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 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 in this order. The goal is to explain how the different parts of Alpha Progression fit together and where each feature becomes useful.

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 on the first screen.

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.

Free vs. Pro

After completing the onboarding, you get the option to subscribe to Alpha Progression Pro. This adds the features that automate or deepen the training process, including:

• Personalized plan generator
• Standalone workout generator
• Progression recommendations
• Charts
• Multiple gyms
• RIR
• Periodization and deloads
• Plate calculator
• Warm-up calculator
• Exercise evaluations
• Custom exercise images

Alpha Progression also has a permanent free version. It is not an extremely limited demo, but genuinely a great free workout logger. The free tier currently includes:

• Unlimited workout logging
• Creating your own training plans
• All 795 built-in exercises
• Real demonstration videos for all 795 exercises
• Body measurement tracking
• Rest timer
• Personal records
• Achievements
• Plan sharing
• CSV export
• No ads

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.

Creating an account (optional)

You can use Alpha Progression without creating an account, and can still access the full feature set. 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.

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

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.

It also matters later when the app recommends weights, and in various places in 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.

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, another in 10 lb. 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.

We carefully selected defaults for all exercises, based on equipment, both for kg and lb.

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, distribution of exercises across workouts, set counts, repetition ranges, and dropsets. You can also choose to get RIR targets, a periodization scheme, 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.

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 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 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.

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 below and possibly even adapt it into a hybrid)
• Full body
• Upper-lower
• Push-pull
• Push-pull-legs (PPL)
• PPL-upper-lower

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 on the plan or workout level.

Periodization means setting an exercise's sets, reps, and optionally dropsets and RIR to different values for each week of the plan (mesocycle). This is an optional feature that is popular amongst 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 and repetition targets, RIR, 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.

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 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 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.

Your first workout

Once your plan is ready, 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 to switch between exercises and show which are completed.

You can see the relevant target and enter your actual performance. For every set, we calculate and display a performance estimate: 1RM, 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 automatically add 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.

Warm-up sets are not tracked like normal working sets, but rather can be copied 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 more than one weight, e.g. 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 the weight of one arm only, e.g. Dumbbell Curls.

If you track RIR, for improved accuracy you can also enter half-values, e.g. 1.5 RIR.

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. They are linked via a shortcut in the workout logger's weight column heading, and in 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 previous performance in past workouts and what you have already done during the current workout, as well as what is planned for this workout. Recommendations can therefore shift from set to set.

The system also considers the actual weights available to you, as set in your gym's weight settings.

Suppose you used 20 kg dumbbells successfully, and the algorithm decides you should try a more challenging set, but your gym jumps directly to 22.5 kg. Rather than blindly forcing a 12.5% increase, Alpha Progression can continue progression through repetitions before increasing the weight when your performance supports the larger jump.

This combines load progression with repetition progression. Reps may go above or below the target, in combination with the available weights, to find the most sensible progression path. Especially for exercises with large percentage increases between weights, the reps may need to significantly deviate from the target. Take lateral raises, for example, where the user may only have 7.5 and 10 kg dumbbells. That is a 33% increase. Our algorithm can confidently calculate how far above the rep target you should go, before switching to the heavier dumbbells.

The algorithm is also focused on practicability. For example, we won't have you spend a minute fully reloading your barbell just for a 0.001% better weight.

RIR is optional and is not required for the progression engine to work.

When the workout is marked as a deload, you still get recommendations, but ones that are appropriate for a deload.

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 duration per exercise type, like large compound exercises (where you rest longer) vs medium vs smaller isolation exercises (where you need the least amount of rest). 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 only the current rest, 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 live updating through 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. It also includes 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 every 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 and assisted exercises

Not every exercise is represented by a normal external weight plus repetitions. Alpha Progression supports several other exercise types.

Bodyweight exercises can track movements where your bodyweight is the main resistance. Sometimes, only part of your body is involved. For those exercises, we have determined a percentage; for custom exercises, you set your own percentage.

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 knows your bodyweight already and uses it for 1RM and 10RM calculations and accounts for it when calculating the 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 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, which 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 fully offline. You can continue logging workouts even in a basement gym, while traveling, or anywhere else with poor reception.

If you use an optional account and sync, your data can synchronize when connectivity returns.

For exercise videos, a lower resolution version is shown while you are offline.

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 sub-par to you, we can often find some metrics where you did improve. Making these tiny successes visible can be very powerful in motivating you.

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.

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.

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.

Depending on the setup, progression can include changes in:

• Set counts
• Repetition targets
• RIR targets
• Dropsets

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.

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 the freshly added exercise receives recommendations in your very next 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.

