Hey everyone,<p>I here is a small open-source project I've been working on lately.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and improvement ideas :)<p>GitHub: [github.com/Vincenius/workout-lol](<a href="https://github.com/Vincenius/workout-lol">https://github.com/Vincenius/workout-lol</a>)
Everyone is very complementary so can I be allowed to be the debbie downer? As a web app, it's neat! Functionally, not a fan as yet.<p>I've lifted for a couple of decades. I put in the muscles for a pull workout I will be doing today and the results are... dumb. "Dumbbell superman" nah not going to do that. Two types of hammer curl? Nah that's a waste of time. "Bayesian hammer curl" wtf, my eye is twitching. Two types of dead-lift only differentiated with different shaped weights? Nope that's dumb too. It's also suggesting exercises at the wrong level e.g. bands or dead-lifting a kettlebell. I'd need to put all my gym's kettlebells onto a bar for a useful dead-lift :) It also had no vertical pull like a chinup/lat-pull for a back workout which is kinda criminal.<p>For a beginner, they won't know it's dumb, so this is kind of harmful. They need to use a more carefully designed complete split / full-body-workout, because it matters how multiple days combine, not just a single day.<p>For an intermediate/advanced lifter, clearer goals are more useful e.g. PL or BB, and then planning intensity/loading/waves/deloads etc. for constant progression. What I find most useful is deep dive discussion by an expert for most effective exercises and how to get the most of out of them with subtleties about grips and cues to increase mind-muscle-connection etc. Suggestions for how to swap out exercises to work around injuries or focus on weak points is very useful. The lifter can then iterate and swap exercises in and out of their routine to keep it fresh and useful.
What an awesome execution. This app goes to show how you can build an excellent product even in a crowded market like Fitness. There must be gazillion workout builders out there, but OP's is the first one that I have seen which shows every exercise with example videos, and allows you to build exact workout you need without multiple google searches.
I do feel like most beginner/intermediate lifters with gym access would be better served just picking a standard full-body workout routine (e.g. GZCLP) and sticking to it. Figuring out which muscle groups you'd like to be targeting with specialized exercises is not something you should be doing as a novice.
Just came here to say this, as someone who is visiting gyms for nearly 2 decades now and who has failed several times in launching whatever-fancy-app-product:<p>WOW!<p>WOW!!<p>WOW!!!<p>not only did you create something (thats step 1),
you created something that works (you released a working version, clap clap), you created something with a real usecase (not the next get-rich-crypto-bro-app),
AND:<p>from your current version, i see gazillion ways of extending/expanding the product.<p>Keep going - dont listen to the others :)<p>(if you think about monetization: Just watch a couple of these fitfluencer channels, and you will get tons of inspiration - also out of sport-channels, you will find lot of marketing ideas)
This is awesome. Exactly what I want. Equipment, muscle group selection, simply ui, autoplay straight to the point videos - nothing between me and working out. It’s pretty much the perfect UX for me because anything that’s not aimed doing the work turns me off. Thank you!
Really great! The way of filtering by equipment available, and then body part is nice and intuitive.<p>I found this article interesting [0]. It's about a fitness site from 1999 (<a href="https://exrx.net" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://exrx.net</a>), that is still an incredibly dense and useful resource for fitness and nutrition. Makes me miss the 90's internet, but also I think shows we often hugely overcomplicate UI/UX.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-internets-richest-fitness-resource-is-a-site-from-1999" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-internets...</a>
I'd like to echo the sentiments about this app not providing enough guidance, and also ask the HN community a question: is there an app out there that does provide lots of guidance?<p>I've been doing 3 days / week GZCL with this for a year: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.braindead.gzcl">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.braindead.g...</a><p>It's a 2/5. It works, kinda. I suffer from moderate ADHD and need an app that requires little decision-making. Big buttons, pre-programmed workouts, etc. It does that pretty well.<p>co.braindead.gzcl doesn't do several things I want:
--Tell me what to do with no ambiguity (GZCL often has "accessory exercises" that are a free-for-all. No, I need the app to tell me exactly what to do. Which exercise, how many reps, what weight, what rest interval).
