Tonal teases a new challenge for 2022 but this time there will be nutritional support.

• Various Tonal partner communities have debuted new content.
• Tonal reminds us of various ways to maintain your equipment.
• The Tonal blog reminds us of the importance of strength training for runners.
• You can now use Amazon Music with your Tonal.
• Tonal can now show you how many calories you’ve burned.
• Tons of new content that includes Wake Up With Yoga, Burn Out The Glutes, and more.
• Coach Natalie writes about maintaining your mental health during the holidays.
• Tonal makes Self Magazine’s list of best smart home gyms.
• Analytics India Magazine includes Tonal on its list of AI Unicorns.
• Golf Digest spotlights how Chris Como uses Tonal to improve his golf game.
• Coach Amy hosts “Strong Like A Mother” to show how to adapt your Tonal to mom life.

All this plus our interview with Coach Woody!

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Watch the episode here:

 

Listen to the podcast here:

Amazon Music Now Connects to Tonal plus our interview with Coach Woody

I’m out of breath.

You just Tonal-ed. You went straight from the Tonal to the microphone.

Speaking of Tonal, you hit a Tonal milestone.

I hit a million pounds.

Which is coincidentally what I weighed before I started using Tonal.

That’s not true. It only took me a few years. I have been really focusing on cardio this 2021. I have had to slow down the weights and I have missed it. I can’t wait until I get to the size I want to get to, and then I’m going to hit the weights hard and I cannot wait. It’s going to be awesome.

You cannot wait to wait. We should probably tell people too, this is our last show of 2021, so savor it.  

Savor every word.

We will be back after the first of the year.

All new guests and if you know anybody that you would like to nominate for the superset to be interviewed, please reach out to me at ClipOutCrystal@Gmail.com and we will reach out and make it happen if possible.

What to pre-tell do you have in store for people?

There has been a lot going on in the Tonal community. There are so many amazing things to talk about that are like events. We are going to talk about those. We are also going to talk about the new challenge that’s coming up, the new Tonal partner communities. We are going to talk about what’s going on with those. We are also going to talk about new features that have dropped and of course, like a bazillion new workouts that we need to cover.

Before we get to all that shameless plugs, don’t forget we are available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, iHeart, tune in wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you are there, be sure to follow us, so you never miss an episode. You can also, leave us a review so that people that come along after you know that we are worth a listen.

We would really appreciate it.

That is very helpful. You can also find us on Facebook, Facebook.com/supersetpodcast. While you are there, be sure to like the page and join the group. Don’t forget, you can watch these episodes in HD and we now have even HDier cameras, so it will be even crisper. You can find that at YouTube.com/TheClipOut, where all of our podcast episodes are live, except for real spoilers because they are too cheap to film it. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?  

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As we alluded to at the beginning of the episode, the end of 2021 is almost upon us. I don’t know if you know what happens after the end of the year.

The new year starts. That’s typically how it works, one thing ends, another begins. It’s not 1999 all over again. Although some days it feels a little closer to the end of the world than it did back then but anyway, we will keep it positive. There is a really cool teaser that Kate posted out on the official Tonal community, that they are “cooking up” an awesome January challenge to help start your new year strong.

She says that she can’t give away all the surprises just yet, but for the first time ever, they will be offering nutritional support throughout the month via recipes, meal prep, and to community cook alongs. They are going to be able to meal prep together, virtually with a coach and they are going to be on Sundays to fire us up for the week ahead. We are going to be able to do these two times together. I’m excited about this and to see what they are cooking up.

I’m too weird of an eater for that stuff to work for me. They will never come up with something for me. 

This will be me. I will be alone. You can just drop in and say hi to people.

Also, while we are speaking of things, Kate is telling us about.

Every year Kate puts together a survey for us to talk about as the Tonal community, “What works, what doesn’t work, what do we want to see next year?” It is time for the survey. She has put together a new and improved survey but get this, this 2021, if you enter your email address, you are going to be entered to win a $100 gift card to the Tonal gear shop.  All answers are still going to be anonymous. You don’t have to worry about giving feedback that’s going to upset somebody. Now the survey only takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete, and she is aiming to complete to collect rather, at least 600 responses by December 21st. Can we make it happen?

A challenge within a challenge or a challenge after a challenge. 

The last time she put out numbers, we killed it. We crushed it in seven hours. Let’s see if we can do it again.

The pressure is on.

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We talked a while back about Tonal and their partner communities, and they are really starting to see some engagement.  

