14 ms·

Show HN: I made a community sourced fitness routine database

396 points by sitesuniverse 5y ago

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Hey, I'm working on a community sourced fitness routine database where users can upload and share routines. Does this site seem useful to you? https://routinedb.com/routines https://routinedb.com/routines
- browningstreet 5y ago
  The world is filled with workout routines. They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums. They've been explained a million times -- PPL, 5/3/1, bro-splits, kettlebell routines, WODs, etc. My recommendation, if you're really a beginner, just go buy one book that explains these things. They're all based on the same principles. The same knowledge is being repackaged, re-sold, re-presented by each subsequent personality. You don't need more routines. You need the routine you'll do 50 or 100 times.
  - sitesuniverse 5y ago
    Thanks for the feedback. "They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums." - this is the problem I'm hoping to solve with RoutineDB.
  - fdw 5y ago
    > You don't need more routines. You need the routine you'll do 50 or 100 times. Honest question from someone with just anecdotes and no data: Is it preferable to do the same routine regularly over different routines (equally often)? Last year, a friend sent me a link to https://darebee.com/ https://darebee.com/ where I've been choosing different routines almost every time (or a program, which consists of different routines for each day). This seems to me more effective for me, but maybe it's just more motivation to do different things.
    - browningstreet 5y ago
      Routines should be a mix of things you develop expertise and efficiencies at (say, compound barbell movements or heavy KB base movements), and other things that you aren't efficient at. Strength training (simply one modality) is about progressive overload. So, it helps to get better at some of your exercises, but it's also advantageous to stress your body in ways that you're not efficient at -- but, if that's all you're doing, you'll never truly push yourself because the progressive overload gains won't come. My advice in the past is that 60% of your time in training should be for things you like and you're getting very good at. The non-compound movements have benefits, but unless you're competing at something, the benefits are across a broader impact spectrum. How will this translate into a fitness routine? If you look at some of the 5/3/1 periodization routines, it'll be something like: bench press, shoulders/chest, lats, triceps. Doesn't matter as much which shoulder/chest or lat exercises, just take them to a proper RPE (search it). Routines, in and of themselves, aren't super helpful if you don't understand some of the basic principles. For which some deeper resource -- a book, possibly -- is a wise investment.
      - fdw 5y ago
        Thank you (and also the responders, u/Afton and u/jnosCo) for your help! While I have certainly a lot to learn on that topic, I feel like I haven't failed completely - of course all kinds of exercises come around again, and I'm increasing difficulty/number of sets. So there's room for optimization, but it's not a bad start, I think. Thanks again :)
    - jnosCo 5y ago
      If we're talking about lifting, It's better to switch your routine after a while to avoid "plateauing", but not so often as to not be able to track progress and perfect form in lifts.
      - Afton 5y ago
        This is one of those 'true but' statements. I think it's actively harmful to provide it to beginners who don't have the context to understand what that means. Vanishingly few beginners are running a routine long enough or hard enough to suffer from this problem.
- abeppu 5y ago
  I think the hard part is knowing which routine will be appropriate and effective for a given person. What's their existing fitness level/experience? Do they use a gym and if so, what equipment do they have? What are their goals? What's their injury history? And while adding a likes/ratings/whatever system might be helpful, I'd much rather see a system that considers actual information about people's progress. Did you get stronger? Leaner? Did your mile time improve? Did you get bigger delts? At a high level, for a given goal, routine selection is a contextual bandit problem, but so far as I can tell no one treats it that way.
catchmeifyoucan 5y ago
I like it! It looks similar to strong lifts app. Will you have your own app that goes alongside this?
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  I think the first step would be to export routines as a spreadsheet. Eventually an app would be awesome though. Do you have any suggestions?
  - valtis 5y ago
    Check out the app Zero to Hero on Android. It has been abandoned by the dev for a few years now, but it has everything I ever wanted in an app. It has a few well known pre-built routines with different focuses, and then you can build your own if you so desire. Auto weight progression, easy to use interface, rest timers, graphs, etc. I still haven't found a replacement.
  - tylerscott 5y ago
    I have an open source app that uses a language called Traindown to record exercises. It might be of interest for folks who prefer text or more "free form" recording of workouts: https://traindown.com/transponder/ https://traindown.com/transponder/.
jayroh 5y ago
Would _love_ to see a community sourced database of "explain it like I'm 5" translations. Example: What does "Bent Over Lateral Raise" mean? Show me? Lateral ... to what? I'm sure I can figure that out, but, for the newbies of the world it's another hurdle to keep them from actually starting/moving.
- catchmeifyoucan 5y ago
  Pre made routines would be awesome
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Great idea, thanks for the feedback!
  - jayroh 5y ago
    Not a problem :). Thanks for the new resource!
- InitialLastName 5y ago
  darebee.com (similar website in terms of being a database of fitness stuff, mostly bodyweight-oriented) does a great job of this with some of their videos.
- datsaladbowl 5y ago
  Quick plug, but l made some attempts at this: https://github.com/wrkout/exercises.json https://github.com/wrkout/exercises.json
- dehrmann 5y ago
  Oh, it's a lateral (vs rear) delt raise. That would have helped.
  - xcambar 5y ago
    No 5 year old would understand that. I'm way past 5yo and I do not understand.
29athrowaway 5y ago
At least when I've joined a gym, a person there would assess your fitness, ask what your goals are, and based on that you would get an exercise routine. Following a random exercise routine can result in injury. You should at the very least talk to a lawyer and put a disclaimer in that page.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Good point, thanks for the feedback
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago
    Also add something like: I am at least 15 years old or something. That is the age requirement for many gyms. Also, a Report button is highly recommended for anything involving user generated content.
- ViVr 5y ago
  > Following a random exercise routine can result in injury. A trainer can check your form and help you execute the exercise safely but how does an exercise routine injure you?
  - neogodless 5y ago
    It might not be super clear from the site shared here, but most of these exercises are done with barbells with weights, or dumbbells. It's not hard for a beginner to do these with incorrect form, and then increase the weight over time, until bad form plus weight results in injury.
    - inspector-g 5y ago
      Citation needed that bad form inherently leads to injury.
- sergiotapia 5y ago
  "can result in injury" please.... just lift super light and find your form.
oneupwallstreet 5y ago
What tech stack did you use?
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Nextjs and Prisma with postgresql. I'm not a web developer typically, this is my first full stack project. Any suggestions?
mam3 5y ago
I'm very tempted to add mine which I would call "the lazy lifter: build a nice body with 4x30 minutes per week" (a very efficient, leangains-based routine). That said i'm very sad by the abscence of likes. What dopamine rush can i hope to get by contributing to your database :( ? Or at least comments.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Please do add it. I would really appreciate some more content! Yeah a like/ranking/comment system is something I'm thinking about. Any suggestions?
  - thecrimsonchin 5y ago
    This is really cool. When there a good bit more workouts having likes/upvotes would help users not get overwhelmed by choices and they can sort by most liked.
  - boplicity 5y ago
    Factor in how long someone has been doing a routine, in terms of the value of their "like"
  - Dedime 5y ago
    This may be a little pie-in-the-sky, but I've found myself disliking the "upvote" or "like" mentality. Instead, maybe a "I use(d) this!" functionality, as well as talk sections for each routine?
    - sitesuniverse 5y ago
      I like this idea!
      - swyx 5y ago
        if i've learned one thing from this thread: don't like the idea, use the idea!
recov 5y ago
Looks like a more casual and open version of https://liftvault.com/ https://liftvault.com/
rocknor 5y ago
There needs to be much more upper back work, especially in the full body strength routine, to avoid shoulder injuries.
sentinel 5y ago
