Mobile App Exercise Rework

[apedley]

The current workout tacking and timer features of the app could use an update. This thread is a place to discuss as well as keep track of what's planned. Here's what I have planned currently:

• Supersets (currently most requested feature)
• Surfacing other fields to the app that are on web. RPE, duration, etc.
• Active Workout Screen - in addition to the banner that follows you, this screen will include everything about the current workout set and info about the next set. It will also allow you to change the weight/reps as you go.
• Support creating the workout as you go. Right now the system assumes you've already selected the exercises you want but sometimes you don't want to enter it ahead of time.

What are some other ideas people have?

[thorethy1]

The current workout tacking and timer features of the app could use an update. This thread is a place to discuss as well as keep track of what's planned. Here's what I have planned currently:

• Supersets (currently most requested feature)

• Surfacing other fields to the app that are on web. RPE, duration, etc.

• Active Workout Screen - in addition to the banner that follows you, this screen will include everything about the current workout set and info about the next set. It will also allow you to change the weight/reps as you go.

What are some other ideas people have?

I have also experimented with the Workout screen.

I would love something like the Alpha Progression App. There you go through the Workout Exercise by Exercise and can track your progress.

You can see your last Workout and also get suggestions on the weight and reps.

My favorite feature is tapping on the exercise and seeing a video/gif of the exercise as well as a description of the setup and the correct execution. I am not sure what the providers of the exercises provide and what of that could be integrated. I think some of them have GIFs?

Also, I would like to be able to track the RIR and get a 10RM score.

Most important feature for me is the workout and pause timer.

Notifications when an set ends and the ability to go out of the workout and for example track something and get an banner with the workout to continue. Already implemented.

Also, some animations would be really cool and a vibration when you finish a set.

[apedley]

I am not sure what the providers of the exercises provide and what of that could be integrated. I think some of them have GIFs?

I'm unable to find anything free. Only things that might be free or low res GIFs. Free exercise DB gives decent images and descriptions though. Let me know if you find a video provider.

Also, I would like to be able to track the RIR and get a 10RM score.

What is RIR? Is that something you log or something that's recorded? Also how does the warm up set feature in Alpha Progression work? I can't access either of those without paying. Honestly what I was drawing up in Figma was pretty close to that app but with a bit more exercise info.

[apedley]

Do you think a Live Activity would be helpful? I think it's pretty easy to add since I already have the widget set up.

[thorethy1]

I am not sure what the providers of the exercises provide and what of that could be integrated. I think some of them have GIFs?

I'm unable to find anything free. Only things that might be free or low res GIFs. Free exercise DB gives decent images and descriptions though. Let me know if you find a video provider.

Yeah, I will look into that. If we could get one, that would be awesome. Especially for beginners, I also had trouble with the exercises when I started and mostly oriented on the videos and descriptions. But pictures are also good enough, I think.

Also, I would like to be able to track the RIR and get a 10RM score.

What is RIR? Is that something you log or something that's recorded? Also how does the warm up set feature in Alpha Progression work? I can't access either of those without paying. Honestly what I was drawing up in Figma was pretty close to that app but with a bit more exercise info.

RIR means Reps in Reserve. In AlphaProgression, that’s fairly new. It is something you log, basically how many reps you could have done to absolute muscle failure. I am a big fan of that because I can see the progress even better. It’s also good for coaching.
0 RIR = no reps left / failure
1 RIR = 1 rep left
2–3 RIR = good range for controlled training and muscle growth
In AlphaProgression you can set a RIR goal per Exercise.
It also affects the 10RM, but I am not quite sure in which way.

To be honest, I don’t really use the warm-up feature, but there you can track a separate warm-up set per exercise. So you can track 2 warm-up sets and then 3 normal sets, for example.

Screenshots

I would love a live activity because I quite frequently leave the app in long rests. None of the apps I tested had that. I also saw that this should not be too difficult to implement.

[apedley]

How do you feel about Alpha Progression's horizontal exercise picker design? Compared to showing them all vertically. I had thought of something similar but I'm thinking people may way to easily compare between 2 similar exercises.

[thorethy1]

How do you feel about Alpha Progression's horizontal exercise picker design? Compared to showing them all vertically. I had thought of something similar but I'm thinking people may way to easily compare between 2 similar exercises.

