The Complete Alpha Progression Guide
Alpha Progression can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be.
You can use it as a free workout logger, create your own training plan from scratch, let Alpha Progression Pro generate a personalized plan, follow precise weight and repetition recommendations, periodize your training across multiple weeks, or combine manual and automated features however you prefer.
That flexibility also means that not every user sees every part of the app.
Someone who already has a coach may never use the plan generator. A beginner may let Alpha Progression make most of the programming decisions. An experienced lifter might build the entire plan manually but still use progression recommendations, exercise analytics, multiple gyms, and periodization.
This manual follows a typical Alpha Progression journey from opening the app for the first time through months of training.
You do not need to use every feature, or follow this exact order. The goal is to explain how the different parts of Alpha Progression fit together and where each feature becomes useful.
If you are still choosing an app, start with our comparisons of strength training apps and muscle-building apps.
Free vs. Alpha Progression Pro
Alpha Progression has a permanently free version for logging workouts and creating your own plans. Pro adds personalized programming, progression recommendations and advanced training tools. After onboarding, you can choose whether to subscribe.
| Feature | What it does | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Workout logging and manual plans | Record unlimited workouts and build your own routines. | Free |
| Plan generation and workout generation | Create a personalized training plan or a single workout around your goals, experience, equipment and available time. | Pro |
| Weight and rep recommendations | Get targets for each working set based on your logged performance and available weights, with generated plans or your own routines. | Pro |
| Exercise videos | Watch real demonstrations and read instructions for all 795 built-in exercises. | Free |
| Progress charts | Track changes in your performance and body measurements over time. | Pro |
| Advanced programming | Optionally track RIR, vary your training across weeks and schedule deloads. | Pro |
The free version also includes body measurement tracking, a rest timer, personal records, achievements, plan and workout sharing, and CSV export, with no ads. Pro also adds multiple gyms, plate and warm-up calculators, exercise evaluations and custom exercise images.
If you already know exactly how you want to train, and can live without charts and the various helpers that Pro offers, the free version can therefore function as a long-term manual gym tracker.
Pro becomes more relevant when you want Alpha Progression to make programming and progression decisions for you or provide more advanced analysis and training tools.
First steps
Onboarding
When you open Alpha Progression for the first time, the app guides you through a short onboarding process. The purpose is to understand enough about you to configure the app sensibly and, if you later use the plan generator, create training that fits your situation.
You do not need to create an Alpha Progression account before you can start using the app.
Entering your data
| Data type | Options | Why we ask |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male, Female, Prefer not to say | Influences some UI elements and the plan generator |
| Experience level | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Pro, Elite | Important for the plan and workout generators |
| Bodyweight | Can be entered manually or imported via Apple Health or Health Connect | Important for bodyweight exercises. You can also continually track and analyze your bodyweight data. |
Some of this information is used directly for training features. Other data provides context for measurements, health integrations, calculations, or later personalization. You can change everything later, so onboarding does not permanently lock you into the choices you make during onboarding.
Connecting Apple Health or Health Connect
Alpha Progression can connect to Apple Health on iPhone and Health Connect on Android. The integration is optional. You can use Alpha Progression without connecting either platform.
Connecting your system health platform allows supported information to move between Alpha Progression and the broader health ecosystem on your phone. This includes:
- Workouts, including calories burned
- Bodyweight
- Body fat percentage
If you use other health or fitness apps, connecting Apple Health or Health Connect can help keep compatible data in one place rather than entering the same information repeatedly.
Creating an account (optional)
You can use Alpha Progression without creating an account. Creating an account does not unlock additional features by itself. Its main purposes are syncing and data recovery. If you create one, your Alpha Progression data can sync across your devices. That is especially useful if you:
- Use more than one phone or device
- Switch between iOS and Android
- Want your data associated with an account rather than only stored locally
We do, however, strongly recommend creating an account because it is the only way your data can be restored if there is a technical issue that wipes out the local data.
Also, if you subscribe through the Alpha Progression website, an account under the same email address is necessary so your subscription can be found.
You can change your password from the login screen. If you need to change the email address associated with your account, please contact info@alphaprogression.com. Account deletion can be initiated directly in the app.
Optional setup
You can start training without going through the following settings first. However, depending on your setup, some of these settings might be worth configuring early because they can affect plan generation, progression recommendations, and everyday convenience.
Language and units
Based on your phone settings, we preselect your language and unit settings on first launch. If any of these do not represent how you want to use the app, you can change them in the app settings.
Alpha Progression currently supports 13 languages:
- English
- German
- Spanish
- French
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Italian
- Polish
- Turkish
- Dutch
- Swedish
- Norwegian
- Danish
- Japanese
The app supports the following units and formatting options:
| Type | Options |
|---|---|
| Weight | Metric (kg) or Imperial (lb) |
| Length | Metric (cm, m, km) or Imperial (in, ft, mi) |
| Decimal | Point (1,000.99) or Comma (1.000,99) |
| Time | am/pm or 24 hours |
| Week start | Sunday or Monday |
The weight and length settings above act as global defaults. Within each gym, you can override them at the equipment level, and you can override them again for an individual exercise. The most specific setting therefore takes precedence.
For example, you can use kilograms by default but switch a particular machine to pounds, or use kilometers by default but track a specific exercise in miles.
Your gym
Your gym setup tells Alpha Progression what you actually have available to train with, both in terms of equipment and weights.
That matters because a personalized plan is only useful if it contains exercises you can perform.
