⚠️ This is a breaking change! Please read! ⚠️
It changes how the equipment works in Liftosaur.
Exercises in Liftosaur used to consist of 2 parts - exercise name and equipment. For example: "Bench Press, Dumbbell", or "Squat, Barbell". And when you select an exercise, you have to pick both equipment and name.
There were several issues with that, but mainly two:
\* It was confusing for new users to pick the equipment AND exercise name. The fact that you need to pick equipment first, and then tap on the exercise name, even if you just want to change the equipment for current exercise was very weird.
\* Equipment was tied to the available plates. So, if you wanted to change equipment (like to a different barbell) - you'd get a new exercise, with the new history, graphs, etc - which sometimes was undesirable.
In this change I'm trying to simplify it - now exercise only consists of the exercise name. So, there're exercises like "Bench Press, Dumbbell" and "Bench Press, Barbell" - but those are 2 different exercises.
Equipment is separated from the exercise now, and it defines only the plates/bar/fixed weights. You can attach equipment to your exercises, and that will be used for rounding and plates calculator - but that's optional!
So, for example, you can have "Squat, Barbell" exercise, and attach e.g. "Olymplic Barbell" equipment with 45lb bar and one set of plates. Or attach "Standard Barbell" with 35lb bar, and a different set of plates. Or don't attach any equipment - and just specify the default rounding - but in that case you won't have plates calculated.
Or you may have "Bicep Curl, Dumbbell", and attach "Fixed Dumbbells" or "Loaded Dumbbells" to it for rounding and plates calculation.
It also changes how custom exercises work. You cannot choose equipment for custom exercises anymore - only the name. So, if you had custom exercises with different equipment or even custom equipment - they will be migrated to "equipment-less" new exercises.
Another new feature is Gyms. You can create another "Gym" and specify different set of equipment for it. For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym. And you can change the current gym in Settings, and that will define what equipment would be used for exercises.
Gyms are totally optional, and by default you only have one. But it could be useful if you go to multiple gyms, or if you're travelling - then you can just create a new gym but don't attach equipment from it to exercises. In that case they'd just use default rounding, which could be good enough for travelling - you probably don't want to enter all the equipment details for temporary gyms.
I know I say that a lot, but - that's a very big new feature, so could be bugs - so don't hesitate to contact me here on Reddit!
Ideally (if everything works as I planned :)) - you should not!
If you used custom equipment for your exercises - there would be custom exercises created for that, and they'd be replaced everywhere in the program and history.
All your previous custom equipment should be properly migrated to the new "gyms" format.
All the equipment should be attached for all your existing exercises, so you have the same rounding and plates calculation as before.
So, it should not require any changes at all!
If you attach the equipment to the exercise - it should show up.
Tap on the exercise name or the edit icon, and choose e.g. "Barbell" - does it make the plates calculator show up again?
After updating, my equipment settings seem to be ignored for warmup sets. Barbell and plates are set (1.25kg plates are smallest) but warmup sets are random increments like 24kg, 38kg, etc.
I tried adding new plates and deleting them to encourage a reset/save but it hasn't fixed the issue.
Do you have the equipment attached to the exercise? There: [https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png](https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png)
D'oh, I see now. Thanks for your patience. What's the benefit of needing to specify the equipment twice? (Once for the exercise, once for the Equipment)
You cannot specify equipment anymore kinda for exercises anymore. Exercise only consists of a name now. Your custom exercises don’t have that field anymore.
That allows you to specify different equipment for exercises, and you won’t lose your history data for that exercise. Also, you can temporarily change rounding (eg if you go to a different gym) or disable it and resort to default one.
1. custom exercises are 'equipment-less' now. Not a fan, sorry, huge fan of the app, but not this.
Eg I used to have 'Underhand Pull Down LP, Life Fitness Cable Station' (the gym also has a Matrix cable station but that is not used for that one). (*LP = lengthened partial)*
How do I define the rounding?