I realy like that because I frequently switch the order of the workout, and with the Picker, I can easily switch between exercises.
In my testing, I just had previous and next buttons on the buttons where you only ever saw one exercise, but I like the Alpha Progressions Picker more.

But I haven’t tried many other apps; the other ones made workout plans and got timer-based through them with videos and music but that was very expensive.

I would maybe keep the existing workout tracking screen if someone just wants to track fast but make a start workout button that starts the Interactive one.

Also, it really confused me that you first have to add the Preset to the Diary and can only start it from there. I first thought the app did not have the interactive workout at all, only discovered that after I tested my own variant. Or am I missing something?

Maybe add some exercise plans in addition where you can plan workouts.
I think the web app already does that?

Would you mind sharing that Figma prototype design would be really interesting!

[apedley]

Here's a screenshot of what I have right now. The RPE column can be changed to 1RM or 10RM or volume. The exercise selection rail stays where it is as you scroll the exercise log. Tapping an exercise in the rail makes the log scroll to that exercise and reveals it if its hidden. Multiple exercises can be revealed simultaneously to compare values across exercises. Supersets are shown here with the purple bar. Multiple supersets will be different colors but the exercises will always be next to each other.

Any thoughts?

[thorethy1]

Here's a screenshot of what I have right now. The RPE column can be changed to 1RM or 10RM or volume. The exercise selection rail stays where it is as you scroll the exercise log. Tapping an exercise in the rail makes the log scroll to that exercise and reveals it if its hidden. Multiple exercises can be revealed simultaneously to compare values across exercises. Supersets are shown here with the purple bar. Multiple supersets will be different colors but the exercises will always be next to each other.

Any thoughts?

Wow! Looks very good already! How do you plan on navigating the progress from up to down or left to right? I would keep the exercises only at the top with the picture and not on the screen itself. I would only show the current exercise selected from above and the stats from the last workout from that exercise so you can see what you did last time. When done, I would automatically move to the right to the next exercise. Because you see every exercise at the beginning before you click start workout and can sort them there. This way you could focus on one exercise at a time in the active workout screen.

Yes im on Discord also on the Server @thorethy

[apedley]

So you don't like the autoscrolling idea? I thought it would be nice to combine both log style (like Hevy) and 1 exercise at a time style (Alpha Prog.) I was thinking that finishing an exercise would scroll to the next one (horizontal rail stays in sync) and open it. Two things I'm still deciding on is a good place for per set context menu and how to show personal best.

[thorethy1]

So you don't like the autoscrolling idea? I thought it would be nice to combine both log style (like Hevy) and 1 exercise at a time style (Alpha Prog.) I was thinking that finishing an exercise would scroll to the next one (horizontal rail stays in sync) and open it. Two things I'm still deciding on is a good place for per set context menu and how to show personal best.

Okay, that actually sounds pretty cool. I like that. Autoscroll is good. I would want it to automatically go to the next exercise when I’m done with the last.
The context menu could maybe be when clicking on the exercise title or maybe when clicking the picture at the top a second time.
In alpha progression, the last workout is shown beneath the current one. I actually like that because I can directly see if I can do more this time, but that’s difficult with this setup, I think. Where do you plan on putting that?
What about the timer? Should it go to the bottom of the screen, always visible, or more like hidden?

[AegisBlue]

Hi, not sure if this has been added yet in this discussion but being able to see the previous weight in the set/workout would be nice.

Ik in heavy, when I start a workout I can see my previous weight/attempt in the weight box for that set.

[apedley]

Here's what an exercise row looks like now. Would it help to also have a table of the last few sets of that exercise?

[AegisBlue]

Actually I think this is good. The last and best fits well.

