Messaging and Automation
One thread per client, roster broadcasts and their limits, automated messages in your own words, and reporting a message.
You and each client share one private thread. On top of it you can message your whole roster at once, and have MuscleBuddy send a message you wrote when a client misses a check-in, stalls or stops training.
Threads
Messages (/messages) lists your threads with an unread count on each.
The Message button at the top of a client's page opens your thread with
them. Opening a thread marks their messages read. A new message notifies the
other person through their own notification settings, by push, email or both.
A client with two coaches has two separate threads. Neither coach can see the other's.
Broadcasts
Message your roster on the dashboard sends one message to many clients.
- With no roster filter applied, it goes to every active client.
- With a filter applied on the Clients card, it goes only to the clients the filter shows. The button changes to Send to these N. Filter by Phase: Contest prep to message only the clients in prep.
The composer tells you how many clients it will reach before you send. Each client receives the broadcast as an ordinary message from you in their own thread. A client whose coaching ended before you sent it is skipped.
You can send 10 broadcasts in any rolling 24 hours, up to 5,000 characters each. Recently sent lists your last 20, with the date and how many clients each reached, so you can check whether you already announced something.
Automated messages
The Automated messages card has one box per trigger:
| Trigger | Fires when |
|---|---|
| Client missed a check-in | A client goes past their own missed-check-in window |
| A lift stopped progressing | A lift has not beaten its best top set in two weeks |
| Client has not trained in a week | A client logs no workout for seven days |
These are the same conditions as the alerts on your dashboard. Write the message, press Save, and use the switch beside it to turn the trigger on or off. MuscleBuddy gives you no starter text: the message goes out under your name in your thread with the client, so the words are yours. An empty box means the trigger sends nothing. Clearing the box and pressing Remove stops it; messages already sent stay in their threads.
Limits that keep automation from turning into noise:
- One trigger messages a client at most once a week.
- A client gets at most one automated message a day, across every trigger and every coach they have.
To switch a trigger off for one client, open their Overview tab and use Automated messages for this client. A client in a planned deload week probably does not need the inactivity nudge.
Reporting a message
Either side of a live thread can press Report on a message the other person sent. One report hides the message from both of you until an admin reviews it.
When coaching ends
You lose the thread. The client keeps it, read-only, for as long as it holds messages, and neither of you can send in it again. Ending a coaching relationship covers the rest.
Where to go next
More guides
MuscleBuddy 101: What's Where and Why
A quick orientation to the app: what Plan, Train, Nutrition, Health and Community do, and how they connect.
Logging Your First Workout
The logging flow: starting a session, recording sets, RPE/RIR, and how offline mode keeps you covered.
Understanding Your Program & Progression
How double progression, linear, RPE and the other progression methods set your training loads from what you log.
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