Logging workouts

The training screen is where you spend most of your time. It has three tabs: Log (set entry), Graph (progress chart), and History (past sessions for this exercise). Swipe left or right to switch between them.

Today screen

The Today screen (home tab) is your daily hub. It shows the current date, an optional workout timer in the app bar, and several cards depending on your state:

  • If you have an active routine, your routine days appear at the top with a Start button for each. Tap a day to open the routine log preview before starting.
  • This Week - A compact card showing how many days you've trained this week, plus muscle-balance warnings if any groups haven't been trained for a while. Visible whenever you're on the Today screen - whether mid-workout or between sessions.
  • Weekly volume chips - Colored chips showing sets logged per muscle category this week. Colored dots indicate groups that need attention. Tap any chip to open the muscle balance detail sheet.
  • Monthly report - During the first two weeks of a new month, a dismissible card shows last month's highlights: workout count, total volume (with % change vs the month before), and how many exercises you tried for the first time. Tap × to dismiss it.
  • Deload banner and Plateau card appear here when those features are active (see Deload and Plateau detection).

Logging a set

The Log tab shows input fields at the top and your logged sets below. The fields shown depend on the exercise type - a barbell exercise shows weight and reps; a plank shows only time; a row machine might show weight and time.

  1. Enter your weight and reps (or duration, distance, etc.) using the +/− steppers or by tapping the field and typing.
  2. Tap the ✓ checkmark to save the set.

The set appears in the list below. The rest timer starts automatically if you have that setting enabled.

Editing and deleting sets

Tap a set row to load it into the input fields for editing. Tap the checkmark again to update it. To deselect without saving, tap the same row again.

Long-press a set row to delete it. A confirmation dialog appears before deletion.

Repeat last set

The repeat button (next to the checkmark) copies your last working set in one tap - useful when you're doing multiple sets at the same weight and reps.

Warmup sets

The warmup chip above the input fields toggles whether the current set is a warmup. Warmup sets are displayed with a "W" badge instead of a set number, and are excluded from volume calculations, PR checks, and progress graphs.

You can also let Badger generate warmup sets automatically:

  • Tap the ⋮ menu in the top right → Add warmup sets.
  • A sheet shows three suggested warmup sets: 40% × 8, 60% × 5, 80% × 3 of your working weight. Each is pre-checked - uncheck any you don't want.
  • Confirm to insert them at the start of your set list.

The "Add warmup sets" option is hidden once warmup sets already exist for that exercise.

Intensity tracking (RPE & RIR)

Two optional fields appear below the main inputs:

  • RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) - How hard did the set feel, on a scale of 1-10. 10 is a true max effort.
  • RIR (Reps in Reserve) - How many more reps could you have done, 0-5. 0 means you hit failure.

Both are optional and can be used independently. They're hidden when the warmup toggle is active. Logged values appear as small badges on each set row.

Rest timer

The rest timer shows as a compact banner at the bottom of the screen. It counts down to zero, then plays a sound and/or vibration (configurable in Settings).

Timer controls

  • Skip - Dismiss the timer early.
  • +30s - Add 30 seconds to the current countdown.
  • Rest chip - Tap the chip that shows the current duration to set a one-session override. Use the Reset button in that dialog to go back to the default.

How rest duration is determined

Badger uses the following priority order:

  1. One-session override (set via the rest chip dialog)
  2. Routine-day inter-exercise rest (when switching between exercises in a superset group)
  3. Exercise default rest (set in Exercise Settings)
  4. Global default (set in Settings → Rest Timer)
  5. Last used duration
  6. 90-second fallback

Warmup sets use a separate, shorter rest duration - configurable per exercise or globally in Settings.

The rest timer does not start after the last working set of your last exercise.

Skipping sets

If you need to skip a set (injury, time constraint, etc.), long-press it and select Skip. Skipped sets are shown with strikethrough text and excluded from all calculations. You can also skip or unskip all sets for an exercise at once via the ⋮ menu.

Supersets & exercise groups

Exercises can be grouped into supersets. When exercises are in the same group:

  • A colored bar appears on the left side of each exercise card.
  • After logging a set for one exercise in the group, Badger automatically switches to the next exercise (no rest timer between them).
  • After the last exercise in the group, the rest timer starts and you cycle back to the first exercise.

Groups are created and managed in the routine detail screen, or via the exercise list ⋮ menu in the training screen.

Notes card

A collapsible card appears above the set input for exercises that have notes or technique instructions. Tap it to navigate to the full exercise notes screen. The card shows:

  • NOTES - your personal reminders for this exercise (form cues, machine settings, etc.).
  • INSTRUCTIONS - built-in technique cues (pre-filled for all built-in exercises).
  • GRIP - the currently selected grip type, when a machine with grip types is active. A quick reminder so you set up consistently every session.

The card expands automatically when you log an exercise that has personal notes.

Machine-scoped notes

When a machine is set, your personal notes become machine-specific. This means you can save different setup cues for the same exercise on different machines - for example, different seat-height reminders for two leg-press machines at the same gym.

