{"id":9316,"date":"2026-01-13T11:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=9316"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:28:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:28:31","slug":"this-is-how-kendall-toole-is-knocking-out-both-physical-and-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=9316","title":{"rendered":"This is How Kendall Toole is ‘Knocking Out’ both Physical and Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kendall Toole is stepping into her next chapter shaped as much by mental resilience as physical performance. During her tenure as an instructor at Peloton, Toole coached millions of members worldwide through live and on-demand classes. Her high-energy rides, unfiltered emotional honesty, and relentless encouragement became an anchor for people returning day after day, especially during the pandemic. At the same time, she was also helping fans get through grief, stress, and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

But as time passed on, while Toole was filling other people\u2019s cups, her own was slowly running empty. It\u2019s where the inspiration for her latest exercise endeavor, Never Knocked Out (NKO) Club<\/a>, was created.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I loved what I did, I was very tired and burnt out. I\u2019m a full-energy, full-tilt person, so I felt like I wasn\u2019t myself. I felt in my body, but out of my skin,\u201d she tells Muscle & Fitness. \u201cI noticed my joy for training was starting to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

What unsettled her most was numbness. \u201cThere was a level of just deep exhaustion. So I started feeling really numb to things,\u201d she admits. \u201cI think an important sign is not a lot of feeling. It\u2019s the absence of feeling. It\u2019s the absence of passion or pleasure or fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For athletes and high performers conditioned to push through that kind of detachment is easy to dismiss. Toole learned to see it as a warning sign that her nervous system was overloaded, long before anything visibly fell apart.<\/p>\n

But instead of sinking deeper, she chose to rise above it and step into growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re finding ourselves detached or more apathetic, more numb, that\u2019s a great alert system to say, okay, it\u2019s time to change. It\u2019s time to grow,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s time to either add weight, either physically, but also add a new challenge mentally. So take time to go to the other parts of ourselves and see what needs some effort. And that was a big point for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kendall Toole<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kendall Toole Wants To Address What Modern Fitness Culture Often Dismisses<\/h2>\n

Modern fitness culture is built on output. More intensity. More discipline. More data. When our mind takes over and doubt rises, the default solution is often to train harder.<\/p>\n

Toole saw a missing framework for mental resilience was recognizing when the mind, not the body, is what needs attention first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been this fissure and gap between physical fitness and mental fitness,\u201d Toole says. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t have one without the other. It\u2019s absolutely impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

That realization became the foundation for NKO Club, her self-funded platform that blends on-demand strength training, boxing, Pilates, cycling, and mobility with breathwork, gratitude journaling, nutritious recipes, and short mindfulness practices. The goal she says is sustainability.<\/p>\n

She purposely made the mindfulness practices snackable. \u201cI\u2019d love to meditate for 20 minutes. I am nowhere near being able to do that yet,\u201d she laughs. \u201cSo we started with five-minute resets. Little wins on the brain actually make a massive impact because our brain is constantly changing and growing through neuroplasticity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rethinking Resilience<\/h2>\n

As an athlete, Toole understands resilience. But she\u2019s learned that it can become a liability when every internal signal is treated as something to conquer.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people in health and fitness, especially us athletes, take pride in our resilience,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut there are times when part of being resilient is allowing the feeling to exist, and sitting with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She compares mental strain to physical injury. \u201cYou can\u2019t fight something that needs to have its place,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s no different than an injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge, she explains, is that mental injuries often don\u2019t come with visible markers first, so people tend to muscle through warning signs they would never ignore physically.<\/p>\n

She encourages people to lean in to recognize what she calls \u201cinjury days\u201d for the mind. These days that require rest, gentler movement, or space, has reshaped how she trains and lives.<\/p>\n

A Life Lesson That Changed Everything<\/h2>\n

Toole\u2019s awareness is rooted in a much darker season of her life. Eleven years ago, she experienced a period of suicidal ideation marked by profound disconnection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like my head wasn\u2019t connected to the rest of my body,\u201d she recalls. \u201cLike my brain was trapped upstairs, and my neck down didn\u2019t feel real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did she almost take her own life, the trainer admits to M&F that can barely recall any moments in the months that followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember Christmas. I don\u2019t remember New Year\u2019s, I don\u2019t remember my birthday,\u201d she shares. \u201cI don\u2019t know if my brain didn\u2019t store those memories simply because it was trying to protect me from a very dark time, but I\u2019m grateful in hindsight that I don\u2019t have those months, because it is what got me into therapy and got me really working on myself and then built the trajectory for my life now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kendall Toole<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How She Trains for Emotional Longevity<\/h2>\n

Today, Toole\u2019s mental fitness practices are intentionally practical. She doesn\u2019t believe in perfect routines or extreme protocols. She believes in consistency and early intervention.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my central nervous system isn\u2019t doing well,\u201d she says, \u201cmy body tells me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those principles are embedded into NKO Club, which treats mental fitness as a trainable skill rather than a personality trait. Her core practices include:<\/p>\n

1. Morning mental reps<\/h3>\n

While Toole says being a morning person was never really her thing, she sees tremendous value in becoming one. She knows that if she doesn\u2019t have her morning habits locked in, those negative thought patterns and seeds of doubt can have way more of a hold on her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I do when I wake up is a three-minute meditation, getting into my body,\u201d she says. \u201cThen I open up the NKO app, do my gratitude journal, while my brain is still malleable, and I can implant some good stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

She overrides the habit of scrolling in the morning, and instead puts on music, a podcast, or practices prayer to set her mind up for a day of success.<\/p>\n

2. Breathwork baked into the workout<\/h3>\n

Toole practices being intentional about her breath in and around training. Members of the app will see how she combines \u201cmind\u201d and \u201cbody\u201d sessions. For example, she coaches nasal breathing in the 10-second recovery windows of her 15-minute HIIT class \u201cto oxygenate the frontal lobe so that we can be more present.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Using the body as an emotional dashboard<\/h3>\n

Through the awareness that\u2019s built over time, Toole recognizes her body\u2019s early warning signs when her nervous system is running on overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my central nervous system is not doing well, I feel it in my brain, upper traps, and lower back,\u201d she says. \u201cI can literally tell, \u2018okay, my mental health isn\u2019t great, because my back is lighting up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

On those days she leans into mobility, hip work, stretching, and slower modalities like Pilates sculpt. Layered movements force her brain into the present.<\/p>\n

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Kendall Toole<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Protecting your humanity<\/h2>\n

Toole is blunt about what today\u2019s environment does to our minds. \u201cIt\u2019s laborious to try to have a deeply human experience in today\u2019s world, to try to protect your humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For athletes who pride themselves on never missing a set, Toole is throwing down a different kind of challenge. Train to notice the crack before it spreads and have the courage to stop, breathe, and feel, so you can keep showing up for the long haul.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re feeling the disconnect between your physical body and your mind, that\u2019s always an important sign,\u201d she points out. \u201cBut movement and breath are the best way to transition from being in that state of overwhelm and disconnect, and then pulling yourself back to your own humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the app NKO Club is now live and offers a seven-day free trial, followed by a $29.99 monthly subscription. Membership includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n