Great idea! At some point in the past, I had spent... maybe 10-12 hours putting together a number of bodyweight + dumbbell exercises I picked up from YouTube. I used Giphy to record GIFs of the movement, and saved them all in a Trello dashboard (tagged and everything). I used it every time I went to the gym to figure out what exercises I could do for a particular muscle group.
- tootie 5y ago
  A classic web 1.0 website that is still humming along is ExRx that documents hundreds of different weight lifting techniques: https://exrx.net/ https://exrx.net/
amelius 5y ago
What I want is an app that counts reps/sets for me. I.e., point phone camera at self, the apps starts counting down (using a voice), and stops when I'm done. It should auto-detect the exercise.
- teh_g 5y ago
  What I want is an app that screams at me like a drill sergeant: "Let's go, you got 10 more to go! Keep up!"
  - tanjtanjtanj 5y ago
    That's basically what Peloton, Apple Fitness, and whatever other competitors to those are.
    - blowfish721 5y ago
      I’d go for a Peloton but for weight lifting for sure! I know there are some of those but haven’t found any for free weights, can’t say I have been looking too hard yet however. Edit: tempo.fit seems interesting!
  - blensor 5y ago
    Not really screaming but in VRWorkout the computer voice combined with the visual cues are as direct as it gets :) So if you need some motivation to get your bodyweight training done maybe check it out ( https://vrworkout.at https://vrworkout.at )
    - teh_g 5y ago
      That looks promising, thanks!
- Multiplayer 5y ago
  I have the tempo.fit - It's a giant video screen with camera that does exactly this. It's a great piece of kit.
lcjy 5y ago
Love the idea, although it is indeed quite similar to liftvault without the routine names. Might be worth considering having a centralized repository of exercises with curated links to videos which demonstrate how to perform that exercise with proper form. Then when creating the routine, you select from that list of exercises. This allows for a bit of consistency and quality control so people aren't throwing in random exercises. Might also help to have an upvote feature so garbage routines aren't given too much weight. Great job!
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  One difference from liftvault is that users can't submit their own routines to liftvault (as far as I know). Good suggestions. Thanks for the feedback!
runawaybottle 5y ago
This is good. Some things I think you should consider: - Get users (hah, easier said than done of course). - Comments will help people find variations (not everyone has the same equipment, or have physical issues that require a variation of the workout, comments will fill that void). - Split this up into categories (core, legs, etc) - Link this stuff to YouTube videos (it’s just easier to watch someone doing it with proper form) - Last but not least, become an app. A routine is a checklist, so make it so people can hit ‘done’ on a completed rep, maybe input the weight lifted. Track it, charts. - If you don’t do any of this, I’m going to.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Thanks for the feedback! Yes I am planning to do all of this. :)
- bigsparky 5y ago
  “ If you don’t do any of this, I’m going to.”????
  - runawaybottle 5y ago
    I’ve been sitting on a similar idea for awhile too, a friendly threat.
neogodless 5y ago
I was wondering if https://musclewiki.com/ https://musclewiki.com/ was going to pop up. My wife had just sent it to me earlier this week. It lets you pick gender, muscle group, exercise type (stretch, bodyweight, barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells) and has detailed instructions and videos. (It does not have sets/reps like the shared site.) Perhaps they would be good to use in tandem. Personally, I think for sets/reps, it follows most exercise advice. Choose what you'll actually do. If that's 3 sets of 5 reps, fine. Do that. If you can get yourself to consistently do more than that over time, you'll benefit from the increase in volume. (When I'm active, I follow Starting Strength style - increase warm-up weight while decreasing reps; then a bunch of working weight sets.)
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  This is cool, thanks for sharing!
- th0ma5 5y ago
  I was just reading that the optimum reps count was somewhere between 8 and 12. I was doing something that suggested 16 reps and that felt a little more like cardio or something, and I dug into it and it is a whole debate, but what I got out of it was that for what I was doing eight or so is about right.
  - snug 5y ago
    It depends on what your goals are, lower reps with heavier weights will give you more strength. Higher reps with lighter weights will give you bigger muscles.
    - void_mint 5y ago
      This isn't true. Lower rep ranges will better acclimate the CNS to higher bar-weight, but that's not really the same as "strength". On the flipside, higher rep ranges don't give you bigger muscles - overall training volume (total weight moved per movement) is moreso the determining factor on "size"[0]. In general it's best to just do whatever you find difficult. Lots of "powerbuilders" use Undulating Periodization (sometimes Daily) to try and get the benefits of the CNS acclimation + the increased work capacity that higher rep ranges bring. [0] https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/ https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fic... [1] https://www.strongerbyscience.com/daily-undulating-periodization/ https://www.strongerbyscience.com/daily-undulating-periodiza...
cdubzzz 5y ago
What is the "recipes" functionality that is linked in the header but coming soon?
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Still working out the details. What I have in mind is something very similar to the routine database, but for recipes!
  - cdubzzz 5y ago
    Interesting. I'll add my email. I have been working on an open-source, self-hosted recipe/calorie tracker dealy that my spouse and I have been using for macro tracking during weight training. Haven't put much effort in to "advertising" it but we have been using it quite successfully for a few months now. https://github.com/kcal-app/kcal https://github.com/kcal-app/kcal EDIT: side note -- when signing up for the email the MailChimp landing page has a "return to site" button that points to "https://sites.cx/ https://sites.cx/" (which is an NXDOMAIN for me).
    - sitesuniverse 5y ago
      Interesting, thanks for sharing. And thanks for the heads up about the mailchimp settings!
Ashanmaril 5y ago
What does it say about me that I immediately recognized this was styled with Tailwind? Looks great!
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jimbob45 5y ago
I'm betting more than a few people have used the below link as a jumping-off point for their lifting career. It would greatly help its longevity to post it on RoutineDB to avoid the inevitable heat-death of BlogSpot. http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com/2006/12/rippetoes-starting-strength.html http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com/2006/12/rippetoes-startin...
tomjen3 5y ago
Interesting, I tried the create a routine but it required a login, that seems uncessary that early. Especially because I assume (since I can't easily check it now) that it can't be used to put together a routine for people who are just terribly out of shape.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  The login is currently just an email token so you can edit your routines after they've been created. I am working on reducing the friction for this. Any suggestions?
  - tomjen3 5y ago
    My of-the-top suggestion would be to put it at the end, that way there would be some value in it (as I would want to keep the routine going), and I can test-drive the editor first, to see if it makes sense to me.
    - sitesuniverse 5y ago
      I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback!
matude 5y ago
If anybody is looking for a routine database that supports more complex routines like the Wendler's 5/3/1 variations with Training Max percentage based weights then check out the [Hardy.app](https://www.hardy.app/howitworks https://www.hardy.app/howitworks). The routines can have progression overload based on AMRAP, deloads, etc. And the workout tracking app calculates changes in your TM based on AMRAP and other rules in the routine. Just enter you 1 rep maxes and hit "start". Full disclosure though, it's kinda self-promotion because I've been developing [Hardy.app](https://www.hardy.app https://www.hardy.app) with a friend for over a year now. It's free and we're adding more features all the time, check it out if interested. :)
- krat0sprakhar 5y ago
  Looks like a great app! I run 5/3/1 and this is perfect. Currently I use https://strong.app https://strong.app but I'd love to see a way to see my weekly volume per muscle group. Is that something you are planning to add on Hardy?
  - matude 5y ago
    Thank you for the kind words! Ah yeah, strong.app is very popular. We have many cool features planned that should allow us to give value to even the most serious weight lifters who are not supported by the strong app, like autoregulating based on RPE/RIR, routine snippets, supersets, dropsets, private trainer profiles, etc, but we have a lot of work ahead yet. I added your wish to our subreddit as a feature request: https://www.reddit.com/r/hardyapp/comments/nzsmu2/feature_request_a_way_to_see_my_weekly_volume_per/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hardyapp/comments/nzsmu2/feature_re...? If your username is there as it is here I can notify you once we have added such a feature. :)
