Hi Ross! Happy to say you can already do that. Here's how:

- Tap the pen icon next to any exercise

- Tap "More"

- Toggle on "Use custom reps"
- Set your reps
- Tap "Save"

I'm marking this suggestion as completed. Cheers!

Hey Greg. Thanks for clarifying. I'll close this thread here and follow up with you by email re your goals. Cheers.

Hi Greg! All our programs and settings are already designed to maximize muscle gain. So, I'm puzzled. Can you tell me a bit more about what you have in mind?

Volume charts are here! Just in time for Christmas :)

I recently co-authored a review titled Mesocycle Progression in Hypertrophy: Volume Versus Intensity with Mike Israetel, Jared Feather and Tiago Vasconcelos Faleiro. It was published on Dec 11 (https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Abstract/publishahead/Mesocycle_Progression_in_Hypertrophy__Volume.99298.aspx).

Howshould you progress in a mesocycle? From the abstract:

"Should the trainee add more weight to the bar each week, add repetitions to the sets, or add whole sets to provide the best hypertrophy-specific overload? Based on the current literature, the likely answer is “some of all 3,” but with a progression in set numbers probably being the most well supported."

Keep in mind that this is week-to-week progression in a mesocycle (typically 4-8 weeks). Long-term, IMO, you should focus on adding weight to the bar.

Still, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your weekly volume (best measured in number of hard sets per body part). It should be around 10-20 sets. I'm posting an image of what my volume looks like for shoulders.

As you can see:

– Volume went up and down week to week
– I did between 4 and 34 sets a week (but mostly 14-21 sets)
– My average went up from 15.2 to 15.5 sets over the course of the year

That's smack within guidelines, and subjectively speaking, I'd say my shoulders have grown this year. Mind you, I've been working out for 19 years now, so they don't grow as fast as they used to and any change is hard to spot.

Now, a small Christmas gift from customer Ross Coundon for users of Dr. Muscle. Want to analyse your volume, like I did? Head over to our new volume dashboard (https://cranky-wiles-88244c.netlify.com/). The dashboard is still early, so let me know if you notice any issues. And it's open source, so if you'd like to contribute, get in touch.

Speaking of which, a message from Ross:

"I'm delighted to be able to help out the community and I know the visibility of body part set volume was something a few users were looking for so that's what I started with. It's open-source, so any frontend developers (specifically VueJS) in the group that would like to get involved?"

Merry Christmas!

Bob, thank you for that suggestion.

Stephen, the app does auto schedule easy workouts. You get them from level 4 and up, on all programs.

Great point Victor; that was indeed part of the problem. Our database was maxing out 5-6 times a day, causing delays at peak hours. We upgraded to a bigger plan and now everything seems much smoother. Thx for your wisdom!

Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's done!

You can now work out with fewer and shorter load times. In our tests, the app now loads 36% faster (opening a workout, doing 4 sets of an exercise, and saving it now takes 31 seconds, down from 48).

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

We have more speed improvements coming up, but I'll mark this suggestion as completed today. 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

Guys suuuuper excited by the speed improvements we've made thanks to your suggestions! We timed it and the app runs 36% faster now (opening it and saving 4 sets of one exercise used to take 48 seconds -- it's down to 31). Look for that in the upcoming beta release (2-3 days). Public ETA is 10 days.

We also have more speed improvements coming up -- I'll keep you posted.

Cheers!

Thanks for voting for this feature -- it's done! Now, when you finish a workout, you get a congratulations message with your stats for that workout, including how long it was (and how many exercises, sets, and new records you did).

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

Hi guys,

Turns out 5 users were affected and one sent us a video. We found and fixed the issue and taken steps to prevent similar issues in the future. Apple is reviewing our beta update as we speak (usually takes 1-2 days).

If you don't have access to beta builds, you can join and get the update now (if you're on Android) or as soon as Apple approves it (if you're on iPhone). Otherwise, it could take up to a week. To get the latest beta version of the app on your phone, follow the instructions below. Truly sorry about the issue.

Thanks for your patience,

Carl

***

If you're on Android read this, if not scroll down to iPhone:

1- Opt into the beta here: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.drmaxmuscle.dr_max_muscle
2- Update to the latest version on your phone using the Google Play app:

Google Play >
Search for Dr. Muscle >
Tap "Update"

From that point on, the app should automatically update to the latest (beta) version when we release one.

***
If you're on iPhone:

1- Download TestFlight (Apple's app for beta testers): https://itunes.apple.com/app/testflight/id899247664?mt=8

2- Opt into the beta by clicking this link on your iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/qkjapYet

Tap this blue button:

3- Open TestFlight on your phone, and tap "update" next to Dr. Muscle

When you update, if you see a warning that you may lose your data in the original app, ignore it. Your data is safe on our secure server at Microsoft and you will not lose it. From this point on, you'll get emails from Apple when new versions are available to test.