This is a game changer

When I bought the Tonal back in December, I had no idea how much this machine would impact mine and my family's lives. I had always been in really good shape growing up and throughout my military career, but when I got out in 2009, my health started to go downhill pretty quickly. This was mainly due to stresses of life and my career in law enforcement.

I was at the point where I wasn't sure if I would be able to get back into shape or not as I got older. I had tried different diets and gym memberships, but nothing we did ever really seemed to stick. Then I started to see ads for the Tonal and I started to look more into it.

At almost $4000, it was a pretty big decision, but the more my wife and I looked into it, the more it made sense. We were sick of making attempts to go to the gym and use our memberships that we were paying for, just to get there and not have any idea what type of workout we were going to do, and if we had a plan, it was ruined by how crowded the gyms can get.

But ever since we got the Tonal installed, I have been working out very consistently for the past 15 weeks. The past 8 weeks, I have done at least one workout every single day. Consistency was one of the things that I really struggled with when I was doing any sort of workout routine, but it is so easy now. I don't have to go anywhere and I can be done with my workouts in 20-40 mins. Best part is, I can have my music as loud as I want and wear whatever I want. I have been lifting without shoes and my ankle and foot strength has even improved.

One of the coolest aspects of the Tonal is that it tracks EVERY rep that you do and the weight you used. Since I got it, I have lifted over 714,000 pounds. My goal for this month is to hit a million pounds.

The programs make working out so easy. They have so many to choose from and the coaches are all awesome. I am in my fifth workout program right now and I am supplementing some extra movements after the workouts so I can lift more because these workouts are only 20 mins long, but some of them are pretty exhausting.

My next workout is one of my favorites. I have never really done anything for my back other than deadlifts, so it has been cool to see all the new muscle that my body is making.

One of the best things on the Tonal though, is the different mobility and recovery workouts you can do. This is really where your body gets the TLC it needs to get stronger and keep your body in optimal shape.

My wife and I have been doing some sort of a recovery workout every night before we go to bed for the past few months and it is amazing how much these workouts have helped our bodies. We are not as sore after working out and we have so much more range of motion in our joints and we are more flexible than we have ever been.

The best part of the recovery workouts is just being there and spending time with my wife each night. It is my favorite time of the day. Our daughter has recently started doing the recoveries with us and she is really liking how much better they make her feel and how they help to make her workouts a lot easier.

Last night we did a wrist and forearm mobility and it was so good. I had no idea how tight my wrists and forearms were. Working on the computer a lot really takes a toll on your wrists and forearms. Gripping a lot of heavy weight wears out your forearms as well, and it was so nice to release that tension. We are going to have to return to this one often because we really neglect this area.

So many people think that lifting weights is all your body needs to get stronger, but taking the time to do recovery workouts is really where your body repairs itself. I never thought that I would be in the best shape of my life when I am in my forties. I can't wait to see what my body looks and feels like a year from now.

I used to deal with severe backpain and knee pain, but those pains are pretty much non existent now. The Tonal feels like a cheat code for working out because we don't have to do anything except show up to workout. The machine automatically adjusts everything to push your body to get stronger and it does it all in the safest manner possible. I never have to worry about it putting too much weight on there and it always pushed me out of my comfort zone to get better.