There are a bunch of stuff that’s going on. I want to make sure we highlighted it, even if it’s already happened, when you are reading this blog, please take a moment and go back because most of these are going to be saved out there. The first one is Tonal LGBTQ+ and Allies. They are having an event Keeping It Real with Coach Pablo. It occurred on December 13th at 4:00 PM Pacific. This is a monthly live stream that Pablo does. Patrick is going to be interviewing Coach Pablo about his life career and everything. Not everything in between. That will be fun. Definitely, we don’t want to know everything.

It will be a very long interview. Everything is a lot to talk about.

I don’t get the sense that Coach Pablo is boring, so I feel like there would be a lot of everything, even compared to the normal everyday, everything.

His everything is more than our everything because he leads such an exciting life. 

Next up is in the Tonal Dads Group, taking action with Coach Jackson. That’s fun to say. Monday, December 13th that took place at 5:30 PM Pacific Standard Time. Coach Jackson hosted the first episode of his monthly live stream in the Tonal Dads Group. How exciting is that? All the coaches are going to have all these episodes every month. I’m getting a little jealous over here. We cannot forget the Tonal XXL Community Extra Loud with Coach Natalie. December 14th, 5:00 PM Pacific, Coach Natalie will be talking about adopting a new mindset for the new year. Do not miss out. That’s amazing, what a great idea.

It’s nice to see the interaction with the groups from Tonal proper.

I love how Tonal embraces it. They are not like, “We don’t like all these groups or we acknowledge these groups are there but we are not going to do anything.” They are not only acknowledging, they are embracing. I love that. What a great way to handle it.

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If you have had your Tonal for a bit, and you are wondering if there are things you need to do as a general maintenance on them, Kate, once again, had a wonderful post about things you need to do to keep your Tonal tip top.  

Always give yourself adequate rest time and make sure that your muscles are recovering after a workout. Click To Tweet

She added to the guides that she has been keeping on Facebook in the official Tonal community. This one is called How to Maintain Your Tonal, so if you go to search for it, that’s how you find it. It says that you should inspect your Tonal monthly or after every ten uses for any signs of damage or aware using these four steps. You are looking at the arms, the cables, the smart accessories, there’s a fourth one but it’s under see more and I can’t. You can also inspect to the trainer itself and do the Routine Power Cycle. Within that, there are detailed guides on how to do the maintenance inspection, how to do the power cycle. If you are not sure how to do those things, don’t worry. Kate’s got you covered.

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Turning our eyes to the Tonal blog, they had a good article about how strength training can help runners.

You might remember a while back just before the New York marathon, Tonal was looking for folks to train as they prepared for their marathon. Do you remember that?

I do.

There were three lucky people chosen. If you read through this blog, it gives you links to all three of those individual stories. They all completed their marathon. They did an amazing job and of course, it was due to Tonal. We have had to click on each of these individuals’ names. There were three individuals. Eric Castro was the first one. The second one was Chris classic, and then the third one was Jennifer Byers. All three of them were featured talking about their Tonal, how they got ready for the marathon, and then they were featured. How cool is that?

That’s very cool. I’m glad that they have those tips for people. It’s nice to see them reach out to people one-on-one that is competing in a major event like that and giving them extra guidance.  

Very lucky folks that were able to do that.

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Good news for people that would like different music when they use their Tonal but they don’t have Apple.

Amazon Music is now available on Tonal. The cool thing is you don’t have to already subscribe to Amazon to be able to use this. Of course, you could still subscribe. There’s Prime Music that everybody who has Prime already has access to, and then there’s music unlimited. That’s a separate fee altogether. The way I understand this blog, you can use either of them to log into your Tonal and access the music.

The one that comes with your Prime membership is access to two million, I want to call them stock songs for lack of a better way to say it but I mean, it’s not like you made a playlist. It’s songs that you can have access to versus the Prime Music or the unlimited music, whatever they call it. You can go in and make your own playlist as you do on Apple Music or on Spotify.

There are different ways to use this. It’s great that they are able to offer this. I keep seeing it on the official Tonal community, so I just want to mention that people keep saying, “Give us Spotify,” but again, Spotify is the one that is saying, “We are not going to do any more fitness partnerships now.” Tonal really can’t do anything about that. It has nothing to do with them at this point. Very cool that this ability is there for Amazon.

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There’s another new feature that I think people have probably been wanting, which is you can now see how many calories you have burned on a workout.  

It actually calculates it whenever you put in your heart rate monitor, it’s able to see your height and weight, and then it is able to calculate it. Now it’s finally their calories burned. Of course, it’s an estimate. There is no one way to do it, so no matter what calories it’s saying that you burn on there, it is an estimate it’s going to be different for everybody. Don’t get too hung up on that. It’s just a guide.

