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Along with many other changes, the pandemic has put a new focus on home exercise equipment — some of which are quite expensive. Yes, Peloton was founded in 2012 and Mirror was launched in 2018, but about them until the spring of 2020, which means that most people will exercise at home or not at all due to the blockade and the closure of the gym. I haven’t heard much.
Recently, a machine called Tonal that focuses on strength training has been gaining attention thanks to the remarkable lineup of celebrity spokespersons such as Serena Williams, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Maria Sharapova.
Tonal is basically a wall-mounted digital screen with a pulley system for strength training (requires professional installation). You can use this screen to access your workout videos, connect with others, and track your progress.
Another reason Tonal may be in the limelight (apart from COVID) is that muscle building training is currently dominating the fitness space.
“Even for body composition, athletic performance, or endurance athletes, I always say that people’s strength is like almost any foundation or foundation,” said co-founder of the high-performance Cressey Sports Performance. One Tony Gentilcore says. Boston exercise training facility. For endurance athletes like clients interested in running the Boston Marathon, Gentilcore advises on strength training to help you push the ground forward.
Strength training can be intimidating for beginners, especially in the gym or without a personal trainer to provide guidance. Tonality sounds like a good idea, but who wouldn’t want to try the machine that Serena Williams would use for training? — Is it really worth more than $ 3,000? I decided to review one to find it.
Test the tone
Tonal addresses these deterrents in a way that I really believe is one of the most compact home workout formats I’ve ever seen. This is really useful for people who have a small space or live in a small house.
I visited the showroom on Fifth Avenue in New York and gave a demonstration. Anyone can do it for free if there is a place nearby. (Tonal is currently available at 40 Nordstrom retailers in 24 states nationwide.) If you don’t have a physical location nearby (or at home), you can also check out a live video demo. Adjusting the arm for strength assessment and installing smart accessories can be difficult, so a face-to-face experience is recommended if possible.
Aside from the price, my biggest concern with Tonal is the potential difficulty of navigating equipment and interfaces. It’s not impossible. However, like any other technology, there can be a learning curve.
How much does Tonal cost?
The standard machine consists of a mounted mirror-like touchscreen display with adjustable arms on both sides ($ 2,995). The arm remains at the same height as the screen when not in use, so it actually looks like a flashy mirror on the wall of a house.
That said, the screen alone is relatively pointless unless you buy an additional $ 495 smart accessory bundle. The bundle contains two smart handles, a smart bar, and a rope. All of these can be attached to one or both arms to allow the machine to adjust its weight based on its fitness. Includes bench, foam rollers and workout mats. Without these accessories, you wouldn’t know how to get a customized experience. The screen will display the training video.
The bench is pretty slim and you can sit under the machine without taking up too much space, but the rest of the accessories can hang from a smooth black mount that sticks out from the wall about the same distance as the screen. .. In addition, delivery using a professional installation (required for warranty) is $ 250, and Tonal membership with unlimited access to the full library of workouts is $ 49 per month, which is mandatory for the first 12 months.
The device is relatively compact, but requires 7 feet of vertical and horizontal space to install, with a ceiling height of 7 to 10 inches. You also need a grounded 3-pole outlet and wall that can support about 150 pounds of device. (Tonal can use an electric motor to generate up to 200 pounds of resistance.)
There is no doubt that the equipment and membership will be huge in total.
Here’s why you need tonality:
In fact, my brother has just changed the basement in the suburbs into a home gym. The home gym occupies about 10 times more space with 20 times more equipment. (He bought a bench press with different weights, Bowflex adjustable dumbbells, exercise bikes, and mini treadmills, to name a few.) A full home gym probably costs as much as Tonal. ..
Not everyone has the ability to fill the entire room with training equipment, time to go to the gym four to five days a week, or learn how to use the equipment and hire a trainer to stay motivated.
In my opinion, one of the best benefits of using Tonal is not only to adapt as you get stronger, but also to track your progress from the privacy of your home. Each member of the household can set up their own profile and perform individual strength assessments to establish a starting point. This allows the machine to set the optimum weight for all 200 movements it can perform on this one machine (ie, as long as you have smart accessories) and maximize each exercise without pushing yourself. I can do it. far. Each smart accessory also has a button to press to activate or deactivate the weight. So if you’re having a hard time, all the weights will be released at the push of a button.
The maximum resistance of 200 pounds may not be enough for weightlifting pros, but it should be enough for beginner to intermediate exercises. Membership allows you to access your videos from anywhere in the app. This includes everything from strength training to yoga to guided Theragun sessions that don’t require tone equipment.
Scrolling through a library of workouts using the touchscreen interface was generally easy and intuitive, but even with video guidance, there were a few attempts to get the arm in place. I needed it. Spotter technology monitors for signs of stress and malaise and automatically loses weight if you are struggling. 17 sensors indicate the direction of the form and technique.
After completing a guided strength assessment and one 15-minute full-body training video, I was convinced that I could do it all myself and eventually master the mechanics of the machine. In my workout, I used only my smart bar and weight to complete exercises such as Romanian deadlift, Bent Over Row, Weight Squats, and Burpees. The lower body is much stronger than the upper body, so the smart bar was much heavier during the deadlift and brightened due to the bent rows. In the end, I felt fully engaged, challenged, and excited to see my strength score rise slightly like never before.
If you are experienced and want to choose your own movement, you can also design your own workout, connect the music service of your choice and play your favorite soundtrack. To further motivate you, you can connect your Tonal account to your friends and family accounts to compare their progress and see where you stand among all Tonal users across the country.
Is tonality worth it?
Full disclosure, at this moment and place in my life, I’m not willing to make the monetary investment that Tone needs. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see value in it, especially if you can’t find another way of exercising. If I lived far away from a training facility, or had a family or work lifestyle that didn’t have time to practice strength training in other situations, than any other home training machine in this price range Definitely consider Tonal.
Another factor: I live in an apartment and permanently mounting heavy devices on the wall can make it difficult to move at some point in the future. (Tones are useful for moving for a fee.)
That said, that’s exactly what one relatively compact, striking, high-tech, customizable machine needs.
You can buy a complete tonality system starting at $ 2,995.