Your gym setup also affects weight recommendations and several other features throughout the app. A theoretically optimal recommendation of 31.7 kg is not useful if your machine jumps directly from 30 to 35 kg.
Alpha Progression Pro also lets you create multiple gyms, each with its own equipment and available weights.
Equipment
You can select the exact equipment available in your gym. That selection then determines what is shown when adding or replacing exercises, or when browsing the database. Side note: Your custom exercises are always shown.
When you have the app generate a plan or workout, it will only include exercises that are available in the currently active gym. For example, a plan for a fully equipped commercial gym can use a different exercise selection from a plan for a simple home gym with only dumbbells, a bench, and a pull-up bar.
The full list of available equipment is:
- Free weights: Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Barbell, EZ bar, Trap bar, Resistance bands
- Benches and racks: Adjustable bench, Flat bench, Decline bench, Bench press rack, Incline bench press rack, Decline bench press rack, Squat rack, Preacher curl bench
- Bodyweight: Pull-up bar, Dip bars, Captain's chair, Roman chair
- Cable machines: Lat pulldown, Cable, Crossover cable, Row cable
- Machines: Butterfly, Reverse butterfly, Leg extension, Leg curl, Leg press, Chest press, Smith machine, All other machines
- Misc: Exercise ball, Bosu ball, Ab wheel, Sled, Battle ropes, TRX
You can also whitelist or blacklist specific exercises. Whitelisting lets you force an exercise to remain available even if the equipment it normally requires is deselected. Blacklisting does the opposite: even if you have all the necessary equipment, the exercise will no longer be shown or suggested. This is useful if there is an exercise you simply do not want to use.
Available weights
You can also configure the weights that are available for relevant equipment. This is more important than it may sound. Real gyms do not allow infinitely small increases.
One dumbbell rack may offer 20 kg → 22.5 kg → 25 kg → etc., while another has 20 kg → 22 kg → 24 kg → etc.
One cable stack may increase in 5 kg steps, while another increases in 10 lb steps. One specific machine may have a completely different set of available loads from all other machines at your gym.
There are two types of weight inputs:
Ranges
You can have one or more weight ranges, each consisting of a minimum and a maximum value, as well as an interval. Typical gyms have, for example, a set of dumbbells from 1 kg to 10 kg in 1 kg intervals, and then from 10 kg to 50 kg in 2 or 2.5 kg intervals. Alpha Progression can easily account for such a setup.
Bar and plates
For exercises using a bar and weight plates on both ends, you can also tell the app what your bar weighs and which plates you have and how many of each. This is great for barbell exercises, for example. It also unlocks the plate calculator when entering weights during a workout.
Alpha Progression comes with sensible default weight settings for every exercise and equipment type, in both kg and lb. You only need to change them if your gym differs.
Alpha Progression uses your actual available weights when making progression recommendations. That allows the app to recommend a realistic combination of weight and reps instead of pretending you can use a load that does not exist in your gym.
The available weights are also relevant to the warm-up and plate-calculator tools.
Your first plan
There are four main ways to begin training in Alpha Progression:
- Let Pro generate a personalized training plan
- Create your own training plan from scratch
- Let Pro generate a personalized standalone workout
- Create your own standalone workout from scratch
You are not locked into one approach permanently.
You can start with a generated plan and edit it heavily, create everything manually, or use a standalone workout when your normal plan does not fit.
Using the plan generator
The Alpha Progression plan generator is a Pro feature. It creates a complete training plan around your inputs rather than simply selecting one generic template.
The result includes the training split, exercises, the distribution of exercises across workouts, set counts, repetition ranges, and dropsets. You can also choose to include RIR targets, periodization, and a deload.
The generator is designed for both beginners and advanced lifters. Different experience levels receive meaningfully different programming because the amount of volume, complexity, specialization, and progression that makes sense can change considerably with training experience.
Our app comparisons for beginners and advanced lifters explain the differences in guidance and flexibility.
Basic info
The generator begins with information needed to understand your training situation:
- Your gender
- Your experience
- Your gym, where your equipment selection determines what exercises the plan generator may include
Your goal
Your training goal (Maximum strength, Muscle gain, Strength endurance) mainly determines the rep targets written into the plan. If your priorities change, you can easily change these targets later on.
Muscle focus
You can tell Alpha Progression which muscles you want to prioritize. That makes the generator useful when your goal is more specific than simply "build muscle."
For example, two lifters may both want hypertrophy, but one may want more emphasis on the upper chest and lateral delts while the other wants to prioritize glutes and hamstrings. Alpha Progression can reflect those priorities in the generated plan.
This is also useful for advanced lifters who already have well-developed muscle groups and want more of their limited training volume directed toward weaker areas.
You can also deprioritize muscles that you want to train less. This helps you build the physique you want or overcome muscle imbalances.
Training frequency and duration
You tell the generator how often you want to train and approximately how long your workouts should take.
These two inputs work together. A three-day plan with 45-minute workouts needs to distribute training differently from a five-day plan with 90-minute sessions.
Alpha Progression can adapt the split, exercise selection, and amount of work around those constraints rather than assuming that every user has unlimited time. You can always fine-tune the duration by adding or removing sets or exercises later on.
Your workouts are not rigidly attached to particular calendar dates. If you train a day earlier or later, you can simply continue through the plan in sequence.
The same applies if you miss one or more workouts or take a longer break. When you return, simply continue where you left off.
Training split
Alpha Progression will pick an optimal training split based on your input.
