What I'm building

An app that does your thinking at the gym.

It learns what you can actually lift and what you're training for, then tells you what to do next: the exercise, the weight, the reps. Logging is one tap, so you can stop planning and just train.

This site is where I write about building it, how the coach works, and the design behind it.

iOS app AI coach in active development
Pre-workout screen: today's plan and a Start button
The live set: the weight and reps for the current set, with Log Set
How did that set feel? logging sheet
Rest timer between sets
Post-workout summary: total volume and records
The log

The build,
written down

Back in March I built a proof of concept and lived in it for about a month, just the bare MVP, to see if the idea actually held up in the gym. It did. Since then I've been building the real thing, and writing down each day's work right here. Every glowing square is a day I worked on it.

The greyed squares are commits from before I started the diary on Jun 7, 2026.

Recent entries

Jul 32026
7 updates
Your workouts can now fit how you actually train
What you told me.
Read the day →
Jul 22026
6 updates
Swapping an exercise can now stick for good, not just for one workout
Until now, if you swapped an exercise mid-workout, it only changed that one session, next time, the old exercise was back.
Read the day →
Jun 302026
4 updates
Your daily workout is now built instantly, no internet needed
Until now, every time you started a workout the app had to call the AI to build that day's session from scratch, which meant a network…
Read the day →
Jun 292026
7 updates
The workout no longer stops when the coach can't be reached
Every set waited on the AI coach to tell you the weight and reps.
Read the day →
Jun 222026
4 updates
The app now remembers when a set hurt (groundwork)
During a workout you can tap "something hurt" or "my form broke down" after a set.
Read the day →
Jun 212026
1 update
The coach now actually uses your gym machines
We'd taught the app to capture gym machines (even custom ones), but the coach still wasn't reliably using them.
Read the day →
Jun 202026
3 updates
Out with the camera, in with smarter equipment
The camera "scan your gym" feature had quietly stopped earning its keep, and the new setup flow already moved to picking a gym preset and…
Read the day →
Jun 192026
10 updates
The Progress tab now matches the rest of the app
Every screen in the app got the new look months ago, pure black, big bold condensed numbers, one bright lime colour for the important thing.
Read the day →
Jun 182026
6 updates
Settings tab redesign (part 2): new features
With Settings now looking right, it was missing things people actually need, and a couple of useful screens were buried.
Read the day →
Jun 172026
9 updates
A clearer "you've got a workout going" badge above the tab bar
The little dot on the Workout tab was meant to glow blue when a workout was live and amber when it was paused.
Read the day →
Jun 162026
3 updates
Rebuilt the Progress tab and made its numbers trustworthy
The Progress screen got a fresh, premium look, but the numbers behind it weren't honest yet.
Read the day →
Jun 152026
4 updates
Removed the new UI and went back to the old one
A while back we started building a brand-new look for the app, a clean 3-tab design with a fresh "Today" home screen.
Read the day →
Jun 142026
8 updates
Moving the "brains" of the app into the new shell, without flipping the switch
The big one, done carefully.
Read the day →
Jun 132026
9 updates
Built the Progress root: the capability ledger
The new Progress root screen, the "capability ledger." Instead of the old progress tab, the rebuilt shell now routes to a scrollable list…
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Jun 122026
20 updates
Sign-in no longer gives up too early on a good network (the real reason saves were failing)
After the reset fix, saving a workout still failed, but for a new reason.
Read the day →
Jun 112026
17 updates
The new look's building blocks now exist in code
The redesign has been fully drawn on paper for a while.
Read the day →
Jun 102026
4 updates
The new look has a rulebook, and new users get a proper welcome
We're rebuilding how the whole app looks and feels.
Read the day →
Jun 92026
2 updates
When you change your goal, your targets quietly catch up
A while back I gave each athlete two strength numbers per movement: a floor (the level we keep them at) and a stretch (the next milestone…
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Jun 82026
6 updates
Taught the app to actually grow more sure of itself over time
The app keeps a "how sure am I about this?" rating for every exercise, every movement pattern (squat, hinge, the presses and pulls), and…
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Jun 72026
3 updates
Closed out four "is the AI being honest?" decisions
Four loose ends were all about the same theme: when the AI fails or behaves oddly, does the app stay honest about it?
Read the day →
The brain

How the coach works

It learns who you are and decides every set for you. Read it plain, or go deep on the memory, the math, and the architecture.

See how it works →
The road here

How I designed it

Every screen and every brand call started as three or four options. See what I tried and what I kept, for the app and this site.

See the design process →