[ikogan]

First, I'm extremely happy this is happening and I love your screenshot so far. I've been wanting to work on this myself for a while but haven't found the time. I've got a bit of a laundry list of ideas/gripes so, starting with the challenges I have:

1. Right now there are three ways to log an exercise and each has limitations. I would prefer there be a single flow to start and log exercises.
   1. Log an "Activity", a single exercise. This is useful. Maybe I went on a bike ride or something or maybe my daily exercise is heavily broken up. The app specifies "Duration & Distance" but includes in the list all of my Weights & Reps based exercises as well, but then won't let me log reps or let me see my previous maximum. This should either have the ability to do weight and reps as well, or filter out irrelevant activities.
   2. Add a workout, one item at a time. This is useful except it doesn't support rest periods or time tracking or progression, you're just logging what you did.
   3. Start a workout after creating it with "Add" or start from a preset. My main issue with this is that it's mostly just flavor. The server has already recorded that you performed the exercises and calculated the caloric impact and all that. Starting a workout on the mobile app does nothing for recording. In addition, the workflow of having to "Edit" to set your total completed reps & sets is cumbersome at best.
2. When adding exercises, I can see my previous max weight and reps but not the number of sets I've completed at that weight and rep count. On the web UI, I can see a history of the previous few exercises which gives me a much better idea of where I should be.
3. It is not currently possible to reorder exercises nor is it possible to jump around during a workout session. If a machine is in use, and I have to skip an exercise and come back, there is no way to do that. Worse, if I mistap something and move forward a set, there is no way to undo that.
4. There seems to be a reasonably frequent crash that happens when you tap and adjust the weight and reps fields quickly. I can try to reproduce it but it seems like the rework will change the UI significantly enough that it may not happen anymore.
5. The only option for any exercise (unless logged as an "Activity") is Weight and Reps. I do Oblique Holds as part of my gym routine which requires me to hold a set weight for a period of time. Right now I just use "Reps" as a measure of time in seconds but that's not the most intuitive thing.

It sounds like the rework may address many of my issues in terms of usability but I was wondering if that's going to include not adding exercises to the server until they're actually done. Alternatively, adding the option for an exercise to be "Complete" or "In-Progress" may be more elegant, so that state can still be saved to the server but whether or not it was actually done is preserved.

Here's a few other enhancements that I think would really help:

1. For exercises that are timed, have a timer. Let me have a way to "Start" "Oblique Holds" which displays a fairly visible timer until I'm done and hit "Stop". Since it'll take some time to hit "Stop" after I'm truly done, I should be able to edit the total time when pushing "Stop" before it saves. Saving the time should automatically move me into my rest period or on to my next exercise. Right now I do one set for each side with no rest in between.

2. A plate calculator would be great, with the ability to set available plates. Not having to worry about figuring out how many plates I need for what weight would save me a lot of time, especially as I calculate drop sets. The plate calculator should also support entering the unloaded bar weight. Ideally, it should be able to save the "base weight" per exercise as well as the available plates so I can easily just get the plates I need to put on for the weight I'm wanting to do.

3. Notes per set. Sometimes I'll have a weird failure (joint pain, machine broke, etc.) on a specific set that I'd like to note down to explain why the set went the way it did. Right now I have to type a ton into the single note field to explain what happened.

4. Drop set calculation. Right now I sort of guestimate but would like to do 20% per drop, with 3 drop sets. Being able to set that in the exercise and have the app automatically calculate drop sets based on my final set weight would be extremely useful. If these drop sets are recorded, I should be able to override the weight I actually did since I suspect I won't be able to do all fractions on all machines. Ideally, the app should either accept the available weights, or the gradation, or simply round to the nearest 0.25 when doing these calculations.

5. Rest timer should have a persistent notification that makes some type of noise and/or vibration happen when the timer is up. FitNotes would have a persistent notification with a timer that vibrates when it was up.

6. I'd really like to be able to re-order exercises or simply choose what I'm doing next, and have the app auto-adjust where it is in the list. For example, let's say my routine is:

   1. Bench Press
   2. Row
   3. Curls
   4. Triceps Extension

   However, when I'm done with (1), the Row machines are all busy. I'm on a time crunch so I'm going to do (3) next. I should
   be able to tell the app that I'm doing 3 next and it should automatically re-order the exercises. Separate from that, I should
   be able to re-order them at will in case this Row machine change causes me to want to reorder my whole routine

7. When adding exercises, I'd like to see more information about what I did in the past, the last 3 or so workouts, number of sets at what weight, etc.

