• Recapping the Tonal Strength Institute Summit.
• Tonal reveals its strongest cities.
• The Tonal blog debunks strength training for women.
• Learn With Travis reviews the Tonal 2-years later.
• New content including Sculpted to the Core, Spicy Leg Day, Intro to Arms, and more!
• Coach Brendon talks about defining success.
• Coach Natalie celebrates season two of Netflix’s Bridgerton.
• This month’s book club is all about Grit.
• Coach Gabby recently had a birthday.

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Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Debunking Strength Training Myths for Women plus Our Interview with Jasmine George

How are you?

I am good.

You were telling me before we started about what program are you working on?

I am working on the Coach Gabby shaped and shredded. There are a lot of S’s in there.

It’s a great workout. It’s a lean program, which is my focus now. I really like that there are moves in it that I haven’t done over and over again. I also like that I’m seeing results in different places. There’s a lot of focus on core, and I’m seeing the results of that. What am I doing?

What are you doing?

I don’t know. I can never remember the names. You tend to know better than I do. It’s muscle-building burnout. You have to do the whole thing in a denim jacket while smoking a pack of Marlboro Lights.

It’s not that kind of burnout. I keep telling you that.

I hand drew a Metallica logo on the back and a Sharpie. That’s how much of a burnout I am. It’s something.

It’s effective.

I keep listening to the end because they will tell you like, “Take a day off.” He keeps saying like, “See you back here tomorrow.” I’m like, “Another tomorrow?” He’s like, “I mean if you’re achy,” and I’m like, “I’m not that achy.” He moves it around, so it’s different muscles groups. I’m like, “The part I’m going to be using isn’t achy, so I guess I’ll do it.” I keep expecting there to be a day off, and I’m going into day five, and there hasn’t been. He’s like, “Come back tomorrow.”

That’s the custom version for you. They told me they were creating one just for you. That sounds like it’s ready.

He’s like, “Should I call you Tommy?”

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I guess, though, Tom, if there are four workouts in a week, you should take a break. I’m just letting you know.

I will take a nap instead of working out. That’s what Coach Crystal told me to do.

Sometimes I outrank Coach Jackson.

How about that? What pre-tell do you have in store for people?

We are going to talk about the Tonal Strength Institute. We are going to find out how strong the City of St. Louis is.

Also, lots of other cities too. Most readers are like, “I don’t care how strong the City of St. Louis is.”

We are also going to talk about the new content that has dropped. There’s an interesting review for Tonal that came out like the person has had it for two years now, and they went back and did a new review and updated one. We have some in the news for the instructors and some others, in case you missed it type things that were going to hit.

Before we get to all that shameless plugs, don’t forget we are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, tune in iHeart. If you find a podcast there, you can find us. While you are there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. We show right up in your little magic iPod podcast, delivery brick. You can also find us on Facebook, Facebook.com/supersetpodcast while you’re there, like the page, and join the group. Of course, don’t forget, you can watch all of these episodes on our YouTube channel, which is YouTube.com/theclipout, the name of our other podcast, but this one lives there as well. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?

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The Total Strength Institute Summit took place on March 30th, 2022.

If you did not get to partake in the classes, if you were registered and you didn’t get to listen to the talks, you still can for the next 30 days after they were loaded. Until April 13th, 2022 or so, you can still take place. You can still go listen to them. It was very interesting. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I don’t even know what I expected until I realized it wasn’t what I expected. I don’t mean that like it’s bad, it’s not bad.

You said the same thing after our first date. You’re like, “I don’t know what I expected but it was not this.” It’s not bad.

Honestly, in all sincerity, I didn’t say that after our first date, and in this situation, I don’t want anyone to think that that’s a bad thing. I had it in my head it was going to be more spectacle, that there was going to be entertainment, and it wasn’t. It was really in-depth, good information. It’s not that it was a bad thing.

It was called a summit. Summits are very buttoned up, and push up your glasses because we are going to nerd out.

 

That’s what I mean. I didn’t even know that I was expecting that until it wasn’t what I expected. It’s on me. It’s not what I thought it was going to be but it wasn’t bad. It was just different than I thought.

It also illustrates what a serious piece of equipment Tonal is. The natural comparison is Peloton for a lot of people when it comes to home equipment that has this screen interactivity component. Not that Tonal can’t also be entertaining but there’s a ton of science going on behind Tonal that sometimes, people that are learning about it, it’s not really necessarily on their radar about how much thought is going into their strategies.

