"Can you actually build muscle on Tonal?

I mean, the same way you can build muscle in a gym?"

This was a question I got from a prospect over the phone yesterday. I told him exactly what he wanted to hear: no.

He was ready to sound the alarm and start a parade. 🥳

Finally, someone had said it. All his fears realized, his dreams dashed, but his excuses now had validity.

He was triumphantly right! 🏆

It wasn't his fault he didn't have the body he wanted... it was Tonal's fault. It wasn't that he was randomly jumping around from one program to the next...

Constantly switching between shred and bulk programs...

Not leveraging a progressive programming strategy from one phase to the next...

Not tracking progressive overload from one workout to the next...

Not improving his technique or learning how to use Tonal's strengths for muscle growth... while working around its weaknesses...

Or matching his nutrition to his training by finding his maintenance calories, eating 5–10% more, and getting enough protein and quality carbs.

No, none of that actually mattered.

It was Tonal. 📲 🙄

I went on to share all of this and he got quiet.

I then texted him photos of a dozen of my best clients and said, "Is this what you're looking for?"

"Yeah," he said.

"That's exactly what I want."

Then it's possible with Tonal.
You just don't have the right strategy.

Now, I'm going to share two small parts of the overall strategy I shared above...

Leveraging Tonal's strengths while working around its weaknesses. And improving lifting technique.

(I'll share another next week.)

That's what my Tonal Hacks Library is all about.

Small tweaks that help you get more out of the machine.

More muscle. Better results.

Sometimes even more than a regular gym, especially when you add in things like Eccentric Mode.

It's also about working around Tonal's weak spots. Things like squats, heavy compound lifts, and training to complete failure.

Some of these are actually easier and safer in gyms or on machines.

Today, I'm covering the Incline Chest Fly.

With a few small tweaks, you can take this exercise from garbage to "are you on gear" in 30s or less.

• Move Tonal's arms up from the lowest setting to parallel with the floor.
• Adjust them one notch wider for a bigger stretch across the chest.
• Stand in a staggered stance: chest out, shoulders back, head tall.
• Keep your arms mostly straight.
• Drive your elbows together in front of your chin.

Most people mess this up by bending their elbows, shrugging, and leaning forward.

This pulls your biceps, back, and even your front delts into the movement. All muscles that are NOT the target for this particular exercise.

That takes this from a chest exercise to a bicep, back, and mostly delt exercise with just a touch of chest. Not ideal.

Arnold would not approve. 🙅🏼‍♂️

See below. 👇🏻

​

You don't have to go all Euclid, Archimedes, or Pythagoras on me...

But indulge me for a minute...

Next time you do a movement on Tonal think about the relationship between your arm, the cable, and Tonal's arm.

Think about how it affects the resistance curve:

• Do you feel it more on the stretch during the eccentric portion?
• Or do you feel it more on the contraction during the concentric portion?
• How you feel it (or don't feel it) in your target muscle group.

Finally, geometry is useful for something! 😝

And if you're not even sure what muscle you're supposed to be feeling on a given exercise...

Start there before you even touch the machine.

Figure out what muscle you're actually trying to target. Tap it. Then flex it on its own so you know what that feels like.

That's your baseline.

Now compare it to what you feel when you're actually doing a rep. If it doesn't match up, something's off.

Are you working hard, but not seeing the results you want with Tonal? 😩 📲

Feel like you're spinning your wheels a bit?

Watch this video 👇🏻

👉🏻 How we helped 721 Tonal users lose 12,978 lbs of fat and build 1,082 lbs of muscle in the last 4 years​

Time for action,

Coach Jackson