You did what you did regardless of what number was put on it. 

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As always, there are tons of new content.

Some of this is dropped in time for the holidays. There were new warmups. There was the Heated Up with Coach Francis and there’s new meditation Train The Mind with Coach Allison. It’s getting you ready to perform. I really like those meditations that they do that are getting you ready and prepped for your workouts. I have had a surprising amount of enjoyment doing those.

Of course, there’s the new yoga. Wake Up with Yoga with Coach Francis. New bar Burnout The Glutes with Coach Gabby. There’s new cardio, Mind and Movement Push with Coach Liz, new strength Burning Abs with Coach Brendon, and do they burn? Seventeen minutes doesn’t seem like that long until your abs hurt. There’s a new quick fit.

There’s an Upper Body Trim with Coach Paul. Another new yoga Twist Recovery Flow with Coach Francis, Full-Body Power Flow with Coach Brett. Pilates this time it’s an intro to Pilates with Coach Francis, so if you are just getting started, this is a perfect one for you. A new bar, Deep Core Bar. Again, sixteen minutes does not sound that long until you are doing deep core. I love these new warmups, Work It Warmup with Coach Nicollette. New mobility, Sore Upper Body Flow with Coach Venus. This is specifically for after you have done a workout, where you feel so sore and tighten your upper body. This is the flow you want to do.

Either they were telling you how you are going to feel when you are done. They are like, “Heads up, sore upper body.”

This is perfect for people who need to have a sore upper body. This is going to help you get your mobility back.

You could pair that with the abs one.

There’s mobility for core strength with Coach Venus. There’s another new recovery Go-to Mobility Recovery with Coach Nicolette. New boxing, Boxing on the Go with Coach Woody, so no matter where you are, you can get a good workout in. Of course, new family fitness kids, camp, snow games with Coach Gabby. How fun is that? Absolutely.

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Coach Natalie had a nice post.

She sure did. I really like that the coaches posts are really personal messages. Back on December 7th, she posted about how she struggles with getting a little depressed during the days that are colder and shorter. She very purposefully uses her mental health toolbox, and that includes her getting outside and movement. Even if it’s just a quick fit that even if it’s in her pajamas, that’s an amazing win. This might be my favorite reviewing, her happy messages folder. She says, “Yep, to those of you who have reached out to me with kind or funny messages. I totally save those and they are a gift on my rainy days. Reading my done accomplished list.”

Things that she’s done in 2020. If she ever feels down about what she’s accomplished, she can see, “I did do things and I am proud of those things that I did.” Telling herself she’s striving for good enough, not perfect. She said that they just did a tonal talk on this and good enough has been ringing in her head ever since. That is very smart. Her gold standards are talk therapy, anti-anxiety medication, and reaching out to her loved ones.

She goes on to say that she knows she’s not the only one who struggles with mental health this time of year. For those of you who can relate, this would be a good time for you to review your own tools and to see what helps get you through to sunny your days. I love this so vulnerable and open. A lot of people struggle this time. A lot of people struggle all year and it has been a crazy couple of years.

I really liked the idea of keeping the good emails in another folder, so you can go peek back at them on a bad day. That’s a good idea. 

I need to do that. I need a happy messages folder.

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SELF Magazine listed the 18 Best Smart Home Gyms, all in one workouts, and of course, Tonal made the list.

I love that Tonal made the list. They absolutely should. It is one of the best home gyms. In my mind, if you are looking for a personal trainer, it is the best home gym, if you want strength, this is it. Hands down, that’s what you need.

It says that it got SELF Certified, which is SELF Magazine, so it’s not like Tonal went out and certified itself just to be clear. It’s weird when you say it out loud. It got a SELF-certification for the Tonal. They were very happy with it. They actually gave it a 9 out of 10 in their reviews. That’s a pretty good recommendation.  

I agree with SELF, although I would give it a 10 out of 10 but I recognize I’m a little biased.

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This isn’t necessarily new news but I just thought it was interesting. There was a year-end list from AnalyticsIndiaMag.com, and they spotlighted all the different AI startups that gained unicorn status in 2021.

It’s a huge accomplishment. We cannot overlook that Tonal reach this year, being a unicorn, especially again, was such a crazy year. Were there a ton of companies on this list? I honestly didn’t hear a ton of unicorns, and I certainly don’t know that I heard any other fitness.

I don’t know that there were any other fitness ones, but this list is specific to AI-based companies. They actually say in the upfront about, there were quite a few this year. The list is pretty long but it’s not necessarily fitness-related. It’s just lots of different industries that are starting to adopt this technology. If you are doing it right, you are going to take off like a rocket.