However, we understand that the split is an emotional topic for many: some love an upper-lower split, while others hate it and prefer push-pull-legs. To accommodate your preference, you can switch from automatic split to any of the following (depending on the number of days per week you want to train):
- Automatic (our algorithm will pick a split from the options below and possibly even adapt it into a hybrid)
- Full body
- Upper-lower
- Push-pull
- Push-pull-legs (PPL)
- PPL-upper-lower
Plan duration
You can also choose how long the generated plan should last. Generated plans can run indefinitely or for 4 to 7 weeks. If you create a plan manually from scratch, you have more flexibility: it can run indefinitely or for anywhere from 1 to 52 weeks.
Periodization requires a plan duration of at least 2 weeks. Deloads are available unless the plan duration is unlimited.
RIR, periodization, and deloads (optional)
Advanced programming features can add more structure to the generated plan.
RIR stands for Reps in Reserve: an estimate of how many additional clean repetitions you could have performed before reaching failure.
Alpha Progression supports RIR tracking, but it is optional. Progression recommendations work with and without RIR enabled. RIR can be enabled or disabled at the plan or workout level.
Periodization means varying an exercise's sets, reps, and, optionally, dropsets and RIR from week to week within the plan (mesocycle). Because this requires differences between weeks, periodization is only available for plans lasting at least 2 weeks. This is an optional feature that is popular among advanced athletes.
The cycle can also include a deload at the end of the plan to reduce training stress before the next phase.
If you do not want this additional layer, you can keep the plan simpler.
Editing your plan (optional)
A generated plan is not locked. You can fully edit it after generation, just the same as a user-created plan. Depending on what you want to change, this can include:
- Exercises
- Exercise order
- Day order
- Set counts
- Repetition targets
- RIR targets
- Dropsets
- Supersets
- Plan duration
- RIR enabled or disabled
- Periodization enabled or disabled
This is useful if the generator gives you a plan that is mostly right but includes one exercise you dislike or a detail you want to personalize further. The generator can therefore function as a complete solution or simply as a strong starting point.
Creating your own plan
You do not need Pro to create a training plan manually. The free version allows you to build your own plans and log unlimited workouts.
This is useful if:
- You already follow a coach's program
- You use a program from another source
- You enjoy programming for yourself
- You want Alpha Progression mainly as a workout log
You choose the exercises and configure your own sets, repetition targets, and dropsets.
Our plan editor makes this easy with bulk editing options, allowing you to change any variable across all exercises, or just one day, or just one week in the case of a periodized plan.
Manual plans still benefit from the underlying workout logger, exercise database, rest timer, training history, records, and other applicable features.
Pro users can also combine a manual plan with advanced features (like RIR, periodization, and deloads) rather than having to use the plan generator. Our workout planner comparison covers the differences between manual plan builders and generated programs.
Starting a standalone workout
Sometimes you do not need a full training plan. You may be traveling, adding an extra session, returning after a break, training with a friend, or may simply want one sensible workout outside your usual structure.
Alpha Progression supports standalone workouts. As with structured plans, Pro can generate a standalone workout for you, or you can create your own from scratch.
The workout generator uses many of the same settings as the plan generator. The main difference is how you define what the workout should target. Instead of setting long-term muscle priorities, you first choose a workout type and can then optionally narrow its focus.
The workout types are Full body, Upper, and Lower.
From there, you can follow a hierarchy of increasingly specific focuses. For example: Full body → Upper focus → Push focus → Chest focus. You can stop at any level, each additional focus simply narrows the workout further.
You can either choose the type and focus yourself or let Alpha Progression make a suitable selection based on what you have trained recently.
Progression recommendations work regardless of whether a workout is part of a plan or not. They also work across plans and workouts.
Our comparison of AI strength training apps explains the different approaches to automated workout planning.
Your first workout
Once you're ready to train, Alpha Progression becomes a workout logger.
The app is designed to keep the information needed for the current set close at hand while still giving access to previous performance, notes, recommendations, the rest timer, and exercise videos and instructions.
Understanding the logger
During a workout, the logger revolves around the current exercise and its sets. A horizontal list of thumbnails shows all of the workout's exercises and functions as a tab header for switching between exercises and showing which are completed.
You can see the relevant target and enter your actual performance. For every set, we calculate and display a performance metric: estimated 1RM, estimated 10RM, or volume, depending on your settings. This makes it easy to compare your performance across sets with different weight and rep values.
Alpha Progression is designed to make common entries quick: weight, repetitions, and optional RIR can be recorded with minimal interaction via our Picker, which shows a sorted list of likely desired values and a keyboard.
Your previous sets and notes remain visible so you do not need to remember what happened in the previous workout. By default, a new note is attached only to the exercise in the current workout. You can, however, pin it so it is shown whenever the exercise is performed. This is useful for machine settings or technique cues.
If you use progression recommendations, the current recommendation is shown as a blue bubble.
Warming up
Warm-up sets are supported in Alpha Progression Pro. The calculator can suggest tailored warm-up sets before your working sets, so you don't have to calculate them manually.
The warm-up recommendations are scaled according to factors including:
- The exercise
- Weight of the first working set
- Target reps
- Your available weights
- Your experience level
The exact parameters are highly customizable. You can set how many warm-up sets you want for compound, medium, and isolation exercises, separately for cold and warm muscles. Here, "warm" means that the muscle has already been trained earlier in the current workout.
You can also add or remove warm-up sets for very low or very high rep targets and set the percentage of the working weight used for each warm-up set, for example 35% for the first and 65% for the second.
Warm-up sets aren't tracked like normal working sets. Instead, you can copy them into the notes with one tap.
