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The Tempo Studio uses a camera along with 3D sensors and AI-technology to analyze your form and provides real-time feedback as you’re going through a workout session.
This Tempo Studio review will help you decide if this is the perfect piece of at-home workout equipment that you’ve been missing or if you can better spend your money somewhere else.
How Tempo Studio Works
When working out at the gym, it can be extremely difficult to get a gauge of if you need to correct your form. If you’re attempting to get into a workout routine for the first time in your life, you might not know how you should hold the weights to get the most out of your strength training. Using incorrect form could result in injuries or a lower-quality workout.
Even if you’re used to strength training, everyone needs a reminder on form every now and then.
The Tempo Studio helps take care of any worries you might have about your form. It features a camera at the top of its mirror that will capture your form as you go through workouts. Its 3D sensors, along with its AI-technology, will provide you with real-time feedback about adjustments you should make to your form as you’re moving through a workout.
The Tempo Studio even counts your reps for you, so you don’t have to worry about losing count of where you are in a workout. At 6 feet tall and two feet wide, the Tempo doesn’t take up a lot of space and allows you to easily place yourself in front of the machine during your fitness sessions. The studio holds a 42-inch vertical touch screen on the front of it.
Multiple reviews from users have claimed that the touch screen works well, even if you touch it when you’re sweaty.
The Tempo is able to give you feedback on your form through the use of infrared sensors that create a 3D model of your body on the television screen. The sensors take 80,000 individual points of your figure into account, and then the artificial intelligence reduces those points into 25 main pivot points on your body (these pivot points mainly include your feet, ankles, knees, shoulders, wrists, hands, neck, and back).
The 3D motion capture is smart enough to only take an image of your body and doesn’t take any pictures of your home. The model that it creates of you is more of a skeletal figure than a true rendering of what you look like, so the information that the systems create could never be identifiable to you specifically. When you’re going through a fitness session, the Tempo will use the included heart rate monitor and use the information it collects from the speed of your reps to tell you if you need to slow or speed up your reps.
As you workout with the Tempo more, it’ll continue to get smarter about the workouts it gives you
Here’s a look at the Tempo Studio in action:
Think the Tempo looks like a good fit?
Tempo Studio Workouts: An Overview
When you first get started with the Tempo Studio, it’ll have you do a fitness assessment. This will help the artificial intelligence learn about where you’re starting in your workout journey. You’ll also be able to put in what your workout goals are so that the machine can take those goals into account. From there, it’ll assess what your range of motion is and it’ll provide you with weight recommendations for the number of reps you should be performing during a session.
The Tempo Studio offers a wide range of workouts in pretty much every category you can think of. Since it comes with a set of weight plates, it naturally makes sense that many of the on-demand classes that the Tempo offers would include these weights along with weight recommendations for the session.
It has four sizes of weights, which range from 1.25 to 10 pounds. If you’re looking for a more challenging workout, then you can combine the weights.
This will give you a weight range of 7.5-pound dumbbells to 100-pound dumbbells. In addition to the weights that come with it, the Tempo also comes with a 25 pound barbell and two dumbbell bars (these can all be easily hidden and stored on the back of the Tempo.)
Additionally, it comes with a heart rate monitor, workout mat, and a foam roller. Truly looking to advertise a compact design for the home gym, the Tempo also has storage space on the back of it to tuck these away when you aren’t using them.
On top of the weight lifting related classes that the Tempo offers, it also offers classes on HIIT mobility, recovery, cardio, and general strength training. It offers hundreds of classes in each one of these categories so you never get bored when you’re looking for a new workout.
The Tempo Studio also allows for you to join a workout program that takes place over a couple of weeks. Based on the goals you say you’re looking to achieve throughout the course of the program, along with the information it has already collected about you, you can create a highly personalized program that rivals seeing a personal trainer.
The training programs can help you hold yourself accountable since you don’t have another person to encourage you to go to the gym as a type of “accountability buddy.”
It is also very straight forward in the amount of time it’ll take to complete an on-demand class. Whenever you’re looking for a class, it’ll tell you the amount of time it’ll take to complete that class in the bottom corner, but this time also includes the warm-up time and the cooldown time.
Tempo offers classes that last from 15 minutes to an hour, so whether you’re looking for a quick session or you’re trying to deep dive into a workout, it has an offering for you.
See all Tempo workouts at their website.
Are the Tempo Workouts Fun?
It certainly depends on how you define “fun.” The Tempo Studio offers live and on-demand classes with knowledgeable trainers that analyze your workout form. The AI trainers also possess enough intelligence to give you pieces of motivation to help you make it through a workout (sometimes they’ll even crack a joke).
The trainers also have options for music to go along with your on-demand workouts. If you don’t like their selections, then you can turn off their tunes and play your own in the background.
If pushing yourself to reach your fitness goals in your home while being provided with personalized feedback on your exercise form is your idea of fun, then yeah, working out with the Tempo Studio is a ton of fun.
Can You Use Tempo without a Subscription?
Unfortunately, you can’t use the Tempo Studio without a subscription at this time. There isn’t a way for you to download on-demand classes onto it, so you have to stay logged into the app with your account to access the classes.
Tempo acknowledges that this is an inconvenience for many users, but the company says that it’s adding new classes all the time and now is also offering live classes. The live classes don’t cost more than the recorded ones and are included in your subscription cost.
The monthly subscription offsets the costs for Tempo to constantly be adding new classes to their system.
What Equipment is Needed?
Nothing! The beauty of the Tempo Studio is that all of the equipment you’ll need comes with it. Weights, a bench press bar, barbells, workout mat, recovery roller, and a heart rate monitor are included.
Even better, it allows for you to store all of the equipment in one place, so you can save room and make your home gym always look nice and tidy.