Tonal is doing it right. Congrats to tonal

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We all know my deep and abiding love of sports but especially golf. There was an article in Golf Digest talking about how a golfer and guy’s golf teacher likes Tonal.

The way you say it makes it sound like no big deal.

I’m sure it is a big deal, but it means nothing to me. I can tell by the outlet and the graphics, that it’s a big deal.

Bryson DeChambeau, his coach, Chris Como took Golf Digest behind the scene to look at his new speed studio but front and center in his speed studio were a Tonal. Specifically, in the actual article, he talks about how he uses his Tonal to get stronger. In fact, he even uses a move that he uses on the Tonal to get stronger and somebody asked in the official Tonal community, “Is this move like listed in all of the new moves,” and Kate said, “Not currently.” We might be seeing some new moves added to the trainer soon.

The fact that he’s already got access to it, is he seeing an investor? Does he see about to be an investor? 

Maybe he’s a beta tester.

It makes you wonder. For people watching on the YouTube channel, you can see where the ads that I’m being serviced, which type of microphone that we use.

I don’t have that ring though. What have you been searching for?

I don’t know. They are like, “If you can afford that mic, you can afford this ring.” They are not used to most podcasters podcasting with their wives. They are like, “If you spent that kind of money on a microphone, you better buy your wife something nice.” We are in a relationship where that was the something nice. 

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This isn’t technically a Tonal talk. We don’t have a sweeper for it. It’s Tonal talk adjacent, so I’m using the fancy sweeper. You just got a deal.

What is the name of this that I sent you earlier?

Something like mom?

Strong Like a Mother is going to be the name of a new series that is going to be done within the official Tonal community on Facebook Live. Coach Amy is going to be talking about adapting your Tonal to pregnancy, postpartum, and general mom life. Coach Amy also talks through modifications and adjustments as well as she’s demonstrating on Tonal. The first one took place on December 6. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out and you are interested, you are a mom or you know someone who’s a mom, please go back and take a look at it. I believe there are going to be more of these because like I said, it is the first in this series. That is really cool.

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Joining us is Kendall Wood, AKA Coach Woody. How is it going?

It is going so great. What a pleasure to be here.

 

We are so excited. I love the energy she’s bringing in. How did you first become aware of Tonal that they were out there?

Tonal reached out to me. I had been in conversations with Tonal since February 2021. It was around then that I became aware of the company and started to learn about them and what they were all about. Obviously, I was hooked instantly. Suffice it to say, it was when Tonal initially reached out to me that I became aware of the brand.

Do you know what you did to get them to know you?

We were coming into one full year of the pandemic and quarantine. Over quarantine, I had to go 180 and do something with myself and my business as a personal trainer and fitness professional. I had taken everything online. I was utilizing Facebook and Zoom as my tools. How they recognized me was through Instagram. I was teaching a lot of free live classes through Instagram, and it was a blast. I enjoyed it, and I think that teaching those classes on Instagram gave me some tools that would prepare me unknowingly for this job. That is probably how they came across me.

It’s great when you have a passion, and you were doing your thing, and then someone else is like, “I have this other thing that you can pivot to, and also here is some money.”

Were you already located in LA or did you have to change things around?

I was already located in LA. I have been here for about a few years. I moved here and was not working in fitness. I used to work in digital media. I was an editor for a website for quite some time. It was when I moved out to LA that I started dipping my toe into fitness and took the full plunge.

When it comes to fitness, has it always been part of your life? Have you always been an active person or did you have some times you were not? How did that work?

There were some times that I wasn’t. I’m not going to lie about that. I was always an athlete growing up. I played softball, and I was a cheerleader my entire childhood. In college, I went to Penn State, which is a notorious party school. I had a great four years at Penn State but I wasn’t particularly active per se. It was when I graduated and moved to New York City that I started getting into this routine and how fitness is going to fit into my lifestyle. I was trying things here and there with a group fitness class. I had a gym membership. I would go to the gym and run on the treadmill but I didn’t have a plan.

When I moved to LA, I discovered boxing and it changed everything for me. I call boxing my first love because it pulled me in. It got me and never let me go. I fell in love with boxing. I discovered it at a boutique group fitness studio. I was taking multiple classes a day all week long. That is where it all began, and I started my fitness career at that same boxing gym.

With your love of boxing, is it an exercise regimen or have you punched people and been punched?

Within the sport of boxing, you can spar. You will wear the headgear, mouthpiece, and your glove up. It’s a boxing match with another person but it’s a practice. It’s not true. I quickly learned that I don’t like being punched in the face.

In fairness, it would be weird if you did.

It would but that’s the sport. I would forget what I was doing. I would forego all techniques and emotions.

