Strength Coaching
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How strength coaching works
FitSum tracks your performance on every weight-based exercise and uses it to recommend a target weight and rep range each session. You don't need to manage progression manually — the app does it for you.
The coaching engine works at the exercise level. Each exercise has its own progression state, independent of every other exercise. If you progress quickly on bench press but more slowly on overhead press, that's handled separately.
What the app considers:
- The weights and reps you've logged in recent sessions
- How hard those sessions felt (your RPE ratings)
- How consistently you've been training that exercise
- Your training age on that exercise (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
- Your training style preference (general / strength / hypertrophy)
- Whether you are in a deload period
- Any absences longer than expected
Understanding your target weight
Every exercise shows a target weight and a rep range at the start of the set row. These are coaching suggestions, not strict requirements — you should adjust based on how you're feeling.
Target ranges, not single numbers
The coaching engine works in ranges rather than exact numbers. Instead of prescribing "do exactly 80 kg for 5 reps", it gives you a zone to work in. This accounts for day-to-day variation in how you feel and reduces the pressure to hit a single prescribed value.
Why this weight?
Tap the info icon next to the target weight to open the Why This Weight panel.
This panel shows:
- The current progression stage for this exercise
- A trend line of your recent performance
- A log of recent sessions with the weights and RPEs recorded
- A plain-language explanation of what the app decided and why
Training styles (Premium for advanced settings)
Your training style affects how the app balances weight increases against rep volume.
| Style | Focus |
|---|---|
| General | Balanced between strength and size |
| Strength | Higher weights, lower reps (strength-focused ranges) |
| Hypertrophy | Moderate weights, higher reps (muscle size–focused ranges) |
Change your training style in Training Settings → Training Style (open Training Settings from the Workout tab).
Advanced settings — including custom rep-range overrides applied by exercise classification (Big lifts, Supporting, or Isolation) — are a Premium feature.
How the engine decides to progress
The primary signal is reps completed versus target. Every working set must reach the target rep count — not most sets, not an average. If you hit all sets at target reps, the engine then checks effort:
- All sets completed + effort was manageable → weight (or reps) increases next session
- All sets completed but effort was high → weight stays the same; the app consolidates before adding load
- One or more sets missed target reps → weight stays the same; a failure counter increments
- Fewer sets completed than prescribed → same result as missed reps, regardless of RPE
RPE (1–10) is the secondary gate. Completing all your reps at an RPE that's already very high is a signal that you're not ready to add load yet, even though the reps were technically hit. The app won't progress you until the same weight starts to feel manageable.
You don't need to be precise with RPE. A rough estimate is enough — what matters most is logging all your actual reps.
Deloads and light weeks
A deload is a planned reduction in training load to allow your body to recover and come back stronger. FitSum manages deloads automatically.
[SCREENSHOT: Workout screen showing the deload coaching card with the "Light week through [date]" message]
Types of deload
Scheduled deload — A full programme cycle naturally ends with a lighter week. Weights are reduced across your whole programme. A coaching card appears on the Workout screen confirming dates.
Reactive deload (exercise-level) — If the app detects that RPE on a specific exercise has been consistently high over recent sessions, it reduces the weight for that exercise next session. The reduction is temporary; weights build back up automatically as effort normalises.
Reactive deload (programme-level) — If overall training load spikes significantly, a light week is triggered across your programme.
During a deload
Weights are lower than you might expect. This is intentional. Train as normal — the app tracks your output and uses it to calibrate what comes next. Skipping a deload or manually overriding the weights defeats the purpose.
Starting a deload yourself (Premium)
Deloads are handled automatically by default. As a Premium option, the Advanced section of Training Settings includes a Start a deload week button so you can trigger a light week on demand; the app still schedules the others automatically based on your training load.
Return-to-training after a break
If you've been away from an exercise for significantly longer than your typical gap, the app detects this and reduces your working weight when you return. How much depends on how long you were away:
| Time away | Weight adjustment | Ramp-back period |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 2 weeks | None | — |
| 2–4 weeks | Small reduction (~5%) | 1 week |
| 4–8 weeks | Moderate reduction (~10%) | 2 weeks |
| 8–12 weeks | Larger reduction (~15%) | 3 weeks |
| 12–17 weeks | Larger reduction (~20%) | 4 weeks |
| Over 17 weeks | Significant reduction (~30%) | 5 weeks |
A coaching card ("Welcome back after N days away") confirms this has happened. During the ramp-back period, weights build back up automatically over the number of weeks shown above — you don't need to do anything. Just train as normal.
Coaching cards
Coaching cards appear on the Workout screen home to surface relevant information. Cards can be dismissed with a swipe. They reappear if the underlying condition persists.
| Card | Trigger |
|---|---|
| Training load spiking | Recent training volume significantly elevated |
| Training load very elevated | More severe spike |
| Light week | Deload period active |
| Weight reduced (exercise) | RPE consistently high on one exercise |
| Welcome back | Absence longer than expected |
| Pain flag | Same exercise flagged as painful 3+ sessions |
| Consistency nudge | Adherence significantly below your target |
| Training age update | Progression stage changed for an exercise |
| Training max increased | Top performance level increased |
| BMI coaching | Significant change in recorded body weight |
Load ratio: home card vs Progress chart. The Training load home cards reflect a live load ratio that is recomputed when the card is generated — as you rest, the rolling ratio decays and the card disappears once it normalises (typically by the next day after a spike), even though the spike genuinely happened. The Volume Load Ratio stat on the Progress chart, by contrast, plots the value recorded at each workout's completion — one frozen point per workout. So after a spike the last chart point and the home card can briefly disagree for a resting user; both are correct (a per-workout snapshot vs a rolling-as-of-now ratio).
Training age and progression stages
Each exercise independently tracks how advanced you are at it. A beginner on an exercise progresses faster than someone who has been training it for years — this is normal and expected.
The app promotes you to the next stage when your performance history on that exercise justifies it. No action is needed; it happens automatically. When it occurs, a coaching card confirms the change and explains what it means for your targets.
You won't be demoted retroactively — if performance temporarily drops (illness, deload, absence), the app accounts for that rather than resetting your stage.
What happens if coaching feels off
If a suggested weight seems wrong — too light, too heavy, or stuck — here's how to investigate.
- Tap the info icon on the target weight to open the Why This Weight panel. Check the recent log and the trend to see what the engine is basing its decision on.
- Check your recent RPE entries. If RPE is missing or consistently under-reported, the engine has less to work with.
- Check that your logged sets are accurate. Large discrepancies between sessions can pull the trend in unexpected directions.
If you want to override the suggestion temporarily, just enter the weight you prefer. Your actual input is always what the engine learns from, not the suggestion you received.