--Explain what's going on. What is "TM"? Why is it always zero?
--Facilitate deloading weeks + make reasonable calculations and / or expose the calculations
--be FOSS
--allow data export
--offline-first<p>Is there anything out there that does this, or a significant subset?
Love the site, and the workflow.<p>As a non native speaker I understand you’re trying to keep the instructions brief but I have to read them multiple times to understand what to do.<p>You could add some physiotherapy exercises with a stick as well.
The fitness industry runs on the idea that you need a hundred variation of exercises to get fit. The truth is, you don’t need really more than a dozen. There are the five or six boring core lifts that everyone knows, and then maybe a handful of accessory exercises to hit some specific areas, and that’s it.<p>By doing the same exercises over and over, you build adaption (muscle growth) which forces you to increase weight or reps to raise difficulty over time. Eventually you get very strong muscles and are moving a good amount of mass.<p>By doing too many variants, you just waste time and never truly “adapt” to movements.
Something like this is definitely needed. I like how you start by selecting what you have access to.<p>It would be great if a yoga mat were another option. Then you could link to videos of yoga moves, just as you do with other exercises.
Hey author! Please don't be discouraged by negative feedback here. This is legitimately a great app and it'll only get better as you fine tune it over time. Thanks for your efforts and keep going!!
Very nice, I was looking to build something similar.<p>Definitely needs a fullscreen mode with timer and video. Plus a way to configure step reps/timer :D
This is very cool!<p>I've been looking for an to keep track of my routine for getting my back in order after a broken vertebra. Many of exercises I'm doing can be found in this app already, and using this app is so straight-forward that I take this to test right-away.<p>Nevertheless, I would like to know if it will be possible to add own exercises also?
As someone completely inexperienced with exercise, the biggest drawback about this app is asking what muscles I want to focus on.<p>_I don't know_. I want to lose weight and be in just a better physical condition. Maybe then I'm not a target user, which is totally fine! But wanted to add that feedback in case I was.
As other folks have noted, this is a nice web app, but not well-suited for coming up with a real training plan that meets an individual's health goals.<p>For my own personal goals, I've enjoyed/had success with doing variations of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 workout for roughly a decade, and recently made a simple (and much, much uglier) web app [1] to record my lifts, suggest one-rep max targets, calculate weight for each set, etc. It's not nearly as flexible as the tool in this post (built mostly for 5/3/1 + power lifts) and doesn't have any options except self-hosting (for now), but one can specify their full routine in a JSON-formatted config, and then do their routine.<p>[1] <a href="https://github.com/bcspragu/stronk">https://github.com/bcspragu/stronk</a>
I think this misses an initial step: Your goal.
I'm not very experienced with all the different types of gym equipment and what you use them for.<p>I'd love to see recommendations if my goal would be to build up some muscle and lose weight, and why this would be recommended.<p>Then this would be very useful for me
This is great. Chapeau.
It's a little strange to select the muscle group one wants to target, what about a few primary and secondary dimensions such as explosiveness, endurance, strength, fat loss or aesthetics. Some way to more broadly describe what one is trying to accomplish.
as you have asked for feedback -<p>I think there is a fundamental issue with the flow.
The first step should be to choose the fundamental benefit the person is looking to achieve<p>Upper / Back / Lower / Cardio or similar high level categories that even novices can understand. I hesitate to say push pull or as this is industry specific<p><pre><code> Upper - I want a bigger chest or more defined shoulders
Back - I want a wider back or a more defined back
Lower - I want bigger glutes, defined abs, clearer separation between butt and legs, bigger legs
Cardio - I want better overall stamina
</code></pre>
Next how much time I have<p>Next equipment that I have<p>Next a visual representation on the skeleton of what this looks like in terms of targeting<p>Next excersizes
First off, this is an amazing app as others here have already mentioned–congratulations for launching!<p>In terms of improvement ideas (not that you're short of additional suggestions), I've recently started going to the gym again to train for a specific sport (100m/200m sprints). I need do a lot of plyo & power work and this involves more advanced/specific movements such as cleans, snatches, box jumps, etc.<p>Would really be amazing to expand the workouts to involve different kinds of training (e.g. strength vs power vs speed vs stability ...). Will look into the project later and see if I can contribute somehow, and happy to discuss further if you're interested :)
IMHO "body weight" should be preselected in the "equipment I have available" input. Not sure of a situation where I would be capable of working out, but not have access to my own body weight.
