Hyperlog is a simple, yet powerful workout tracker.
We've tried hundreds of workout tracker apps.
None of them fit our needs perfectly.
So we decided to build our own, and we think it's the best one.
Yes, but all of them suffer from these fundamental issues:
They are not built with long-term programs in mind.
They lack structure, and aren't designed for long-term progress. Continue reading for why this matters.
They don't adapt to you, or your feedback.
Users leave gains on the table, waste time, or worse, risk injury.
They lack a good user experience
Clunky, slow, and unintuitive interfaces, and are confusing to use.
As a result, people are not getting the most out of their workouts. They are wasting time, effort, money, and making suboptimal gains -- all while increasing their risk of injury.
To fix this, we started building Hyperlog.
1.Hyperlog is built specifically with programs & periodization in mind.
First, some definitions:
Programs
Programs are a collection of workouts. They're created with a particular focus & structure, where each workout in the program is designed to help you progress towards that focus.
For example: Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, Jim Wendler's 5/3/1, are all examples of programs.
Workouts
Workouts are a collection of exercises. They are an individual session of training.
Periodization
The technique of manipulating various aspects of your workout over time, usually by dividing a program into distinct phases.
Mesocycle
A training block of a program, usually 4-8 weeks in length. It is the foundation of the Hyperlog program structure.
For example, some programs call for a 4-week strength mesocycle, then a 5-week hypertrophy cycle. You can read more about mesocycles in our blog post: How to Build an Effective Hypertrophy Program
This is exactly how professional coaches instruct their athletes to train. Athletes aren't just going to the gym and choosing random workouts to do. They follow a program, which has been constructed using the latest science on what exercises to do, how heavy to lift, for how many sets and reps, how intensly to perform them, etc.
Hyperlog makes this structure, science — and therefore results — accessible to everyone. How? By offering scientifically-backed programs, and generating a mesocycle of that program for you to follow. Other apps simply don't do this: they are a rag-tag collection of workouts, with no real structure, progression mechanism, or feedback loop.
2.Hyperlog adjusts based on your feedback during each mesocycle
Our bodies adapt, and so should your program.
Over the course of each mesocycle, we ensure efficient and safe progressive overload. This is the principle that we must gradually increase the stress on our bodies in order to continue to make progress.
How do we make this safe and efficient? It's about the Stimulus-to-Fatigue Ratio (SFR), which is how much stimulus (work that we're doing to our muscles) versus how fatigue our muscles get from that work. We want to keep the SFR high so you're making optimal progress, but not so high that you risk injury, or burn out.
We manipulate the SFR using Reps in Reserve (RIR), which is how many more reps you can still do (with good form) at the end of a set. You can read more about how we use RIR to adjust your workouts in our blog post: Training Smarter using Reps in Reserve
We will prompt you for feedback on:
Soreness
Pump
Workload
Joint Pain
Based on this feedback, on days where you can safely do more, we'll adjust the targets and intensity of your next workouts to ensure you are not leaving any gains on the table. On days where you are excessively fatigued, we'll dial things back to prevent burnout or injury. This adjusts the SFR appropriately.
3.Hyperlog is optimized for the user experience.
This is often overlooked in other apps. They just want to get onto the market quickly, go viral, get people to pay their subscriptions, and make money. No shade, we get it.
But the truth is, the user experience really matters. Making Hyperlog fast, intuitive, and enjoyable to use encourages people to use it more frequently, and consistently. This in turn leads to better, faster results -- consistency is the key to progress.
The best workouts are the ones you enjoy doing, and our objective is to contribute to that.
Okay, but what does this mean in practice?
Available offline
Everything is on your device. No internet connection required. No spinners, loading screens, waiting. No account required.
World-class design
Navigate by swiping. Easy-to-reach buttons with large touch surfaces. A best-in-class, interface that is never in your way.
Simple by default. Powerful on demand.
Everything you need is at your fingertips, with the flexibility to go advanced when you need to.