Add more training methods
Training should be always new, fun and challenging. When you've trained for a long period of time (more than 20 years), you need a lot of variety to stay focus, having results, and the more important thing, still eager to hit the gym because you like your program. This is why I beleive a lot of training methods should be add in Dr. Muscle, like:
(Carl Juneau: the blackjack from the "vidéo du mois")
- Dropsets
- Plyometric
- Superslow (10 sec per rep or even more)
- Pause at the bottom
- Super 21
- 1 and a half rep
- Antagonist supersets
- Excentric only
- Explosive
- Contrast
- Flat
- etc
Thanks for voting for this feature. Good news! We've made significant progress. With our latest update, you can now exercise with:
- Drop sets
- Reference sets
- Improved supersets
The following techniques can already be done in the app:
- Explosive reps
- Excentric only
- Partial reps
- "Holds at the bottom"
See below for a tutorial. Finally, we do not recommend superslow anymore, as it has no effect on hypertrophy (Schoenfeld et al. 2015).
From the latest announcement:
Drop sets are one of my favorite training techniques. They're fast, fun, and effective. In a drop set, you perform an exercise for as many reps as possible, drop the weight, and do a few more reps right away.
In a recent meta-analysis, Sødal et al. (2023) reviewed the science and synthesized data from 6 studies to "compare the effects of drop sets over traditional sets on skeletal muscle hypertrophy". The results suggest that drop sets are as effective as traditional sets for promoting muscle hypertrophy, but take only about 1/3 the workout time.
So if your goal is to build mass and you're short on time, you should definitely consider drop sets. They're easy to do now in Dr. Muscle. To set them up, just tap "Settings" in the bottom bar and scroll down to Set style. You can also set them up for individual exercises by tapping "..." next to them and "Exercise settings". That's how I use them, for exercises like Dumbell Curls and Triceps Extensions, as well as machine exercises where it's easy to lower the weight.
Give them a shot and let us know what you think, or learn more at https://dr-muscle.com/use-drop-sets-build-muscle/
If you're in the beta:
On Android, you can already download the update. On iPhone? You'll have to wait 7-10 days for Apple to release it. To update:
– Open the store app on your phone
– Search for Dr. Muscle
– Tap update
Not in the beta? Click here to join: https://dr-muscle.com/beta-program/. Otherwise, you'll get a notification inside the app in 7-10 days when the public version comes out.
Want to train with explosive reps, partial reps, and more? They can all already be done in the app by creating a variation of the exercise for them. Here's how:
- Open the app
- Scroll all the way down the home page
- Tap Exercises
- Tap the big plus button at the bottom-right
- Name your exercise (e.g. "Explosive Bench Press")
Your custom exercise will have its own history and progress, which should be quite different from your progress in the main, classic execution style. For example, explosive reps are usually done for sets of 2-5 with relatively low weights moved with high speed. You should stop your set when speed slows down, not when you almost cannot lift the weight anymore like in hypertropy training.
With that said, if you'd like us to build a feature for another technique specifically, please suggest and vote for it at https://muscle.userecho.com/. Speaking of which, now would be a good time to suggest and vote for our next feature.
We've released 53 updates in 2023. For the full list, see https://dr-muscle.com/timeline/.
Love Dr. Muscle? Upgrade to annual to get 4 months free. Training with a partner? Add them to your account for 50% off. Need help with your diet? Dr. Muscle now includes meal plans! Tap Get meal plan on your home page to get started.
Wanna do us a huge favor? Leave us a review on the app store. It's one of the main ways new people learn about us. It will take less than 2 minutes, and it would really help out!
Really appreciate your support and suggestions to improve the app. Thanks!
Dr. Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Choose different weight increments for barbell, dumbbell and pulley on settings
Choose different weight increments and min weights for barbell, dumbbell and pulley on settings. (This one is important, but I have an alternate solution to edit these numbers in each exercise after I built the workout).
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's in beta! From the announcement:
Excited to announce TWO of our top requested features. With this beta update, you’ll be able to hear yours truly say how many reps you have to do when your rest timer ends (e.g. “5 reps” instead of the usual “ding”). Toggle this on by tapping the timer icon top-right during any workout. Also, you can now customize your equipment in full for plates, dumbbells, and pulleys. This gives you full control over your increments, min, and max weights for exercises using those implements. Big thanks to all who voted for these features!
If you're in the beta:
On Android, you can already download the update. On iPhone? You'll have to wait 7-10 days for Apple to release it. To update:
– Open the store app on your phone
– Search for Dr. Muscle
– Tap update
Not in the beta? Click here to join: https://dr-muscle.com/beta-program/. Otherwise, you'll get a notification inside the app in 7-10 days when the public version comes out.
Now would be a good time to suggest and vote for our next feature. Please visit https://muscle.userecho.com/.
We've released 46 updates in 2021 (one a week or so). For the full list, see https://dr-muscle.com/timeline/.
Love Dr. Muscle? Upgrade to annual to get 4 months free. Training with a partner? Add them to your account for 50% off. Need help with your diet? Dr. Muscle now includes meal plans! Tap Get meal plan on your home page to get started.
Wanna do us a huge favor? Leave us a review on the app store. It's one of the main ways new people learn about us. It will take less than 2 minutes, and it would really help out!
Really appreciate your support and suggestions to improve the app. Thanks!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Preview upcoming workouts
It would be interesting to have a calendar where you can preview your upcoming workouts. For instance, it I'm on the Up/Down-workout, and I'm doing 2 day on and 1 day off, then it would be interesting to see more workouts than just the next one. I would be able to see that at the end of this month, I will do 100 kg x 10 reps in bench if I continue to progress according to Dr Muscle, while I'm today doing 100 kg x 6 reps for instance.
Does it make any sense?
