Arnold Tokko is a trainer, entrepreneur, gallerist and longstanding champion of Estonian bodybuilding whose life brings together two seemingly very different worlds: strength training and art.
His first gym workout was in 1979 at the Tallinn Athletic Training Club. He later became the founder and president of the Estonian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, the creator of Fitness.ee and a chronicler of Estonian bodybuilding history. In the art world, Arnold is known as the founder and driving force behind Tokko & Arrak Galerii.
Today, these two worlds come together at ArtGym, a private boutique gym where you train surrounded by works by Estonian artists.
Which gym do you work at, and what kind of training do you offer?
I provide personal training at ArtGym at Sõle tänav 14 in Tallinn. It is a private boutique gym where you can focus on your training without the crowds, queues and excessive noise of a large fitness club.
My main focus is strength training: building muscle strength and muscle mass, improving physical fitness and teaching proper exercise technique. I work with both beginners and people who have been training for longer.
I am particularly interested in high-intensity training, or HIT, where the main goal is not to do as many exercises and sets as possible. What matters more is how well you perform each exercise, putting in enough effort and allowing for recovery afterward.
How did you get into strength training?
My first gym workout was in 1979 at the Tallinn Athletic Training Club, under the guidance of the legendary coach Ervin Liebert. I was 14 at the time.
Gyms back then were very different from today’s fitness clubs. The facilities were more basic, but there was a great deal of interest in training and plenty of enthusiasm. Much of the equipment was simple or made by the gym members themselves, and people shared their knowledge and experience with one another.
That first introduction to weight training sparked a lifelong interest in strength training. I have now been involved in the gym world for over 45 years.
How did you become a trainer?
Becoming a trainer grew out of years of training experience and a desire to share what I had learned with others. Over the years, I have seen a wide range of training trends, methods and principles. I have been able to observe which ones work over the long term and which deliver only short-term results.
As a trainer, I want to help you avoid the mistakes people often make when training on their own. At first, it is important to learn the correct movements, choose a manageable training load and put together a program that matches your goal. As you progress, you need to know how to increase your training load while making sure your body has enough time to recover.
What I value most is when you come away from working with a trainer with more than just a list of exercises: you also gain a better understanding of your body and your training.
Are trainers born or made?
You become a trainer through learning and experience, but you need to have a desire to help others. Having trained for a long time or being in good shape yourself is not enough.
A good trainer needs to know how to listen, observe and explain. They need to understand when to encourage you to push harder and when to reduce your training load. Not everyone needs the same training program or the same kind of motivation.
A trainer never stops learning. Every person they train is different, and even after years of experience, situations arise that call for new solutions.
What do you think makes an ideal trainer?
An ideal trainer sets an example through their behavior and lifestyle, but does not expect everyone they train to be like them. They need knowledge, practical experience and the ability to see you as a whole person.
A trainer’s role goes beyond demonstrating exercises. They need to help you build lasting habits, train safely and achieve results in a way you can sustain over the long term.
Trust matters too. You give a trainer your time and entrust them with your health and goals. A trainer needs to understand that responsibility.
What is your training philosophy?
For me, the quality of a workout matters more than its length or the number of exercises. Training needs to provide a strong enough stimulus for your body to adapt, while also allowing room for recovery.
That is why HIT, or High Intensity Training, appeals to me. This method involves relatively few working sets, performed with close attention and at high intensity.
HIT does not simply mean training with the heaviest possible weight. Proper technique, controlled movement, an appropriate choice of exercises and enough rest between workouts all matter.
I’m convinced that most people don’t need endlessly long workouts. They need a well-designed program, real effort, consistency and adequate recovery.
Watch a HIT workout led by Arnold Tokko
What are the most common mistakes people make in the gym?
One of the most common mistakes is training with weights that are either too light or too heavy. In the first case, there isn’t enough stimulus for progress. In the second, technique breaks down and the risk of injury increases.
Another common mistake is changing training programs too often. Results don’t come from the newest or most complicated program, but from one you follow for long enough, gradually increasing the weights and repetitions while improving the quality of each movement.
Recovery is often underestimated, too. Muscle growth doesn’t happen solely in the gym – it also requires enough sleep, a balanced diet and rest.
It’s also worth remembering that more isn’t always better. Your training volume needs to match your age, experience, health and capacity for recovery.
Does age limit strength training?