When you get in there and somebody tags you, do you get mad?

One hundred percent, especially when you are doing it with a friend, it’s not good. Nothing good will result from this.

Maybe it’s a good way to resolve any unresolved issues between friends.

If you win, it’s a good way. If you lose, it’s not a good way. What if the unresolved issue is you were right, and they were wrong, but then they win the fight? That’s not resolved at all.

There are always rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

I would never make it to round two. Not because I want to be clear.

Going back to the present time, let’s talk about the live workouts on Tonal. I am such a fan. I know you said you blacked out during your first workout. What do you remember? What is it like up there teaching one?

It is the live workouts where there is nothing like it. The user gets the same experience as the coach. What makes it so different is you are not in the same room but you can feel the energy. There is such tangible energy about the live classes, knowing that you and all these members are in there with me. It makes me want to deliver this bad-ass class. It’s on another level of any of the other formats that we have. The energy is what makes it so different for me.

I know you can feel it on our end but it’s exciting to know that it’s reciprocated, and you can feel it on your end. That’s cool. Do you feel people like, “Shout me out?” Can you feel them at home?

The one thing I wish is I could shout out to everyone. It’s stress. I’m up there, and I’m like, “I need to get all these names.” It’s constantly like a marquee that’s rolling through. It’s a little bit different from what you see at home when you are taking the class. It doesn’t look like the ever-changing scroll at the top, and I can’t see people’s pictures. I will get the name and the achievement. I also don’t always see everyone who’s in there. We will only see a select grouping. I wish that I could give everyone a shout-out.

Maybe that is coming in a future enhancement. You never know but you probably still don’t have time to shout us all out.

Tell us about Power HIIT classes. I read it somewhere because Tonal is so great about putting out so much information about these. I read that, “For now, all the Tonal live classes are “okay” for an off-program day.” Is that accurate? What’s different about Power HIIT compared to strength classes that you guys are teaching?

Power HIIT and strength are the two main modalities you can find on live now. It’s possible that it could evolve in the future. Strength classes will be a muscle group-focused workout on the upper and lower bodies. They are going to be a little bit slower-paced as if you are lifting for hypertrophy or strength increases in muscle size. Power HIIT is going to be a little bit faster-paced. Those are generally full-body. There will be the occasional Power HIIT that might be muscle group-focused but they are generally full-body.

They have three blocks. You will have a prime block or the power block, where the aim is to make every rep go above that 80% output mark on your power output. The burn block, which will be the final block of the workout, and the intention there is to hit a high pace burnout to close out the whole session. I would agree that any of the live classes could be done even if you are in the middle of a program. The programs are designed to be all you need in that timeframe, whatever the timeframe may be.

Use your best judgment. How are you feeling? Did you hit upper body yesterday, and then this is an upper-body class the next day? Maybe not the best idea. You always want to give yourself adequate rest time and make sure that your muscles are recovering. I will say yes. You can do the live classes in addition to a program and ongoing program.

What is the social zone and how does it work?

The social zone is the ongoing marquee of other users involved in the class with you. You can send out cheers to other members or users, whether they have hit a milestone, achievement, a PR or anything like that. They will populate at the start of your scroll but you can send out cheers to anybody in the class with you.

I like the social zone because it makes you aware of other members in the community and other users who are frequenting the same time slot, same classes or coach that you are. It allows for more support and feel of the tight-knit community and more recognition amongst these people who are going to the same classes that you maybe didn’t know of before.

You start seeing the same leaderboard names over and over again. You were like, “Joe is always exercising at the same time I am. Let me make sure I hit the little cheer button.” I love that. You mentioned that the social zone on your end looks different than what we see at home.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I’m not seeing exactly what you were seeing on your training at home. I can’t see people’s avatars but I can see their names and achievements.

Live workouts are good because the user gets the same experience as the coach. What makes it so different is even if you are not in the same room but you can feel the energy. Click To Tweet

A big question that comes up all the time is, “Can the instructor see me?” That has started to pop up in the official Tonal community. I know they cannot but I feel like we need to address it because people might be hearing this and wanted to ask that question. You could clarify.

I cannot see you at home. Wear whatever or nothing if you want. There are no worries here, and you are still working out in the privacy of your home.

What is the difference between the live classes, Encore classes, and on-demand?

The live classes are in real-time. They are ongoing. You can engage with the users in the class at the same time as you. That would be the only time that you can engage directly with the coach, or the coach can engage directly with you. The Encore will be a replay of the class the following day. On-demand could be about a 72-hour turnaround when you can finally see the class, revisit it, maybe you took it live or Encore, and you happen to enjoy it, or you want to revisit it a week from now. It will be on-demand for you in the future. In those Encore and on-demand classes, you won’t be able to communicate directly with me. I won’t be able to shout you out.

