Why Paul Sklar's Tonal 2 Review Is Statistically Irrelevant
The Lie That Started This
Paul Sklar posted a video saying you can turn off your Tonal membership and still do custom workouts.
That's not true. That's not even close to true.
I was already planning to turn off my membership. The Tonal buyback program — which I call the Steelback Program — was the final straw. But Paul's video pushed me over the edge.
Here's what Paul said, and why it's fundamentally dishonest.
What Paul Claimed
Paul's argument was essentially: "I turn off my membership sometimes and I just do custom workouts."
The implication: Tonal works fine without the $63/month membership. You just lose access to the guided programs.
Here's what you actually get without a membership:
- Handles
- Bar
- Rope
That's it.
No eccentric mode. No progressive overload. No movement tracking. No weight tracking. No sets and reps logged. Nothing.
You're paying $5,000+ for a cable machine that does nothing without a monthly subscription. And Paul is telling people that's fine?
Why Paul Doesn't Know
Paul doesn't know because Paul has never experienced life without a membership.
Tonal sends reviewers units with the membership pre-paid. Every single YouTuber reviewing Tonal — every single one — has a unit where Tonal covers the $63/month. They literally cannot test what happens when you turn it off because the membership isn't theirs to turn off.
This is why you never see negative Tonal reviews. Everyone reviewing the product has a financial incentive to make it look good. Their units are paid for. Their memberships are covered. They're not living the customer experience.
I am. I've paid for my membership for years. I've turned it off. I know exactly what you lose.
The Steelback Program
Let me explain the Tonal buyback program because this is where things get ridiculous.
Tonal offered $1,000 for your used device. Sounds great, right?
Except on the exact same day, Tonal had $500 off the device on their website.
So they're offering you $1,000 for a device you paid $5,000+ for — while simultaneously selling the same device for $500 less than retail. That's a $1,500 swing. You're essentially getting a $500 credit toward a new device while they profit $4,000+ from the original sale plus your membership fees.
I called it the Steelback Program. The community loved the name.
The Website Lie
There's another lie on Tonal's website right now.
They have a checkbox that says "access to all your moves" without a membership. That's the checkbox Paul was referencing when he said you can still do custom workouts.
But here's what that actually means:
- You get handles
- You get bar
- You get rope
That's "all your moves" without a membership. Three attachments. That's it.
No eccentric mode. No chains mode. No progressive overload. No weight tracking. No data. You're literally using the machine as a dumb cable system — except you can't even adjust the weight manually. The dial is locked.
That's what $5,000+ gets you without the membership. A dumb cable machine.
What Tonal Actually Is
Let me be clear about what Tonal built:
The hardware is incredible. I transformed my body from over 250 pounds to 180 pounds using almost nothing but Tonal. Every rep of that transformation — 9,000,844 pounds worth — was logged on their system.
The device is phenomenal.
The company is dreadful.
They lie about the membership in their marketing. They lie about the buyback program. They lie about what you get without a membership. They increase prices and blame inflation when it's actually $10/month plus sales tax — different numbers depending on where you live.
And every reviewer with a platform has every incentive to make the product look good because their review unit's membership is paid for.
The Real Customer Experience
I'm living the real customer experience. I paid for my device. I paid for my membership. Then I decided to see what happens when you turn it off.
What happens is this: they move the workout controls to the top of the screen and replace the bottom with a giant ad urging you to reactivate. There's no way to start a workout without clicking through to the reactivation page.
That's not a product. That's a ransom note.
Why This Matters
Here's why I'm so fired up about this:
I'm not the customer anymore. I've already turned off my membership. I'm using Speediance now. But I remember what it felt like to be deceived — to trust a reviewer's opinion without knowing their unit was comped.
If you're considering Tonal, you need to know:
1. The membership is NOT optional — without it, you have a paperweight
2. Every positive review comes from a unit where the membership is paid — they can't test what you're actually buying
3. The buyback program is a scam — they're selling the same device for less than they're giving you credit for
The Bottom Line
Paul Sklar's review tells you that Tonal works without a membership. It doesn't.
Paul Sklar's review tells you that custom workouts are available without a membership. They're not.
Paul Sklar doesn't know because he's never lived it. His unit has a membership. All reviewer units have memberships. That's why the reviews are uniformly positive.
I turned off my membership. I know what happens. You get handles, bar, and rope — and an ad on your screen telling you to pay up.
That's Tonal. That's the product you're buying.
I switched to Speediance. The hardware is comparable. The company actually supports their customers. And I don't have a giant ad on my screen every time I want to lift.