Understanding performance

Progress is not limited to adding more weight to the bar. Alpha Progression can recognize different forms of improvement, including:

• Heavier weight
• More repetitions
• Higher volume
• Higher estimated 1RM or 10RM
• Improved performance for a muscle group

This matters because strength development is rarely perfectly linear. You may make a repetition PR before a weight PR. You may improve several sets even if the top set stays unchanged.

You may progress significantly in estimated strength before the next available dumbbell increment becomes realistic.

Alpha Progression tries to make those improvements visible instead of treating only heavier absolute weight as progress.

Charts

Charts are a Pro feature.

They let you inspect training trends across different categories.

Current chart categories include areas such as:

• Exercise performance
• Strength
• Volume
• Sets per muscle
• Workouts per week
• Bodyweight
• Body measurements

The chart system can show data on the exercise, muscle, measurement, and training level.

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 as a motivational layer. The purpose is to make consistency visible, not only individual workout performance. Streaks can be particularly motivating during periods where strength progress is slower but training consistency itself remains an achievement.

You can see how many weeks in a row you have worked out at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 times per week. You can set one of these as your main streak target, or tap it to view all your streaks, including how many consecutive days you have worked out.

Achievements

For a little light-hearted motivation we have introduced a large collection of achievements. They celebrate special moments that aren't necessarily connected to a PR, in a fun way. Every achievement comes with a little badge and a punny name. Some are unique, others 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. You also get a special achievement trophy, which is shown on your profile, for every 10% completed.

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

Most of these can be viewed at the exercise, muscle, and overall level. So you can see exactly which exercise or muscle you used most and how much you progressed vs the previous time period.

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.

Exporting your data

Alpha Progression allows you to fully export any and all workout, planning, and body measurement data as CSV. 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 addition rounds, expanding the selection of classical strength training exercises, including special machines, and weightlifting. 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.

In the database, depending on the current sorting option, you can conveniently see how often you have performed an exercise, or when you last performed it. This is very useful to distinguish similar exercises (e.g. all the Pull-Ups variants with different grips).

Filters and sorting

The exercise database only shows exercises that are currently available according to your gym's equipment settings. You can then search and filter the exercise database further to find movements that fit what you need.

Current filters include:

• Muscle
• Equipment
• Type: Compound, medium, or 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 amongst Alpha Progression athletes. This is a powerful baseline sorting of our exercise database. There are multiple ways to sort the exercise database:

• Most used: The database is sorted by how often you performed an exercise.
• Most recent: The database is sorted by when you last performed an exercise.
• Most popular: The database is sorted by popularity amongst all Alpha Progression users
• A-Z: The database is sorted alphabetically

If the exercise database is sorted by Most recent, each exercise shows how much time has passed since you last performed it. For all other sorting options, each exercise shows how often it was performed. This is very helpful in distinguishing between similar exercises.

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 also for experienced lifters wanting to 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 growing the targeted 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, it also shows the current max weight and 1RM/10RM PR at a glance.

With the Pro version, you also get a chart offering all the same options as the full analytics section. When viewing a chart here, you can conveniently add it to the Analytics section.

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
• 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 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 the team behind Alpha Progression in their quest for the app to be the best workout companion there is.

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 or yearly Pro subscription. The yearly subscription is significantly cheaper per month and offers a 14-day free trial. This is true for all three purchasing platforms.

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.

On the website exclusively, there is an option to enter a discount code. If you do not have one, you can use GU2609 to get 20% off or this link on the first subscription cycle.

If you later want to manage a website subscription, the Alpha Progression subscription-management 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 are not charged for the following yearly subscription.

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 subscriptions can sync between iOS and Android. The important thing is that you create an Alpha Progression account and have your data automatically sync with our backend. When you log into your account on another device, regardless of whether it is the same platform or not, your data and subscription status should be synced.

If you have an active subscription, but no access to the Pro features, first try to restore the subscription. For this there is a restore button at the bottom of the subscribe page.

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 maintain full access to all Pro features until the subscription cycle ends.

If you subscribed through the Alpha Progression website, use the subscription-management 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:

• New workouts from the plan and workout generators can only be started with an active Pro subscription.
• Workouts that contain Pro-only settings, like RIR or deloads, can still be started, but only without these settings.
• You still retain your multiple gyms; however, you are locked into 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 workout or plan will only contain the names of plans and workouts, exercises (including custom exercises) and their targets, supersets, etc. 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 plan and adjust it to their own needs rather than changing your original plan.

Plan sharing is available in the free version. The app also displays a QR code for easy opening of the shared workout or plan.

Sharing

There is a separate sharing mechanism for workout summaries and reports. Here, a screenshot is taken of a page displaying your actual workout performance, to share on social media or via messenger. This is completely separate from the sharing of workout templates explained above.

FAQ