How has the Encore different than the On-demand then?

The Encore is a quick turnaround thing like this just happened.

It’s like a few hours later or the next day. Eventually, it will live in a location that you can access at your leisure.

How you consume is the same but where you find it on your trainer would be different.

That’s correct.

Where can people go to find a schedule of all the live classes so they can plot out their week?

If we are talking like the app or even on the trainer, you can select workout programs when you are scrolling through the content. If you click on the workout tab, you will see there’s a scroll specifically for live workouts, and you can tap to see view the full live schedule. The schedule will populate at least two weeks in advance, so you can at least plan out your next two weeks and say, “I like to take this class.” You can see the time, the instructor, and even what we will be doing in the class.

I love being able to see that. Tom hates the front squats. He struggled with those. He gets mad at them, and I was telling him, “You can’t switch those out in a live class.” It’s great that you can see ahead of time, “That one has the front squats, so I’m going to stick with one that has the goblet squats.”

I feel that way about Bulgarian split squats. I understand.

I have gotten better at them. It is a continuum but I don’t dread them like I used to.

We get better but it never gets easier.

That took Tom a while to realize. He kept thinking that when he would do the weights on Tonal that it would get easier.

The whole point is that they always go like, “Can you do that?” It’s like a carrot and stick, and I hate carrots. They are beating me with that stick. It’s not a good combination. They’re like, “You did eight with ease. Let’s bump up your weight.”

It’s never easier because then it stops working.

It’s constant progress. We are here for it.

He’s the only person I know that doesn’t get excited whenever the little PR thing happens. He gets a PR, and he doesn’t celebrate. He’s like, “Whatever.”

You should celebrate every win time.

It threw in an extra pound because it was time. This doesn’t feel like an achievement as much as it feels. It’s like when you are running or on the bike, and you are like, “I worked extra hard.” They have said, “You lift this,” and then I did it. It doesn’t feel like a thing I chose to do.

It is because it’s incremental. That’s what I keep telling you. I celebrated for him, though. I will be running next to him on the treadmill. He will do that, and I will be like, “PR.”

The third time she did it, I was like, “Is that what that noise meant?”

That’s my challenge for you. Every time you hit a PR, you have to throw your hands in the air or let out that woo-hoo.

That’s extra exertion. I don’t want to be working out in the first place, and now you want me to do more?

It doesn’t require enthusiasm as long as the word comes out.

She’s great. She takes it. Even though that was the woo-hoo, she’s still happy with it. That’s a good coach right there. What about being able to RSVP to a live class? Can you do that yet?

Not yet, but we were not writing it off. That will be extremely helpful. Even though you can see the schedule a couple of weeks in advance, and you can say, “I’m going to pencil this in.” It’s going to be exciting to be able to see who else will be there with you. It adds to the accountability factor, which is so important.

As you were saying, if you are already doing a program or cross-training, it is nice to be able to plan your week completely and be able to see like, “This is how it’s going to fit in.” I love that ability. Also, it’s like, “I didn’t see this one.” You remind yourself to go back and look at it again. You don’t know if you have already seen it like, “Did I already think I was going to do that one?” It’s nice to have it done.

We will be on the lookout for that.

Has there been anything about the live workouts that has surprised you?

What surprised me was day one. Crystal and Tom, you were there. There were 307 people in the class. That’s mind-blowing and crazy. It has been amazing to see the interest because we had no idea, whether it was based on schedule or preference. Are people going to be here for the live experience or do they rather enjoy on-demand content?

The live classes are in real-time. They are ongoing. You can engage with the users in the class at the same time as you. Click To Tweet

Strength training doesn’t have a live component. It’s historically the same way as a spin class or aerobics class.

It has been interesting to experiment with that too, because, as the coach, I’m up there. There are a lot of elements to delivering a good class and things that the coach is thinking about when we are up there. At the forefront of my mind, it’s always you, the user. To me, it’s about the user experience. Even if I’m up there trying to get you guys to laugh, tell a story or bring home a theme of the class. I need to remind myself that you are at home probably struggling with this set of RDLs, and you are not even hearing what I’m saying. I’m putting pressure on myself like, “Closeout your story, Kendall. Make your point.” I’m like, “They can’t even hear you. They don’t know what’s going on.”

What’s so funny about that is, sometimes, I need that distraction to keep pushing. I love the fact that you are telling stories or distracting me with something else because it makes that moment go by faster. It disengages my brain from what hurts. That’s better but not always. There are times that I’m right in it. There is such a huge way and variance of how you could experience it. That is a good point.