You might do well to clarify that you use MuscleWiki content with permission.<p>The way you phrase things on the site, I was left with the impression that you were in fact stealing the content while at the same time asking for donations, which is morally questionable at best.<p>I had to dig around in their copyright section before I found this:<p>> Some content may be used free of charge without prior consent. The .gif files, text, videos which can be found on youtube.com and muscle information can be used with the MuscleWiki branding and with links back to musclewiki.com.
This looks cool but I find it kind of hard to use.<p>My thoughts while using:<p>- Hmm, I want to get a full body workout, maybe spread across multiple sessions per week.<p>- Click on muscles? But... I'm not trying to do some advanced accessory lift. I need a whole body workout. Big compound lifts building a foundation of fitness and form for life. I guess I'll click on all the muscles...? Why am I even clicking on muscles? I'm not a professional who is targeting something. I just want to be healthy.<p>- Wow, it recommended 15 exercises for a single workout? That's.... insanity.<p>I'm guessing this is only intended to be a single-use workout tool for someone who is already doing a set routine with a bigger philosophy around it. "Oh it's an upper body pull day, I need this tool to figure out an example of 2 things I could fit into my existing routine" and not "Here's a weekly routine targeting multiple muscle groups with rest days and here's how to follow it". Perhaps the author of the tool thinks "routine" and "workout" are the same thing, but this is a workout tool, not a routine tool (a routine combines multiple workouts under a philosophy of achieving progress, and this tool just doesn't do that).<p>Looks nice but I don't need help customizing the fine details of my routine, I need something that actually understands routines at a higher level, and understands rest vs work across multiple work days to maximize results.
The UX is efficient to get started. I would also like to have something similar for office ergonomics, like stretching your back or neck when taking a break from the 'puter.
I wrote an R script to help me generate my own workouts.<p>What it actually does is schedule (distribute) the desired muscle groups across days according to your specification of:<p><pre><code> - volume: # sets to do on each workout day of that muscle group
- frequency: # days between workout days of that muscle group
</code></pre>
The goal is to avoid having some days at the gym be huge (many exercises) while others are small (fewer exercises). The script uses simulated annealing to try to even out the schedule as much as possible.<p>I am afraid I do not have a website or write-up but the code is here: <a href="https://github.com/fabkury/caltre">https://github.com/fabkury/caltre</a>. I have been actually using this script for years and it has made my gym scheduling effortless. I can just focus on the "meta parameters", e.g.:<p>INPUT:<p><pre><code> muscle group,`X sets per training day`,`train every X
days`
back,9,4
chest,9,4
quads,8,4
biceps,7,3
shoulder,6,4
abdominal,4,2
calf,4,5
anterior forearm,5,6
posterior forearm,5,6
</code></pre>
OUTPUT:
It tells you what to do on each training day, as many days you want (it is an "infinite roll"). Here are 9 days to exemplify:<p><pre><code> day 1:
chest 9
biceps 7
day 2:
quads 8
abdominal 4
day 3:
back 9
calf 4
anterior forearm 5
day 4:
biceps 7
shoulder 6
abdominal 4
day 5:
chest 9
posterior forearm 5
day 6:
quads 8
abdominal 4
day 7:
back 9
biceps 7
day 8:
shoulder 6
abdominal 4
calf 4
day 9:
chest 9
anterior forearm 5
day X:
...
</code></pre>
Kind regards.
Great execution! A nice-looking, functional app. I got myself a suggested workout plan with very little effort.<p>Criticisms: On the first page, I can barely tell if something is "selected" or not. Also, the exercises suggested are kind of...random. I've been lifting for a couple of decades, and I've never heard of a "Dumbbell Laying Silverback Shrug".<p>Overall, I think that this is a neat way for a near-beginner with analysis paralysis to get a list of suggestions for a WoD, and become introduced to movements that they haven't tried before. I think that it would be better reducing the specificity of movements to muscle groups, reducing the overall number of movements in the database, and focusing more on "movement patterns" (e.g. squat, hip hinge, push, pull, etc.)