krat0sprakhar 5y ago
This should have all the routines from here: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/ https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-bu... They are all amazing
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Help me add them? :D
yobananaboy 5y ago
I'm happy to see that since this post, a bunch of workouts have been added (whoever did the saitama one got a good laugh out of me).
joelrunyon 5y ago
Cool. I've built basically two version of this previously: https://ImpossibleFitness.com/exercises https://ImpossibleFitness.com/exercises for fitness movements, lifts and exercises. and https://MoveWellApp.com/stretches https://MoveWellApp.com/stretches for mobility training and stretching. The goal is to make these more accessible to everyone and demo exactly what each movement takes. Would love any feedback on things we can improve. We're 100% bootstrapped and are adding new movements + routines every week. Happy to add anything that the HN community would think is useful.
Moosdijk 5y ago
I've lifted weights pretty regularly for some years, some years ago. However, the first program I click is gibberish [1] to me (I did olympic weightlifting too, so that's not the problem). Is there some quality control in place? [1]https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpvxacen02200wl8f8z27z77 https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpvxacen02200wl8f8z27z77
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Hey, thanks for the feedback. Yeah, community driven ranking and filtering is in the works! Do you have any suggestions?
rStar 5y ago
seems to be all lifting.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Feel free to add any type of fitness routines!
steve_adams_86 5y ago
Features I want to see in things like this: 1. Images/videos showing the exercises 2. Program generators. I have {equipment} and n days per week. Which programs work for me? Or, I have {goal} and n days per week, what should I do? The programs would be populated with exercises from the DB, programs could be exported, etc. 3. As much ELI5 info as possible - the barrier to exercise for a lot of people (myself included despite my experience) can be not knowing wtf something is, or why to do it, and generally what the benefits are. 4. Treat warmups like any exercise - a critical part of the routine. Include lots of warm up exercises, whether it's something you make quantifiable progress with or not. Everything from skipping rope and light jogging to dead bugs. Include these as part of program generation. Maybe something does this, but my favourite tracker (Strong) doesn't cover all of it and I'd switch in an instant if something did. I like the idea of switching programs every year or so, experimenting with warm ups, having convenient access to understanding programs and lifts better, etc. As it is, working out requires a crazy amount of research. Or a coach.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Great feedback, thanks!
- ed 5y ago
  If you want to feel like you’ve discovered a superpower, pay for “programming” on a marketplace like TrainHeroic. Lots of trainers actually buy their programming from other trainers, since good programming is a lot of work, so you might as well go straight to the source. You’ll probably need to buy more gear but that’s kind of unavoidable.
- georgehotelling 5y ago
  You should look into the FitBod app. You tell the app what equipment you have and it does the programming for you, with short videos and text descriptions for form.
  - donkeyd 5y ago
    How I love Apple's new 'App privacy' cards. The app you recommended seems to have pretty decent privacy practices, there doesn't seem to be tracking outside of the app, nor tracking for advertising. This is rare in fitness apps, some of which use health data for advertising, which I find appalling. So thanks for the tip!
sitesuniverse 5y ago
Thanks for the feedback everyone, and thanks for posting content on the site. Keep it coming!
goodcjw2 5y ago
I was wondering if https://www.jefit.com/ https://www.jefit.com/ was going to pop up. Sounds quite similar and has been around for quite some time. There are probably more similar solutions out there. Fitness apps are definitely an interesting space, where there are tons of them, but they seem to rarely marketing themself. Probably the customer acquisition cost would be higher than the custom lifetime value, i guess...
0-_-0 5y ago
Now that we're on the subject: Does anyone remember the Strength Standards site? strstd.com [0]. It computed your 1RM from your stats and then created customized weight lifting programs, like Starting Strength. I used it a lot when I started lifting. A part of it was similar to this: https://athletegrade.com/powerlifting/ https://athletegrade.com/powerlifting/ [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20150315012046/http://www.strstd.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150315012046/http://www.strstd...
- fudged71 5y ago
  Check out SymmetricStrength
unixhero 5y ago
Would be cool to have a section for crossfit style workout of the day and crossfit style mobility workouts.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Have you added any crossfit routines to routinedb? I would be interested in knowing how well they fit in to this format. Let me know if you have any feedback!
  - wheelinsupial 5y ago
    I'm consolidating feedback from other comments into this one, so it's in a single place. First, "Have you added any crossfit routines to routinedb?" There are at least two on there as of the time of me writing this. The Murph [1] and Strict Nicole [2]. I hope you come up with a way to credit the originators of programs / workouts that people submit. Some programs / workouts are given away for free to drum up business for trainers; others, such as crossfit WODs (work outs of the day), are used in competitions, and other programs are documented in a book that is sold and is a source of revenue for the author. > Thanks for the feedback. "They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums." - this is the problem I'm hoping to solve with RoutineDB. What is the problem you're trying to solve for? Discoverability? If that's the case, then why don't you create a flowchart linking to various resources on the web. Who is your audience? I assume you're in tech, so you know there are some criteria for success and goals that should be set before going on to build something. There are different approaches depending on the constraints. Similarly, this applies to training. There is no "best program". A flowchart would be able to help people with identifying goals up front and then determining the appropriate on-boarding point. As someone who has spent a lot of time reading blogs, forums, magazines, and books on strength and conditioning I don't see how this will help someone progress. This seems more like a dictionary of "workouts" than anything structured and progressive. If you're not already familiar with some of the online strength communities, then I can offer up a few suggestions to look over ways that they structure training programs as opposed to workouts. https://www.strongfirst.com/ https://www.strongfirst.com/ - minimalist training in terms of equipment (focus is mostly body weight and kettlebells) and time investment. aimed at "general physical preparedness" https://startingstrength.com/ https://startingstrength.com/ - powerlifting and football https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/workouts-programs/ https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/workouts-program... - powerlifting with the 5/3/1 program popularized by Jim Wendler being associated with this site previously https://www.crossfit.com/ https://www.crossfit.com/ - following the crossfit WODs (work out of the day) isn't what the top crossfitters do. The top crossfitters (as of a few years ago) focused on doing some sort of progressive overload of the big compound movements (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, pull ups) followed by what they call(ed) "metcons" or metabolic conditioning sessions. That's where they would complete the "WODs". The metcons would follow some prescribed patter, too, they wouldn't be random. http://danjohn.net/ http://danjohn.net/ - "the goal is to keep the goal the goal" pretty much sums up his no nonsense routines. coaches and competes at a lot of different levels https://gymjones.com/ https://gymjones.com/ - responsible for the 300 physiques and Henry Cavil in Superman. Or at least Mark Twight the founder was https://www.californiastrength.com/ https://www.californiastrength.com/ https://www.burgenerstrength.com/ https://www.burgenerstrength.com/ - olympic weightlifting There are some good reads on those sites about programming and progression. There are trainers that maintain blogs discussing how to take untrained individuals and get them up to speed without hurting them. Going from 8-12 hours slumped at a chair to lifting weights off the floor definitely requires some progression. There are also numerous websites dedicated to training for specific sports. So, going back to goals can help to figure out where to go. [1] https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0a5th172811md0gddqba6 https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0a5th172811md0gddqba6 https://www.crossfit.com/workout/2005/08/18#/comments https://www.crossfit.com/workout/2005/08/18#/comments [2] https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0rb3e276411mdvq9zjqla https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0rb3e276411mdvq9zjqla https://www.crossfit.com/190607 https://www.crossfit.com/190607