The thought that goes into a hypertrophy program, the thought that goes into mobility, what women need versus what men need, the in-depth research that is happening in response to all of the data we give Tonal on a daily basis. It’s phenomenal. It’s so much deeper than I thought, let alone people who are just getting to know Tonal. There’s so much information here. We are going to see more and more of this information being pulled out of Tonal. They are going to find different ways to publish it and give us this information. If for some reason, you don’t get to go back and watch the videos, my understanding is it’s even going to be up on YouTube.

I don’t think that they are going to keep it from people. This is going to be a long-term thing that you can go do. If you are looking for it, it took place on March 30th. Earlier I said it would be up until April 15^th, and I should have said the end of April. It will be up for quite a while. If you are reading this later, you are not reading it in a timely manner, it should be up for quite a while. They may decide to keep it out there forever. I don’t know.

We have talked about this before on the show but they collect so much data that previously was uncollectable or if it was collectible, it was self-reported.

People mean well but they may not be accurate.

Not even that they are trying to lie to you but sometimes people lie to themselves or when they used to do TV diaries, and people would be like, “I watch PBS all week.” Now this removes that from the equation. They are finding so much information that they wouldn’t have had previously. I have learned next year, because of your concerns about lack of spectacle, they will do the entire thing while holding a sparkler.

They had fun components that were unexpected as well. Like they had a scavenger hunt, and you could log on and interact. You could go into a Tonal gym, and there were avatars of all the different instructors. It’s not that there was not fun to wait. It’s that it was not what I expected. Again, I didn’t even know I had expectations.

It’s the first one, so there’s nothing to compare it to.

They put a lot of effort into it, and it really showed. It was cool. I am so glad this is going to be an annual event. Hopefully, next year we will get to go.

—

The Tonal blog had a post about, The Strongest Cities in America, Revealed. They collected each city’s average strength score. This is pretty fascinating. Coming in at number one, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, because it’s one big glob of an area.

The Bay Area, they say.

With 4-48, I feel like Casey Kasem, “Coming in at number 48. It’s San Francisco.” Seattle-Tacoma has a strength score of 4-33.

This next one shocked me.

Kansas City.

What’s going on over there?

They have sold two of them in Kansas City, and they are doing really well. I’m sure they sold more than two in Kansas City. Indianapolis at 4-27.

Midwest represent.

Portland for 4-19.5.

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What happened between Seattle and Portland? They’re not even that far apart.

How come Portland so far, is the only one with a decimal? Los Angeles is at 4-18.

You notice that St. Louis has not come up yet. Did you notice that?

We’re on the list. It’s not about murder. Wherever we land on the nonmurder list is good. Next is Los Angeles at 4-18. Boston at 4-17, and St. Louis and Denver are tied at 4-16.

Bring it, Denver.

Denver actually should get an extra point because they’re at a higher altitude. They have less oxygen. They’ve acclimated. They’re like the American version of Sherpas.

We have the murder. They’re running all the time.

I was surprised we were as high on this list as we are. Personally, it’s entirely because of me.

You have gone from a person who was literally in the Tonal closet to saying the entire strength score of St. Louis.

I’m carrying St. Louis on my back. I was happy to see that my score was higher than the average for the city. We were as high on this list as we are because of all the murders. We need to be extra strong to fend off the murderers and the muggings. I don’t think very many people have bought Tonal specifically with training for murder in mind. I feel fairly confident that that’s not occurring because they collect all that data. If they would catch that you were focusing on a stabbing motion and so they would be like, “We need to take that person’s Tonal.”

If you want to be that way.

After Denver is Baltimore at 4-13.5, just squeaking past Las Vegas by 0.5. Those decimals really pay off.

Las Vegas, Dallas, and Chicago are some of the largest cities in America, all at 4-13. They are like in a three-way tie.

Austin has 4-12, and then Columbus 4-10.5.

They also broke it down, men versus women in those cities, and the strongest cities got mixed up a little when they did that. The three strongest cities for women were Minneapolis, Denver, and St. Louis.

You’re carrying St. Louis.

I thought I was dragging it down. Some woman in Denver is way stronger and pulled that up. For the men, it’s Cleveland, Kansas City, and San Diego. St. Louis didn’t even make the list, so I don’t know what to tell you.

I guess I’m not as good as I thought, which is saying something because I really didn’t think I was very good at all. That’s a fun list.

Speaking of data, Tonal has this kind of data and tells us about it. It’s so fine.

 

I thought this was a really interesting blog post over on Tonal. I know you thought it too because you picked them. It’s three myths about strength training for women that are debunked by science. I love good debunking.

