May 12, 2023

SBJ Tech senior writer Joe Lemire reviews an hour workout at Tonal's New York City studio. 5.12.2023 Tonal's AI helps ensure that users can make safe, incremental progress with their training programs via gradual weight increases.Joe Lemire (SBJ Tech) * * * * * The Sandbox series is where we share our experiences testing products, gear, solutions and more in the sports tech space. * * * * * “You’ll feel that real quick.” It’s truth in advertising. I’m in a modified plank position, only my right arm isn’t on the ground. It is instead gripping a handle tethered by cable to a Tonal machine. Joe Rodonis, my trainer for the session, is urging me on as I try to pull my elbow back while maintaining balance. I can feel it in my core, my shoulder, my lat. “Welcome to the party, Joe,” Rodonis said with a knowing laugh. “Welcome to the party!” “I might take an Irish exit,” I replied, as the pain mounted. A moment later, I concede, “That’s all I’ve got in me today,” as I let the cable snap back into place. Exercises can be done standing, kneeling or lying on a bench in front of the Tonal unit.Joe Lemire (SBJ Tech) Tonal invited me to their New York City studio for a demo, offering me an hour workout under the guidance of one of their professional coaches. Rodonis , who has surely heard his share of “Adonis” references given his surname and physique, was not taking it easy on me, either. “The best part about this program — and this is what attracted me to Tonal — is that we're not watering it down,” Rodonis said. “You could take this program, look on the app, and you could go you go straight to a squat rack at the gym. You can follow the design. The program is following the science, the research that we know works. Professional athletes are using the same method, and we just turn it into Tonal.” Like its home fitness brethren Peloton, Mirror and the like, Tonal grew rapidly in popularity during the pandemic, attracting such star athlete investors as Serena Williams, LeBron James , Steph Curry , Mike Tyson, Maria Sharapova and Michelle Wie West . Last summer, however, Tonal laid off 35% of its staff , but hope abounds with new investment and changes at the top. Earlier this month, Tonal raised another $130 million and promoted president Krystal Zell, who has deep experience at Home Depot and Starwood Hotels, to CEO while relegating the former chief executive — founder Aly Orady — to CTO. Rodonis has the zeal of a born-again gym rat, who forsake his early career in corporate America for fitness. He grew up playing all kinds of sports. He set up a bench press in his family’s living room as a teen. But it wasn’t until about 10 years after college that he eschewed his job in healthcare sales to become a certified personal trainer. Tonal is regularly adding new content to its library, and Rodonis is giddy about his latest power building curriculum. (I’m not sure I shared his enthusiasm, given the minimal access I have to weight training in my current daily life and my subsequent fears of my being incapacitatingly sore the next day.) “I'm very proud of this program, it’s my favorite series that we're doing,” Rodonis said. "It's from the Conjugate Method . It broke all these strength records. The Soviets were kicking our ass, and this small gym in Ohio, started to incorporate it.” During his studies, Rodonis took a particular interest in the training of an innovative coach from the 1970s. Power lifter Louie Simmons opened Westside Barbell in Columbus, introducing chains and bands to weightlifting and popularized the Conjugate Method, which combined principles from Soviet and Bulgarian lifting philosophies. It’s a program that cycles through lifts requiring max effort for pure strength, dynamic effort for speed and general athleticism for physical preparedness. Rodonis noted that it’s ideal for football. A running back, for instance, might get need to break through contact and then gain yardage. “There’s a force, but you still need to generate power,” he said. “And then as soon as you break that tackle, you need to still sprint. So that's the training.” Thankfully, Rodonis said he would only be showing me “a quick glimpse” of what he’s been working on. Tonal also has some nifty features to reduce the burden on the user, enabling a recovery mode for workouts and a button on the handle to terminate a set. Tonal’s critical IP is the variable resistance that can be generated across the movable handles that can be positioned for exercises in just about every conceivable direction. The AI helps ensure that users can make safe, incremental progress with their training programs via gradual weight increases. "It's trying to be intelligent, like, ‘Hey, here's a good progression for you.’ So you're not doing anything like too fast,” Rodonis said. There’s also a strength score to visualize the gains and a running tally of all-time weight lifted on the device. (Rodonis, a power lifter and professional Tonal user, has hoisted more than 1.2 million pounds.) The trainer-created content is both live classes and on-demand and, in my case, this day simultaneous as video Rodonis led workouts on the machine while real-life Rodonis added insights from the room. One of Tonal’s new features, Smart View , permits users to sync their smartphone for automated tracking of technique in addition to the form feedback already supplied by the movement of the cables. I, however, had the benefit of the man himself who at times interjected almost apologetically, “Because I'm just a stickler on form stuff,” before acknowledging, “I mean, that's my job.” But his big brother vibe prevailed, and he was much more likely to cheer, “I’ll coach you through it, man, let’s do it!”