Entering your set
The data you must enter depends on the exercise. For most strength-training exercises, this means weight and reps.
The weight is entered using our convenient weight picker, which suggests likely weights but also has a keyboard for manual input.
For exercises using two weights, such as a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells, check the exercise instructions. For some exercises, we recommend entering the total weight, e.g. Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats, while for others, we recommend tracking only one dumbbell's weight, e.g. Dumbbell Curls.
If you track RIR, you can also enter half-values, e.g. 1.5 RIR, for improved accuracy.
Using the plate calculator
For Pro users, the weight picker includes a plate calculator for all relevant exercises. Whether an exercise uses a bar and plates or normal weight ranges is determined by the active gym's weight settings. You can access these weight settings via shortcuts in the workout logger's weight-column heading and the weight picker's header.
The plate calculator tells you exactly which plates to put on the bar to reach your target weight. If the exact target cannot be created with your available plates, Alpha Progression will show the next lower achievable weight.
That is especially useful when a progression recommendation produces a target that does not map perfectly onto the plates available in your gym.
Progression recommendations
Progression recommendations are one of Alpha Progression Pro's central features. For every working set, Alpha Progression can recommend:
- A specific weight
- A specific number of repetitions
- Optionally a specific number of RIR
The recommendation is based on your performance in previous workouts, what you have already done during the current workout, and what is planned for the current set. Recommendations can therefore change from set to set.
The system also considers the weights that are actually available in your gym. The planned rep target therefore does not have to act as a rigid cutoff for the recommendation.
Suppose you perform lateral raises with 7.5 kg dumbbells and the next available weight is 10 kg. That is a 33% increase. Instead of forcing you to make that jump as soon as you reach the planned rep target, Alpha Progression can recommend additional reps at 7.5 kg first and calculate when switching to 10 kg becomes appropriate.
This means recommended reps can sometimes be above or below the planned target when your available weight increments make that the more sensible progression. The algorithm also considers practicality: it won't ask you to substantially reload a barbell for a negligible theoretical improvement.
Progression recommendations are not limited to a single plan. Your exercise history can be used across plans and standalone workouts.
The first time you perform an exercise, there is no progression recommendation because Alpha Progression does not yet have previous performance to base one on. Once you have logged the exercise, future recommendations can use that history.
Recommendations can also move downward. If you perform worse than expected, the next session's recommendation adapts to that result and may call for an easier set. Your estimated 1RM or 10RM may decrease as well. Alpha Progression does not assume that performance must improve every session.
RIR is optional and is not required for progression recommendations to work. If RIR is enabled, Alpha Progression can also recommend a specific RIR target for each working set.
When a workout is marked as a deload, the recommendations are adjusted accordingly.
You can also disable progression recommendations if you prefer to decide your targets yourself.
Rest timer
Alpha Progression includes a highly customizable rest timer.
After a set, the timer helps you keep rest periods consistent without watching the clock manually. It starts automatically as soon as you complete a set.
There is an alarm once the timer runs out.
The duration can be automatically matched to the exercise. You can set custom durations for different exercise types, such as longer rests for large compound exercises and shorter rests for smaller isolation exercises. You can also set a per-exercise override if you need a special duration for just one exercise.
You can also easily adjust the duration for the current rest without changing the default, for example if you feel like you need more rest this time.
By default, the countdown continues past zero, so that you can always see how much time you actually rested, for example, if you needed a toilet break or had a conversation with your gym crush.
The rest timer is also visible and updates in real time in our iOS Live Activity and Android live notification. So you can actually see how much time you have left without having to unlock your phone.
Live workout info outside the app
You do not need to keep the Alpha Progression app open on screen for every second of the workout.
On iPhone, Alpha Progression uses a native Live Activity. Depending on the current workout state, it can display information such as:
- Current exercise
- Current set
- Weight and repetition recommendation
- Live rest timer
This information can appear on the Lock Screen and, on supported iPhones, in the Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island can display the rest timer and provides a convenient one-tap link back to the active workout from any app you are currently in.
Android provides similar live workout information through live notifications. These notifications also include the current exercise and set with progression recommendations, as well as a live rest timer countdown.
Alpha Progression currently does not have a dedicated Apple Watch or Wear OS workout app, although both are on our roadmap.
Supersets and dropsets
Alpha Progression supports supersets and dropsets.
Supersets let you structure exercises so that they are performed in sequence without rest between them.
Dropsets mean you perform multiple sets of the same exercise without rest between them and with a lower weight for each set. They are performed right after your normal working sets to create additional stimulus. Alpha Progression calculates how much weight you should drop for every dropset, based on your final normal working set.
These features can be useful for saving time or adding training intensity without forcing you to represent the workout incorrectly in the log.
Bodyweight, assisted, and timed exercises
Not every exercise is represented by a normal external weight plus repetitions. Alpha Progression supports several other exercise types.
For bodyweight exercises, Alpha Progression can track movements where your bodyweight is the main resistance. Some bodyweight exercises move only part of your body mass. For each built-in exercise, Alpha Progression stores an estimated percentage of your bodyweight that contributes to the resistance. For custom exercises, you set this percentage yourself.
Assisted exercises represent movements such as assisted pull-ups or dips, where a larger assistance value means the exercise is easier rather than harder.
For both bodyweight and assisted exercises, you only track the additional weight or assistance. The app already knows your bodyweight and accounts for it in both 1RM/10RM calculations and progression recommendations.