Debunking is great. You get new information, you change your mind, update the science.

I will never let science change my mind.

I don’t want to read all these facts, but the things that it debunked, if you scroll down, they have all these things that they debunk one by one. Myth one, women shouldn’t lift heavy because they will get bulky.

This is the craziest thing in the world.

It persists.

This is not a new thing. When people first started doing strength training or weightlifting, medical science was like, “You will get bulky, and that’s bad.” It was years before weightlifting really entered the mainstream because people were scared that they would “get bulky.” Male or female, if it were that easy, we would all be there by now. You work out like, “I worked out for four days. I’m bulking now.” It’s hard to get that way.

We are not going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In your entire life, have you ever seen somebody that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lou Ferrigno and you are like, “How did you get that way?” “By accident.”

The amount of food that you have to eat to support this.

I bought a 25-pound bag of dog food at Costco when I carried it in, next thing you know, I’m in the Olympics. They got a warn somebody. Next time I’m going to buy two for 12 and a half pounds. It’s craziness

Science backs that up.

You’re not going to accidentally become a bodybuilder.

Myth number two, you have to have big muscles to be strong. Now, this is something that I did not know until I started using Tonal. I had to dig into hypertrophy versus strength.

I assumed a bigger muscle must have more stuff in there to make it do muscly stuff.

It’s fascinating that that’s not the case.

I read an interview with the guy who plays Jack Reacher. He talked about how he bulked up for the role, and he was caught off guard. That he’s like, “I’m big but I’m not all that strong. There are people in the gym that don’t look like I do physically but they can lift tons more.”

It is very counterintuitive. Myth number three, you have to follow a very strict, limited diet to attain your goals. They say in here, “Carbs are not the enemy fats aren’t bad. You don’t need to only eat salad.” Totally true. In fact, you need to eat more food to get bigger and stronger.

Those are good to know, and if you want to read the whole thing, it lives over on the Tonal blog, so go check it out.

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Tonal knocking it out of the park with the info.

—

There was a review from Learn With Travis. Yeah. He posts reviews of things and posted a review a few years ago. The Tonal said good things. He did a follow-up review, The Tonal Two Years Later.

Spoiler alert. There’s nothing bad here. The reason that I’m including it is because, first of all, you don’t see a lot of people still using exercise equipment two years later after they bought it. Second of all, it goes to show how much Tonal has evolved in years. There are so many things that it does years later that it did not do. It’s cool that they keep adding all these new things.

Plus, I know a lot of people are like, “Will it hold up? I don’t want to spend all this money and then have it be all janky,” and it does hold up. He has been using it frequently. His strength score is 800 and something, so clearly, he has been using it. It’s held up just fine for him. He was very impressed with how sturdy it is, how the ropes still work, nothing snapped and didn’t fall off the wall, and all these stupid things that people don’t know what they are talking about or trying to say.

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Lots of new content but we have one I thought we would start with, which is sculpted to the core.

This is really fun because one of my suggestions to the Tonal Community was that we have a program that includes multiple instructors and Tonal delivered. There’s a two-week program, and it has Coaches Gabby, Jared, Nikki, and Paul. They showed everybody, and it went fast. It’s got four different instructors. The point is that it’s a brand new live program, and they are going to do six fast-paced, full-body scorchers. They are going to be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two weeks at 6:00 PM Pacific Time. After the program is live for about 36 hours, once all of those classes have been put together, the entire program will live out there on demand. You will be able to take the classes on demand 36 hours after they are live but you will be able to take the entire thing after all of them have aired.

You could do it multiple times, so you could do sculpted three core, sculpted four core like Fast & Furious movies. There are all sorts of other content available.

I have to give a little shout-out to Coach Nicolette because she’s also doing her first live program. It’s going to be a two-week program as well. She is going to be doing a Bootcamp-style workout live. In addition to all of those live workouts, we also have on-demand, new quick fit, spicy leg day with Coach Francis. That is a lower body, thirteen minutes. Intro to arms with Coach Nikki, upper body, eleven minutes, light upper body with Coach Paul, fourteen minutes. Level up cardio with Coach Alison, that’s a beginner, perfect for full-body, 24 minutes. New yoga tests your focus with Coach Jake. I already know I don’t have any. It’s for 36 minutes.

I drive a CRV, so I’m not sure that class is for me.

People even know what a Ford Focuses is anymore. New recovery, we have lower body unstuck with Coach Jared. It’s really good for mobility recovery, eleven minutes for the lower body. There’s lots of good stuff.