soheil 5y ago
When I clicked on the Sign In button from the email it took me to a page that showed another Sign Up button even though when I navigated to the homepage I was already signed in, this was very confusing and made me enter my email like 10 times.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Thanks for the info. I think the email is redirecting to the wrong page. It should still sign you in though. Do you appear signed in on this page? https://www.routinedb.com/routines https://www.routinedb.com/routines
  - soheil 5y ago
    Yes I was signed in, there was just no way for me to tell that I was until I navigated to the homepage manually and saw the navbar changed.
    - sitesuniverse 5y ago
      Ah ok, thanks. got a quick fix for that incoming!
soheil 5y ago
Genuine question: is it not better to have a workout a routine as routine implies you are exercising the same muscles over and over again at the expense of the remaining neglected muscles?
hairofadog 5y ago
This is in no way a critique of this project (which looks nice!) but my dream fitness program would be something like, "do all the things in this book, in order, and by the end of the book you'll be mostly fit". I'm sure it works great for some people but I get bogged down by choice paralysis when I'm presented with a list of workouts.
- nbrempel 5y ago
  I haven't done this program, but I've always liked the way this guide is put together: https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/ https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/
  - hairofadog 5y ago
    Thanks! Looks interesting. I'll check it out.
  - edgyquant 5y ago
    I like the way it’s written. As someone who’s been hitting the gym pretty hard for just about 90 days I can confirm that I really have seen huge results but I also didn’t take a rest day for the first 6 weeks.
- inspector-g 5y ago
  A good training template is basically what you’re looking for. Providers of such templates that are evidence-based will also explain the reasoning behind the structure of the template/program; I’d recommend starting with Barbell Medicine, for example (though there are others I am most familiar with BBM).
- TechBro8615 5y ago
  Here you go: 1. Start today by doing literally anything active. 2. Do it again tomorrow. 3. Repeat. There is no magic. Once you’ve got a habit of showing up, you can worry about exactly which fitness routine to use. Most programs get repetitive after 6-8 weeks anyway, so you need a foundation of a stable habit to fall back on when switching routines or burning out on one. The secret is to show up. Every day. Just keep stacking those good days. (This applies to a lot more than just fitness, btw) (It’s also much easier said than done)
dgellow 5y ago
One of our local sport club (in Hamburg) streamed multiple videos per day during the pandemics. It's a great source of exercises: https://www.youtube.com/c/sportspa%C3%9FeVHamburg/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/sportspa%C3%9FeVHamburg/videos. The club reopened ~1 week ago, so they stopped streaming but the content is still available. I highly recommend if you're looking for ~1h of exercise per day :)
notyourday 5y ago
So.... This is good as in it is a good aggregate, but it is, well, useless for the goal at hand if the goal is to be fit. Why? Because you can do every single one of these sequences slightly wrong and that slightly wrong would completely destroy 99% of the benefits of doing it. Why do I say that? Because I was in an excellent shape in my twenties and by the mid forties it was, objectively, terrible even though I ate right and I was active. Very active. Amazingly active. I could do twenty knuckle pushups and be just in the "probably can't do more" state. I'm also someone who paid about $1k a month for a trainer for his ballerina wife's 2x a week training because "It is easier than hear her whine but I dont get it" I'm also someone who was a semi-pro downhill skier during the time. I fucked up badly on slopes two years ago. I did everything wrong. Like 6 things. If I did not do 1 of those things, I would have been fine. It was utterly stupid. MRI said fractures, MCL, ACL tears, meniscus trashed - think fucking up at 68 mph on a Super G course because you think you are 25 and not 43 year old now slob. So the ballerina wife goes: -- Get your dumb ass back into the shape you were in I met you or my little ass is gone. Get the damn trainer. Real trainer. You workout regiment does not matter if your form is not perfect. But I got a PT who was an athlete rehab trainer. She put me back together to a point where I nearly cleared the FIS qualifier. I hired her personally. It has been two years. I shed 20 lbs. I'm about where I was at 30. I do 5x a week 15-20 minute workouts every morning ( warmup + plyometrics + strength ) and I do 1h a week warmup + plyometrics with her. We are doing pretty much the same things I used to do except that she says "I want you to look there when you are doing it. It will create the right line for you to properly engage the right muscles rather than compensate." That's what makes a difference. Do you, for example, know that then you do a renegade rows you really should pull your arm straight up with a neck turn slightly up because if you don't you will not actually engage the right muscles in your core ( you would either do no neck turn and or you would do it too much which in both cases will not get you into the right line for your body) TL;DR: hire a real trainer. They are expensive ( $1k/month for 4 sessions ) but they are what makes your regiment work, not the "regiment"
SavantIdiot 5y ago
This isn't useful because it is just a list that will eventually become noise. It can't be cross referenced: show me leg routines, show me plyometrics, show me opposing lifts, etc. It can't be curated, which means it will accrete garbage, like duplicates, or bogus workouts. It can't create programming. It can't even be searched. It's like "my first MongoDB app" or something. Go think about it and let it cook some more.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Thank you for the feedback
ropable 5y ago
A good resource, thanks for putting it out there! I'd suggest that having an idea for a reasonable program might be more useful for a beginner, i.e. a series of routines to be carried out over the next n weeks. I feel that it's more useful to point a beginner to a well-thought-out program than a grab bag of movements to follow for a single session. My go-to program for anyone setting out to improve their fitness is the Barbell Medicine Beginner Prescription https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescription/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescripti... It includes four weeks of programming (which can be repeated), background context, advice on warming up and weight selection, videos for how to perform the movements, and nutrition advice. All the most-important basics are there in one place. There's a lot of conflicting advice on this thread, and some that (I'd say) was questionable. On the other hand, it's apparent that humans can improve their physical fitness using a wide variety of different methods and modalities. That old adage about the best fitness routine is the one you stick to holds true, I think.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deviation 5y ago
Anecdotal - In Excel I can have one cell to track my 1RM in KG, and then use a percentage of that weight on any particular workout routine. i.e. I follow a 10 week program that I repeat (you guessed it) every 10 weeks. At the end of the 10 weeks I will update the 1RM and the entire spreadsheet of ~120 rows of exercises, stretches, and warmups will immediately update to show me the correct weights to use. Once you get past the beginner stages of exercise (learning movements, stretches, etc) fitness routines are just numbers on a page. For that reason I'll stick to Excel. But this seems like a useful tool for those very new to the scene.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Would an "export to spreadsheet" option be useful for you in this case?
jschulenklopper 5y ago
Once I discovered Darebee, https://darebee.com/workouts.html https://darebee.com/workouts.html, I don’t need any other fitness workout database. The size of the set of exercises, the clarity of instructions and the fee (zero) are hard to beat.
miguelrochefort 5y ago
The website doesn’t work. I get “The string did not match the expected pattern.” when I visit the link.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Sorry about that. Should be fixed now.
moneywoes 5y ago
Anyone have suggestions about doing an exercise but not feeling a muscle? For example I don’t feel my chest during bench press but still go to failure
- scruple 5y ago
  Its known as the mind-muscle connection. What helped me was visualization, slow eccentrics have helped me with some body parts (also, instead of dropping to the bottom of a movement, like a push-up, try to pull yourself down; if you're squatting, pull yourself down using your erectors instead of just dropping, etc...), and a lot of time. I'm still not there with some body parts / movements, but I have muscle development on those areas, regardless.

