Behind the Brand: Tonal

Whether you’re in the subway car on your commute home or scrolling through your feed on the couch, it's hard to miss the growing love for high tech home gyms. You may not have given it much thought before, but if your main form of exercise has been counting the steps from your bed to the fridge, an all-in-one home gym sounds more and more appealing. 

At Neighborhood Goods, we get to host one of the smartest home gyms on the market: Tonal. If the Jetsons knew we’d have the technological advancements to make this kind of workout a reality, it would have been at the top of their wish list. We had the chance to chat with the experts at Tonal to give you an inside view on this revolutionary home gym.

What is Tonal?

Tonal is a wall mounted system which enables you to complete the best full-body workouts you can. It uses electromagnetism to deliver up to 200 pounds during weight training, updates every week with new classes like yoga and cardio, and uses AI to train you in a way that’s helping and not harming your body.

Strength Training

Using resistance training is the best way to engage your muscles and slowly build strength. On average, members see their strength increase by more than 25% in the first 90 days for using Tonal. A lot of that growth is attributed to the machine’s ability to tailor every workout to you. If you’re in the middle of a session and begin to slow down with each rep, Tonal will reduce the resistance, just slightly, so you can finish strong without risking injury. In the same way, if you are blasting through rep, Tonal will begin to add resistance to maximize your workout.   

If you’re new to strength training but want to get into it, Tonal is great for you too! Before every video, coaches show you the different actions you’ll be performing and which Tonal accessories you’ll need to have in place. And if you get to the middle of a workout and forget the right form for a deadlift - you can always pause the video to watch the explanation again. The 17 built-in sensors quickly correct your form and remind you how to perform the exercises without injuring yourself, which is something both seasoned and fresh strength trainers need.

Coaches

Tonal coaches represent a diverse background of expertise and range from Tony Horton, who created P90X, to Liv Lo, who leads prenatal yoga classes. You can browse workouts by coaches and find personalities that fit your pace and encourage you to go farther. 

Tech

These programs are built to work with you, from syncing your own playlist to workouts or using an algorithmic data to target your goals. Members also have access to Strength Core, which is a way to track your fit journey and how you’ve been improving over time. You can use this to encourage you to power through plateaus and target muscles groups which aren’t your usual focus.

Improvement to Tonal’s programming doesn’t just rely on the tech in the machines but regularly is updated based on feedback from the members’ Facebook group. One recent update thanks to user feedback was the inclusion of prenatal and postpartum workouts, focusing on exercises which are more inclusive to different life stages.

Try Out Tonal

For a limited time, purchase Tonal and try it at home for 90 days. If you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund. 

If you’re new to Tonal (or home gym accoutrements) and want to try it out for yourself, set up a demo appointment here. It can be as long or short as you need and a Tonal representatives will explain their offerings and let you try out some moves, in a safe environment adhering to COVID-19 guidelines.

Throughout January, we are hosting Tonal coaches for Workout Wednesday on our Instagram. Tune in and get a taste of Tonal on 1/6 and 1/20 at 7 a.m. CT.