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Coach Brendon had a nice post about success and how you define it.

First of all, he sees himself as an underdog. That’s crazy to me. It’s such a thing about perception because he’s an NFL player. I see him as a success.

He’s around other NFL players. He’s like, “But I’m not Tom Brady.”

That’s not even what he’s talking about. He’s talking about where he started from. He talked about the fact that he grew up in a home that did not have a lot of money or wealth, and therefore, sometimes, they were literally on the welfare line. He had a single mom who was taking care of three children. She was Caucasian, and the children were biracial. That in and of itself is so stressful and dealing with all of that. Adding to the fact that they had to accept government assistance and literally stand in line to get food.

He talked about how he went from that to now. She is a grandmom to eight kids. Two of her sons are NFL players. Both were in the NFL longer than ten years. That goes to show that regardless of where you start, you can work hard and get wherever you want to be. That was the whole point of his posts that like, “Regardless of where you are, do not count yourself out.” I thought it was a really inspiring, great post.

Less inspiring, but fun. It’s okay to be fun. Coach Natalie was commemorating the start of Bridgerton season two. Her wedding was 36 minutes away and she’s like, “But let me do a thing about Bridgerton.”

I love her sense of humor but I also had to say, “Congrats that you’ve got married, Natalie. You focus on having this silly, great, fun video. How awesome is that?” As you said, Tom, she’s about to have a wedding, and she’s focused on doing a silly video.

Weddings can be so toxing, and people forget to have fun, so I’m glad that she didn’t. It’s coming from two people that got married at Dave & Buster’s.

We like to have fun.

 

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The latest Book Club book has been selected, and it is Grit.

April is grit, and that is what Dr. Angela Duckworth talked about.

Grit that has been around for a while but it’s a good book. I have not read it but I’ve listened to the Freakonomics podcast where they did three episodes on it or something. It’s all about the idea of sticktoitiveness and how important that is. A lot of times, it’s more important than raw talent.

Maybe I will have to give it a read. I was like, “Maybe I will take a break because I’m not done with ROAR yet. That was the March book. I’m getting behind.

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Finally, we have a birthday that’s a snuck bias. Coach Gabby celebrated a birthday, so if you missed that, you should reach out and wish her a belated Happy Birthday.

Her birthday was on March 24th, “Happy Birthday, Gabby.” I have been enjoying her new program.

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Joining us is Jasmine George. How is it going?

How are you, guys?

We’re good. We always like to start these interviews out with knowing a little bit of the background of how you first heard about Tonal and when that was in your timeline of fitness.

I’m like one of those people who scroll mindlessly through random pieces of social media. I started seeing it on Facebook in my little sponsored ads and things like that. There was a Tonal, and then there were other various fitness-related ads. I wanted one, but when I went to the website and I looked at the price and everything else, I was a little hesitant because it’s not just me. I am Mrs. George, so I can’t be splurging out of anywhere. It was in the back of my mind. That was early 2021. I did mention it in passing that soft sell, “Have you seen that Tonal thing?” to my husband. He’s very much into fitness. Historically, he’s great at it. It’s very embarrassing for me.

We saw his arm. He’s so muscular that that was all that would get in the camera frame.

I mentioned it. Because he’s so well-versed in the areas of fitness and whatever, he wanted to do research and start looking at different things, and all of that stuff. I remember one day he came in, it was late 2021. He’s like, “I ordered a Tonal.” I was like, “I’m going to tell all my friends it’s for my birthday,” because he told me it was going to come in February 2022. We got it in early February and we’ve been in love ever since then.

I was wondering where that source is going to go because at least the one arm seems to work out a lot. A lot of times, people that are used to free weights look at Tonal with some side-eye.

Do you want to know something weird about that though? I was a heavy lifter in high school. My high school was weird. We had different focuses on fitness. You could do yoga or dance. I chose lifting because it was such a thrill that I was the only girl who could lift with the boys.

In my head, it was like this gender normative, “It’s where the boys are.”

Let’s not say that. Let’s say it was because I just was strong. I learned from those old school lifting guys. Those were my coaches. They’re very much into free weights and things like that. They didn’t like the machines. My husband, oddly enough, is a machine guy. He liked the machines in the gym. He liked the control that you get and things like that. That’s one of the things that sold him on Tonal. I was the one that had to be sold on the pulling and the cords. I was like, “No, we do free weights.”