So if you do Pull-ups with a weight belt and a 10 kg plate, you only record the 10 kg additional weight. Similarly, if you do Assisted dips, only track the support the machine gives you, e.g. -15 kg.
| Metrics | Input examples | Exercise examples |
|---|---|---|
| Weight and reps | 10 kg and 8 reps | Curls, Weighted Dips |
| Counterweight and reps | -10 kg and 8 reps | Assisted Dips |
| Reps only | 8 reps | Ab Rollouts |
| Reps and duration | 8 reps and 30 seconds | Burpees |
| Duration only | 1 minute | Planks |
| Distance and duration | 5 km and 20 minutes | Running |
| Weight and distance | 50 kg and 30 meters | Sled Push |
| Weight and duration | 10 kg and 30 seconds | Weighted Planks |
Editing your workout
A planned workout does not have to be followed blindly. Real gyms are unpredictable. A machine may be occupied, an exercise may not feel right that day, or you may need to shorten the session. Alpha Progression lets you edit your training rather than requiring you to abandon the workout.
When replacing exercises, we show a list of similar exercises in case you want a similar movement but with different equipment because a machine is taken. You can also remove and add exercises. You can reorder exercises by long-pressing an exercise's thumbnail in the header and dragging it around.
Similarly, you can edit the number and target values of your sets.
You can also edit the workout's settings, like renaming the workout, toggling RIR or (un)marking it as a deload.
After completing a workout that's part of a plan, you are prompted to choose whether you want to apply the changes to the plan for the future, or keep them only in today's workout. This distinction matters because a temporary change should not necessarily rewrite your long-term training plan.
Notes
Notes allow you to keep context that cannot be represented by weight and repetitions alone. You can add any number of notes per exercise in a workout. For example, you might want to remember:
- A machine setup
- A seat position
- A grip choice
- A technique cue
- An injury-related modification
There are two types of notes:
- Temporary workout notes are attached only to the exercise in that particular workout. They are not shown as persistent exercise notes, but you can still see them later as part of the previous-workout information.
- Exercise notes are shown every time the exercise is performed. They are also shown on the exercise page and can be added, removed, and edited there as well.
You can easily switch between the two types by (un)pinning a note inside a workout.
Useful notes can make future workouts more repeatable, especially when equipment has several adjustable positions.
Training offline
Alpha Progression works almost entirely offline. You can continue logging workouts even in a basement gym, while traveling, or anywhere else with poor reception.
If you are signed in and lose your internet connection, your data will automatically synchronize when connectivity returns.
For exercise videos, a lower-resolution version is shown while you are offline. The plan and workout generators require an internet connection because they run on our servers.
Workout summary
After finishing a workout, Alpha Progression summarizes what happened.
This is where the app can surface progress that may not have been obvious while you were concentrating on individual sets.
Personal records can include improvements such as:
- Weight records
- Repetition records
- Volume records
- Estimated 1RM/10RM records
- Best performances for individual muscle groups
The workout summary also compares relevant performance with your previous workout.
The point is not only to celebrate obvious load PRs. An improvement in repetitions, estimated strength, volume, or another metric can also represent meaningful progress. Also, if a workout felt subpar to you, we can often find metrics that show you did improve. Making these tiny successes visible can be a powerful motivator.
Training long-term
The first workout is only one data point.
Alpha Progression becomes more useful over time because repeated exercises build a clearer performance history, progression recommendations gain context, reports become more meaningful, and long-term trends begin to appear.
Why does my plan repeat?
Alpha Progression keeps the core exercise structure of a training plan stable rather than replacing exercises every workout for novelty. That is intentional. Repeating productive exercises gives you the opportunity to:
- Improve technique
- Become more consistent
- Compare performance under similar conditions
- Recognize genuine progress
- Apply Progressive Overload systematically
If the exercises changed constantly, it would become harder to tell whether you actually became stronger or simply performed a different movement.
A repeated exercise is therefore not a sign that the app has stopped adapting.
Much of the adaptation happens through weight, repetitions, sets, RIR, periodization, and the recommendations attached to the exercise.
You can still swap exercises when there is a reason to do so.
Our progressive overload app comparison looks at how different apps turn training history into progression guidance.
Training at another gym
Alpha Progression Pro supports multiple gym profiles. Each gym can have its own:
- Equipment
- Available weights
You might create separate profiles for:
- Your main commercial gym
- Your home gym
- A workplace gym
- A gym you use while traveling
You can switch between gyms, and Alpha Progression can adjust relevant recommendations to the equipment and loading options available there.
That means a machine or dumbbell recommendation does not have to assume that every location is equipped identically.
Our comparison of strength training apps for home gyms covers differences in equipment profiles and progression.
Periodization
Progressive Overload does not require every week to look exactly the same.
Alpha Progression Pro can organize training into mesocycles and periodize variables across the cycle.
With periodization enabled, later weeks of the plan can deliberately have different set counts, rep targets, RIR targets, and dropsets from earlier weeks. These changes are part of the plan rather than reactions to a single workout.
A simple example could involve gradually increasing training volume or effort across several weeks before reducing stress during a deload.
Periodization is optional. If you prefer a straightforward, stable program, you can train without it.
Deloads
A deload is a deliberately easier period of training intended to reduce accumulated fatigue. Alpha Progression can include a deload at the end of a plan, and you can also mark an individual workout as a deload. Progression recommendations are adjusted accordingly instead of pushing normal progression during that workout.
Swapping exercises
There are good reasons to change an exercise even when consistency is generally useful. For example:
- Equipment is unavailable
- An exercise causes discomfort
- You prefer another movement for the same target muscle
- Your gym changes equipment
- You simply want some variation after a long period
Alpha Progression lets you replace exercises rather than forcing you to rebuild the entire plan. The exercise database shows a list of similar exercises, or you can use the normal filters and search to find a suitable alternative.