396 points by sitesuniverse 5y ago

Hey, I'm working on a community sourced fitness routine database where users can upload and share routines. Does this site seem useful to you? https://routinedb.com/routines https://routinedb.com/routines

browningstreet 5y ago
The world is filled with workout routines. They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums. They've been explained a million times -- PPL, 5/3/1, bro-splits, kettlebell routines, WODs, etc. My recommendation, if you're really a beginner, just go buy one book that explains these things. They're all based on the same principles. The same knowledge is being repackaged, re-sold, re-presented by each subsequent personality. You don't need more routines. You need the routine you'll do 50 or 100 times.
- sitesuniverse 5y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. "They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums." - this is the problem I'm hoping to solve with RoutineDB.
- fdw 5y ago
  > You don't need more routines. You need the routine you'll do 50 or 100 times. Honest question from someone with just anecdotes and no data: Is it preferable to do the same routine regularly over different routines (equally often)? Last year, a friend sent me a link to https://darebee.com/ https://darebee.com/ where I've been choosing different routines almost every time (or a program, which consists of different routines for each day). This seems to me more effective for me, but maybe it's just more motivation to do different things.
  - browningstreet 5y ago
    Routines should be a mix of things you develop expertise and efficiencies at (say, compound barbell movements or heavy KB base movements), and other things that you aren't efficient at. Strength training (simply one modality) is about progressive overload. So, it helps to get better at some of your exercises, but it's also advantageous to stress your body in ways that you're not efficient at -- but, if that's all you're doing, you'll never truly push yourself because the progressive overload gains won't come. My advice in the past is that 60% of your time in training should be for things you like and you're getting very good at. The non-compound movements have benefits, but unless you're competing at something, the benefits are across a broader impact spectrum. How will this translate into a fitness routine? If you look at some of the 5/3/1 periodization routines, it'll be something like: bench press, shoulders/chest, lats, triceps. Doesn't matter as much which shoulder/chest or lat exercises, just take them to a proper RPE (search it). Routines, in and of themselves, aren't super helpful if you don't understand some of the basic principles. For which some deeper resource -- a book, possibly -- is a wise investment.
    - fdw 5y ago
      Thank you (and also the responders, u/Afton and u/jnosCo) for your help! While I have certainly a lot to learn on that topic, I feel like I haven't failed completely - of course all kinds of exercises come around again, and I'm increasing difficulty/number of sets. So there's room for optimization, but it's not a bad start, I think. Thanks again :)
  - jnosCo 5y ago
    If we're talking about lifting, It's better to switch your routine after a while to avoid "plateauing", but not so often as to not be able to track progress and perfect form in lifts.
    - Afton 5y ago
      This is one of those 'true but' statements. I think it's actively harmful to provide it to beginners who don't have the context to understand what that means. Vanishingly few beginners are running a routine long enough or hard enough to suffer from this problem.
abeppu 5y ago
I think the hard part is knowing which routine will be appropriate and effective for a given person. What's their existing fitness level/experience? Do they use a gym and if so, what equipment do they have? What are their goals? What's their injury history? And while adding a likes/ratings/whatever system might be helpful, I'd much rather see a system that considers actual information about people's progress. Did you get stronger? Leaner? Did your mile time improve? Did you get bigger delts? At a high level, for a given goal, routine selection is a contextual bandit problem, but so far as I can tell no one treats it that way.

catchmeifyoucan 5y ago

I like it! It looks similar to strong lifts app. Will you have your own app that goes alongside this?

sitesuniverse 5y ago
I think the first step would be to export routines as a spreadsheet. Eventually an app would be awesome though. Do you have any suggestions?
- valtis 5y ago
  Check out the app Zero to Hero on Android. It has been abandoned by the dev for a few years now, but it has everything I ever wanted in an app. It has a few well known pre-built routines with different focuses, and then you can build your own if you so desire. Auto weight progression, easy to use interface, rest timers, graphs, etc. I still haven't found a replacement.
- tylerscott 5y ago
  I have an open source app that uses a language called Traindown to record exercises. It might be of interest for folks who prefer text or more "free form" recording of workouts: https://traindown.com/transponder/ https://traindown.com/transponder/.

jayroh 5y ago

Would _love_ to see a community sourced database of "explain it like I'm 5" translations. Example: What does "Bent Over Lateral Raise" mean? Show me? Lateral ... to what? I'm sure I can figure that out, but, for the newbies of the world it's another hurdle to keep them from actually starting/moving.

catchmeifyoucan 5y ago
Pre made routines would be awesome
sitesuniverse 5y ago
Great idea, thanks for the feedback!
- jayroh 5y ago
  Not a problem :). Thanks for the new resource!
InitialLastName 5y ago
darebee.com (similar website in terms of being a database of fitness stuff, mostly bodyweight-oriented) does a great job of this with some of their videos.
datsaladbowl 5y ago
Quick plug, but l made some attempts at this: https://github.com/wrkout/exercises.json https://github.com/wrkout/exercises.json
dehrmann 5y ago
Oh, it's a lateral (vs rear) delt raise. That would have helped.
- xcambar 5y ago
  No 5 year old would understand that. I'm way past 5yo and I do not understand.

29athrowaway 5y ago

At least when I've joined a gym, a person there would assess your fitness, ask what your goals are, and based on that you would get an exercise routine. Following a random exercise routine can result in injury. You should at the very least talk to a lawyer and put a disclaimer in that page.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Good point, thanks for the feedback
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  Also add something like: I am at least 15 years old or something. That is the age requirement for many gyms. Also, a Report button is highly recommended for anything involving user generated content.
ViVr 5y ago
> Following a random exercise routine can result in injury. A trainer can check your form and help you execute the exercise safely but how does an exercise routine injure you?
- neogodless 5y ago
  It might not be super clear from the site shared here, but most of these exercises are done with barbells with weights, or dumbbells. It's not hard for a beginner to do these with incorrect form, and then increase the weight over time, until bad form plus weight results in injury.
  - inspector-g 5y ago
    Citation needed that bad form inherently leads to injury.
sergiotapia 5y ago
"can result in injury" please.... just lift super light and find your form.

oneupwallstreet 5y ago

What tech stack did you use?

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Nextjs and Prisma with postgresql. I'm not a web developer typically, this is my first full stack project. Any suggestions?

mam3 5y ago

I'm very tempted to add mine which I would call "the lazy lifter: build a nice body with 4x30 minutes per week" (a very efficient, leangains-based routine). That said i'm very sad by the abscence of likes. What dopamine rush can i hope to get by contributing to your database :( ? Or at least comments.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Please do add it. I would really appreciate some more content! Yeah a like/ranking/comment system is something I'm thinking about. Any suggestions?
- thecrimsonchin 5y ago
  This is really cool. When there a good bit more workouts having likes/upvotes would help users not get overwhelmed by choices and they can sort by most liked.
- boplicity 5y ago
  Factor in how long someone has been doing a routine, in terms of the value of their "like"
- Dedime 5y ago
  This may be a little pie-in-the-sky, but I've found myself disliking the "upvote" or "like" mentality. Instead, maybe a "I use(d) this!" functionality, as well as talk sections for each routine?
  - sitesuniverse 5y ago
    I like this idea!
    - swyx 5y ago
      if i've learned one thing from this thread: don't like the idea, use the idea!

recov 5y ago

Looks like a more casual and open version of https://liftvault.com/ https://liftvault.com/

rocknor 5y ago

There needs to be much more upper back work, especially in the full body strength routine, to avoid shoulder injuries.