Very well done. It would be good if the video pop-overs were a bit larger by default (even double the size) as on my resolution screen they're pretty small. One of the videos was face-on (mountain climber) so I couldn't see really what was going on with the legs.
<a href="https://www.trxstar.co.uk/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.trxstar.co.uk/</a><p>This was created by the students I had supervised this fall. It is very similar catering to more TRX crowd, though Workout.lol has a very beautiful UI :)
If you don't mind, can I ask why you use plain JavaScript rather than TypeScript?<p>The product is truly remarkable, so what technologies used under the hood doesn't matter,
but I think TypeScript is natural choice, especially if you 1) start a project from scratch in 2023, 2) have complex local states like choosing equipment and body parts, and proceeding exercises step by step until completed in a single page, and 3) have complex data structure (like exercises, histories, and seamless connection between locally stored data and remotely stored data used only after registering).<p>edit: typo
Great app from the UX/UI perspective. The progression from saving in the browser and only requiring an account later is very nice as well. Perhaps the only thing missing is a start over button.<p>As for exercise selection, it returns a lot of niche moves and exotic variants. Which makes it interesting but probably not a good fit for someone who would be most likely to use this app, ie. isn't an intermediate+ body builder already. Occasionally the recommendations are just bad (crunches).<p>Certainly a welcome addition for someone looking for variety though.
Good job! Couple suggestions:<p>- Put heavy compound movements before isolation - tiring themselves before compounds is what I see a lot of beginners do.<p>- Consider encoding exercise selection in URL so it can be bookmarked/shared.<p>- Dip bars?
Nice work and pleasant to use.
One improvement idea I have after getting to the exercise list is to add a warmup routine for the chosen muscle groups. Before beginning the exercices.
Very nice to be able to look up body weight exercises and get a short video instantly. Very nice.<p>I wouldn't target weight lifting at all. These people already know everything. Most of them can't hold a horse stance for more than 30 seconds but they can squat with 200 lbs on their back. I used to be one of those people. All bulked up and weak as fuck.<p>Don't encourage people to lift weights until they can lift their own weight.
A few issues spotted:<p>- It is not obvious how to get back to equipment selection: the history does not change, and it was not apparent that those step numbers are buttons.<p>- With JS off, there is an empty page in the beginning.<p>- The website does not allow to select forearms after choosing just "bodyweigh[t]" and "pull-up bar" as equipment, even though musclewiki.com shows chin-ups as an exercise for forearms.
Great execution! Thanks for sharing. I wonder if you'd thought about integrating with wger [0], i.e. exporting the workouts from your app and creating it there.<p>[0] <a href="https://github.com/wger-project/wger/">https://github.com/wger-project/wger/</a>
This is great. I like the no-nonsense design, I especially like the inline-approach in the video, where it kind of just pops up. I was afraid it would be a link, but turned out to be very smoothly integrated video, only slightly interrupting flow.
The suggested exercises seem rather targeted to gen-pop or general fitness. Feature request: have workouts that target based on goals - i.e. power, strength, aesthetics, endurance, etc. and attribute them accordingly.
What a great webapp, so simple and good. Love that it is straight to the point, choose what you have to work with, what you want to work on and boom there is the exercises with an added film - go work out. Toying with the idea of putting up a screen with this in my home gym so friends and family easily can get a program for when they come to workout.
I love it! There are a few bugs though. If I select a set of equipment and proceed until I get the exercises, but then go back and change the equipment, it doesn't seem to update itself.
Very cool but it shows me workouts requiring a pull up bar when I said I don't have it (only selected body weight and dumbbell then chose biceps and back)
amazing app, nice UI/UX, thank you.<p>One minor thing, I didn't understand the behaviour of Pick button:
<a href="https://webm.red/view/mUVG.webm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://webm.red/view/mUVG.webm</a>