Your comments
If you voted for this feature, you may also like another feature we're just rolling out in beta. From the announcement:
To get the body of a greek god, should you aim to get stronger? Many coaches would tell you so, based on the hypothesis that over time, lifting heavier makes you more muscular. But thanks to a new study, you don’t have to rely on hypotheses anymore. Carvalho et al. (2020) investigated muscle thickness and maximum strength in 26 resistance-trained men. They found that lifters who trained for strength for 3 weeks and hypertrophy for 5 weeks gained more muscle and strength than those who just trained for hypertrophy for 8 weeks. The authors concluded: “Our results support the use of a period to increase muscle strength prior to hypertrophy training.” Not sure how to apply that to your own training? We got you covered. When you follow one of the default programs inside Dr. Muscle, you’ll know do a 3-week strength phase automatically before each new program. Not into it? No problem. You can toggle that off under Settings.
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
Marc, thank you for that suggestion. Until it gets more votes, you can always check your 1RM (just not percentages) for any exercise under More > Charts. Use the drop-down menu to select the exercise and timeframe you want, and you'll your 1RMs for that timeframe.
Hi Marc,
I can definitely see where you're coming from here. Until your suggestion gets more votes and we implement it, I can suggest two ways to do this:
1) Tap More > Deload next to the exercises you find too heavy. One deload should get you about to where you want to be. Then, you can tell the app the set was "very, very hard" anytime you don't want it to increase your weights.
2) Create a custom program with easy (or medium) variations of your exercises (or swap those in). Easy exercises have a target RIR of 5-6 and medium of 3-4. You could also try the default Dr. Muscle programs (they have plenty of those starting at level 4).
Hope this helps!
Carl
Thank you for that suggestion Jessie. I look forward to implementing it as it gets more votes. In the meantime, we have a workaround using an Android emulator on your computer.
We have 3 customers using it this way. Here's how:
1. Download and install bluestacks.com
2. Open it and search for "Dr. Muscle" (video demo)
3. That's it!
Log into your Dr. Muscle account using the same email address and password you use on your phone. It's the same app, just on PC.
Great catch guys. I reviewed this with the team and we'll be making changes to make that experience smoother. "Very hard" will not lower the weight anymore (we'll achieve the same training stimulus another way, perhaps by lowering reps instead). Look for the fix in beta and then public in 2-3 weeks.
Marc, thanks for your sharp feedback. Looking forward to implementing that suggestion.
In the meantime, you guessed it: you can already create custom exercises that behave that way inside Dr. Muscle. Here's how:
Tap Exercise (bottom bar)
Tap Exercises
Tap the big plus button (bottom right)
Name your exercise > e.g. Dumbbell Curl - BFR
Is this a bodyweight exercise? > No
How hard should the exercise be? > Easy
...
That "easy" setting is the key. With that, your weights will only go up if you tell the app "I could have done 7+ more" at the end of your first work set.
Hope that all makes sense!
Thanks for reporting that issue Sebastian. I can understand that's frustrating, and I'm guessing you're on iOS. What's going on here is if we let the timer run, iOS is killing the app in the background when you exit to save memory. We've already implemented a workaround with a notification. If you stay outside the app for the full timer duration (e.g. 25 sec), you'll get a notification telling you your rest is over. Let me know if that doesn't work at support@drmuscleapp.com. If you find other issues with the app, please drop us an email. We try to keep this site for feature requests. I'm marking this one as completed for now. Thx!
Thank you for your suggestion Barrett. This was released in a recent update. I'm marking it as completed.
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's in beta! From the announcement:
Having a pure strength program is our #1 most requested features, so I’m excited to bring it to you today! Obviously, a pure strength phase makes you stronger. But some coaches also believe it can help you build more muscle in the long run, as tension is a key driver of muscle growth (and tension increases when you lift heavier weights). Wanna try it out? You’ll find our new powerlifting programs under Workouts > Gym. To make it your current program, save any of its workouts. If you already have some experience benching, squatting, and deadlifting, I suggest starting at levels 2 or 3.
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
Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's in beta! From the announcement:
To get the body of a greek god, should you aim to get stronger? Many coaches would tell you so, based on the hypothesis that over time, lifting heavier makes you more muscular. But thanks to a new study, you don’t have to rely on hypotheses anymore. Carvalho et al. (2020) investigated muscle thickness and maximum strength in 26 resistance-trained men. They found that lifters who trained for strength for 3 weeks and hypertrophy for 5 weeks gained more muscle and strength than those who just trained for hypertrophy for 8 weeks. The authors concluded: “Our results support the use of a period to increase muscle strength prior to hypertrophy training.” Not sure how to apply that to your own training? We got you covered. When you follow one of the default programs inside Dr. Muscle, you’ll know do a 3-week strength phase automatically before each new program. Not into it? No problem. You can toggle that off under Settings.
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