sentinel 5y ago

Great idea! At some point in the past, I had spent... maybe 10-12 hours putting together a number of bodyweight + dumbbell exercises I picked up from YouTube. I used Giphy to record GIFs of the movement, and saved them all in a Trello dashboard (tagged and everything). I used it every time I went to the gym to figure out what exercises I could do for a particular muscle group.

tootie 5y ago
A classic web 1.0 website that is still humming along is ExRx that documents hundreds of different weight lifting techniques: https://exrx.net/ https://exrx.net/

amelius 5y ago

What I want is an app that counts reps/sets for me. I.e., point phone camera at self, the apps starts counting down (using a voice), and stops when I'm done. It should auto-detect the exercise.

teh_g 5y ago
What I want is an app that screams at me like a drill sergeant: "Let's go, you got 10 more to go! Keep up!"
- tanjtanjtanj 5y ago
  That's basically what Peloton, Apple Fitness, and whatever other competitors to those are.
  - blowfish721 5y ago
    I’d go for a Peloton but for weight lifting for sure! I know there are some of those but haven’t found any for free weights, can’t say I have been looking too hard yet however. Edit: tempo.fit seems interesting!
- blensor 5y ago
  Not really screaming but in VRWorkout the computer voice combined with the visual cues are as direct as it gets :) So if you need some motivation to get your bodyweight training done maybe check it out ( https://vrworkout.at https://vrworkout.at )
  - teh_g 5y ago
    That looks promising, thanks!
Multiplayer 5y ago
I have the tempo.fit - It's a giant video screen with camera that does exactly this. It's a great piece of kit.

lcjy 5y ago

Love the idea, although it is indeed quite similar to liftvault without the routine names. Might be worth considering having a centralized repository of exercises with curated links to videos which demonstrate how to perform that exercise with proper form. Then when creating the routine, you select from that list of exercises. This allows for a bit of consistency and quality control so people aren't throwing in random exercises. Might also help to have an upvote feature so garbage routines aren't given too much weight. Great job!

sitesuniverse 5y ago
One difference from liftvault is that users can't submit their own routines to liftvault (as far as I know). Good suggestions. Thanks for the feedback!

runawaybottle 5y ago

This is good. Some things I think you should consider: - Get users (hah, easier said than done of course). - Comments will help people find variations (not everyone has the same equipment, or have physical issues that require a variation of the workout, comments will fill that void). - Split this up into categories (core, legs, etc) - Link this stuff to YouTube videos (it’s just easier to watch someone doing it with proper form) - Last but not least, become an app. A routine is a checklist, so make it so people can hit ‘done’ on a completed rep, maybe input the weight lifted. Track it, charts. - If you don’t do any of this, I’m going to.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Thanks for the feedback! Yes I am planning to do all of this. :)
bigsparky 5y ago
“ If you don’t do any of this, I’m going to.”????
- runawaybottle 5y ago
  I’ve been sitting on a similar idea for awhile too, a friendly threat.

neogodless 5y ago

I was wondering if https://musclewiki.com/ https://musclewiki.com/ was going to pop up. My wife had just sent it to me earlier this week. It lets you pick gender, muscle group, exercise type (stretch, bodyweight, barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells) and has detailed instructions and videos. (It does not have sets/reps like the shared site.) Perhaps they would be good to use in tandem. Personally, I think for sets/reps, it follows most exercise advice. Choose what you'll actually do. If that's 3 sets of 5 reps, fine. Do that. If you can get yourself to consistently do more than that over time, you'll benefit from the increase in volume. (When I'm active, I follow Starting Strength style - increase warm-up weight while decreasing reps; then a bunch of working weight sets.)

sitesuniverse 5y ago
This is cool, thanks for sharing!
th0ma5 5y ago
I was just reading that the optimum reps count was somewhere between 8 and 12. I was doing something that suggested 16 reps and that felt a little more like cardio or something, and I dug into it and it is a whole debate, but what I got out of it was that for what I was doing eight or so is about right.
- snug 5y ago
  It depends on what your goals are, lower reps with heavier weights will give you more strength. Higher reps with lighter weights will give you bigger muscles.
  - void_mint 5y ago
    This isn't true. Lower rep ranges will better acclimate the CNS to higher bar-weight, but that's not really the same as "strength". On the flipside, higher rep ranges don't give you bigger muscles - overall training volume (total weight moved per movement) is moreso the determining factor on "size"[0]. In general it's best to just do whatever you find difficult. Lots of "powerbuilders" use Undulating Periodization (sometimes Daily) to try and get the benefits of the CNS acclimation + the increased work capacity that higher rep ranges bring. [0] https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/ https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fic... [1] https://www.strongerbyscience.com/daily-undulating-periodization/ https://www.strongerbyscience.com/daily-undulating-periodiza...

cdubzzz 5y ago

What is the "recipes" functionality that is linked in the header but coming soon?

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Still working out the details. What I have in mind is something very similar to the routine database, but for recipes!
- cdubzzz 5y ago
  Interesting. I'll add my email. I have been working on an open-source, self-hosted recipe/calorie tracker dealy that my spouse and I have been using for macro tracking during weight training. Haven't put much effort in to "advertising" it but we have been using it quite successfully for a few months now. https://github.com/kcal-app/kcal https://github.com/kcal-app/kcal EDIT: side note -- when signing up for the email the MailChimp landing page has a "return to site" button that points to "https://sites.cx/ https://sites.cx/" (which is an NXDOMAIN for me).
  - sitesuniverse 5y ago
    Interesting, thanks for sharing. And thanks for the heads up about the mailchimp settings!

Ashanmaril 5y ago

What does it say about me that I immediately recognized this was styled with Tailwind? Looks great!

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

jimbob45 5y ago

I'm betting more than a few people have used the below link as a jumping-off point for their lifting career. It would greatly help its longevity to post it on RoutineDB to avoid the inevitable heat-death of BlogSpot. http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com/2006/12/rippetoes-starting-strength.html http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com/2006/12/rippetoes-startin...

tomjen3 5y ago

Interesting, I tried the create a routine but it required a login, that seems uncessary that early. Especially because I assume (since I can't easily check it now) that it can't be used to put together a routine for people who are just terribly out of shape.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
The login is currently just an email token so you can edit your routines after they've been created. I am working on reducing the friction for this. Any suggestions?
- tomjen3 5y ago
  My of-the-top suggestion would be to put it at the end, that way there would be some value in it (as I would want to keep the routine going), and I can test-drive the editor first, to see if it makes sense to me.
  - sitesuniverse 5y ago
    I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback!

matude 5y ago

If anybody is looking for a routine database that supports more complex routines like the Wendler's 5/3/1 variations with Training Max percentage based weights then check out the [Hardy.app](https://www.hardy.app/howitworks https://www.hardy.app/howitworks). The routines can have progression overload based on AMRAP, deloads, etc. And the workout tracking app calculates changes in your TM based on AMRAP and other rules in the routine. Just enter you 1 rep maxes and hit "start". Full disclosure though, it's kinda self-promotion because I've been developing [Hardy.app](https://www.hardy.app https://www.hardy.app) with a friend for over a year now. It's free and we're adding more features all the time, check it out if interested. :)

krat0sprakhar 5y ago
Looks like a great app! I run 5/3/1 and this is perfect. Currently I use https://strong.app https://strong.app but I'd love to see a way to see my weekly volume per muscle group. Is that something you are planning to add on Hardy?
- matude 5y ago
  Thank you for the kind words! Ah yeah, strong.app is very popular. We have many cool features planned that should allow us to give value to even the most serious weight lifters who are not supported by the strong app, like autoregulating based on RPE/RIR, routine snippets, supersets, dropsets, private trainer profiles, etc, but we have a lot of work ahead yet. I added your wish to our subreddit as a feature request: https://www.reddit.com/r/hardyapp/comments/nzsmu2/feature_request_a_way_to_see_my_weekly_volume_per/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hardyapp/comments/nzsmu2/feature_re...? If your username is there as it is here I can notify you once we have added such a feature. :)

krat0sprakhar 5y ago

This should have all the routines from here: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/ https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-bu... They are all amazing

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Help me add them? :D

yobananaboy 5y ago

I'm happy to see that since this post, a bunch of workouts have been added (whoever did the saitama one got a good laugh out of me).

joelrunyon 5y ago

Cool. I've built basically two version of this previously: https://ImpossibleFitness.com/exercises https://ImpossibleFitness.com/exercises for fitness movements, lifts and exercises. and https://MoveWellApp.com/stretches https://MoveWellApp.com/stretches for mobility training and stretching. The goal is to make these more accessible to everyone and demo exactly what each movement takes. Would love any feedback on things we can improve. We're 100% bootstrapped and are adding new movements + routines every week. Happy to add anything that the HN community would think is useful.