You look at it and you’re like, “I’ve seen Bowflex. How about no?” It’s not that, but if you haven’t utilized one, it’s really easy to look at it and think that.

It looks like a gimmick upfront. It looks like, “No, that’s not for us real lifters,” it looks like that thing, but it very much is. It’s hardcore and serious.

What was your moment of, “This is a thing?” When did that happen?

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I’m laughing because it makes me think what was my weakness moment where it taught me my lesson, that I’m like, “Girl, don’t come in here playing around.” It was when I was trying to do a curl and I had to dial it down. When I first had to dial it down, I was like, “Really?” It was not an easy thing to do. I hovered over that little down arrow for a hot second. “No, I’m not dialing this down.” It’s like, “No, you’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t stop playing around.”

I don’t care what you’re used to doing, Tonal knows what it’s doing. My husband was telling me when I first started. I was like, “Dialing it up. I’m no quitter. I can do this.” He started using it before I did. He’s like, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I was like, “You’re being negative. I can do this. This says this thing says I’m pretty strong.” I had to dial it down to be able to do the workouts with the proper form and know that even when you’re going to do that rocking, your weight is too high.

That’s the big difference between Tonal and free weights. I don’t know if you’ve heard anybody talk about the Tonal Strength Institute. The Tonal Strength Institute was put into place about a few months ago, maybe a little bit longer, but we had an interview with the gentleman who started up the Tonal Strength Institute. It’s an official part of Tonal. They have started doing all of these studies. One of the very first studies that they did was, they’d heard all these people say, “Using the Tonal feels so much harder than free weights,” so they tested it.

On average, it is. They said 14% to 24% harder than lifting free weights. They did the muscle activation test to see how much it was straining the muscles because you can’t swing. You don’t have any momentum in the same way that you can with free weights. It’s not in your imagination. It is harder and that’s how much on average. A bicep curl is the hardest one to do because you have no momentum at all. You can’t swing the bar the way you can swing it whenever you’re not on Tonal.

That makes me feel a lot better because bicep curl was the weakness moment where I dialed it down. I was like, “What is wrong with me? I’m supposed to be the strong one.”

You thought there was a disconnect because you lifted before and you have an idea of what number you should be at. When the number on the machine is different than the number you used to lift on a free weight, I’m sure it does feel like a step backwards.

It’s a different measuring stick.

At some point, I looked at the machine and I noticed something that I hadn’t noticed before. There’s a spot where it says 24 pounds, that number that we all look at, but under there, it’ll say, “Per arm or per side,” sometimes. I don’t realize it. I’ve gotten into this mindset where I tell myself, “Trust the tonal. It knows what it’s doing. It will dial up the weight when it’s time. You don’t have to artificially dial the weight up.” I’ve told myself that but sometimes I’ll still look at it and be like, “That’s low,” but you think about it it’s per arm sometimes or per side. I didn’t realize that until I looked at it. I’m like, “It’s not taking my entire body to lift 10 pounds. It’s 10 pounds per side.”

That’s a good point to remind people of, especially whenever you’re first starting out, that we all tend to compare ourselves to other people in the community. It’s human nature. That is one of the reasons that Tonal has decided to stack up the leaderboard the way they do based on hours versus volume or things like that because they don’t want people to feel like, “I only lifted,” whatever. At the end of the day, you’re still doing so much more than somebody else and you’re only going to get stronger. That’s your starting point. It’s such an important thing to remember.

That’s a great thing for you to bring up, like the various ways that people can measure their success or their progress. I love the way that there are so many numbers. I focused on strength score. I only focused on strength score because that’s the only thing I’m good at. I love it. My strength score right now is 350. I feel like that’s awesome because I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks. They’ll tell you like, “You’re stronger than 80% of other women,” and stuff like that. I love seeing that, but that’s my strength. That’s what I’m good at.

It’s consistency that I’m horrible at. I’m not high on the leaderboard, but there are people who are great with that. They can look at that number and say, “I have this to be proud of.” Even posting in the community and creating a post that gets a lot of likes or volume. Tonal has given you so many metrics and things that you can focus on and say, “I did that. That’s what I’m great at.” I love that.

That’s a good point. I like that.

That’s where I was lucky about never having worked out in my life. I came in knowing nothing. I immediately submitted to the machine. I’m like, “Whatever it tells me, that’s what I’ll do.” I know that I don’t know what I’m doing. If it says to do this next, I don’t know what it is, but okay.