8. Suggested alternative exercises; I haven't seen any other workout app do this. If a piece of gym equipment is broken, busy, or unavailable, I'd like to be able to quickly "replace" that exercise with another that fits that muscle group. I envisioned some type of "Replace" button that would suggest exercises in that muscle group with the last N that I've done being at the top of the list. It should also include an option to replace with a totally different exercise, including creating new/searching/etc.

9. Using the Android notification system to track the exercise. Keep a persistent notification up during the workout that tells you your current step: Exercise - Set # - Timer or Exercise - Rest - Timer. Tapping the notification should bring up the app. Often, I'll switch my phone over to a game that does something while I'm doing my set or while I'm resting, being able to quickly see what I'm supposed to do next, how much time I've spent, and switch back to the app would be great.

10. When adding exercises, the fields that are relevant for grouping should autocomplete, and maybe work like a "tags" field, rather than just text boxes. For example, the "Equipment", "Primary Muscles", "Secondary Muscles" fields should be a set of tags that auto-complete to help ensure that exercises are categorized appropriately. The app should come with default muscles pre-defined.

11. An easier way to update a workout routine with the desired weight/reps. Right now, you hardcode the goal weight and reps and have to edit it every time, or remember to go into the workout and edit it. I'd like it to be easier to start a workout from a template while also adjusting the target weight based on my progression.

12. This one's a bit of a long shot but being able to specify a "Location" for my routine that gets saved and surfaced as a dropdown or auto-complete would be helpful. Somehow, the Planet Fitness near where I live has machines that feel completely different from the Planet Fitness where my parents live and that throws off my tracking considerably. Maybe when showing "previous" exercises, have a little pill that indicates what gym it was in or have a way to filter out exercises that aren't at my "home" gym from history or something.

I know this is a ton of stuff so I wouldn't expect it all to get done in this first pass or maybe even at all, but these would do well to make this app more flexible than virtually any other that I've tried with FitNotes being my previous gold standard.

[CodeWithCJ]

Thanks for detailed feedback. Mockup/ screenshots would be helpful. Could you edit it to add relavant screenshots wherever feasible.

[thorethy1]

+1 for the plate calculator

[apedley]

Appreciate the feedback! Much of what you mentioned is already merged: reordering, out of order logging, notes per set, better notifications, and sets are recorded as completed on the server, allowing for actual live logging where you don't have to keep entering edit mode. On the list for version 2.1 is more info while searching/adding exercises and special inputs (plate calculator, rpe, drop sets I believe, possibly a better numpad keyboard because androids is huge). Search by tag and the timer for timed exercises are great ideas and I'll put them on the list. I'll also think about a way to include activities in a workout.

When adding exercises, I can see my previous max weight and reps but not the number of sets I've completed at that weight and rep count. On the web UI, I can see a history of the previous few exercises which gives me a much better idea of where I should be.

I'll look into adding a small table that shows when you're editing weight/reps

Using the Android notification system to track the exercise

I think this is like a live activity on ios? That's also in the plan for version 2.1

This one's a bit of a long shot but being able to specify a "Location" for my routine that gets saved and surfaced as a dropdown or auto-complete would be helpful

This would mean we'd have to get location data so it probably is a long shot. But I'll keep it in mind for if we pull in the location stuff at some point.

[ikogan]

This one's a bit of a long shot but being able to specify a "Location" for my routine that gets saved and surfaced as a dropdown or auto-complete would be helpful

This would mean we'd have to get location data so it probably is a long shot. But I'll keep it in mind for if we pull in the location stuff at some point.

Oh, that's way more intense than I was thinking. I was just thinking a named location as a string, not an actual GPS location. It would just be nice to know that I did a workout at my gym vs some other one. Telling the app what gym I'm at would be optional human entry only but ideally auto-completed from existing entries to reduce mistyping.

[ikogan]

Thanks for detailed feedback. Mockup/ screenshots would be helpful. Could you edit it to add relavant screenshots wherever feasible.

I'll need to get screenshots when I update my app to the latest version, I'm a bit behind on this at the moment.

[martinschlager]

Thanks for the project! What I would like to see is a integration of the "Built With Science" app as I really like their workouts.