Moosdijk 5y ago

I've lifted weights pretty regularly for some years, some years ago. However, the first program I click is gibberish [1] to me (I did olympic weightlifting too, so that's not the problem). Is there some quality control in place? [1]https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpvxacen02200wl8f8z27z77 https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpvxacen02200wl8f8z27z77

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Yeah, community driven ranking and filtering is in the works! Do you have any suggestions?

rStar 5y ago

seems to be all lifting.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Feel free to add any type of fitness routines!

steve_adams_86 5y ago

Features I want to see in things like this: 1. Images/videos showing the exercises 2. Program generators. I have {equipment} and n days per week. Which programs work for me? Or, I have {goal} and n days per week, what should I do? The programs would be populated with exercises from the DB, programs could be exported, etc. 3. As much ELI5 info as possible - the barrier to exercise for a lot of people (myself included despite my experience) can be not knowing wtf something is, or why to do it, and generally what the benefits are. 4. Treat warmups like any exercise - a critical part of the routine. Include lots of warm up exercises, whether it's something you make quantifiable progress with or not. Everything from skipping rope and light jogging to dead bugs. Include these as part of program generation. Maybe something does this, but my favourite tracker (Strong) doesn't cover all of it and I'd switch in an instant if something did. I like the idea of switching programs every year or so, experimenting with warm ups, having convenient access to understanding programs and lifts better, etc. As it is, working out requires a crazy amount of research. Or a coach.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Great feedback, thanks!
ed 5y ago
If you want to feel like you’ve discovered a superpower, pay for “programming” on a marketplace like TrainHeroic. Lots of trainers actually buy their programming from other trainers, since good programming is a lot of work, so you might as well go straight to the source. You’ll probably need to buy more gear but that’s kind of unavoidable.
georgehotelling 5y ago
You should look into the FitBod app. You tell the app what equipment you have and it does the programming for you, with short videos and text descriptions for form.
- donkeyd 5y ago
  How I love Apple's new 'App privacy' cards. The app you recommended seems to have pretty decent privacy practices, there doesn't seem to be tracking outside of the app, nor tracking for advertising. This is rare in fitness apps, some of which use health data for advertising, which I find appalling. So thanks for the tip!

sitesuniverse 5y ago

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and thanks for posting content on the site. Keep it coming!

goodcjw2 5y ago

I was wondering if https://www.jefit.com/ https://www.jefit.com/ was going to pop up. Sounds quite similar and has been around for quite some time. There are probably more similar solutions out there. Fitness apps are definitely an interesting space, where there are tons of them, but they seem to rarely marketing themself. Probably the customer acquisition cost would be higher than the custom lifetime value, i guess...

0-_-0 5y ago

Now that we're on the subject: Does anyone remember the Strength Standards site? strstd.com [0]. It computed your 1RM from your stats and then created customized weight lifting programs, like Starting Strength. I used it a lot when I started lifting. A part of it was similar to this: https://athletegrade.com/powerlifting/ https://athletegrade.com/powerlifting/ [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20150315012046/http://www.strstd.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150315012046/http://www.strstd...

fudged71 5y ago
Check out SymmetricStrength

unixhero 5y ago

Would be cool to have a section for crossfit style workout of the day and crossfit style mobility workouts.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Have you added any crossfit routines to routinedb? I would be interested in knowing how well they fit in to this format. Let me know if you have any feedback!
- wheelinsupial 5y ago
  I'm consolidating feedback from other comments into this one, so it's in a single place. First, "Have you added any crossfit routines to routinedb?" There are at least two on there as of the time of me writing this. The Murph [1] and Strict Nicole [2]. I hope you come up with a way to credit the originators of programs / workouts that people submit. Some programs / workouts are given away for free to drum up business for trainers; others, such as crossfit WODs (work outs of the day), are used in competitions, and other programs are documented in a book that is sold and is a source of revenue for the author. > Thanks for the feedback. "They're everywhere. They're in books, they're on sites, they're in magazines, they're on forums." - this is the problem I'm hoping to solve with RoutineDB. What is the problem you're trying to solve for? Discoverability? If that's the case, then why don't you create a flowchart linking to various resources on the web. Who is your audience? I assume you're in tech, so you know there are some criteria for success and goals that should be set before going on to build something. There are different approaches depending on the constraints. Similarly, this applies to training. There is no "best program". A flowchart would be able to help people with identifying goals up front and then determining the appropriate on-boarding point. As someone who has spent a lot of time reading blogs, forums, magazines, and books on strength and conditioning I don't see how this will help someone progress. This seems more like a dictionary of "workouts" than anything structured and progressive. If you're not already familiar with some of the online strength communities, then I can offer up a few suggestions to look over ways that they structure training programs as opposed to workouts. https://www.strongfirst.com/ https://www.strongfirst.com/ - minimalist training in terms of equipment (focus is mostly body weight and kettlebells) and time investment. aimed at "general physical preparedness" https://startingstrength.com/ https://startingstrength.com/ - powerlifting and football https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/workouts-programs/ https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/workouts-program... - powerlifting with the 5/3/1 program popularized by Jim Wendler being associated with this site previously https://www.crossfit.com/ https://www.crossfit.com/ - following the crossfit WODs (work out of the day) isn't what the top crossfitters do. The top crossfitters (as of a few years ago) focused on doing some sort of progressive overload of the big compound movements (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, pull ups) followed by what they call(ed) "metcons" or metabolic conditioning sessions. That's where they would complete the "WODs". The metcons would follow some prescribed patter, too, they wouldn't be random. http://danjohn.net/ http://danjohn.net/ - "the goal is to keep the goal the goal" pretty much sums up his no nonsense routines. coaches and competes at a lot of different levels https://gymjones.com/ https://gymjones.com/ - responsible for the 300 physiques and Henry Cavil in Superman. Or at least Mark Twight the founder was https://www.californiastrength.com/ https://www.californiastrength.com/ https://www.burgenerstrength.com/ https://www.burgenerstrength.com/ - olympic weightlifting There are some good reads on those sites about programming and progression. There are trainers that maintain blogs discussing how to take untrained individuals and get them up to speed without hurting them. Going from 8-12 hours slumped at a chair to lifting weights off the floor definitely requires some progression. There are also numerous websites dedicated to training for specific sports. So, going back to goals can help to figure out where to go. [1] https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0a5th172811md0gddqba6 https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0a5th172811md0gddqba6 https://www.crossfit.com/workout/2005/08/18#/comments https://www.crossfit.com/workout/2005/08/18#/comments [2] https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0rb3e276411mdvq9zjqla https://www.routinedb.com/routine/ckpx0rb3e276411mdvq9zjqla https://www.crossfit.com/190607 https://www.crossfit.com/190607

soheil 5y ago

When I clicked on the Sign In button from the email it took me to a page that showed another Sign Up button even though when I navigated to the homepage I was already signed in, this was very confusing and made me enter my email like 10 times.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Thanks for the info. I think the email is redirecting to the wrong page. It should still sign you in though. Do you appear signed in on this page? https://www.routinedb.com/routines https://www.routinedb.com/routines
- soheil 5y ago
  Yes I was signed in, there was just no way for me to tell that I was until I navigated to the homepage manually and saw the navbar changed.
  - sitesuniverse 5y ago
    Ah ok, thanks. got a quick fix for that incoming!