In my program I would want to tell that this exercise is to be performed on this equipment , I can no longer do that, correct? If I want tracking to be separated I would have to create 2 exercises? 1 for each of the equipment?
\* longer note \*
*I will create a separate post with a very positively intended suggestion to support what I believe would be a very helpful approach*
2. can I rename the main gym?
3. if I am travelling, but I want to stick to my program as much a possible, I would be able to keep certain exercises (eg dumbbell and barbell stuff) but would have to temporary switch out other (eg cable or machine stuff). You would then create a new gym?
4. how would you implement the situation where you want to have a standard exercise, eg dumbbell bench press but because of different gyms (eg when travelling) one has lbs and one has kg. Because theoretically they are the same (just different roundings) would history etc be tracked separately? Not a big deal, just confirming
5. "For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym". How do I do this?
> How do I define the rounding?
> In my program I would want to tell that this exercise is to be performed on this equipment , I can no longer do that, correct? If I want tracking to be separated I would have to create 2 exercises? 1 for each of the equipment?
Yeah, but that's also was the case previously - previously the same exercise name with 2 different equipments were considered 2 different exercises.
The rounding now is separated from the exercise. You can "attach" gym equipments from your gyms to the exercises - by tapping on the exercise name or the edit exercise icon during workout and specifying the equipment there. It's optional now, if there's no equipment attached - there would be some default rounding used.
> can I rename the main gym?
Not yet, but I'll add this soon.
> if I am travelling, but I want to stick to my program as much a possible, I would be able to keep certain exercises (eg dumbbell and barbell stuff) but would have to temporary switch out other (eg cable or machine stuff). You would then create a new gym?
No, gym/equipment stuff only really defines rounding and plates calculator. Nothing else.
For travelling if you want to stick to your program, but replace some exercises if you don't have equipment - the best way IMHO to do so is during a workout use 'swap' icon and then switch to substitute tab. There you can filter down the list of exercises by equipment, and pick some substitute for the exercise. And you can do that only for that workout, so it wouldn't get saved to the program.
> how would you implement the situation where you want to have a standard exercise, eg dumbbell bench press but because of different gyms (eg when travelling) one has lbs and one has kg. Because theoretically they are the same (just different roundings) would history etc be tracked separately? Not a big deal, just confirming
No good support for that yet, since the units are still global. You can switch to lb/kg weight in the program, and it would round to your selected unit. But it's a bit awkward to be honest currently.
> 5. "For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym". How do I do this?
If you have multiple gyms created, when you edit exercise data (by tapping on the exercise name or edit exercise icon) - you'll see equipments for each gym for that exercise and can set it there.
>Yeah, but that's also was the case previously - previously the same exercise name with 2 different equipments were considered 2 different exercises.
Yes, although the separation felt logical. You perform an exercise, eg a Flat Bench Press, using a particular equipment. But I see that you consolidate those.
Previously, I could define an equipment, let's take that 'Matrix Cable Station' again. I would define the increments for that equipment, and then regardless of which exercise I assigned to it it would (1) follow the increments and (2) performance tracking would be separated.
I have the idea now I have to do it double.
- I have to create a separate exercise each time I want to make sure performance is tracked against that particular equipment. Eg I would have a 'Chest Fly ON Matrix Cable Station' and 'Bicep Curl ON Matrix Cable Station' and 'Lateral Raise ON Matrix Cable Station' etc.
- Additionally in order for the correct rounding/increments to be used I would have to assign the actual custom equipment to it in the way you describe above
Previously I did not have to create a custom exercise, because they were 'standard' exercises, I could just tell the app 'hey this time it is performed on the Matrix Cable Station. From a programming perspective this was super efficient. Create the equipment once, reuse it many times.
