Tools & Calculators

Plate calculator

The plate calculator figures out which plates to load for a given target weight. Access it from the training screen via ⋮ → Plate calculator - it opens pre-filled with your current working weight.

Modes

  • Dual-loaded (Barbell) - Splits the weight symmetrically across both sides. The bar weight is subtracted first, then the remaining weight is divided by two. Default bar weight is 20 kg; configurable per exercise.
  • Machine (symmetric) - Target weight divided by two per side. Used for plate-loaded machines where weight is symmetric but you enter the total load.
  • Single lever - Full target weight on one side. Used for single-arm/single-leg machines or lever-style equipment.

Plate configuration

Tap the settings icon to configure your available plates - weight, color, and quantity limit per plate type. Plates can be enabled or disabled. The calculator uses a greedy algorithm: it always picks the largest available plate that fits, within your quantity limits.

Plates are tracked per gym: when you open the calculator during a workout it uses the assortment for that workout's gym (and the unit you're logging in). Edit a gym's plates from You → Gyms → (gym) → Plate assortment. A gym with no custom plates falls back to your global default set.

Remaining weight

If the target weight can't be matched exactly with your available plates, the calculator shows the remaining weight and the closest achievable load.

Use this load

Tap Use this load to drop the calculator's achievable total back into the weight field, so you log the real loaded weight rather than your original target.

Warmup calculator

Access via ⋮ → Warmup calculator in the training screen. This is a reference tool - it shows you what 40%, 60%, and 80% of your current working weight look like as warmup sets (at 8, 5, and 3 reps respectively), rounded to a practical plate increment.

To actually insert these as sets, use ⋮ → Add warmup sets instead.

Deload

Deload is an opt-in feature that detects when you may be accumulating too much fatigue and schedules a lighter training week. Go to Settings → Coaching → Deload to configure it.

Enabling deload

Toggle Enable deload detection on. All sub-settings are greyed out until this is enabled. Turning the switch on activates all three detection methods at their defaults, so you can fine-tune or disable any of them below.

Detection methods

Any one of the following can trigger a deload. Each method can be enabled or disabled independently:

  • Time-based - Triggers after a set number of weeks since your last deload. Default: every 4 weeks. Range: 4-8 weeks.
  • RPE/RIR-based - Triggers when your average RIR for every week in a rolling window is at or below a threshold (default: ≤ 1 RIR over 2-4 weeks). Requires that you log RIR on your sets.
  • Performance-based - Triggers when no exercise has improved over your last N sessions (default: 3 sessions). Detects a stall across the board.

Deload schedule

When a trigger fires, the next Monday is set as the start of your deload week (if today is Monday, it uses the following Monday). A banner appears on the home screen:

  • Scheduled (before the week starts) - "Deload week next week." This banner is dismissible.
  • Active (during the deload week) - shows why the deload was suggested (for example, "It has been several weeks since your last deload") and when the week ends. This banner stays visible all week so the signal isn't lost.

Automatic reductions

When a deload week is active and you start a routine workout, Badger automatically applies reductions to the predefined sets:

  • Weight reduction - Sets weights to a percentage of your normal load (configurable, e.g. 50%).
  • Set reduction - Removes a number of sets per exercise (configurable). Warmup sets are never removed.
  • Minimum sets - A floor below which sets won't be removed.

The routine log preview shows a summary of the applied reductions. You can edit any value before tapping Start. Reduced weights are rounded to a weight you can actually load in your unit (for example, a clean 230 lb rather than an odd 231.5 lb).

Confirming or skipping a deload

The first time you start a workout during a deload week, Badger asks whether you want to go ahead:

  • Start deload - log the workout with the reduced weights and sets.
  • Skip, full weights - use your normal weights for that workout. The deload week continues for your other workouts.

This prompt only appears once per deload week. On any workout that week you can still switch using the Use full weights / Use deload toggle on the deload bar in the routine log preview.

Starting or ending a deload yourself

You don't have to wait for a trigger. In Settings → Coaching → Deload:

  • Start a deload week - choose Start now (lighter for the rest of this week) or Next week.
  • End deload - ends an active or scheduled deload early and returns to normal weights.
Note: Deload reductions are applied once per routine log preview. Swapping an exercise after the preview opens doesn't retroactively reduce the replacement. A deload week's reduced weights don't carry forward - your next normal week starts from your real working weights, not the deloaded ones.