Help, bro.
Answers for lifting, logging, eating, tracking, and “how do I...”
Getting started
Set up JustGains, bring your training over, and log your first session.
Set up your JustGains account
The shortest path from fresh install to first logged workout.
Import an existing workout program
Bring your spreadsheet, screenshot, or old routine with you.
The best Hevy alternatives in 2026
Outgrowing Hevy or hitting the free-tier limits? Here is a deep, honest look at the best Hevy alternatives, what each one does well, what each one lacks, and how to move your entire history without re-logging a single set.
The best Strong app alternatives in 2026
Hit the 3-routine limit in Strong, or need more than a barbell logger? Here are the best Strong alternatives compared in depth, and how to move your entire lifting history over in minutes.
The best JEFIT alternatives in 2026
Tired of ads, upsells, and a dated interface? Here is an honest, detailed look at the best JEFIT alternatives in 2026, what each one actually costs, and how to take your training history with you.
The best Fitbod alternatives in 2026
Fitbod subscription not earning its keep? Here is an honest, in-depth look at the best Fitbod alternatives, what each one does well, and how to take your training history with you.
Fitness Dictionary
Gym slang and training terms explained in plain English, with the weird gatekeeping removed.
Training
Plain-English strength training concepts you can use in your next workout.
The Norwegian 4x4: the 38-minute interval session that raises your VO2 max
Four minutes hard, three minutes easy, four times. What the protocol is, why NTNU researchers built it, the heart-rate zones to hold, and a 12-week plan you can start today.
Build and log a workout
Exercises in, honest numbers out. The core JustGains loop.
Understand RPE and rest timers
Rate effort, recover on purpose, and stop guessing between sets.
Rep ranges
Do 20 reps steal your strength? Do singles make muscles shrink and become dense? Court is now in session.
What is RPE?
RPE is a 1 to 10 effort scale for logging how hard a set actually felt.
RPE vs RIR
RPE and RIR describe the same thing from opposite sides: effort against reps left.
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload means asking a little more of your body over time.
Sets, reps, and training volume
Training volume is how much work you actually do, usually counted in hard sets.
Supersets, circuits, and giant sets
These groupings save time by stacking exercises together before you take a full rest.
What is a deload?
A deload is a planned easier stretch of training that lets fatigue drop while you keep going.
The plate calculator: load a barbell without the math
The JustGains plate calculator shows exactly what to load per side while you log, plus the plate math behind it: bar weights, "two plates", and single-stack machines.
What is an estimated 1RM?
An estimated 1RM predicts your max from a completed set without requiring a true max attempt.
Inside JustGains
How the app turns your logs into useful training feedback.
Meet Forge: the thinking behind your next workout
Over a year of research, design and listening to lifters. Here’s how Forge turns your goals, training history and real effort into a workout that fits you.
How JustGains calculates muscle fatigue
JustGains estimates muscle freshness from recent sets, older sets, and recovery buckets.
How streaks work
JustGains streaks count distinct local workout days, with rest tolerance and Streak Freezes.
How workout suggestions work
JustGains workout suggestions are deterministic, rule-based prompts from your recent training.
Count pushups automatically with your camera
JustGains counts pushup reps hands-free using your front camera. Set the phone on the floor, do your set, and the count lands in your log.
Use JustGains inside ChatGPT
Connect JustGains to ChatGPT and ask it to build workouts, save them to your account, and answer questions about your real training data.
Use JustGains inside Claude
Add the JustGains connector in Claude and ask it to build workouts, save them to your account, and answer questions about your real training data.
Use JustGains inside Muse
Find JustGains in the Muse Connectors library. Build and save workouts, explore your training history, and see your plan in a workout card inside chat.
Use JustGains in Grok Bot
Build saved workouts, check your training history, and log meals through the JustGains connector in Grok Bot.
Progress & activity
Understand PRs, trends, streaks, and the activities you record.
Read your progress and PRs
Know what the charts mean before declaring a new training era.
Record a GPS activity
Track a run, ride, walk, or hike without losing the route.
The best Strava alternatives in 2026 (especially for lifters who run)
Strava is great at community and terrible at strength training, and its free tier keeps shrinking. Here are the best Strava alternatives, what each one actually costs, and what a training app looks like when lifting and cardio are both first-class.
