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Show HN: Workout.cool – Open-source fitness coaching platform

(github.com)
827 points surgomat | 5 comments | 18 Jun 25 12:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.78s | source

I was the main contributor to workout.lol, an open-source fitness app to easily build a workout routine. The project had traction (1.4k GitHub stars, 95 forks, ~20K visits/month), but was eventually sold due to video licensing hurdles. The new owner stopped maintaining it, and the repo went abandoned.

Over the next 9 months, I sent 15 emails to try to save it : no replies. Feature requests & issues were ignored. The community was left with a "broken" tool let's say.

I couldn't just let it die So I built the new version from scratch with the same open-source spirit, but a better architecture long-term vision, more features and no license problems.

It's called : Workout.cool (https://workout.cool). What it offers: 100% open-source, MIT-licensed - 1200+ exercises (with videos, attributes, translations) - Progress tracking - Multilingual-ready - Self-hostable

I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing it because I believe in open fitness tools, and I’ve been passionate about strength training for 15+ years.

If this resonates with you, feel free to: - Star the repo - Share with fitness/tech friends - Suggest features - Contribute code/design/docs

Together, we can build the open-source fitness platform we all wanted to easily build a workout routine and get in shape

Website: https://workout.cool GitHub: https://github.com/Snouzy/workout-cool

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toyetic ◴[18 Jun 25 13:37 UTC] No.44309787[source]▶
This is cool, as someone whose been lifting for ~5 years its nice to see a fleshed out opensource tool for weightlifting.

The main problem with any app I've tried is that after enough experience the bells and whistles of the app don't really matter and mostly what you care about is consistent tracking for progressive overload.

I think this is a good app for people who want to get started weightlifting I would say the two main things needed for wider adoption would be 1. A mobile app ( or pwa, I've made and used my own personal workout app for a while as a PWA and its been just as good as any native app I've tried) 2. A way to save specific workouts as routines and track those for long periods of time

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LostMyLogin ◴[18 Jun 25 13:59 UTC] No.44309958[source]▶
Hesitating to write this because I don't want to push back at all on OP but I'm not sure I agree that something like this is a good option for people wanting to get started in weightlifting. I'm not sure it's a good option for anyone really. I applaud OP for the effort but this is recommending some pretty awful workouts. For example if I select back and bi, it's giving me nine different exercises with complete disregard for the order they are in or what other exercises are in the workout.

Why are compound lifts in the middle of the workout and why am I doing three different types of chin ups? There are also no reps / sets calculated nor are there 1RM percentages for weight.

Bro splits are some of the lowest quality routines you can use and this somehow makes them worse. You could replace all of this, remove the bells and whistles, and create a bare bones PPL app that determines exercises based on equipment available and it would be light years better than this.

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RankingMember ◴[18 Jun 25 15:41 UTC] No.44310861[source]▶
Agree. IMO a simple 5x5 is going to be the better option for someone just starting out. Stronglifts is one flavor with a great app that just works and tracks all the little stuff (progression, giving you a specific rest time) and, once you plateau, you can start digging in to other options.
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Rapzid ◴[18 Jun 25 19:32 UTC] No.44312682[source]▶
Hardly anybody would recommend 5x5 these days for anyone, much less beginners.
replies(1): >>44313662 #
jonwinstanley ◴[18 Jun 25 22:03 UTC] No.44313662[source]▶
Why?
replies(1): >>44314246 #
Rapzid ◴[18 Jun 25 23:51 UTC] No.44314246[source]▶
5x5 and 3x5 are out of vogue for lots of reasons but it largely boils down to:

* Not enough volume

* Non-periodized

That first bit means different things at different phases of a lifting "career". But generally speaking "time under tension" and research into effective rep ranges has changed modern thinking on set sizes and volume.

These days people, including World's Strongest Men, tend to recommend higher rep ranges for beginners and those coming back to the gym to build work capacity and reduce risk of injury.

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1. nsagent ◴[19 Jun 25 02:13 UTC] No.44314850[source]▶
Weird. I've lifted on and off for 25 years. For most of that time I did the stereotypical 3x8-12 and saw much slower progression. During the past couple years I switched to a 5x5 plan and saw massive gains in strength, even while I was cutting weight via a caloric deficit (was eating 1500-1600 calories a day, but had lots of protein and adequate carbs).

For reference, I went from a dumbbell bench press of 45lb to 75lb in 4.5 months (5x5). Previously my progress was much slower.

I'll caveat that I've obviously not closely controlled for all factors and I'm an n of 1. Additionally my interest is in having a great strength to weight ratio, rather than being a body builder. I'm a climber and that's an important consideration.

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2. Rapzid ◴[19 Jun 25 22:02 UTC] No.44322924[source]▶
It's not that weird; Stronglifts (SL aka 5x5) and Starting Strength (SS aka 3x5) both utilize progressive overload to stimulate gains.

Progressive overload works. Those programs "work".

They are just out of vogue for beginners, and they are both targeted towards beginners.

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3. dankwizard ◴[20 Jun 25 02:20 UTC] No.44324184[source]▶
I'm sorry but what?

You have been lifting weights somewhat regularly for 25 years, majority 3x8-12, and the switch to 5x5 increased your dumb bell bench press from ~20kg to ~35kg?

There is just no way. That is extremely light weight. Like, most beginners who follow any sort of progressive overloading system will be at that level in 4 weeks starting from essentially 0

replies(1): >>44328390 #
4. RankingMember ◴[20 Jun 25 13:35 UTC] No.44327618[source]▶
Out of vogue for beginners according to what/who? This is the first I'm hearing of a falloff of 3x5/5x5 for beginners, so I'm confused where this is coming from.
5. surgomat ◴[20 Jun 25 15:03 UTC] No.44328390[source]▶
Just jumping in here to feed my ego :D

after 15 years of lifting, I'm currently pushing 4x10 with 50kg dumbbells on the bench. So yeah, 35kg after 25 years seems odd unless those 25 years weren't exactly "serious" or "consistent" let's say.

No judgment, but yeah