Thanks for voting for this feature—calendar was released a few weeks ago, and workout reminders are now in beta! You can now choose to get reminders via email or notifications on your phone.
If you're in the beta:
On Android, you can already download the update. On iPhone? You'll have to wait 2-3 days for Apple to approve it. To update:
– Open the store app on your phone
– Search for Dr. Muscle
– Tap update
Not in the beta? Click here to join: https://dr-muscle.com/beta-program/. Otherwise, you'll get a notification inside the app in 7-10 days when the public version comes out.
Now would be a great time to suggest and vote for our next feature. To do that, please visit https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
We've released 46 updates in 2021 (one a week or so). For the full list, see https://dr-muscle.com/timeline/.
Love Dr. Muscle? Upgrade to annual to get 4 months free. Training with a partner? Add them to your account for 50% off. Need help with your diet? Try out new meal plans that update on autopilot. Just tap Get meal plan from your home page.
Really appreciate your support and suggestions to improve the app. Thanks!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Exercise Complete Visual
After you finish an exericse (sets, reps) you select "Finish Exericse" You're back to the workout screen. Would be helpful to show Bench Press has a check next to it, indicating you did the sets for that and now it's onto the next exercise.
This one was released today! I'm marking it a completed.
The update is live on Android and Apple. To get it, simply update via Google Play or the App Store app on your phone.
If you've voted for this suggestion:
1) Thank you!
2) Now would be a good time to suggest and vote for our next feature.
3) You can do so here: https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
Thanks!
Account for longer periods of rest / time off between workouts
Really loving the app.
Is there an accounting for longer periods of rest days? As a singer and actor I find lifting on days I'm singing to be detrimental to my level of performance or if I'm traveling for concerts there may be times when there may be a week away from the gym. Just curious.
Best, Ciarán
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's done!
Learn more about the new feature here: http://drmuscleapp.com/news/overtraining/.
If you're on Android, you can update now. If you're on iPhone, you'll have to wait 2-3 days for Apple to approve it. To update:
- Open the store app on your phone
- Search for Dr. Muscle
- Tap update
Now would be a great time to suggest and vote for our next feature. If you'd like to do that, please visit: https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
Really appreciate your support and advice. Thanks!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Option to EDIT in History
Also, in order to avoid a -1% change and a subsequent deload (I mean, in cases it's not needed in reality -the -1% change issue discussed in a different thread), I went back to history to edit the sets and add 1 rep to each set (which I actually did anyway) and realised there is no EDIT option (only the DELETE now, of course).
So, the option EDIT in History?
Thanks for voting for this feature! Dr. Muscle now lets you edit your history.
The update is already available to all users. To update, open the app store on your phone, search for Dr. Muscle, and tap "update".
Now would be a great time to suggest and vote for our next feature. If you'd like to do that, please visit: https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
Cheers!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Sync with Apple activity tracker for calories burned
I noticed that the workout syncs to my Apple health however the calories burned do not. Please make it sync to the activity tracker as well for calories burned
Clarify triceps pushdown variations
It would be nicer stated as:
- triceps rope push down
- tricep bar push down
- triceps rope one arm push down
This way, you don’t first have to look at the video, to see if you would like to swap your old exercise with the new one.
Met vriendelijke groet,
Raymond Puijk
[Note to team: change current pushdown to rope and add bar and one-arm variations.]
Pyramid sets: Decreasing reps
Hi,
I love the new feature pyramid increasing reps
but I will be very happy if we can have pyramid decresing style
like 15-12-12-8-6 reps
And also another idea should be a Mass phase include workout where you can select a certain group of muscle per day
many thx!
ben
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's in beta! From the announcement:
Pyramid sets are coming! This is one of our top requested features, so I’m thrilled to bring it to you. You can now choose from Pyramid or Reverse pyramid sets in your global and exercise-level settings. This was challenging to sync with custom reps, increments, and other settings. So, some tweaking may be needed for users with unusual setups. If you notice something odd when you try pyramid sets for the first time, please let us know. We should fix it by next week!
If you're in the beta:
On Android, you can already download the update. On iPhone? You'll have to wait 2-3 days for Apple to approve it. To update:
– Open the store app on your phone
– Search for Dr. Muscle
– Tap update
Not in the beta? Click here to join: https://dr-muscle.com/beta-program/. Otherwise, you'll get a notification inside the app in 7-10 days when the public version comes out.
Now would be a great time to suggest and vote for our next feature. If you'd like to do that, please visit: https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
We've released 47 updates in 2020 (one a week or so). For the full list, see https://dr-muscle.com/timeline/.
Love Dr. Muscle? Upgrade to annual to get 4 months free. Training with a partner? Add them to your account for 50% off. Need help with your diet? Check out the Learn tab (bottom bar) or our new diet coach app at https://www.eve.fit/.
Really appreciate your support and advice. Thanks!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Select your available equipment at home
Would be very nice to be able to tell the app what equipment you have and let it recommend a workout based on the most effective exercises you can do with your equipment.
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's done! In Settings, you can now toggle off dumbbells to swap out all dumbbell exercises from your workouts automatically.
If you're in the beta:
On Android, you can already download the update. On iPhone? You'll have to wait 2-3 days for Apple to approve it. To update:
- Open the store app on your phone
- Search for Dr. Muscle
- Tap update
Not in the beta? Write back if you'd like to get in. Otherwise, you'll see a notification to update inside the app in 7-10 days when the public version comes out.
Now would be a great time to suggest and vote for our next feature. If you'd like to do that, please visit: https://muscle.userecho.com/communities/1-submit-your-feedback/topics#.
Really appreciate your support and advice. Thanks!
Carl Juneau, PhD
Founder of Dr. Muscle
Customer support service by UserEcho