I like to hear that because I know that you are there, and I might get an Instagram afterward, a sweaty selfie, which I love. Having that feedback and knowing what you appreciate is super valuable to me. I’m going to throw it right back at you. What has been the most surprising thing or the most enjoyable thing? What do you like the most about live classes?

I love the engagement. I feel super pumped to be part of something. It’s so energizing to know that all these people are working out at the same time that I am, and I can see them. You are on the West Coast, and we are here in the Midwest. It’s so infrequent that I get to work out when everybody does virtual group workouts. I don’t get to do a lot of those.

The times that I have been able to do the live classes, I am so stoked to be right in the middle of it. I love it. It keeps me going. In all seriousness, we worked during most of the live classes. He’s probably not going to get to try until the East Coast classes someday. That’s when he will be able to start that. He’s not good at working out at night. The other times are like 8:00 here, and I don’t see that happening.

Are you early birds?

I usually get up between 5:00 and 5:30 every morning.

You will find this out the older you get. You are not there yet. The older you get, the harder it is to sleep in. You wake up early even if you don’t want to.

I’m also coming into this phase of my life where I appreciate the mornings more than the evenings. There is something about the morning light and air, and the feeling that you can get your day started rather than in the evening. It’s like, “The day is inevitably coming to an end. What am I going to do?” Even if I stay up, I just watch TV, and nothing good happens in those late hours.

It’s true and chaotic. We have a family and kids at home. It gets crazy in the evenings. Somebody has got to go to practice. Somebody’s got trouble with homework. What are we having for dinner? We all eat separate things, and it’s very chaotic. The mornings are quiet. No one wants to talk in the morning, and I love it.

That is me. Don’t talk to me until I have had at least 1.5 cups of coffee.

When you are doing your own workouts with Tonal, do you prefer the programs or individual one-offs?

I enjoy them both for different reasons but more often, I’m taking one-off classes.

Do you have a fear of commitment?

I do. Even as a trainer and fitness professional, I have struggled with developing a routine in the sense of programming. I know a lot of trainers who truly hire out, seek advice, and help from other fitness professionals to provide a program for them, because even though it’s something that we do all day and every day, sometimes, you don’t know the best thing for yourself.

Teaching the classes and filming on-demand content can throw many types of routines that you have a way off the hinges. I tend to do the one-offs simply because I never know what I’m going to be doing on any given day. If I had to film a leg workout, I know that tomorrow, I will find something that hits the upper body core. I can pick and choose.

It’s like a psychologist going to see another psychologist.

Everybody needs a little help sometimes.

It is easier to make a plan for somebody else than it is to follow a plan for yourself because you can second guess and make excuses for yourself in a way that you don’t for other people. That makes perfect sense.

Again, it’s that accountability factor. If you have another coach creating a program and checking in on you like, “How’s it going? Have you even started?” That’s good. Sometimes, we even need that. We are human.

Sometimes, as people who are consuming the content you guys are creating, it is easy for us to be like, “Everything that you are doing is perfect, and everything we are doing isn’t, so we are trying to be what you are.” It’s great to hear that you need a little direction, too. You are not these all-powerful beings. You are amazing but you are people. It’s good for us to remember that.

Don’t believe with all the smiles. Even though I have a smile on my face during those Bulgarian split squats, I am experiencing pain alongside you.

Do you turn down the weights on how intense it is?

A little bit. During the live classes, it was full throttle. It can get pretty crazy out there. Already as it is with the HIIT classes, there is a lot of bodyweight biometrics tied in, and the class generally moves a lot faster. You will catch me with my hands on my knees often. It is very real.

I shouldn’t be able to catch you because I should be in the middle of mine.

We will always say, “Please join me. Put your hands on your knees. Let’s breathe.”

I bet when it’s not live lessons, and you are taping something, you probably still need to turn on the weights because it’s probably like, “From the other angle.” If we were doing 8 of them, you are doing 40 of them.

This is true. There is a lot of that, and we call those pickups. It’s reps on reps.

Fit that into your personal training plan.

You are reasonably just overdosing on fitness.

It sounds pretty lovely. I’m not going to lie.

It sounds like hell on Earth.

Whenever somebody talks about, “I love to get my workout and the endorphins.” I’m like, “What are you talking about? When does that start?”

It’s usually when the workout is over.

I always tell him, “You like the results, don’t you? I like the results. That’s for sure.

This is sounding good to me. You two are a great compliment.

Do you have any advice for people who are starting their Tonal journey?