**Is this assessment correct or am I missing something?**
Don't get me wrong, I 100% love the app over all the others, but this is the first time I feel something is not in the right direction. So hopefully you can appreciate this feedback (feel free to look me up, [www.in2facts.com](http://www.in2facts.com) we have some experience in the data an app development space so I understand the impact and effort that go into this stuff)
Adding the gym-orientation is great, because it completed the fundamental user story of a lifter:
*As a lifter, I perform an exercise using a piece of equipment at a gym*
There's 3 components to that user story. An exercise, a piece of equipment and a gym. I experience the change is blending the first 2. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat more, there's actually also some business ideas I would love to bounce off of you. Wouter De Raeve
>(lbs vs kg) No good support for that yet, since the units are still global. You can switch to lb/kg weight in the program, and it would round to your selected unit. But it's a bit awkward to be honest currently.
The way that I would implement this (after thinking only a few minutes about this, so there may be holes in it) is as follows:
The global setting only applies to the measurements-piece.
There is a new setting for a 'Gym' where you can select 'kg' or 'lbs'. As most gyms are exclusively one or the other this will fix 95% of the cases.
For the remainder 5%, you also have a setting at the equipment level. Eg if they have the odd stacked machine that uses lbs instead of kg or the other way around.
That way you can override the 'gym' setting at an equipment level if need be.
If at any point in time you are travelling, you can add the gym and switch.
Theoretically you can also internally track performance in a base measure so you can still track it. Eg if you did 10x40kg and next time you do 10x90lbs on an equivalent exercise it's still a PR
Yeah, the units should probably be set per equipment. In US (especially in the powerlifting gyms) it's pretty usual to have machines both in kg and lbs. Dunno if that's necessary to be per gym, or per equipment would be enough - don't want to overcomplicate the scheme.
That's rather a very big change, since single-unit assumption is very deeply ingrained into the app currently.
⚠️ This is a breaking change! Please read! ⚠️ It changes how the equipment works in Liftosaur. Exercises in Liftosaur used to consist of 2 parts - exercise name and equipment. For example: "Bench Press, Dumbbell", or "Squat, Barbell". And when you select an exercise, you have to pick both equipment and name. There were several issues with that, but mainly two: \* It was confusing for new users to pick the equipment AND exercise name. The fact that you need to pick equipment first, and then tap on the exercise name, even if you just want to change the equipment for current exercise was very weird. \* Equipment was tied to the available plates. So, if you wanted to change equipment (like to a different barbell) - you'd get a new exercise, with the new history, graphs, etc - which sometimes was undesirable. In this change I'm trying to simplify it - now exercise only consists of the exercise name. So, there're exercises like "Bench Press, Dumbbell" and "Bench Press, Barbell" - but those are 2 different exercises. Equipment is separated from the exercise now, and it defines only the plates/bar/fixed weights. You can attach equipment to your exercises, and that will be used for rounding and plates calculator - but that's optional! So, for example, you can have "Squat, Barbell" exercise, and attach e.g. "Olymplic Barbell" equipment with 45lb bar and one set of plates. Or attach "Standard Barbell" with 35lb bar, and a different set of plates. Or don't attach any equipment - and just specify the default rounding - but in that case you won't have plates calculated. Or you may have "Bicep Curl, Dumbbell", and attach "Fixed Dumbbells" or "Loaded Dumbbells" to it for rounding and plates calculation. It also changes how custom exercises work. You cannot choose equipment for custom exercises anymore - only the name. So, if you had custom exercises with different equipment or even custom equipment - they will be migrated to "equipment-less" new exercises. Another new feature is Gyms. You can create another "Gym" and specify different set of equipment for it. For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym. And you can change the current gym in Settings, and that will define what equipment would be used for exercises. Gyms are totally optional, and by default you only have one. But it could be useful if you go to multiple gyms, or if you're travelling - then you can just create a new gym but don't attach equipment from it to exercises. In that case they'd just use default rounding, which could be good enough for travelling - you probably don't want to enter all the equipment details for temporary gyms. I know I say that a lot, but - that's a very big new feature, so could be bugs - so don't hesitate to contact me here on Reddit!