All you really need to get started is an outlet in the space where you’re placing the Tempo along with a reliable Wi Fi connection. This makes setup extremely easy. You don’t even need to connect the Tempo to your wall.
Tempo Pros and Cons
The Pros
- It looks aesthetically pleasing, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. It’s essentially a vertical TV that’s built into its own case. It saves more space and allows for further functionality because it has a case beneath the screen where you can store your weights in between workouts.
- It works better in smaller spaces that a Peloton or other “smart” workout machines that are on the market. Since it takes up more vertical space than horizontal space, it’s a piece of equipment that can easily fit into a small apartment, condo, or house. The case that holds the weights beneath it also helps you save space.
- It’s highly personalized. Unlike other kinds of workout programs where you might only be able to see a leaderboard, the Tempo provides you with the information you need to make sure you’re not hurting yourself while also giving you insights on how quickly you should be doing your reps.
- It comes with a three-year warranty on the machine. That’s a long time in the world of “smart” workout machines. You can also try it out for a 30-day free trial and then send it back if you don’t like it. All you have to pay for is shipping.
- The Tempo has weights included with it. The workouts also center on the weights that are included with the machinery.
- Now offering live classes. Although this wasn’t a feature that it included when it was first rolled out, you’ll now have access to live and demand classes with your subscription. This provides a higher level of social interaction if you miss going to the gym. The personal trainers can see you and provide real-time feedback. You can see the stats of other people in the live class, but they won’t be able to see you.
- It allows you the flexibility of combining multiple weights together. You can lift up to 100 lbs. with the sets of weights that come with it.
RELATED READING: The Best Smart Home Gyms in 2021
The Cons
- It won’t count your reps correctly 100% of the time. Occasionally the sensors won’t pick up your movements and will miss counting a rep for you. This tends not to happen too often, though, and users’ reviews have reported that it mainly happens to them when they do an exercise where they aren’t entirely on the screen to begin with (e.g., pushups).
- Right now, you can’t connect it to a fitness watch (e.g., Garmin or Fitbit). This could be a negative if you want to use the fitness watch you already own to track your heart rate and import that data to the Tempo in real-time. Instead, you’ll have to wear your fitness watch and the heart rate monitor during your workouts.
- Is extremely pricey. If you belong to a gym that has a low cost and you aren’t paying for personalized classes, then this investment might not be the right choice for you.
Tempo Price: How Much Does it Cost?
While the Tempo Studio is a convenient and intelligent piece of at-home gym equipment, it comes with a price tag to match the luxury it provides. The starting price tag for it is $1,995 (which doesn’t include tax or shipping.) Typically the shipping costs around $250. On top of that, it requires a subscription that costs $39 per month. For the first year, the Tempo costs $2,713 when you include the equipment, delivery, and subscription cost.
When you divide $2,713 by 12, the price tag becomes easier to swallow. At $226 a month for the first year, it’s easier to see the Tempo’s benefits.
You can also finance the Tempo on a 12, 24, or 36-month payment plan that doesn’t involve interest. If you use the Tempo studio 2-3 times a week, you’ll probably be paying more for it the first year than you would be if you’re paying for a personal trainer or a boutique fitness gym. However, if you continue to use the Tempo several times a week after the first year, you’ll start to save money.
The subscription cost of $39 per month could equal the price of one group class or personal training session, so you’ll really start to see the impact on your wallet when you enter your second year of ownership.
Check current Tempo prices at their website.
Review Summary: Is Tempo Right for You?
If you’re someone who loves going to the gym because of the social interaction that the experience provides, then you might not be ready to cut the cord and commit to the Tempo. However, with many gyms across the United States closing their doors or implementing mask mandates because of COVID-19, you might find that you’ve been working out at home more and more, but you don’t have the proper equipment to make your workouts as impactful as they were before.
One of Tempo’s main advantages is that it incorporates the use of weights into a lot of its workouts (although if this isn’t an added bonus for you, there are still plenty of classes to choose from that don’t incorporate weights). A lot of other “smart” workout pieces of equipment don’t use as much weight equipment in the classes they provide.
The Tempo might not be the right piece of equipment to add to your home gym if you’re already an expert at working out at home.
If you’ve already bought a lot of equipment for your home, then it might not be worth it to purchase the Tempo because of all the weights that come with it (unfortunately, you can’t pick and choose the pieces of equipment you want with the Tempo and lower the price that way). If you’re used to working out at home, you could already have a plan in place that works perfectly with your routine; then you might not need the expertise that Tempo provides to reach your fitness goals.
However, the Tempo Studio is perfect for you if you’re a beginner to working out at home. If you’re considering building a collection of equipment for your home gym, then Tempo makes it simple. It’ll save you time from deciding what other pieces of equipment you need to buy.
If you’re someone who’s looking to build muscle through the use of weights, then the Tempo is also in your wheelhouse. It can perfectly complement your cardio-based workouts. Even if you’re a more muscular person already who’s looking to start working out at home, the Tempo will work well for you based on the ability it provides for you to combine weights. This gives you the perfect amount of flexibility to reach the level of difficulty you need.
Finally, the Tempo Studio is an ideal fitness solution for you if you live in a smaller space and aren’t sure how to build up a “home gym” with the amount of space that you have around. The ease of storage that comes with the Tempo lets you put it almost anywhere, and its aesthetically pleasing style allows you to set it in obvious places (like your living room).
The Tempo Studio review showcases how the Tempo is the perfect piece of workout equipment to add to your home if you don’t want to go to the gym, are looking for feedback on your form, or live in a small space.
The 30-day free trial makes it worth trying it out to see if you love the feel of working out in this new and “futuristic” format.
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