Age in itself is no reason to give up strength training. On the contrary – the older you get, the more important it becomes to maintain muscle strength, mobility and balance.
The exercises and training load need to be adapted to your health and abilities, but you can start strength training later in life, too. You don’t have to aim for competition shape or set records.
Having a strong, capable body, being able to live independently and enjoying the best possible quality of life for decades to come is an excellent goal. Regular strength training is one of the best investments you can make in your future health.
What has your role been in developing bodybuilding in Estonia?
I was a founder of the Estonian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation and led it as president for 18 years. Those years gave me the opportunity to help build bodybuilding and fitness in Estonia and establish international connections.
The work involved organizing competitions, sending Estonian national teams to international competitions, supporting the development of coaching and judging, and representing the sport within Estonia’s sporting system.
It was important to me to improve bodybuilding’s image and show that it involves discipline, in-depth knowledge and years of work. Bodybuilding isn’t just about getting into competition shape. At its heart is knowing how to develop your body with purpose and understanding.
Why was Fitness.ee created?
Fitness.ee began in 2000 with a desire to create a shared resource where people who train in Estonia could find reliable information about training, nutrition, bodybuilding and fitness.
Over the years, Fitness.ee has published thousands of articles, news stories, interviews, training programs and instructional videos. A forum and community have also grown around it, giving people a place to share experiences and discuss training.
Fitness.ee’s goal remains the same today: to make training information easily accessible, introduce Estonian athletes and trainers, and preserve the history of Estonia’s gym and bodybuilding culture.
Why did you decide to document the history of Estonian bodybuilding in a book?
When you’ve been involved in a field for a long time, you start to realize how quickly people, events and achievements can be forgotten. Estonian bodybuilding has a long and colorful history, but much of that information was scattered across photographs, newspapers, archives and people’s memories.
I wanted to gather this material and preserve it for future generations. So I published the book “50 years of competitive bodybuilding in Estonia 1966–2016”, written by Mati Õun and Indrek Otsus.
It’s more than a collection of competition results: it tells the story of the people and events that have shaped Estonian bodybuilding. Knowing our history helps us understand where we come from and how our sport became what it is today.
Are you always a trainer, or do you do other things as well?
Alongside my work as a trainer, I’m involved in business and art. I’m one of the founders of Tokko & Arrak Galerii, and art has been part of my life for over 30 years.
The Tokko & Arrak story began in 1991, when Jaan Arrak and I founded a company and organized the “Great Estonian Art Exhibition” at Tallinn’s Blue Pavilion. The exhibition featured Estonia’s leading artists of the time, with over 400 works on display.
Following the exhibition’s success, an opportunity arose to establish our own gallery in Tallinn’s Teachers’ House. Tokko & Arrak Galerii opened on Town Hall Square in February 1992.
Read the story of how Tokko & Arrak Galerii began
How did you become a gallerist and art dealer?
I entered the art world around the time Estonia regained its independence, when many new opportunities were opening up in society and business. At the same time, it was clear that Estonian artists needed professional platforms to help showcase their work and connect them with buyers.
Our aim was about more than selling artworks. We wanted to give both established artists and young artists opportunities to exhibit. Several of those who were just starting out then have since become well-known and respected names on the Estonian art scene.
As a gallerist, you need a good eye, but the ability to listen to artists, understand their work and communicate it to the public is at least as important. An art dealer’s role is to help a work find its way to someone for whom it has real meaning.
What role did Tokko & Arrak Galerii play in the art scene of the 1990s?
The gallery had a very active exhibition program: on average, we opened a new exhibition every two weeks. Alongside established artists, we also gave opportunities to young artists, many of whom went on to become influential figures in their generation.
Artists who exhibited at Tokko & Arrak Galerii included Jüri Arrak, Andres Tolts, Leonhard Lapin, Jaan Elken, Toomas Vint, Epp-Maria Kokamägi, Peeter Allik, Marko Mäetamm, Navitrolla, Ilmar Kruusamäe and Vano Allsalu.
The gallery also awarded its own art prize, recognizing one outstanding artist each year. Art historian Harry Liivrand helped us select the winner and was also actively involved in the gallery’s day-to-day work.
It was important to bring established masters and emerging talent together and create a space where artists, art lovers and collectors could meet.
Why did you decide to reopen Tokko & Arrak Galerii?
