Hi Andrés,

You bring up good points, and I'll address them one by one.

> workouts that include specific powerlifting exercises and implements like board presses, bands and chains etc.

I would certainly love to add powerlifting workouts to the app (I've competed in powerlifting myself). If enough customers vote for this feature, we will. Until then, you can create your own workouts and programs inside the app. You can also add any number of exercises you want, including board presses, bands squats, etc. So, you would already be able to do this yourself in your account at this point. If you need help, let me know. We could log into your account and create those for you.

> As well as gaining maximum strength while staying within a weight division. Good information can be found from Sheiko and Westside Barbell.

I agree, those are 2 great sources. I've tried both of their programs.

> Unless the science says that you can improve maximum strength from hypertrophy alone. I believe the app is awesome and I just wonder how the A.I would handle both bodybuilding and powerlifting depending on your goals. 

You can improve max strength by training the nervous system (heavy loads) or hypertrophy (moderate loads). So, you are correct. Right now, the app will have you do between 5 and 12 reps. For strength, 3-5 reps are usually recommended. There's been a suggestion to modify rep range (https://muscle.userecho.com/forums/1-submit-your-feedback/topics/52-modify-rep-ranges/). Please vote for it. If enough people vote for it, we'll implement it. Then, you would be able to set your rep range to 3-5 (or whatever you prefer) when you want to train for strength.

For now, I'd note that you can use the app in the 3-5 rep range. You would have to ignore the recommendations you get and enter your weights and reps yourself. The app would still show you how much you've improved every workout and have you deload when your 1RM goes down. That may be enough for you now. For assistance work, that's typically done for higher reps, you could still follow its recommendations.

Thanks for taking the time to write. I hope you stick around and help us make this app great for powerlifters.

Best regards,

Carl

Thanks for chiming in Dustin.

Marc, you're starting the see the joy of hunting for bugs on mobile apps ;)

Most customers are getting email notifications when we write here, so let's move this conversation to Facebook. I've created a thread (https://www.facebook.com/groups/drmuscle/permalink/1775304846103254/). We'll get help from other users and track this bug down.

Thanks guys!

Thank you for your patience and for reporting this again Marc.

I'm not able to reproduce the issue on my Android. I'll have someone on the team try and reproduce it on their iPhone shortly. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again.

Hi Dustin,

Great suggestion. The more people vote for it, the faster we'll implement it.

For now, 2 points:

1- Yesterday, we had a small glitch and had to reboot our servers. Normally, you wouldn't get sets of 3 (5 is the new minimum). Therefore, you'll get lighter weights. We've taken steps to prevent glitches like that in the future.

2- If you don't have enough weight, you can do more reps with the max weight you have. The app won't really mind. Another option would be to change exercise altogether (chin-ups would be good in your case - enter your body weight + use external weights when needed).

I hope this is useful.

Best,

Carl

Note to self:

Regarding bodyweight exercises, if you have access to external weights, here's how you can do them right now with the app:

1. Choose exercises you can do at least 12 reps with
2. Enter your body weight when you do 12 (or more) reps
3. When the app asks you to do fewer than 12 reps, you'll get a weight higher than your body weight. Use external weights to make up for the difference.

Thank you for that suggestion Andreas.

Another similar request we get from time to time is actually the reverse: change from 2,5 lbs to 5 lbs increments. I'll invite customers who request that to vote for your suggestion here.

Thanks for building muscle faster with us.

Note to self: "joints were aching so I manually backed off"

Hi Marc,

Thanks for this.

Was that last night? Another user reported a problem saving exercises, so I think it was related to our servers, and not the swap. I think it's been resolved since. The user was able to save exercises normally an hour later. Also, you're on Android, correct? I've tried reproducing this possible bug on my Android and I'm not able to.

Lastly, this feature was in beta for ~10 days, and no one reported it.

Could you please check again now?

Thank you!

Carl

That's interesting. To be honest, one of the best ways to get maximum results from bodyweight exercises is to add external weight. Pull up with weight around your waist, push up with plates on your back, etc. Are you able to do that?

Or would you want to just use your body weight? If so, then the best way forward would be to add more reps. You would end up doing sets of 50, 100, even 200 reps.

You can now swap an exercise mid-workout.

This update is now available to everyone on Android and under review on iPhone (Apple should approve it in 1-2 days).

I'm marking this as "Completed." Thanks to all who voted.