Page 79 - Bloomberg Businessweek - November 19, 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek The Year Ahead 2019 Luxury

you’re struggling, it will lower it; if the workout
is too easy, it will raise it. A safety button on the
inside of each handle means you don’t need a
spotter during heavy bench presses.
Tonal Systems Inc. charges $2,995 for the hard-
ware and a monthly fee of $49, but despite the
hefty price, the company says it’s identified an 45m
addressable market of 45 million U.S. households,
targeting everyone from working parents to fit-
ness fanatics. Orady has already persuaded ven-
ture capitalists, including Mayfield Fund and
Upside Partnership LP, to buy into his vision.
After the success of Peloton Interactive Inc.
(current valuation: $4 billion), there’s been a ● Number of U.S.
Exercise surge of investment in fitness concepts that allow households that Tonal
for Netflix-style video content to bring profes-
Systems says might be
sional training into the home. Mirror uses a sleek
interested in its high-
screen to stream cardio classes. Neo U films train- tech home gym system
ing videos in 4K from its three New York produc-
tion studios and expects to have 550 classes on
▷ This screen replaces the its app by January. By the end of the year, the
dumbbells and the trainer original SoulCycle bike designer, Eric Villency,
will release a rowing machine and connected app
that plays classes and demos.
Almost two decades into a Silicon Valley career, Although Tonal, like its peers, believes it’s
Aly Orady quit his job at age 35 after developing revolutionizing fitness, it’ll need to prove it can
80
health problems that included Type 2 diabetes grow beyond the high-end niche. Orady says the
and sleep apnea. “I was the guy who had the gym hardware won’t change much in the future, but
membership but went sporadically,” he says. updates could include a microphone and camera
Orady started working out religiously and over as a social feature, so friends can check up on one
the next couple of years lost 70 pounds. But he another’s progress. <BW> �Selina Wang
worried about keeping the weight off when he
returned to work. “I remember sitting at the gym ▷ In the future, this machine may do the
at 6 a.m. thinking, How the heck am I going to work for you
balance a full-time job, family, another startup,
and still come here every day?” In 2015 he began “Some people call it ’roids average 20 percent reduction
prototyping a way to digitize those racks of free without the rage,” explains in body fat in that time, and a
weights and turn metal into pixels. Same pain, Dr. Ryan Neinstein, a plastic 15 percent increase in muscle
surgeon on the Upper East
in their stomachs and butts.
same gain, from the comfort of your living room. Side of Manhattan. He’s While the device isn’t
The result is Tonal, a compact, 135-pound, describing a new technol- approved to target other parts
ogy that zaps his patients’
of the body, it’s the tip of the
wall-mounted system with a 24-inch integrated abdominal and gluteal muscles spear when it comes to effort-
digital touchscreen that provides on- demand to the tune of thousands of less exercise. Doctors at clinics
such as Glow Medispa in
crunches and squats in one
workouts and personal strength coaching session. “We like to say it’s Seattle and AW Plastic Surgery
at home. Its showroom in the heart of San ‘athletic meets aesthetic.’ ” in Portsmouth, N.H., are exper-
The FDA-approved
iencing high demand for the
Francisco’s trendy Union Street looks much more EMSculpt machine sends treatment—though it’s expen-
like a modern office space than a gym. high- intensity, focused elec- sive. Four visits to Neinstein’s
tromagnetic waves into the
office cost a total of $3,000.
Turn on the LED touchscreen, and it queues a body, provoking intense mus- “Within two weeks you
selection of video classes—whether a 45- minute cle contractions in select should be able to get the equiv-
alent of a year’s worth of gains
areas. It can be uncomfort-
upper-body session focused on arms and shoul- able, but it’s not painful— in your core or your buttock,”
ders, or a 35-minute “Back to Booty” workout and there’s little soreness Neinstein says. But “in no way PHOTOGRAPHS FROM TOP, COURTESY TONAL, EMSCULPT
afterward. Unlike the similar
are we using this machine to
of squats, curls, and lifts. A pair of metal bars, e-stim “As Seen on TV” sta- replace exercise. It’s really
equipped with smart handles that attach to ples of late-night infomercials, helping the busy person who’s
got a job, a family, commit-
according to Neinstein, after
each side of the screen, can increase the desired four visits in two weeks, his ments. They’re still eating well,
weight up to 200 pounds. The software will also clients see results. A clini- they’re still exercising, but not ● Four sessions of
EMSculpting cost
cal study of 22 users showed
everyone can go to the next
adjust how heavy the weight is in real time—if that patients experienced an level.” �Chris Rovzar about $3,000