Peloton is not just a bike but also outdoor running, strength, walking, yoga, bootcamp/cardio, and meditation. There's constant challenges, encouragement, and other ways to encourage engagement.

Tonal has added form checking now so I’d still go with that over Tempo

One thing people seem to like about tempo is the sensors that help correct your form

Anonymous wrote:Just saw a review of the tempo which said they liked it better than tonal (and it’s a $1,000 less)

I'd like to know more about tempo. It looks interesting but has regular weights so kind of seems like you could get any weights with a screen nearby? Might be more of a competitor to Mirror than Tonal. Does anyone have one?

Just saw a review of the tempo which said they liked it better than tonal (and it’s a $1,000 less)

Anonymous wrote:Depending on space and who in your home may want to lift weights, you might want to consider a weight bench, squat rack, bar and some plates. If I read their site correctly, the Tonal seems to max out at 200 pounds of resistance. Many women and most men who lift are going to max that out too quickly for the $3000 price to make sense. I'm a middle aged guy who just started lifting a few years ago, and my three big lifts (squat, deadlift, bench) are all well beyond 200 pounds, and many accessory lifts are over or right at 200 (shrugs, calf raises, decline bench, rows, RDL).

The setup I'm currently using at home cost less than $700, and for $1500 you could get a really nice set of weights, bench, bar, rack and dumbbells and mats.

It does max out at 200lb, but 200lb of electromagnetic weight feels a lot heavier (between 1.5 and 2 times, depending on the move) than regular weights. The exact reason why is a bit beyond me, but it's something to do with momentum I think. This is an issue that gets raised a lot on the Tonal facebook page from prospective owners. Speaking for myself, I am nowhere near maxing out on any of the weights and I can't see it happening any time in the future. Some of the users are much bigger, stronger men or people with a bodybuilding background, and while some feel that they might max out on a few moves such as deadlifts, they don't feel like they will be close to doing that on most of the moves.

While I think there's nothing wrong with a traditional weight set up, I know that for me the tonal works a lot better and I use it a lot more than I would have used the traditional set up. For me this is because: 1) the Tonal uses AI to determine what weights you should lift for each move. As an inexperienced lifter, I don't know this - I wouldn't have known where to start for each move and then how heavy to go depending on how many reps I want to do. Tonal works all this out for you. 2) It increases weights in 1lb increments (or you can dial it up to anything you want) so you constantly get to bump up your weights, slowly increasing, which is achievable. With traditional weights you usually go up in 5lb or 10lb increments and that is often too much. 3) As well as being able to design your own programs, or just lift in free lift mode, there are tons of programs and workouts designed on screen for you so I do really well-designed programs, all with specific goals in mind, and then I change them up every few weeks or add in different individual workouts so I am getting a lot of variety. 4) I know from Peloton that I need something other than just the weights or the bike itself to keep me coming back, and I won't be motivated to just go down to my basement and pick up some weights. I know that some people are and that's great. But I really value the on screen coaching and motivation and I couldn't do it (or wouldn't do it) without that.

I would get Tonal and then get a way cheaper bike and use the peloton app for spin - it’s get you about 90% there.

Depending on space and who in your home may want to lift weights, you might want to consider a weight bench, squat rack, bar and some plates. If I read their site correctly, the Tonal seems to max out at 200 pounds of resistance. Many women and most men who lift are going to max that out too quickly for the $3000 price to make sense. I'm a middle aged guy who just started lifting a few years ago, and my three big lifts (squat, deadlift, bench) are all well beyond 200 pounds, and many accessory lifts are over or right at 200 (shrugs, calf raises, decline bench, rows, RDL).

The setup I'm currently using at home cost less than $700, and for $1500 you could get a really nice set of weights, bench, bar, rack and dumbbells and mats.

Anonymous wrote:It's more expensive than the Peloton. Is it worth it? Where do you keep it?

Yes, it's more expensive than the Peloton. I think that's because in terms of hardware, it's a novel and unique system, with the electromagnetic weights in the arms, whereas the Peloton bike is simply a (good quality) spin bike with a tablet attached. The subscription is also $10/month more than Peloton and that was what put me off for a long time before I got it, as I wasn't sure about paying 2 monthly subscriptions. In the end, I'm delighted that I have it. If the Peloton subscription is like getting an unlimited monthly subscription to studio spin classes, the Tonal monthly subscription is like having an unlimited monthly subscription to a personal trainer. Obviously it's not exactly the same as a personal trainer because you don't get quite the same personal attention, modification and attention to form. The form issue was also what held me back for a while - I was concerned that I would do it wrong, injure myself and I wouldn't be able to self-correct as an inexperienced lifter. In fact, there are several great ways Tonal deals with this. First, the cues and guidance of the trainers on screen are great and set up you up to teach you the moves and do them well. Second, there is a lot of off-Tonal content (for now it is all on facebook - and I suggest joining the Tonal facebook group now so that you can see what I mean and ask questions of other users. If you've ever been on the Official Peloton facebook page and are put off because of that, rest assured it's nothing like that!) -instructors putting videos online teaching form, people posting their own videos for form feedback, questions on technique, etc. The community is really helpful and all of the instructors are on there too and very willing to help. I've had text conversations with 2 instructors, and a video personal training session with one of them. Third, Tonal is developing and adding new technology all the time to improve this. In the last few weeks they just added form feedback on the machine itself using the gyroscopes and other things in the handles and arms, so now you get specific feedback saying things like "go lower" or "raise your arms more slowly" or "stand 2 feet further back" or whatever. There is a camera built into the machine which is currently inactive, but is likely to go live soon with even more form feedback.

I have it on a wall in my basement gym. You need to have it on a space which has about 7x7ft in front of it, to allow you to extend the arms in all directions and work all around it. You can manage with a bit less, especially if you're smaller. I love it, using it regularly (I use it about 4 times a week) has totally changed my body shape - I have a body composition scale and my weight has stayed about the same but I've lost fat, gained muscle and I've lost inches all over and I feel toned and strong.

It's more expensive than the Peloton. Is it worth it? Where do you keep it?

I have both and I love them both! If gaining muscle is your goal, get tonal. the strength classes on peloton are ok but nothing like tonal. I've had peloton for 2 years and tonal for 6 months and my strength gains are now measurable and huge.

It sounds like you are more interested in strength then spin or the tread.

Try the Peloton app for free for a month and see how the strength classes work for you. If you like the classes, use the app monthly, I think it is $10 a month.

If you want to do strength training and spin, then get the bike. You get the app for free when you pay for the bike subscription. You can also case strength classes from the bike tablet if you want.

Thanks! I worked with a trainer for a year and was power lifting but that stopped during COVID. Towers are definitely not my thing. I used to spin years ago and loved it but switched to lifting for weight loss and it worked. I was thinking I could do the strength training with my weights and the peloton app?

Thoughts?

Do you already do strength training?

Tonal doesn’t help with form and seems less engaging than peloton so if you know you will do it and are comfortable with it then tonal might make sense but if not maybe peloton.

Could also look at a rower (hydrow would be the peloton/tonal equivalent but there’s a thread already on c2 and waterrowers too)

I would buy both if I could afford them BUT if you have both and could only pick one, what would be your choice?

I need to continue to gain muscle and loose body fat. Turning 40 and need most effective results in less amount of time. Advise please