Tonal: AI and strength training for home fitness savings

The smart home gym company is harnessing its extensive data on human strength training outcomes to revolutionize the way people work out.

The at-home fitness market has experienced significant changes in recent years.

The adoption of hybrid fitness models post-pandemic and the appeal of high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms and community-focused boutique fitness studios have challenged home fitness brands.

While home-based workouts offer undeniable convenience, what factors will determine whether some at-home fitness companies thrive while others fail?

According to Tonal, a smart home gym manufacturer, the answer lies in advancing artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on strength training, and emphasizing longevity.

While other at-home fitness brands have seen their consumer bases shrink, Tonal reports consistent subscriber growth with a churn rate of less than 1%, resulting in over $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

According to the company’s 2023 report, Tonal members have collectively lifted 200 billion pounds.

Despite facing some internal challenges and a generally turbulent connected fitness market, Tonal remains optimistic about its future. The company is confident in its ability to revolutionize at-home strength training through the use of proprietary, anonymized datasets and AI.

Earlier this year, Tonal announced a large-scale partnership with Spartan Race, where race participants are required to complete a rotational chop on Tonal as part of an obstacle at all stadium races this year, effectively providing a Tonal demo to over 50,000 racers.

Athletech News spoke with Jonathan Shottan, Tonal’s chief product and content officer, about the benefits of strength training, how the company uses data to help its members train smarter, and potential retail expansion.

Right Place, Right Time: The Rise of Strength Training

Strength training has gained popularity among fitness enthusiasts of all ages, particularly due to increasing evidence of its mental and physical benefits and its role in promoting longevity.

“The last decade has seen a secular shift in how strength training is perceived,” Shottan says.

He cites studies showing that strength training reduces the risk of serious injuries among the elderly and research indicating that resistance training can improve insulin sensitivity in Type 2 diabetes patients, support healthy aging, enhance mobility, cognitive function, cancer survivorship, and metabolic health.

“It’s no longer just a vanity pastime for the proverbial gym bro,” Shottan adds.

Tonal has been focused on strength training since 2018 when it launched its high-tech, at-home strength training system that uses digital weights to serve as an all-in-one workout companion for users.

“No matter what an individual’s goals are, Tonal can assess and then guide that person to their outcome successfully thanks to nearly 200 distinct exercises, multiple weight modes, the highest production-quality guided content, and industry-leading artificial intelligence,” Shottan explains.

A Different Approach to At-Home Fitness

The at-home fitness sector has generally struggled post-pandemic as people return to gyms and studios.

At its peak in 2020, Peloton has notably faced challenges with the changing at-home fitness landscape, recently seeing its CEO depart amid layoffs and buyout speculation.

BowFlex, which rebranded from Nautilus, also suffered from the at-home fitness downturn, declaring bankruptcy and being acquired by Johnson Health Tech, the parent company of Matrix Fitness, as part of the proceedings.

Part of what sets Tonal apart, Shottan says, is its ability to drive engagement through results, ensuring that their machines don’t end up neglected and covered in dust.

“What Tonal has done right is make strength training at home an engaging and effective experience—one that members stick with over very long periods to improve their lives,” Shottan says.

Data from hundreds of thousands of Tonal members shows that, on average, they achieve over 70% strength gains in their first year on Tonal.

“Even members who joined more than 3 years ago are still working out on Tonal 10-plus times a month,” he added.

The Power of Data

Although data collection can be controversial, it undeniably offers benefits when used by fitness tech companies to improve users’ health and longevity.

“There is so much data being collected right now across an entire ecosystem of companies looking to improve human outcomes,” Shottan says. “Glucose monitoring, sleep quality, walking gait assessments—you name it.

What Tonal has, which is unique and fully differentiated, is a collection of physiological measurements, all tied to strength outcomes.”

In an interview last fall, Tonal CEO Krystal Zell discussed the company's method of capturing data, which is anonymized but allows the brand to derive insights and enhance the member experience.

“The movement, the reps, did you struggle with movement? Did you struggle with the last rep? Did we have to turn on spotter mode and give you a spot? All of this data is completely captured, and we know a lot about you,” Zell told ATN.

“It’s not about technology for the sake of technology. It’s all about how we can use this data to get our members better workouts with more results.”

Tonal’s ability to collect detailed data on member movements allows the company to create highly personalized workout plans for its users.

“In aggregate now, Tonal has amassed the world’s largest physiological data set tied to human strength,” Shottan says. “And unlike many other companies that capture data, Tonal is in the unique position to provide actionable insights in the same closed-loop system. The more you use the product, the smarter it gets for you personally, and the smarter it gets as a whole.”

Tonal’s vision, according to Shottan, is to enable anyone to achieve positive results through strength training while enjoying the comfort of their home, with the same level of personalization that a human coach would offer.

“Our data and size allow us to do that,” he says.

What’s Next for Tonal

As Tonal focuses on ensuring it has the world’s best hardware, content, and AI-powered personalization, the smart home gym maker is planning to release new features to meet those goals.

An upcoming offering is Training Goal Metrics, which tracks progress in categories such as muscle growth, strength, and weight loss, and informs members if they have reached their weekly targets or what they need to do to reach them (such as performing a certain number of sets).

Another innovation, Training Effects, will indicate how much a program or workout will help a Tonal member achieve their specific fitness goals.

This will allow members to gauge a program’s relevance and make it easy to compare content.

On the product front, Tonal plans to introduce TONi, a digital assistant that incorporates an AI-powered natural language interface and Tonal’s proprietary data.

This new feature will allow members to tailor their workouts and enhance their personal training experience.

In addition to the upcoming features, Shottan indicated that the smart home gym maker is considering bolstering its retail presence to bring more people into Tonal’s AI-based strength training world.

“We’re also continuing to evolve the applicability of our product beyond the core strength training modality and into adjacent needs such as mobility to ensure that everyone, no matter where they are in their strength training journey, can get value from Tonal,” Shottan shares.

Source: athletechnews

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.