By Fitness Blogger & Tone House Athlete Kaitlin McCabe
At Tone House, our sports conditioning programming primes athletes for the highest level of mental and physical fitness. Through sessions that are team-oriented, competitive and grueling, you’ll unquestionably feel like an elite athlete from the moment you hit the Turf.
Our programs are intentionally presented as an interpretation of pre-season football workouts. With our client roster of current or former professional athletes, Decathlon team members and Turf Wars competitors, it’s no surprise that we attract individuals with a traditionally intense training focus. However, some of our most loyal and veteran athletes incorporate our movement training philosophy to improve their performance in more unique arenas.
Though their area of focus may drastically differ, athletes Sara Hamadani, Zack Lomita, Shaun Jenkins and Lulu Faria all maintain that they don’t just work out at Tone House for the experience. Their commitment to the Turf has far more to do with how it’s made them perform better in their chosen areas of expertise.
SARA HAMADANI
Sport: Marathon Running
Years Training at Tone House: 4 years in October
Training Days at Tone House: Typically 3-4x per week; Monday (Lower Body/Core), Wednesday (Core), Thursday (Total Body), Friday (Conditioning)
One doesn’t typically compare Tone House training to marathon training. Runner and House veteran Sara Hamadani was first drawn to the Turf out of pure competition.
“Most of my life I’ve had personal trainers that I’ve just relied on. One of the trainers tried [Tone House] and said, ‘It’s impossible to keep up with such a workout…I want to see if you’re able to finish it.’ I’m the type of person who loves competition. I want to prove that I’m capable. I want to prove them wrong.”
Hamadani aims to run in every major race in the area, from 10 milers to half and full marathons. Ask her, and she will credit Tone House as the true game-changer in her conditioning.
“Tone House really changed my conditioning and my endurance. Mentally, Tone House and the coaches give me that competition mindset, and it’s sustained. When I’m racing, I pick someone to be visually racing and chasing. At Tone House, you always have that friend or that coach who pushes you to go harder…Even when I want to give up, I don’t let myself.”
Hamadani specifically cites Monday (Lower Body/Core) and Wednesday (Core) as key for her development as a runner. The lower-body focus helps improve her stride and hip mobility, and developing her core has unquestionably improved her running posture which better opens her lungs for oxygen.
Since training on the Turf, Hamadani’s times have dropped significantly. In last year’s NYC Marathon, she hit a 3 hour, 53 minutes personal record; this was the first time she dropped below a four hour marathon finish. Four years later, Hamadani’s Tone House training remains non-negotiable.
“When you come here, you build a relationship with everyone around you and become more confident. I run, yes, but I use Tone House to look the way I do.”
For Hamadani, Tone House has evolved from just providing necessary training to being a strong presence in her life.
She explains, “Tone House comes in my schedule before anything. We all have stressful jobs and home lives. I’m a mother of two, manage my own business and come to Tone House from Brooklyn. There’s a reason I wake up so early and make the time.”
ZACK LOMITA
Sport: Basketball
Years Training at Tone House: 2 years
Training Days at Tone House: 3x per week
Tone House appeals to the former competitive athlete, and basketball player of 23 years Zack Lomita is no exception.
“My competitive drive brought me back and made me want to get better. I have been pretty obsessed ever since…Tone House makes me feel like I am an athlete again.”
For Lomita, the Tone House programs resonated with him as just another team practice – without the actual basketball component. The resistance training, sprints, lateral movements, etc. are similar to the mobility exercises used during basketball practice, while the camaraderie cultivated on the Turf develops the team mentality.
Lomita plays basketball two-three times per week, and incorporating Tone House into his fitness routine immediately impacted his performance and overall conditioning.
“I used to take many breaks…now I feel like the energizer bunny out there. I really do attribute that all to Tone House.” He adds, “My lateral quickness has gotten much better, which has tremendously improved my defense. I have also become mentally stronger, knowing how much more I can push myself no matter how exhausted my mind thinks I am.”
The impact of Tone House has been far more for Lomita than just physical improvements on the basketball court. He encourages fellow athletes and hesitant rookies to embrace the mental challenge the program delivers in order to grow as an athlete.
“It may sound cliché, but in order to grow and get better, you have to be comfortable with getting uncomfortable. We often put limitations on our abilities,” he says. “Give yourself the opportunity to see what you’re truly capable of. That relates to anything in life. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Challenge yourself to become a better version of yourself. Tone House is a great start.”
SHAUN JENKINS
Sport: Muay Thai
Years Training at Tone House: 5 years
Training Days at Tone House: 2x per week; Either Monday (Lower Body/Core) and Wednesday (Core) or Wednesday (Core) and Friday (Conditioning)
Shaun Jenkins, Senior Training Manager at Tone House, uses Turf workouts to complement, not dictate, his own training schedule. With two years of training under his belt, Jenkins is fully committed to preparing for his first Muay Thai fight this fall. He works on his craft five days a week, for one-two hours each session – in addition to the hours you can find him putting in work at Tone House.
Jenkins praise as a fighter is unmatched. The program complements his mobility training, specifically for hips and shoulders. He recommends Conditioning and Total Body workouts for cross-training. These programs force athletes to experience an elevated – but steady – heart rate, which increases their VO2 (maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during incremental exercise) and allows them to oxygenate more effectively.
Even as a coach, Jenkins is challenged mentally and physically each time he hits the Turf.
“Tone House has created this grit in my training. Every class I discover new goal lines that I moved up,” he says. “I am always looking to crush myself in every class, and that mindset allows me to train for two hours in Muay Thai without feeling demolished. My endurance is absolutely insane because of Tone House, which means I am able to focus on technical skills when training for my exhibition fight (in September).”
For Jenkins, the rigorous mental and physical challenge of Tone House makes for the perfect Muay Thai cross-training. “[Fighters] have to be able to tap into a deeper connection with our bodies, when in the ring. Your opponent more than likely is just as skilled as you, and you have to tap into a savage mentality that is fostered at Tone House.”
LULU FARIA
Sport: CrossFit/Olympic lifting
Years Training at Tone House: 2 years
Training Days at Tone House: 2x per week; Friday (Conditioning), Sunday (Total Body)
Solace coach and CrossFit/Olympic lifting athlete Lulu Faria has an unrivaled focus to improving her training. Heading into the D10 with the Tone House Ladykillers on June 8 (and possibly a weightlifting competition the day after), Faria has relied upon Tone House’s competitive programming to strengthen her endurance performance.
“In CrossFit, you need to be good at all components of fitness,” she explains. “Because Tone House is so go-go-go with little-to-no breaks, it definitely helps you push beyond a comfort zone and build even more stamina.”
Though she dominates the Turf today, Faria wasn’t always as confident.
“I barely made it past the warm-up on my first two classes, and I didn’t come back for a good year,” she confessed. Even as a “psycho” regular to 5AM Funeral Fridays, Faria remains humble with her success.
“[Tone House has] a big sign that reads ‘Leave your ego at the door.’ Take that seriously because I don’t care how fit you are, the first workout will crush you!” To new athletes, she recommends, “Go to it knowing it is a sports training workout. If you’re someone that needs those long warm-ups, go early, and take advantage of the space they have for you to do that.”
Ready to see how Tone House can improve your performance in your favorite sport? Book a class with us and watch the magic happen.