What every body fat percentage actually looks like
Slide through body fat percentages from stage-shredded to severely obese, men and women side by side, with what each level feels like to live at and where the healthy ranges sit.
Nutrition
Calorie and macro basics without turning food into homework.
Log food and macros
Track enough to learn something, without becoming a barcode monk.
The best MyFitnessPal alternatives in 2026
Since the barcode scanner went behind the paywall, plenty of people are shopping for a MyFitnessPal alternative. Here is an honest breakdown of the best options, including the free ones, and what each one gives up.
What is TDEE?
TDEE is your estimated total daily energy expenditure: the calories your body burns in a day.
Macros 101
When people say macros they mean protein, carbohydrates, and fat: the nutrients most of your calories come from.
Calorie deficit vs surplus
Cutting and bulking are just eating below or above maintenance, done at a sensible pace.
How much protein do you need?
Protein targets work best as a range you can actually hit, not as the number on a supplement tub.
Recovery
How to think about soreness, rest, and readiness between sessions.
DOMS explained
Delayed onset muscle soreness turns up after new or hard training. It is not a sign the session worked.
How long do muscles take to recover?
The 48 to 72 hour rule is a useful starting point, but real recovery depends on context.
Guided breathing: Box, 4-7-8, Wim Hof, and more
How box breathing, 4-7-8, the physiological sigh, Wim Hof, and coherent breathing work, and when to use each of the five techniques.
The McKenzie neck exercises: a clear, safer guide
A plain-English walkthrough of the seven McKenzie neck movements, how to read your symptoms, and when to stop and get help.
Coaching
For coaches and the people they coach: invites, plans, goals, check-ins, and what gets shared.
How coaching works on JustGains
A coach runs your training, food and goals inside the app you already use. What each side sees, what is shared, and where to start.
Set up your coaching in 10 minutes
Four steps for a new coach: practise on three demo clients, write your welcome, add a first plan and invite your first client.
Invite clients by email, link, code or username
Three ways to invite a client, what each person receives, what you see while you wait, and how to resend, cancel or withdraw an invitation.
Read your roster: On track, Attention and Issues
How to read the Clients tab, and exactly how On track, Attention, Issues and Not scored yet are worked out from goal pace.
Build your coaching library
Keep the programs, workouts, meal plans and run plans you reuse in one place, and see which clients are on each one.
Assign and schedule plans for your clients
Give a client a program, workout, meal plan or run plan, choose the start date, and know what a future date really does.
Generate with Claude: draft a plan from what a client told you
Draft a program or a single workout from a client’s own answers. You read and edit the exact request before it is sent.
Change a client’s program: weeks, progressions and time off
Edit the program a client is already on: weeks, days and targets, progressions across weeks, and time off that keeps their place.
Set goals for a client and read their adherence
Add a goal JustGains counts for you or a habit your client logs, choose what counts toward adherence, and see how the week is scored.
Set calorie, macro and weight targets for a client
Give a client a goal weight and daily calories and macros, assign a meal plan that respects their allergens, and check how the week went.
Write forms and check-ins, and read the answers
Write a form once, make it the one every new client gets or assign it for a date, then read, correct and move the answers.
Read a client’s breakdown and keep private notes
See what a client shared, correct it for them, read their signup answers, and keep coaching notes and session notes only you can see.
Preview your client’s app
Open a read-only copy of a client’s JustGains to see how an assigned plan looks on their side, or to read their week before a call.
Your welcome, signup questions and client themes
Write the message and record the video a new client meets first, choose the signup questions they answer, and choose the themes their phone app can use.
Run a squad for your clients
A coach squad is a private group chat for some or all of your clients. Create one, decide who can post, and let finished workouts post themselves.
Message a client and comment on their workouts
Message one client from the roster or their page, send photos, voice and video, and reply to a finished workout with a comment they are notified about.
Move your client list to JustGains
Export your client list as a CSV, import it under Contacts, check the five columns, and invite each person when you are ready.
Coach from your phone: what works where
Nearly every coaching job works on both web and phone. This table lists them all, the few that need a browser, and what the phone does best.
Join your coach on JustGains
Accept your coach’s invitation, see what it shares before you agree, and find your plan, goals, targets and forms afterwards.
What your coach can see on JustGains
What accepting a coach shares, what stays private, what your coach can change in your app, and how to stop sharing.
Account & privacy
Manage your profile, subscription, privacy choices, and account data.
Still stuck?