The gallery’s first period of operation on Town Hall Square ended in 2002, but the idea of reviving it never went away. Decades later, it felt as though things could come full circle and that the historic gallery deserved a new lease of life.
Tokko & Arrak Galerii reopened in 2024 with the exhibition “Reopening. A gathering of the masters.” The exhibition brought together artists who had been associated with the gallery back in the 1990s and who continue to create today.
The gallery’s aim remains to bring together established artists, emerging talent, art lovers and collectors. We want to offer a diverse and timeless selection of art, from traditional painting to sculpture, photography and newer forms of expression.
What kind of art speaks to you most?
I’m drawn to art that combines skillful execution with a story of its own and a distinctive character. An artwork should do more than look beautiful: it should stir an emotion, raise a question or make you want to return to it.
I value both the masters of Estonian art and artists who dare to explore new forms of expression. One of the most interesting aspects of being a gallerist is spotting an artist’s potential before their name becomes widely known.
With art, it isn’t always possible to explain everything in words. Sometimes a connection simply forms between a work and its viewer. A gallery’s role is to create a place where that encounter can happen.
What connects strength training and art for you?
At first glance, a gym and an art gallery might seem like complete opposites, but for me, they are connected by the human desire to grow and create something.
Both the body and a work of art take shape through consistent work, intuition and attention to detail. In bodybuilding, we talk about symmetry, proportions, form and aesthetics: the same concepts matter in art.
The body, too, can be seen as a creative work that you consciously shape over the years. Both fields require patience, because lasting value is created neither quickly nor by chance.
You could say I’ve spent my whole life creating form: physical form in the gym and artistic form in the gallery.
How do art and training come together at ArtGym?
ArtGym is where my two longstanding interests physically come together. It is a private gym, but also a space filled with Estonian art.
When you train here, you’re in an environment where every artwork and detail has its own meaning, rather than a typical, impersonal gym. The art gives the gym a calmer, more individual and more inspiring atmosphere.
For me, a training environment doesn’t have to be noisy or sterile. It can be aesthetically pleasing and mentally enriching: a place where you develop both body and mind.
The ArtGym concept is built on privacy, a personalized approach and mindful training. The art is more than decoration; it is integral to the character of the whole space.
What do working as a trainer and a gallerist have in common?
Both roles call for an ability to see the potential in a person or an idea. A trainer sees how someone can develop through consistent effort. A gallerist seeks to recognize the value in an artist’s work and find ways to introduce it to the public.
Trust is essential in both fields. The person training needs to trust their trainer, and the artist their gallerist. You also need to listen, notice details and understand that different people and artists need different approaches.
Authenticity matters in both training and art. To achieve lasting results, you need to find your own path, rather than simply imitate others.
Where do you find motivation and energy?
I’m motivated by knowing that strength training has helped me stay strong and active, and that I can use my experience to help others too.
When someone who used to be afraid of the gym starts enjoying training, gets stronger and feels better, that’s very positive feedback for a trainer.
In art, I get energy from the opportunity to bring together the artist, the artwork and the viewer. There’s a special feeling when a work of art finds someone for whom it becomes truly meaningful.
I’m also motivated by the desire to create and develop something new. ArtGym, Fitness.ee and Tokko & Arrak Galerii are all constantly evolving ventures.
What are your goals for the future?
I want to continue developing both ArtGym and Tokko & Arrak Galerii. At one, I can share the training experience I’ve gained over more than 45 years; at the other, I can help Estonian art reach new viewers and collectors.
It’s especially important to show that strength training is suitable for people of all ages. Maintaining muscle strength becomes increasingly important as you get older, and a well-informed approach to training helps you stay active and independent for longer.
I also want to continue developing Fitness.ee and collecting and preserving the history of Estonian bodybuilding. These activities may seem different, but for me, they’re linked by a desire to create something of lasting value.
How can people keep up with your work and get in touch?
I offer personal training sessions at ArtGym, at Sõle 14, Tallinn.
ArtGym: www.fitness.ee/jousaal
Tokko & Arrak Galerii: www.tokkoarrak.ee
Instagram: @artgym.ee ; @tokkoarrakgalerii
Phone: +372 505 7809
Email: info@fitness.ee
Come to ArtGym for personal training and discover how more than 45 years of gym experience and an inspiring art-filled environment can help you get stronger.