It’s a funny little story we like to tell. Tom had never exercised in his life. He hated exercise and sports. He’s never been an athletic person. He hid that he worked on the Tonal for a year. He did it in secret. I was the only one that was allowed to know about it. He then came out of the Tonal closet. In 2021, he has between Tonal and improving his diet has lost over 70 pounds. He won’t show it to people, but he’s getting jacked. I’m impressed with him.

You’re benefiting daily from that. I’m sure.

Yes, ma’am.

Congratulations on getting into fitness, but congratulations on making it that long without ever having to exercise. That’s a feat in and of it itself.

If someone would complain about it, “I threw out my back. I got a bum knee,” I’m like, “My body’s in light new condition. I’ve never used it.”

I don’t know how you did it but congrats.

 

If I was in your high school, I’d have been in yoga.

You would have been like, “I’m not very stretchy.”

You’re one of the theater kids. They were so fun.

I was a theater kid. Yes, that would have been.

She’s like, “I got you guys figured out now.” You mentioned though, that you did the weights in high school. Have you always been an active person? Have you always liked to? Have you enjoyed working out?

No. I’m not what anybody would categorize as active. I liked lifting. I’m like most people in that I like to do things that I am naturally good at. I did it because we had to do some PE. We had to choose what we were going to do. That’s the thing that I was good at. Anytime I did try to get back into fitness as an adult, I gravitated toward the weights because that’s what I’ve always been good at. Anything cardio, I’ve never been able to do that.

I’m right there with you. We are like-minded. I don’t like sweat.

Oddly enough, I don’t sweat.

That sounds dangerous though.

It feels like it probably is.

If you don’t sweat though, then you should have been able to afford the Tonal from all the money you save on deodorant.

It’s a weird thing. It feels like it should be labeled as some condition. I do, but it’s very rare. I have to be dying. I’m in Texas.

I was about to say, “Are you living in Alaska?” Maybe it’s just really cold and you’ve never had a reason to sweat.

When I’m outside when it’s a hundred and something degrees and I’m mowing the lawn or something, it’ll happen, but it’s very rare, nothing like everybody else.

I’m a little envious. When you do the Tonal, what does a typical week look like for you?

Do you remember when I said consistency is not my jam? A typical week that we’ve only had it, 3 or 4 weeks. I don’t know if this is going to be normal. Hopefully, I’ll ramp up. Now, I’ll take three days off or something like that. It’s weird because I feel much better after every workout, like the next day. If I work out in the morning, that day will go better than normal and stuff like that.

Somehow, I’m one of those people, whatever state I happen to be in, it’s hard to get me out of it. If I’m not working out as I came home from work or something like that, “I’m just going to sit down.” While I’m working out, I can keep going. A typical week is maybe 3 days on, 3days off, and then the weekend I may work out or not work out.

For you, the biggest challenge is getting started.

Yes. I will moan and groan. I don’t feel like doing it. The second I lift that first weight, I’m going in and I’m fine. It’s getting in that room. Like now, I’m in the room.

It's hard to get started with Tonal, but once you do, it's easy to go all in. Share on X

When we’re done, you’re going to do a workout, right?

Yes. I’m in here.

I’m curious. Do you tend to do individual workouts or programs?

I did the fitness assessment first and then I started off with something. It was an individual workout. It was pretty hard, but I felt like it didn’t hit all the whatever muscle groups that I wanted to hit. I then started choosing movements like, “I’m going to do this and that.” Do a series of movements. In that process, I realized, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” I was just picking movements and putting weight on. It was not cute at all.

That’s a good way to get to know your machine though.

Also, a good way to get to know what you don’t know, I was picking movements and whatever. I was so sore and it was crazy. I then decided I was going to start doing programs. It’s Coach Frances. I don’t remember the name of the program, but it’s one of the beginner programs. That’s what I’m doing right now. I love the programs. Tom, I’m with you on that one. “Tell me what to do and I’m going to do it.”

That’s why I was asking because I do programs for that exact same reason. When you talk about how it’s hard to get started, I’m in the exact same place even to this day. I almost never do one-off workouts. I pretty much always do programs because I don’t have to think. It’s day fourteen and I go down and I do day fourteen, then that’s it. If I go down there and stare at that machine, trying to figure out what to do next, one, I’ll either waste 10 or 15 minutes trying to find that perfect thing or I’ll get bored and walk away. I need to go down and be like, “I’m doing day fourteen and we’re off to the races.”

In fact, he always chooses his program. As soon as he finishes a program, he starts the next program while he’s standing there so that he doesn’t have to think the next time he comes downstairs.

