The weight on the bar moves when you've earned it
Log your sets and the next session's load follows from them. Each number comes from a written rule, and it names the sets of yours that produced it.
Five progression methods
Double progression: a rep range and a fixed number of sets, and the load goes up after a session where every set reaches the top of the range. Linear: the same increment added every session. RPE: the load moves with the effort you rate each session. Percentage: a set percentage of your best estimated 1RM on that lift (Epley, from your logged sets). Wave loading: a lighter set at the top of your rep range, then a heavier one at the bottom, with extra waves added across the block, each 2.5% heavier than the last.
You pick one method for your whole program. Changing it later, from your training settings, rebuilds the program around the new method. A coach can set the method lift by lift. Each change tells you why the number moved and which sets moved it: log 8, 8 and 8 reps at 100 kg against an 8-rep top of range, and the next session reads "all sets at top of range" and puts 102.5 kg on the bar.
A deload closes every block
A block is four hard weeks and a deload week. If you train with a coach, they set the rhythm, anywhere from two to twelve hard weeks before the deload.
The week you see in your program is the week your logger prescribes: 40% fewer sets at the same weight, or the same sets 12.5% lighter. The block after it picks up from your pre-deload loads, not the lighter ones. With recovery tracking on Pro, a run of low-recovery days can bring the deload forward, and you can undo it if you'd rather train through. On Pro you can also mark any week of your program as a deload in the periodization calendar.
Equipment-aware program generation
Tell MuscleBuddy what equipment you have, or what your gym has, and the program it generates only uses lifts you can load. A dumbbells-only home gym won't get a barbell back squat.
The exercise library holds over 400 movements, each tagged with the muscles it trains, the equipment it needs, and how hard it is to learn. When a lift doesn't fit your setup, you get a substitute that trains the same muscles.
What training hands the other three modules
On Pro, your training schedule shifts your meal plan's carbs toward training days, and your session minutes count toward your hydration target. Session load also sits next to recovery (from HRV and resting heart rate) on the Pro analytics chart, so you can see whether a heavy week lines up with a rough recovery stretch.
Upkeep's link is narrower. An appointment shows how your recovery and mood looked around it, which gives you context if training changed that week.
You can check the math
Once you have logged a lift, each load MuscleBuddy prescribes for it traces back to those sets, so you and your coach can check its work. The same training data gives the same answer, with the reasoning attached.
If you train with a coach, they can override any of it.
Frequently asked
- Can I use my own program?
Yes. Bring your own program: log your sets and MuscleBuddy handles the load adjustments from there. Or generate a fresh program from one of 8 curated programs.
- Is the AI generating my workouts?
No. Your program and the loads on it come from rules, not a language model. AI writes the coaching chat and your check-in summaries. It does not set the numbers you train by.
- What methods does MuscleBuddy support?
Double progression, linear, RPE, percentage, wave, and manual override. You pick one for your program; a coach can set it per exercise.
- How does deload work?
Each block closes on a deload week, after four hard weeks unless your coach sets a different cadence. With recovery tracking on Pro, a run of low-recovery days can bring it forward, and on Pro you can mark deload weeks yourself in the periodization calendar.
- Does the training engine know my gym's equipment?
Yes. Set your gym profile once and generated programs only use the equipment on it.
You train hard, and MuscleBuddy works out the loads.
Free, forever: workout logging, program generation with auto-progression, the curated program library and the Rep Coach tempo pacer. Pro ($9.99/mo) adds periodization and training phases; per-lift progression and volume analytics; wearable-driven readiness and auto-deload; and filmed rep-tempo and cue checking.