soheil 5y ago

Genuine question: is it not better to have a workout a routine as routine implies you are exercising the same muscles over and over again at the expense of the remaining neglected muscles?

hairofadog 5y ago

This is in no way a critique of this project (which looks nice!) but my dream fitness program would be something like, "do all the things in this book, in order, and by the end of the book you'll be mostly fit". I'm sure it works great for some people but I get bogged down by choice paralysis when I'm presented with a list of workouts.

nbrempel 5y ago
I haven't done this program, but I've always liked the way this guide is put together: https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/ https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/
- hairofadog 5y ago
  Thanks! Looks interesting. I'll check it out.
- edgyquant 5y ago
  I like the way it’s written. As someone who’s been hitting the gym pretty hard for just about 90 days I can confirm that I really have seen huge results but I also didn’t take a rest day for the first 6 weeks.
inspector-g 5y ago
A good training template is basically what you’re looking for. Providers of such templates that are evidence-based will also explain the reasoning behind the structure of the template/program; I’d recommend starting with Barbell Medicine, for example (though there are others I am most familiar with BBM).
TechBro8615 5y ago
Here you go: 1. Start today by doing literally anything active. 2. Do it again tomorrow. 3. Repeat. There is no magic. Once you’ve got a habit of showing up, you can worry about exactly which fitness routine to use. Most programs get repetitive after 6-8 weeks anyway, so you need a foundation of a stable habit to fall back on when switching routines or burning out on one. The secret is to show up. Every day. Just keep stacking those good days. (This applies to a lot more than just fitness, btw) (It’s also much easier said than done)

dgellow 5y ago

One of our local sport club (in Hamburg) streamed multiple videos per day during the pandemics. It's a great source of exercises: https://www.youtube.com/c/sportspa%C3%9FeVHamburg/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/sportspa%C3%9FeVHamburg/videos. The club reopened ~1 week ago, so they stopped streaming but the content is still available. I highly recommend if you're looking for ~1h of exercise per day :)

notyourday 5y ago

So.... This is good as in it is a good aggregate, but it is, well, useless for the goal at hand if the goal is to be fit. Why? Because you can do every single one of these sequences slightly wrong and that slightly wrong would completely destroy 99% of the benefits of doing it. Why do I say that? Because I was in an excellent shape in my twenties and by the mid forties it was, objectively, terrible even though I ate right and I was active. Very active. Amazingly active. I could do twenty knuckle pushups and be just in the "probably can't do more" state. I'm also someone who paid about $1k a month for a trainer for his ballerina wife's 2x a week training because "It is easier than hear her whine but I dont get it" I'm also someone who was a semi-pro downhill skier during the time. I fucked up badly on slopes two years ago. I did everything wrong. Like 6 things. If I did not do 1 of those things, I would have been fine. It was utterly stupid. MRI said fractures, MCL, ACL tears, meniscus trashed - think fucking up at 68 mph on a Super G course because you think you are 25 and not 43 year old now slob. So the ballerina wife goes: -- Get your dumb ass back into the shape you were in I met you or my little ass is gone. Get the damn trainer. Real trainer. You workout regiment does not matter if your form is not perfect. But I got a PT who was an athlete rehab trainer. She put me back together to a point where I nearly cleared the FIS qualifier. I hired her personally. It has been two years. I shed 20 lbs. I'm about where I was at 30. I do 5x a week 15-20 minute workouts every morning ( warmup + plyometrics + strength ) and I do 1h a week warmup + plyometrics with her. We are doing pretty much the same things I used to do except that she says "I want you to look there when you are doing it. It will create the right line for you to properly engage the right muscles rather than compensate." That's what makes a difference. Do you, for example, know that then you do a renegade rows you really should pull your arm straight up with a neck turn slightly up because if you don't you will not actually engage the right muscles in your core ( you would either do no neck turn and or you would do it too much which in both cases will not get you into the right line for your body) TL;DR: hire a real trainer. They are expensive ( $1k/month for 4 sessions ) but they are what makes your regiment work, not the "regiment"

SavantIdiot 5y ago

This isn't useful because it is just a list that will eventually become noise. It can't be cross referenced: show me leg routines, show me plyometrics, show me opposing lifts, etc. It can't be curated, which means it will accrete garbage, like duplicates, or bogus workouts. It can't create programming. It can't even be searched. It's like "my first MongoDB app" or something. Go think about it and let it cook some more.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Thank you for the feedback

ropable 5y ago

A good resource, thanks for putting it out there! I'd suggest that having an idea for a reasonable program might be more useful for a beginner, i.e. a series of routines to be carried out over the next n weeks. I feel that it's more useful to point a beginner to a well-thought-out program than a grab bag of movements to follow for a single session. My go-to program for anyone setting out to improve their fitness is the Barbell Medicine Beginner Prescription https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescription/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescripti... It includes four weeks of programming (which can be repeated), background context, advice on warming up and weight selection, videos for how to perform the movements, and nutrition advice. All the most-important basics are there in one place. There's a lot of conflicting advice on this thread, and some that (I'd say) was questionable. On the other hand, it's apparent that humans can improve their physical fitness using a wide variety of different methods and modalities. That old adage about the best fitness routine is the one you stick to holds true, I think.

deleted 5y ago

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deviation 5y ago

Anecdotal - In Excel I can have one cell to track my 1RM in KG, and then use a percentage of that weight on any particular workout routine. i.e. I follow a 10 week program that I repeat (you guessed it) every 10 weeks. At the end of the 10 weeks I will update the 1RM and the entire spreadsheet of ~120 rows of exercises, stretches, and warmups will immediately update to show me the correct weights to use. Once you get past the beginner stages of exercise (learning movements, stretches, etc) fitness routines are just numbers on a page. For that reason I'll stick to Excel. But this seems like a useful tool for those very new to the scene.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Would an "export to spreadsheet" option be useful for you in this case?

jschulenklopper 5y ago

Once I discovered Darebee, https://darebee.com/workouts.html https://darebee.com/workouts.html, I don’t need any other fitness workout database. The size of the set of exercises, the clarity of instructions and the fee (zero) are hard to beat.

miguelrochefort 5y ago

The website doesn’t work. I get “The string did not match the expected pattern.” when I visit the link.

sitesuniverse 5y ago
Sorry about that. Should be fixed now.

moneywoes 5y ago

Anyone have suggestions about doing an exercise but not feeling a muscle? For example I don’t feel my chest during bench press but still go to failure

scruple 5y ago
Its known as the mind-muscle connection. What helped me was visualization, slow eccentrics have helped me with some body parts (also, instead of dropping to the bottom of a movement, like a push-up, try to pull yourself down; if you're squatting, pull yourself down using your erectors instead of just dropping, etc...), and a lot of time. I'm still not there with some body parts / movements, but I have muscle development on those areas, regardless.