Progression recommendations are not tied to a single plan or workout. So an exercise you've trained before receives recommendations immediately, even in a new plan or standalone workout.
Finishing your training plan
Eventually, you reach the end of a training plan or decide that it is time for a new phase. Alpha Progression is designed so that you do not have to start from zero. Depending on what you want next, you can:
- Repeat your plan
- Extend your plan
- Create or generate a new plan
Repeating can make sense if the plan is still working and your goals have not changed. Extending may be useful if you want to continue the same structure for longer. Generating a new plan lets you update variables such as:
- Your goal
- Training frequency
- Workout duration
- Equipment
- Muscle priorities
- Split and periodization
Your historical workouts remain useful even when the training plan itself changes.
Analytics and PRs
Workout logging creates a large amount of data. Alpha Progression uses that data in two different ways.
First, it can feed actual performance into future progression recommendations. Second, it lets you review what has changed over time.
Workout history
Every completed workout becomes part of your workout history. This history is what allows Alpha Progression to show your previous performance during later workouts, build charts and reports, and base progression recommendations on what you actually did before.
You can open past workouts again and edit or delete them if necessary. Changes to past workout data are reflected throughout the app wherever that data is used.
Your full workout history can also be exported in CSV format.
Understanding performance
Alpha Progression does not treat progress as synonymous with simply lifting more weight. Depending on the exercise, it can track several different types of personal records, including:
- Heaviest weight
- Most repetitions
- Highest volume
- Highest estimated 1RM
- Highest estimated 10RM
Estimated 1RM and 10RM make it easier to compare sets that use different combinations of weight and reps. For example, doing more reps with the same weight can improve your estimated strength even if you have not moved to a heavier weight yet.
This matters because strength development is rarely perfectly linear. You may set a repetition PR before a weight PR, or improve your estimated 1RM or 10RM while using the same load.
New records can be surfaced in the workout summary, while your longer-term performance remains available through exercise analytics, charts, and reports.
Charts
Charts are a Pro feature.
They let you inspect training trends across different categories.
Current chart categories include:
- Exercise performance
- Strength
- Volume
- Sets per muscle
- Workouts per week
- Bodyweight
- Body measurements
The chart system can show data at the exercise, muscle, measurement, and overall training levels.
Charts are most useful when you want to answer a specific question. For example:
- Is my Bench Press actually improving over six months?
- How has my weekly chest volume changed?
- Am I training more consistently than earlier in the year?
- Did a change in bodyweight coincide with a change in strength?
Because the underlying workout data is already logged, you do not need to maintain a separate spreadsheet just to track those basic trends.
Streaks
Alpha Progression tracks training streaks to make consistency visible alongside performance progress.
You can set a weekly workout target from 1 to 7 workouts. Your streak shows how many consecutive weeks you have met that target. For example, if your target is 3 workouts per week and you have completed at least 3 workouts for 8 weeks in a row, your streak is 8 weeks.
Your selected target is shown as your main streak. You can also tap it to see your streaks for all weekly targets, as well as how many consecutive days you have worked out.
Streaks can be particularly motivating during periods when strength progress is slower but training consistency itself remains an achievement.
Achievements
For a little light-hearted motivation, we have introduced a large collection of achievements. They celebrate fun milestones that aren't necessarily connected to a PR. Every achievement comes with a little badge and a punny name. Some are unique, others are recurring. Here are a few examples:
- Graveyard Lift, for working out late at night
- Merry Liftmas, for working out on Christmas
- High Five, for working out 5 times in one week
- Drop it like it's hot, for doing dropsets for the first time
- Jack of all weights, for having performed 10 different exercises
There is a counter showing your completion percentage. For every 10% of achievements completed, you also get a special achievement trophy that is shown on your profile.
Training reports and annual review
Reports let you step back from individual workouts and review a larger period. Alpha Progression supports reports for weekly, monthly, and yearly periods through the calendar.
A report can show information such as:
- How often you trained
- What you trained
- Records you achieved
- Progress made during the period
- Achievements completed
Reports can break your training down by exercise, muscle, or overall activity and compare the current period with the previous one. For example, you can see your most-used exercise, your most-trained muscle, and how your performance changed.
This is a natural endpoint of the Alpha Progression journey: the data that began with your first logged set becomes a long-term record of how your training changed.
Body measurements
Alpha Progression can track body measurements in addition to workout performance. Body measurement tracking is available in the free version. You can track the following measurements:
- Bodyweight
- Body fat percentage
- Calves (left and right)
- Chest
- Forearms (left and right)
- Hips
- Neck
- Shoulder width
- Thighs (left and right)
- Upper arms (left and right)
- Waist
This gives useful context to training performance.
For example, a hypertrophy-focused user may care not only about strength progression but also how bodyweight and circumferences change across a gaining or cutting phase.
Relevant body measurements can also be displayed in charts with Pro, both as absolute values and changes.
Individual measurement entries can be edited or deleted at any time.
Exporting your data
Alpha Progression allows you to export all workout, plan, and body measurement data in CSV format. CSV export is available in the free version. The file can be opened in applications such as Excel or processed with other tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot.
You can export:
- Your plans
- Your full workout history
- Your custom exercises
- Your body measurements
That gives you an independent copy of your raw training information and makes it possible to perform analyses that are not built directly into Alpha Progression.