That’s a good idea. Since this is my first program, I haven’t seen that problem. I’m going to do that. When I finish, I’m going to start another program and get in there.

It drove Crystal crazy for the first year and a half. She’s like, “What program are you doing?” I’m like, “Whatever one they recommended next.” I didn’t even search for anything. They were like, “What about this?” I’m like, “What about it? Why not?”

I just lift the weight. That’s my job.

I’m the opposite. I sit on my phone and I’ll look at them for hours, “Maybe I should do this one,” and then I go and look at all the different moves they’re going to do. I think about which one’s going to give me the biggest bang for my buck time-wise.

You’re the one I want to be, but that’s not how my brain works. It’s not going to happen.

There are good days and there are bad days about it. I can also obsess about some problems. Have you tried any of the other content yet?

Do you know what I found out about? The kid workouts. I didn’t know that was a thing. Somebody in the Tonal Community on Facebook posted, “My kids did a workout and blah, blah.” I’m like, “I don’t care about the blah, blah right now. There are kid workouts?” I did not know that. I went on there and my husband was like, “That’s so creepy.” When I realized there was a volleyball one and my daughter had just started playing volleyball. It’s like, “Are they planning this stuff for us?” Who comes like, “Let’s do a volleyball workout for kids?” For that family who has a kid who plays volleyball, it’s funny.

They had started doing them right before the pandemic, but they upped it a little bit during the pandemic because there were so many kids at home that weren’t at school. They started doing PE. It was a nice way for parents and kids to be able to take a break that was also structured. It’s a win-win for everyone. I’m glad you brought that up.

Will she do it or she’s like, “That’s a parent thing. That’s an oldie vibe?”

I found out about it a few days ago. I’m like, “Isabelle, come here and look. They have volleyball. It’s so cool.” She’s like, “In a minute, mom. I’m coming.”

Did she look up?

 

She did not look up. I know you’re trying to be positive. I thank you for that.

We all need that.

I appreciate the effort on your part, but no, she did not look up. She didn’t even come in here and look at the screen.

You’re not alone because we have two kids that live with us and we have a Peloton bike, Peloton tread, FightCamp, Tonal, and they won’t touch any of it. None.

None of it.

All of that stuff and they won’t touch it?

No. They’re completely disinterested.

Maybe someday.

What about whenever you first joined the community? Since you haven’t been in it very long, what do you wish that you had known right when you first got the Tonal as compared to now? What’s something you’ve learned and you wish that you knew on day one?

I don’t think I have one of those. I know I said I had to learn my lesson with upping the weight too high and things like that, but thankfully I didn’t get hurt in that process. I could have, so knowing to trust the machine, do your starting weights, and do the weight that they suggest. That probably would have been helpful. I still think that I might have continued to have this cocky feeling about what I’m capable of and things like that had I not learned that lesson. Even though I made that mistake, it was a good mistake to make. Although that’s the only thing that comes to mind, I wish I would’ve known that it’s a good idea to trust the machine. I like the way I was able to learn that lesson.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

I get that. When you go down that road, a lesson sticks with you rather than someone who’s saying do this and you do it because they said it. Sometimes you got to touch the hot stove. You will remember though.

I will remember from all of those DOMS. I learned that word from my husband.

It’s Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, for anybody out there that’s like, “What’s that mean?” Tom didn’t know.

I didn’t know what it meant. I was making it dirty. I was like, “Where are we going?”

I learned my lesson.

Your husband uses the Tonal. You said he started before you did and he likes it too.

He did. He started on day one. He doesn’t take days off like I do. He will be in here for a hot minute. He loves it.

Does he use the programs or does he make his own?

Once you get Tonal, start out with programs because it exposes you to a wide variety of movements on the machine. Share on X

He makes his own.

I figured.

If you got to know us, you would find that whatever I’m doing, chances are he’s doing something different. We’re very different in our approach to almost everything.

Isn’t that cool that Tonal can meet you in both of those places? That’s so amazing.

One thing that works for both of us is rare.

That’s a great point.

It’s good to have a partner that’s very different. Crystal and I are like that in a lot of ways. Overall, more often than not is beneficial. Do you have any advice for people who are getting the Tonal?

Get it. I don’t know why I keep coming back to the same point but trust the machine. Do the starting weights and start out with programs. The reason I would say start out with programs is because it exposes you to a wide variety of movements on the machine. Whether you know the machine or you don’t, maybe you’ve tried it with a friend or you’re used to free weights, Crystal, you said it before, doing the programs and doing the things that are programmed into the machine already is a good way of getting to know it.

