synagogue on the island of Curaçao is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Americas. Finished in 1732, the Sephardic synagogue connects to its Spanish and Portuguese Jewish roots.
There are communities of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Sephardic Jews throughout South America, spanning from Argentina to Brazil, Ecuador, and Chile. The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, is also Jewish.
Robin proudly showcases music by Jewish performers and talks about her Jewish heritage in her classes during Jewish holiday seasons. She also observes the Jewish holidays at home with her family while also celebrating Christmas. Her husband, Drew Butler, is not Jewish, and Robin has spoken of the joy they find in combining their different traditions.
Robin Arzón is a Mom
Robin is a proud mom of two children. Her daughter, Athena, was born in 2021, and son Atlas followed in 2023. During her first pregnancy, she created prenatal classes, inviting other pregnant woman to join her for specially designed workouts.
She received criticism for her tough workouts while pregnant, to which she responded that the negative comments “light[] a fire in me to stand in my power and to show the strength of a pregnant body. I didn’t relinquish being an athlete when I became pregnant.”