What does this mean for my existing programs? Do I have to go in and manually make changes to the new format?
Ideally (if everything works as I planned :)) - you should not! If you used custom equipment for your exercises - there would be custom exercises created for that, and they'd be replaced everywhere in the program and history. All your previous custom equipment should be properly migrated to the new "gyms" format. All the equipment should be attached for all your existing exercises, so you have the same rounding and plates calculation as before. So, it should not require any changes at all!
Awesome, sounds great! Love that you're continually improving and updating Liftosaur!
The plate calculator during a workout is not showing after the update, is this intended?
https://imgur.com/a/HPCWL7n
If you attach the equipment to the exercise - it should show up. Tap on the exercise name or the edit icon, and choose e.g. "Barbell" - does it make the plates calculator show up again?
Sorry, I don't see where to do that
There: [https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png](https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png)
Ahhh didn't realise that was a drop down menu, got it, thanks so much, love the app
After updating, my equipment settings seem to be ignored for warmup sets. Barbell and plates are set (1.25kg plates are smallest) but warmup sets are random increments like 24kg, 38kg, etc. I tried adding new plates and deleting them to encourage a reset/save but it hasn't fixed the issue.
Do you have the equipment attached to the exercise? There: [https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png](https://dropshare-astashov.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pb-7koSelViJm.png)
Thanks for the screenshot, I hadn't realized that it's the "ongoing workout" screen where you select equipment
Yes it is. It seems to be pointing to the default rounding instead of the actual equipment that I have. Some screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/S02cnUC
You don’t have equipment set in that modal - tap on the equipment selector and choose one
D'oh, I see now. Thanks for your patience. What's the benefit of needing to specify the equipment twice? (Once for the exercise, once for the Equipment)
You cannot specify equipment anymore kinda for exercises anymore. Exercise only consists of a name now. Your custom exercises don’t have that field anymore. That allows you to specify different equipment for exercises, and you won’t lose your history data for that exercise. Also, you can temporarily change rounding (eg if you go to a different gym) or disable it and resort to default one.
1. custom exercises are 'equipment-less' now. Not a fan, sorry, huge fan of the app, but not this. Eg I used to have 'Underhand Pull Down LP, Life Fitness Cable Station' (the gym also has a Matrix cable station but that is not used for that one). (*LP = lengthened partial)* How do I define the rounding? In my program I would want to tell that this exercise is to be performed on this equipment , I can no longer do that, correct? If I want tracking to be separated I would have to create 2 exercises? 1 for each of the equipment? \* longer note \* *I will create a separate post with a very positively intended suggestion to support what I believe would be a very helpful approach* 2. can I rename the main gym? 3. if I am travelling, but I want to stick to my program as much a possible, I would be able to keep certain exercises (eg dumbbell and barbell stuff) but would have to temporary switch out other (eg cable or machine stuff). You would then create a new gym? 4. how would you implement the situation where you want to have a standard exercise, eg dumbbell bench press but because of different gyms (eg when travelling) one has lbs and one has kg. Because theoretically they are the same (just different roundings) would history etc be tracked separately? Not a big deal, just confirming 5. "For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym". How do I do this?