The advice that I would give is trust the machine, try it out, do the programs, do different workouts, and over time, you’ll figure out where you live on the Tonal. I live in the strength score area. That’s my jam, but maybe the leaderboard is your thing. Maybe there’s some other number that I don’t even know about that motivates you. Maybe it’s keeping up with your kids on a hike. I saw somebody post about that one day.

Back to the program aspects, it’s funny when Crystal was saying, she goes through and picks it for like, “This movement, I’ll get more bang for my buck.” I like the programs because if I was going to pick my own movements, I would be picking the same 2 or 3. The program’s forced me to do the things I don’t want to do, but I need to do.

You ended up like those people that look like they miss leg day.

No one would ever be like, “Yes. I would like some Bulgarian split squats.”

Nobody would ever ask for that ever.

I don’t think I’ll run into that yet.

You’re already in this conversation. You’ll be like, “They were right.”

Now I have to find it like the curtsy squat.

That’s an awful one too.

I like the area that it hits. I feel like I need some help in that area.

It’s good for your legs, and so are Bulgarian split squats. In Bulgarian split squats, you have your back foot up on the bench and then you use your front foot to do a one-legged lunge. You go all the way down while we’re holding the weights. You’ll get to that. You said you’re doing a beginner program right now, which is exactly what you should be doing. It’s not that the programs get more difficult because it’s all based on your weight, but the moves get more complex. You’ll see those moves better, even more complex like the Bulgarian split squats. You’ll see those in intermediate and advanced programs. They are killer.

 

I don’t know if you cuss, but you will.

I did try not to.

That’s the day when you start yelling at your Tonal.

Have you had to do a pillar bridge with row yet?

I may have. That sounds familiar. I don’t listen to the name. I look and, “I’m going to do it.” I do whatever they tell me to do.

It took a long time to start remembering the names too for the same reason. I would come up with my own.

I know I did a split squat, but it wasn’t Bulgarian. The split squat is super hard too.

In that one, you hold statically and you’re not up on the bench. The bench is what makes it so much harder because you’re putting all of the weight right on your front heel. It’s concentrated and it’s painful. The pillar bridge with a row is a forearm plank and then you’re using your free arm, and you got to do a row while you’re in plank position. It’s tough.

I feel like maybe we shouldn’t tell beginners these things.

The stuff that’s hard now is going to be your warmup and it’s going to be so easy. When you talk about how you define success and how you see the growth in yourself someday, you and the other beginners are going to be doing those moves. You’re going to be like, “That was rough,” but also, you did it. That is very exciting.

It did make me feel better when you’re describing this thing. I’m like, “I’m not doing that,” but I felt better knowing if I do what the machine tells me to do, I’ll be ready for it when it comes.

There’s no timer. Take all the time you need.

You know I will.

We approach this from a very similar spot. It’s a little frightening.

I don’t know that I like another Tom brain out there running around.

We’re good for the world.

The world needs people like us.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us. Before we let you go, I always say let people know where to find you on social media, if you would like to be found.

Although I’m super social, I’m not a social media person. I don’t have an Instagram or anything like that. There’s nothing worth sharing. My name is Jasmine George.

Just do what Tonal tells you to do. Share on X

They can find you if they want to see you over in the Official Tonal Community, right?

Yes. On Tonal itself, my name is Jasmine347.

Thank you so much for joining us. This has been a lot of fun.

It has been fun. Thank you for having me and for the invite.

You’re welcome.

—

That brings this episode to a close, until next time. Where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/CrystalDOkeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and the Tonal leaderboard, @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter, @RogerQBert or on Fcebook at Facebook.com/TomOKeefe. You can find the show online at Facebook.com/supersetpodcast. While you are there, like the page and join the group, so you can stay up to date on our stuff in between episodes. That’s it for this one, thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep lifting.

 

Important Links

• Tonal
• Tonal Strength Institute
• The Peloton Commercial Everyone Is Talking About – Previous episode
• Coach Frances Flores
• Official Tonal Community – Facebook
• Apple Podcasts – The Superset – The Tonal Fan
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• The Strongest Cities in America, Revealed – Tonal Blog Post
• Three Myths About Strength Training for Women That Are Debunked by Science – Tonal Blog Post
• The Tonal Two Years Later – YouTube
• Grit
• Freakonomics – Past Episode
• ROAR
• Facebook.com/CrystalDOkeefe
• @ClipOutCrystal – Twitter
• Instagram – Clip Out Crystal
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
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