*Important*: Medical disclaimer

These programs are intended for healthy individuals without any medical conditions. While there are different paths to physical health and improvements, everyone is different. Programs listed on this website can be taxing and cause potential injuries. If you have a physical or medical condition, or have a health concern, you should always consult a physician prior to engaging physical activities. Please follow your healthcare provider’s advice.

Q: Are these programs suitable for beginners?

Yes. Our Free and Evolve Programs offer beginner variants of the product, where we adjust the number of sets, weight, intensity, and other guidelines for beginners. However, beginners should heavily emphasize form, stability, and manageable volume. Incorrect form, excessive training volume can casue injury and set you back for worse. Forge the "heavier the weight, better the result" mentality. Master the form first, start lighter than you think, learn how your body functions and react to new movements, focus on clean and controlled reps, then progress gradually. You will benefit and keep the effort sustainable in the long run with slow, consistent progress.

Q: What if I feel pain?

Any pain and especially sharp or joint pain is a stop sign. Learn to recognize the signals and listen to your body. When you feel pain, the safest approach is to end the workout and evaluate your physical condition by consulting a qualified medical professional before continuing.

The "No Pain No Gain" phrasing you hear is not referring to actual physical pain. It's the feeling of discomfort or soreness from muscles being challenged during the workout, or a sign of muscle growth and repair. An important part of physical training is to recognize these differences and be aware of when to stop.

Q: Do I need to warm up and cool down?

Yes. Proper warm-up before a workout and cool-down after can reduce injury risk and improve recovery. In addition, it's always a good practice to start an exercise movement with a lighter warm-up set to awaken and prepare the targeted muscle groups.

We recommend 5–10 minutes of dynamic warm-up (light cardio + movement prep) before lifting; 5–10 minutes of light stretching after.

Q: Can I train at home or in a crowded gym?

Yes. Our programs are designed for you to almost train anywhere, at anytime: Every exercise is paired with alternatives in some, if not all bodyweight, dumbbell, barbell, cable, machine, and kettlebell exercises.

Keep in mind that while alternative exercises target the same primary muscle group, sometimes movement pattern differs. You should learn the form of an alternative with much lighter weight, and experiment with alternatives to maximize results.

Q: If a machine is taken, what do I do?

The simplest way is to move onto the next exercise of the workout until the barbell is open :) Or choose a listed alternative of the exercise (e.g., Cable Row ↔ Chest↔Supported Dumbbell Row↔Inverted Row).

Switching the orders of the exercise is not a major priority. However, we do recommend performing heavy, taxing compound movements at the beginning of the workout, and monitor load for exercises in later part of the workout to avoid injury and burnout.

Q: Limited equipment day?

Prioritize compound movements like a squat or row movement if you can, then fill with bodyweight or dumbbell options. You’ll still get an excellent stimulus. Consistency over the long run will trump over a day's effort.

Worst case scenario, you can still do some bodyweight push-up variations, squats, and some six-count burpees that will give you a good burn and maintenance.

Q: How much weekly volume is “enough”?

Most lifters grow well on 8–20 hard sets per muscle per week, spread across 2–5 sessions. Our programs auto-balance this based on the selected experience and goal.

Simply put, there is no right one-for-all answer to this question. We recommend you start with the lower-end of the specturm, but peform them in good and controlled form. When you have master the form, start experimenting with volume and monitoring your growth/response to make adjustments.

Q: How do I use RPE/RIR?

RPE 8 ≈ 2 reps in reserve. RPE of 10 or 0 RIR means you are unable to peform another single lift at the end of the set.

If a set ends much easier/harder than target, adjust load or reps in the next set/workout to land in the prescribed range.

RPE/RIR is a proxy for intensity. A "2 reps in reserve“ can mean very differently to a beginner vs. a seasoned veteran in the gym. Overtime, you will gain experience and familiarize with the sensation of failure, close to failure.

Our recommendation is to prioritize safety to not over-exert yourself, and stick to the schdule with consistency. You may have seen gym bros barely standing the morning after a leg day - this unlikley helps you over the long run.

Q: Rest times?

Rule of thumb is to rest longer for heavier compound lifts, allowing muscle to recover more between sets.

Recommended rest time for compound movements: 2-3min (heavy compounds up to 5min). Isolation exercises: 60-90s. If your second or third set severely underperforms, rest a bit longer or reduce load in the next session/set.

Q: What about tempo?

Typical default: controlled eccentric, smooth concentric, minimal pauses unless noted in the program.

Beginners should focus on controlled tempo instead of explosive movements. By controlling the movement and slowing down, it helps form and mind-muscle connection.The "jerking" and "yanking" motion only helps for very specific type of explosive training like olympic lifting (which is very unlikely to apply to us.)

Q: How do I progress week to week?

Rule of thumb: When you hit the top of the rep range with clean form for two sessions, increase load by 2–5% or 2.5–5 lbs next week. Alternatively, add 1–2 reps or +1 set if you feel fresh and recovered.

Q: I’m stuck on a lift—what now?

Try changing one lever at a time:

• Increase rest by 30–60s
• Add/reduce micro-load (smallest plates possible)
• Adjust tempo (slightly faster concentric)
• Swap a variation for 3–4 weeks (e.g., from squats to paused squats), then test again.

Our Evolve programs offers different training stages that targe tthe same muscles while targeting foundation, function, and intensity. It is intended to break plateaus while keeping consistency and offer variety to keep the funWe have all felt bored after repeating the same exercises over a long long time. Give it a try if you are interested.

Q: What is a deload and how do I do it?

A deload is a planned low-fatigue week. Either drop load ~50–60% with same sets, or keep load and halve the sets. The goal is to allow sufficient time for recovery after an extensive period of focused training, while maintaining your progress. And more importantly, it maintains our habit to workout. Aim to leave the week feeling fresh.

Q: How should I warm up for a heavy lift?

Follow ramp-up sets: 2–4 lighter sets increasing load while keeping reps low before our first working set.

For instance, if we have the barbell open to yourself :) and we are targeting 8 reps for a barbell squat exercise. Try 3 warm up sets with 40%-60%-80% of the targeted load/weight with 6reps - 4reps - 2 reps. Keep rest time minimum in between these warm-up sets. The goal here is to get your muscles warm, fire up your neuromuscular systems to minimize injuriy risks and get you ready for the real set.

Q: Do I need mobility work daily?

Short daily mobility or stretches absolutely helps, even just for 5-10 minutes before and/or after a workout session. Prioritize areas you train that day (glutes/quads for squats, chest/shoulders for presses).

Free 10-minute all-purpose mobility routines, including routines for desk workers are included in our Evolve programs.

Q: How do I optimize recovery?

Don't over complicate, start with these: Sleep 7–9 hours daily, eat sufficient protein (about 0.8-1.2g protein per lb in bodyweight) and micronutrients, stay hydrated, walk 6–8k steps/day as able, and keep stress in check. If you want to drop weight, eat a little less than usual (maintain a daily caloric deficit). If you want to gain weight, eat a little more than usual (maintain a daily caloric surplus).

Q: How do I log workouts?

Use our spreadsheet to record sets, reps, weight, and RPE. Review weekly to spot trends and plan micro-progressions. Logging your workout is the first step to taking fitness seriously and track performance over time.

Q: How important is technique?

Everything. Use a full, controlled Range of Motion (ROM) that’s pain-free. There are also plenty of coaching tips and forms online. A few elements to notice is your range of motion, depth, movement path, bracing (core, glutes, etc.). We suggest you regularly film a set occasionally to check and improve form.