Tonal is an incredible piece of technology that’s there to support you. It’s truly going to get to know you better than you know yourself and what you need. You also have the support of the coaches and the community, and you should lean on that. We have such an incredible community of people who are there to support, provide advice, talk about what their journey has been like, and provide encouragement.

That should be step number one for anyone new to their journey with Tonal. It can be a little bit daunting in the beginning because it is such an advanced, incredible piece of technology, and there is a 100% learning curve. Give yourself some grace as you step into this new chapter and enjoy it. Remember that it is to be enjoyed. Start slow.

I truly think anyone who has started their Tonal journey is coming in at such a pivotal time because they now have access to the live classes, which are the best jumping-off point. You have the coach and the support of the community there in real-time. You are being introduced to all these incredible elements of what Tonal is and what makes it so amazing, and also the energy. The coaches there truly spell out everything for you. No matter what the level of the classes, they are truly for everyone. This is the best time to start your Tonal journey, and I would recommend starting it with the live class.

A reminder for people who are scared of it, the instructor cannot see you and call you out and say things like, “You are not lifting heavy enough.” There’s none of that. There’s no shaming from Tonal coaches ever, so don’t be scared of live classes.

Absolutely not. Only positivity.

Thank you so much for joining us. Before we let you go, remind everybody where they can find you on the interwebs.

You can find me on Instagram. My handle is @WoodySnacks. You can also find me in the Tonal Facebook Community. It’s Kendall Wood. I’m often posting in there to talk about new releases. I will drop in and hit a couple of replies every now and then. You can also find me on your trainer. I’m Coach Woody, and I teach live classes quite often, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Even fitness professionals struggle with developing routine in the sense of programming. Click To Tweet

Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

Thank you both. This was such a blast.

—

That brings this episode to a close the final one of 2021.

I feel like we should have poppers and stuff. Happy New Year.

That was like fireworks. They are probably like, “How do they afford all the fireworks?” You are a regular Michael Winslow. Until next year, where can people find you?  

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/CrystalDOKeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter or the Tonal Leaderboard, @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter, @RogerQBert or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TomOKeefe. Find the show online at Facebook.com/supersetpodcast. Don’t forget, you can watch all of these episodes at our YouTube channel, YouTube.com/TheClipOut, the name of the other show but all the episodes live there. Go check it out. Until then, until next time, thanks for tuning in and keep lifting.

Important Links:

• Kendall Wood
• Tonal
• Power HIIT
• @WoodySnacks – Instagram
• Tonal Facebook Community
• ClipOutCrystal@Gmail.com
• Apple Podcast – The Superset
• Spotify – The Superset
• Google Podcast – The Superset
• iHeart – The Superset
• Facebook.com/supersetpodcast
• YouTube.com/TheClipOut
• Tonal Dads Group – Facebook
• Tonal XXL Community
• Routine Power Cycle
• Tonal blog – HOW STRENGTH TRAINING CAN HELP ALL RUNNERS CRUSH NEW PRS
• Eric Castro – Tonal Blog
• Jennifer Byers – Tonal Blog
• Amazon Music
• AnalyticsIndiaMag.com
• Golf Digest – Article
• @ClipOutCrystal – Twitter
• Facebook.com/CrystalDOKeefe
• Instagram – Crystal
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
• Facebook.com/TomOKeefe

About Kendall Wood

Kendall Wood, a.k.a. Coach Woody says motivation can sometimes be like an unreliable and flaky friend, so it helps to have intentions and goals, too. “When I have a clear direction, I set my mind to it,” she says. “I make a plan and set myself up for success.” That way, she’s the only one who can stand in her way, she adds. “I am constantly checking in with myself. When I make those check-ins more deliberate, I can hold myself accountable for all that I set out to do.” Originally from the east coast, Coach Woody moved to Los Angeles in 2015, and that’s where her fitness journey began. “I worked in digital media until 2016. My move to LA opened my eyes to the possibility of a career in the fitness industry, and I took the leap. It was a challenging transition that changed my life in more ways than one,” she adds. Coach Woody says she is inspired by anyone who begins their fitness journey and does not give up. “Fitness is unique in that it is a lifelong project. There may be an 16identifiable starting point, but there is no end.

Putting in the work, maintaining the drive, finding the dedication and persistence to always make yourself a top priority is so admirable.” A certified personal trainer, Coach Woody explains that while each chapter of her fitness journey has been pivotal to her development as a person and coach, she came into her own when she joined Rumble Boxing. “I developed my persona, confidence, network, and knowledge.” she says. “I am so proud to be a Tonal coach at a point in my career when [I am] at my peak but also continually learning and growing as a trainer and leader.”