Data export also reduces dependence on the app itself. Your training history is your data, and you can keep an external copy if you want one.
Exercise database
Alpha Progression currently contains 795 built-in exercises.
This library is intentionally focused on productive strength and hypertrophy training rather than maximizing the raw number of activity entries.
Alpha Progression started out with a core selection of only the most mainstream strength-training exercises. We have since had multiple rounds of additions, expanding the selection of traditional strength-training exercises, including specialized machine exercises and weightlifting exercises. We have also added exercises for training at home, as well as stability and cardio exercises.
Every built-in exercise has a real demonstration video.
Our exercise-database comparison examines videos, instructions, filtering, and exercise selection across workout apps.
Filters and sorting
For built-in exercises, the database only shows those that are currently available according to your gym's equipment settings. Custom exercises are always shown. You can then search and filter the exercise database further to find movements that fit what you need.
Current filters include:
- Muscle
- Equipment
- Type: e.g., compound vs. isolation vs. stability exercises
- Type: Large compound, medium, or small isolation exercises, as well as stability and cardio.
This becomes particularly useful when:
- You want to train a specific muscle
- You need an alternative for an occupied machine
- You are using a different gym
- You want to create your own plan
We have analyzed 25 million workouts to find out which exercises are most popular among Alpha Progression athletes. This provides a useful popularity-based default sort for our exercise database. There are multiple ways to sort the exercise database:
- Most used: Sorting by how often you have performed an exercise.
- Most recent: Sorting by when you last performed an exercise.
- Most popular: Sorting by aggregate usage among Alpha Progression users.
- A-Z: Sorting alphabetically.
If the exercise database is sorted by Most recent, each exercise shows how much time has passed since you last performed it. With all other sorting options, each exercise shows how many times you have performed it. This is very useful for distinguishing similar exercises (e.g. all the Pull-Up variants with different grips).
Videos and instructions
Every one of Alpha Progression's 795 built-in exercises has a real demonstration video filmed in a gym with real equipment. The library does not rely on stock footage or animated exercise characters.
Each exercise also includes detailed guidance covering the movement itself.
Current guidance includes:
- Setup
- Execution
- Misc (Technique cues, common mistakes, instructions on how to count the weight and reps, etc.)
The video shows the movement visually, sometimes from multiple angles, while the written guidance explains details that may be easy to miss from watching alone.
This is particularly useful when a generated plan contains an exercise you have not performed before, but it can also help experienced lifters ensure every exercise is performed safely and effectively.
Exercise evaluations
Exercise evaluations are a Pro feature.
They are designed to help answer a different question from the normal instructions.
The video and technique guidance answer: "How do I perform this exercise?"
The exercise evaluation helps answer: "How suitable is this exercise for building the target muscle?"
Alpha Progression evaluates relevant muscle-building exercises using characteristics including:
- Range of motion
- Stability
These properties can affect how suitable an exercise is for hypertrophy. For example, higher stability can make it easier to focus on the target muscle without balance becoming a limiting factor. Range of motion can also influence the stimulus experienced by the target muscle.
An exercise evaluation should not be interpreted as saying that one exercise is universally perfect for every person. Comfort, anatomy, available equipment, experience, and individual preferences still matter.
Exercise analytics
Each exercise also accumulates its own workout history as you train. You can use that history to see how the movement has developed over time rather than treating each workout in isolation. Depending on the exercise metrics, the exercise page also shows the current max weight and 1RM/10RM PR at a glance.
With Pro, each exercise page also includes a configurable chart with the same chart options available in Analytics. You can add that chart to your Analytics section for quicker access.
This becomes increasingly useful once you have months or years of history for the same movement.
Creating custom exercises
If the built-in library does not contain exactly what you need, you can create a custom exercise. You can also copy an existing exercise as a starting point rather than building a closely related variation from scratch.
You can enter the following information when creating a custom exercise:
- Name
- Image (Pro)
- Equipment
- Main targeted muscle
- Multiple auxiliary muscles
- Type (e.g. a compound or isolation exercise)
- Metrics (e.g. weight and reps, or distance and duration)
- Bodyweight involvement (0-100%)
Custom exercises can be added to your own plans and workouts, but they are not automatically included by the plan or workout generator.
They are useful for unusual machines, personal variations, rehabilitation movements, or new equipment that has not yet been added to the official library.
Custom exercise images
Pro users can add images to custom exercises. You can select an image from your photo library or take a new photo with the camera. You can also copy the image of an existing exercise.
The image is used throughout the app, mainly as the thumbnail for quick identification. This makes a custom exercise feel more like part of the built-in library and can be particularly helpful when you have several unusual machines or similarly named variations.
Alpha Progression Pro
Alpha Progression can be used indefinitely for free. The free version is not just an extremely limited demo, but a genuinely useful basic gym workout tracker. The free version is also completely ad-free.
Pro is the optional subscription that unlocks the automated programming, advanced progression, analytics, and other advanced tools.
Pro features
At the time of writing, September 2026, the main Pro features are:
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited workout logging | Yes | Yes |
| Create manual plans | Yes | Yes |
| 795 exercises and videos | Yes | Yes |
| Rest timer | Yes | Yes |
| Records and achievements | Yes | Yes |
| Body measurements | Yes | Yes |
| Plan and workout sharing | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes |
| Plan generator | No | Yes |
| Standalone workout generator | No | Yes |
| Progression recommendations | No | Yes |
| Charts | No | Yes |
| Multiple gyms | No | Yes |
| RIR, periodization, and deloads | No | Yes |
| Warm-up calculator | No | Yes |
| Plate calculator | No | Yes |
| Exercise evaluations | No | Yes |
| Images for custom exercises | No | Yes |
By subscribing, you also support our work to make Alpha Progression the best workout companion it can be.