[CodeWithCJ]

I am afraid they don't have API for public use. So you might need to do is sync with your Apple/Google health and then sync with SparkyFitness mobile app. If there is any particular future you like from BWS, share with us so we can include that improvements to SparkyFitness as well

[CodeWithCJ]

Reditt:

This is what works for me:

everything text file based because I don't want to deal with app formats, migrations, etc. Also because it is so easy to just point an AI at your text files. So markdown + obsidian + self hosting notes on a raspberry pi at home + remotelysave plug-in on the android obsidian app

nutrition tracking is AI vision based because when I eat at a restaurant with friends, snapping a picture of my plate is easy, but painfully selecting all ingredients is not.

workouts are markdown text files. One workout is one list of exercices. The exercices follow a progression based of 1 rep max. All is computed by small scripts running on my pi once a month.

once a month, an AI reviews all the data for the month: my body fat percentage, my workout schedule and results, and everything I ate, and analyzes and provide recommendations (most recently: "you're doing great during the week, but all your efforts are wasted during the weekends when you eat and drink a lot more")

[CodeWithCJ]

Reditt2:
My only gripes are that the UI can be unintuitive sometimes (I know that's vague) but you get used to it. Only specific example I can think of off the top is the serving unit scaling. It's really confusing, but I'm used to it now. The android and iOS apps are too far behind, so it's best to just save the page as a progressive web app.

[CodeWithCJ]

Reditt3:

For real-time workout tracking, in my opinion the requirements are:

• Customizable Routines. Setup a routine ahead of time, and on the day of the workout tap the routine and the workout starts with your per-populated movements.

• In-line rest timer, which can be customized between each set. More on this later below.

• Notification sound when rest timer is over; this need to work even if the phone is locked and even if the phone is playing something else (ie music). There are apps that get this wrong.

• Weight calculator - ability to select the plates on the bar and have it calc the weight of that set.

• Inverse to the above, a plate calculator - input the weight and have the app tell me which plates I need to add.

• Memory from the previous time the workout was completed; that is, if I benched 185 on my first set of bench press, the next time I do a wroutine that has bench press, it should prep-populate the first set with 185 lbs.

• In addition to the above, if I instead lift 225 on my first set, the next set should update from the previous workout value to the now higher 225.

• In addition to the above, optional auto-incrementing for workouts. For example, for bench press, I would like each subsequent set to increment 10 lbs automatically. If the first set is 185 lbs, the next set should auto populate to 195 lbs.

• After the rest time is done, the weight field for the next set should be automatically activated/selected. I should not have to tap into the weight in order to start changing the value.

• Provided the above, there should be a button on the keyboard to go to the next field. That is, i complete a set, the rest time starts and finishes, the next set weight is auto selected and ready for me to enter in the weight - if I want to use the weight already populated, I should just be able to hit next on the keyboard to go to the sets field. Same with the sets field - next should complete that set and begin the rest timer.

• Please add the ability to include warm-up sets in the routines. This is where in-line rest timers shine. I like 2 warm-up sets with low weight and low rest time - i.e. 45 seconds, but once I start the workout I might want a 2 min rest between sets. In-line rest timer please!

[CodeWithCJ]

Reditt 4:

I use Macrofactor for both nutrion tracking and weight lifting. What I like about MF Workouts is auto progression recommendations on either sets or weight or both from one workout to the next.

On Monday, my bench press workout was

220 x 3 -- 1 RIR

205 x 4 -- 1 RIR

205 x 3 -- 1 RIR

As I move forward in the coming weeks, MF Workout will auto progress by calculating my one rep max and estimate what an apppropriate 3 sets looks like based on 3 sets of 1 RIR, so my lift progresses.

Does Spark auto progress programs as well?

[DastardlyDino]

This. I use Macrofactor Workout for their auto-progression. Not sure how they calculate it and what research they base it off of but if SparkyFitness can figure out an auto progression system for weightlifting I would be all over it.
I also use a running app called TrainAsOne. They use genuine machine learning to help with running progression. The way their system works is by continuously modeling your own individual physiology to give you a hyper-personal running plan that adapts to prescribe the precise, optimal workout for you each day. I bring this up for two reasons: 1. because I would love for SparkyFitness to incorporate personalized heart rate based (instead of always time based) running plans like TrainAsOne. 2. Maybe this method could be adapted for the weight lifting auto progression too but that might be a bit of a stretch.
https://trainasone.com/features/best-running-coach-app