The Exercise Settings screen title changes to "Notes · MachineName" when machine-scoped, making it clear which machine the notes apply to. Machine notes are shown in the notes card in the training screen alongside global instructions; global exercise notes are shown separately when both exist. Non-notes settings (increment, rest, instructions, muscle assignments) always apply globally to the exercise regardless of machine.

Per-set comments

Each set row has a comment icon on the right. Tap it to add or edit a comment for that set.

  • The comment icon shows a dot indicator if a comment already exists for that set.
  • Tap the icon to expand an inline text input field with a Save button.
  • Type your comment (e.g., "felt strong", "pain in elbow", "form was off") and tap Save to persist it.
  • Tap the icon again or collapse the field to save and close.
  • Comments are visible in your Workout Summary and History views (read-only).

Grip type

When a machine has grip types enabled (configured in the machine settings), a chip row appears below the set list so you can record which grip you used. The selected grip is also shown as a reminder in the notes card. Configure available grip types in You → Equipment → Machines.

Personal records

When a working set beats your all-time estimated 1RM for that exercise (on the same machine, if one is set), a trophy badge appears on the set row, a SnackBar notification appears at the bottom of the screen, and a haptic pulse fires (if haptics are enabled in Settings).

Progressive overload suggestions

While you're logging an exercise, Badger shows a suggestion line ("Suggested: 82.5 kg") directly above the input fields when you're ready to progress. The suggestion appears when all your working sets were completed in each of your last N sessions (configurable in Settings → Training, default: 3).

The suggested weight is your previous session's max weight plus your exercise's configured increment, then rounded to the nearest achievable step. When a machine is set, the machine's weight increment (if configured) is used as the rounding grid - so the suggestion always lands on a weight the machine can actually produce. Tap × to dismiss the suggestion for this session.

The suggestion is machine-scoped: it looks at history for the same machine you currently have set. Switching machines gives you a fresh suggestion based on that machine's history.

Auto-progress routine weights

By default this is off. Turn it on in Settings → Training → "Auto-progress routine weights". When it's on and you finish a workout that you started from a routine, Badger checks whether you lifted heavier than the routine planned. If you did, the workout summary shows an "Update [Routine] · [Day]?" section listing each exercise you progressed - for example 80 → 82.5 kg.

Each progressed exercise has a checkbox (checked by default). Tap Update routine and the checked exercises' new weights are written back into the routine's predefined sets, so next time you run the routine it starts pre-filled with the heavier weight instead of suggesting the same bump again. Uncheck anything you don't want to carry over. (If you have "Auto-stop on last set" enabled, the same section also appears on the completion pop-up when you finish your last set.)

A few things to know:

  • It only ever raises weights - never lowers them. A lighter or matched session changes nothing.
  • It matches set by set, so pyramid and back-off schemes keep their shape - only the sets you beat go up.
  • Warmups and skipped or incomplete sets are ignored.
  • Nothing is ever changed silently: the setting controls whether the offer appears, and the checkboxes are your confirmation.
  • If you swapped an exercise for an alternative mid-workout, that slot won't auto-progress (it's no longer the same exercise the routine planned).

Exercise navigation

Tap the exercise name in the header to open the exercise list for your current workout. From there you can:

  • Tap any exercise to switch to it.
  • Drag to reorder exercises.
  • Tap Add exercise to add another movement.

Training screen menu (⋮)

The top-right menu offers additional actions for the current exercise:

  • Replace exercise - Swap the current exercise for a different one. Existing sets remain attached.
  • Plate calculator - Opens the plate calculator pre-filled with your current weight.
  • Warmup calculator - Reference tool showing 40/60/80% warmup weights.
  • Add warmup sets - Insert suggested warmup sets.
  • Exercise settings - Open the exercise notes screen to adjust defaults, notes, and muscle assignments.
  • Change gym - Switch which gym is associated with this workout.
  • Set machine - Assign a machine and attachment to the current exercise. At the bottom of the machine picker, tap New machine… to create one inline without navigating away. Similarly, at the bottom of the attachment picker, tap New attachment… to add a new attachment on the spot.

Resuming a workout

Forgot an exercise after you'd already finished? Open today's workout summary and tap Resume workout to reopen it and add what you missed. (Resume is only offered for today's workout.)

The elapsed timer behaves like a stopwatch: it picks up where it left off when you log the first set of the new exercise, so the idle time between finishing and resuming is not counted - only the extra active time is added. Adding a single set resumes and finishes almost instantly, so it adds essentially no time. Editing or re-marking sets on a finished workout never changes its recorded duration.

Exercise order

Did the exercises out of order - say a machine was free, so you jumped ahead? Badger records the order you actually performed them. As you complete the first set of each exercise, it slides into place in your done-so-far sequence; exercises you haven't started yet stay queued after. Your workout and its history then show the real order you trained, while your routine's planned order is left untouched for next time. You can still drag-reorder, and a drag sticks afterward if you want to nudge something.