Where to subscribe
Alpha Progression Pro can be purchased through:
- The Alpha Progression website
- Apple's App Store
- Google Play
You can choose between the monthly and yearly Pro subscriptions. The yearly subscription is significantly cheaper per month and offers a 14-day free trial. This is true for all three purchase channels.
Your billing provider matters when you later want to change or cancel the subscription.
Website
The website asks for the email address you use in Alpha Progression so the subscription can be associated with your app account. You can subscribe before creating an Alpha Progression account. Just make sure you use the same email address when you sign up in the app.
The option to enter a discount code is exclusive to the website. If you do not have one, you can use code GU2609 or this link to get 20% off your first billing period.
If you later want to manage a website subscription, the Alpha Progression update subscription page can email you a link to the customer portal.
App Store
On iPhone, you can subscribe through Apple's in-app subscription system.
Apple manages the billing relationship. Changes and cancellations for an App Store subscription are handled through your Apple subscription settings.
Google Play
On Android, you can subscribe through Google Play.
Google manages the billing relationship for subscriptions purchased there. Changes and cancellations are handled through Google Play's subscription settings.
Free trial
New customers choosing the yearly Pro plan can currently receive a 14-day free trial. The monthly plan does not include a trial.
During the trial, you have full access to all Pro features.
If you cancel before the end of the trial, you will not be charged when the trial ends.
Subscription plans
At standard US pricing, Alpha Progression Pro currently costs:
| Plan | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $12.99/month | No |
| Yearly | $79.99/year | 14 days for new customers |
Prices can vary by country, currency, platform, taxes, or promotions.
The yearly plan is significantly cheaper per month than the monthly plan. The monthly option can make sense, however, if you want more flexibility or want to use Pro for a shorter period.
Switching subscription plans
You may decide to move from monthly to yearly or vice versa. If and how the switch works depends on where you subscribed.
Website
There is no automated way to switch your active plan via our website. If you want to switch, please get in touch via info@alphaprogression.com and we are happy to help.
Apple App Store
You can easily switch the active plan via the App Store yourself. Go to your profile, then subscriptions, and select Alpha Progression. Then tap "See all plans" and choose the subscription you want to switch to. Apple handles the change automatically. The new plan starts at the next renewal date.
Google Play
There is no automated way to switch your active plan via Google Play. If you want to switch, please get in touch via info@alphaprogression.com and we are happy to help.
Switching platforms
Your Alpha Progression training data and subscription status can sync between iOS and Android. The important thing is to create an Alpha Progression account so your data automatically syncs with our backend. When you log into your account on another device, whether the new device uses the same platform or another, your data and subscription status will sync automatically.
If you have an active subscription but no access to the Pro features, first try to restore the subscription. There is a Restore button at the bottom of the subscribe page in the app.
If this does not restore your Pro access, please get in touch via info@alphaprogression.com and we are happy to help.
Canceling your subscription
Canceling Alpha Progression Pro stops the subscription from renewing. You retain full access to all Pro features until the billing period ends.
If you subscribed through the Alpha Progression website, use the update subscription page and enter the email address associated with the subscription. Alpha Progression will email you a link to the customer portal.
If you subscribed through the App Store or Google Play, manage the subscription through the corresponding store.
After the subscription expires, your account falls back to the permanent free version rather than preventing you from using Alpha Progression altogether. There are a few things to be aware of:
- Workouts from plans created with the plan generator, as well as workouts created with the standalone workout generator, can only be started with an active Alpha Progression Pro subscription.
- Workouts from manually created plans and manually created standalone workouts can still be started. If they contain Pro-only settings, such as RIR or deloads, the workout is started without those settings.
- Your additional gyms remain saved, but without Pro you can only use the currently active gym.
Refunds
If you are unhappy with anything, please get in touch with us at info@alphaprogression.com. We have a very responsive customer service team that will often reply within a few hours or even sooner. We are eager to help if possible or learn what you feel is missing.
If you wish to get a refund, we are there to help. The process depends on how you subscribed:
Website purchase
Please contact info@alphaprogression.com and request a refund.
Apple App Store
Go to https://reportaproblem.apple.com and sign in with the Apple Account used for the purchase. Select "I'd like to request a refund", choose the reason, select the relevant subscription, and submit the request. Apple normally provides an update within 24-48 hours.
In the unlikely event that Apple declines your request, please get in touch at info@alphaprogression.com.
Google Play
Please contact info@alphaprogression.com and request a refund.
Sharing workouts and plans
Alpha Progression lets you share training plans and workouts with other people via a unique link. For example, you might want to share your training template:
- With a friend
- With a training partner
- With a coaching client
- With someone who wants to try your routine
- On Reddit or elsewhere to get feedback
The shared workout or plan only contains its name, exercises (including custom exercises) and their targets, supersets, and other template information. It will never contain any of your personal workout data, like logged sets. Notes are also not shared.
The recipient can take a copy of the shared workout or plan and adjust it to their own needs rather than changing your original workout or plan.
Plan and workout sharing is available in the free version. The app also displays a QR code that makes the shared workout or plan easy to open.
Sharing workout summaries and reports
There is a separate sharing mechanism for workout summaries and reports. Here, the app creates a screenshot of a page displaying your actual workout performance, which you can share on social media or via messenger. This is completely separate from the sharing of workout templates explained above.