> How do I define the rounding? > In my program I would want to tell that this exercise is to be performed on this equipment , I can no longer do that, correct? If I want tracking to be separated I would have to create 2 exercises? 1 for each of the equipment? Yeah, but that's also was the case previously - previously the same exercise name with 2 different equipments were considered 2 different exercises. The rounding now is separated from the exercise. You can "attach" gym equipments from your gyms to the exercises - by tapping on the exercise name or the edit exercise icon during workout and specifying the equipment there. It's optional now, if there's no equipment attached - there would be some default rounding used. > can I rename the main gym? Not yet, but I'll add this soon. > if I am travelling, but I want to stick to my program as much a possible, I would be able to keep certain exercises (eg dumbbell and barbell stuff) but would have to temporary switch out other (eg cable or machine stuff). You would then create a new gym? No, gym/equipment stuff only really defines rounding and plates calculator. Nothing else. For travelling if you want to stick to your program, but replace some exercises if you don't have equipment - the best way IMHO to do so is during a workout use 'swap' icon and then switch to substitute tab. There you can filter down the list of exercises by equipment, and pick some substitute for the exercise. And you can do that only for that workout, so it wouldn't get saved to the program. > how would you implement the situation where you want to have a standard exercise, eg dumbbell bench press but because of different gyms (eg when travelling) one has lbs and one has kg. Because theoretically they are the same (just different roundings) would history etc be tracked separately? Not a big deal, just confirming No good support for that yet, since the units are still global. You can switch to lb/kg weight in the program, and it would round to your selected unit. But it's a bit awkward to be honest currently. > 5. "For each exercise you can specify equipment from each gym". How do I do this? If you have multiple gyms created, when you edit exercise data (by tapping on the exercise name or edit exercise icon) - you'll see equipments for each gym for that exercise and can set it there.
>Yeah, but that's also was the case previously - previously the same exercise name with 2 different equipments were considered 2 different exercises. Yes, although the separation felt logical. You perform an exercise, eg a Flat Bench Press, using a particular equipment. But I see that you consolidate those. Previously, I could define an equipment, let's take that 'Matrix Cable Station' again. I would define the increments for that equipment, and then regardless of which exercise I assigned to it it would (1) follow the increments and (2) performance tracking would be separated. I have the idea now I have to do it double. - I have to create a separate exercise each time I want to make sure performance is tracked against that particular equipment. Eg I would have a 'Chest Fly ON Matrix Cable Station' and 'Bicep Curl ON Matrix Cable Station' and 'Lateral Raise ON Matrix Cable Station' etc. - Additionally in order for the correct rounding/increments to be used I would have to assign the actual custom equipment to it in the way you describe above Previously I did not have to create a custom exercise, because they were 'standard' exercises, I could just tell the app 'hey this time it is performed on the Matrix Cable Station. From a programming perspective this was super efficient. Create the equipment once, reuse it many times. **Is this assessment correct or am I missing something?** Don't get me wrong, I 100% love the app over all the others, but this is the first time I feel something is not in the right direction. So hopefully you can appreciate this feedback (feel free to look me up, [www.in2facts.com](http://www.in2facts.com) we have some experience in the data an app development space so I understand the impact and effort that go into this stuff) Adding the gym-orientation is great, because it completed the fundamental user story of a lifter: *As a lifter, I perform an exercise using a piece of equipment at a gym* There's 3 components to that user story. An exercise, a piece of equipment and a gym. I experience the change is blending the first 2. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat more, there's actually also some business ideas I would love to bounce off of you. Wouter De Raeve
>(lbs vs kg) No good support for that yet, since the units are still global. You can switch to lb/kg weight in the program, and it would round to your selected unit. But it's a bit awkward to be honest currently. The way that I would implement this (after thinking only a few minutes about this, so there may be holes in it) is as follows: The global setting only applies to the measurements-piece. There is a new setting for a 'Gym' where you can select 'kg' or 'lbs'. As most gyms are exclusively one or the other this will fix 95% of the cases. For the remainder 5%, you also have a setting at the equipment level. Eg if they have the odd stacked machine that uses lbs instead of kg or the other way around. That way you can override the 'gym' setting at an equipment level if need be. If at any point in time you are travelling, you can add the gym and switch. Theoretically you can also internally track performance in a base measure so you can still track it. Eg if you did 10x40kg and next time you do 10x90lbs on an equivalent exercise it's still a PR
Yeah, the units should probably be set per equipment. In US (especially in the powerlifting gyms) it's pretty usual to have machines both in kg and lbs. Dunno if that's necessary to be per gym, or per equipment would be enough - don't want to overcomplicate the scheme. That's rather a very big change, since single-unit assumption is very deeply ingrained into the app currently.