In this Tonal Talk, community members Harry Kraushaar and Arlene Kraushaar share how Tonal brought them closer together as brother and sister.
Despite growing up together, siblings can sometimes drift apart. You start focusing on your studies, careers, families, and then perhaps you find yourselves living in different parts of the country or world. “Nothing really bad happens,” said Harry Kraushaar of southern California, “but out of sight, out of mind; different lives, different interests.” That’s exactly what happened between Harry and his sister, Arlene Kraushaar, of northern California. Then Tonal came along and changed everything between them.
Both brother and sister purchased Tonal as a way to stay active and healthy during the pandemic, but little did they know their individual training would serve as a way for them to strengthen their relationship with one another.
For many years, Harry and Arlene would only connect on important occasions, and that was really all there was to their relationship. “Usually, the obligatory happy birthday call and maybe somebody’s having a medical procedure, or [Harry’s] daughter’s having a baby or something like that,” Arlene explained.
During one of those sporadic phone calls, Harry told his sister he was considering purchasing a Tonal. “I was sick of paying for Equinox,” he explained. “When the pandemic hit, I had my five-pound dumbbells at home, and I was doing bodyweight exercises and wasn’t lifting. I’m not much of a lifter, but nonetheless, I [had] to do something.”
Harry saw a Tonal commercial, and it just clicked. “Out of the blue, he [said] I’m thinking about buying a Tonal,” added Arlene. “We’ve never even said that word to each other before, and I just went crazy and told him the whole story of how I had done it and joined the community. So that’s what started us off on really connecting in our relationship,” she said. That conversation became the start of a whole new chapter.
“I said, if she ordered it, I’m ordering it. End of discussion. Done deal,” said Harry.
From then on, Tonal, our Official Facebook Community, the monthly program challenges, and the book club became a way for them to bond once again.
“It opened up something that both of us could share and be excited about,” said Arlene. Although they mostly talked about their training and physical wellbeing at first, those conversations quickly evolved into much more than Tonal. Gone are the days of those one-off phone calls. Now they speak at least once a week for an hour or more. During that time, they’ll cover their latest workouts, share training tips and notes on the latest Tonal book club read, and connect on whatever else is going on in their lives. “I feel like I have a brother, you know? It’s been wonderful,” Arlene added.
Harry is also grateful to be closer to his sister, explaining that relationships can often degrade for no good reason, and sometimes you just need something to kickstart it. That’s exactly what Tonal did. “It’s been really interesting to learn more about what my sister thinks, so I’m really thankful for this. I used to laugh at my wife, saying you have a great relationship with your [siblings], and I don’t know that I have one,” he said. He playfully added that his relationship with his sister now trumps the one his wife has with her siblings, and they have to be careful about flaunting their newfound bond too much.
Watch the video above to learn more about how Harry and Arlene’s support for each other on Tonal has transformed their relationship.
Tonal Tip: You’ll find we have lots of ways to connect with family and friends — from on-trainer features like Partner Workouts and Virtual Group Workouts to community initiatives like monthly group challenges and book club. To learn more, join the Official Tonal Community on Facebook.