P90X Creator Tony Horton Collaborates with Hot At-Home Fitness Platform Tonal
Tony Horton, the personal training guru who sold millions of DVDs now moves to content creator with five routines for Tonal’s “Live” program, with more to follow.
Tony Horton, the man behind the intensely popular, intensely marketed and just plain intense P90X fitness program, has become a coach with Tonal, the much-hyped at-home fitness brand whose $3,000 adjustable exercise bench comes outfitted with a video screen for classes.
Horton, the media-savvy personal trainer to the stars who sold his program on a slew of infomercials about 15 years ago, will teach live classes on a format appropriately called Live. The classes will then be banked for utilization at the leisure of Tonal members.
Thus far, Horton, or “Coach Tony” as he’s called on Tonal’s website, has planned diverse five work lessons. Four — “Fit Full Body, “Legit Legs & Chest,” “Legendary Legs & Core,” and “Action Arms” — incorporate cardio and strength training. A fifth “Yoga Flex Flow” is yoga-themed. More will follow, Tonal promises.
Tony Horton became a household name with the P90X system, introduced in 2004, that promised radical bodily transformation within 90 days through intense exercise and meal planning. At a cost of about $120, buyers received 12 workout DVDs, plus supplementary material, that guided them through brisk, high-intensity workout routines for which they dedicated 90 minutes a day six or seven days a week. The accompanying meal plan regulated protein and carb intake in synchronicity to the program.
Horton hawked the P90X plan on infomercials and sold more than 4 million units. Predictably, a series of tweaked plans (like the P90X2 and P90X3), spin-off products and books came afterwards. Also predictably, interest subsided after five years or so. However, Horton’s experience in media, branding and home-based workout plans make him a natural choice for Tonal, as it seeks to increase its visibility and user base among the fitness diehards working out from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tonal’s workout machines uses a fold-out bench, resistance bands and a flat-screen TV for instruction, making it an easy-to-store setup of workout essentials. The electromagnetic resistance engine can generate up to 200 pounds of resistance, according to the company, creating an alternative to a bulky set of weights. Professional athletes have bought the device and the San Francisco-based company is raising funds to increase its profile. In September, Tonal announced it had acquired $110 million in investor funding, from the likes of Amazon, golfer Michelle Wie and several basketball stars, including Steph Curry.
So what should we expect from Tony Horton, whose P90X embodied the concept of beast mode? In an interview that came with promotional material for his Tonal package, the 62-year-old personal trainer said he has become more holistic.
“In my 20s and early 30s, my only focus was the aesthetic transformation that exercise and my not-so-healthy diet provided,” he said. “Later, in my 40s, 50s, and now 60s, I care much more about how exercise improves the quality of my life, and my mental and emotional wellbeing versus aesthetics.”
