Barbell Bowl

THE BARBELL BOWL BLOG

Plain answers for people who lift.

When to add weight, what to do when the machine is taken, how to come back after a break, and the reasoning behind every rule in the app.

A beginner checking a phone between sets in a quiet gym

Beginners13 November 20268 min read

First time at the gym: what to do in your first week

Nobody is watching you as closely as you think. A plain plan for day one, the first week, and the soreness that shows up two days later.

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A barbell being pulled from the floor

Research10 November 20268 min read

Why People Quit Gym Apps, and What Keeps Them Going

Fewer than 4 in 100 people who install a health and fitness app are still using it a month later. Habits take longer than that to form. The gap explains most of the quitting.
A woman training with dumbbells in a gym

Beginners6 November 20269 min read

3-Day Full Body Workout for Beginners: A Simple A/B/C Plan

Three different whole-body sessions, three days a week, done in order. What goes in each one, how to add weight, and what to do when Wednesday falls apart.
A rack of hexagonal dumbbells in ascending weights

Beginners3 November 20268 min read

How much weight should a beginner start with at the gym?

Starting points for the squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press and row, why light is fine, and a first-session test that finds your real number in ten minutes.
An empty gym floor with racks and benches in early morning light

Training31 October 20268 min read

Coming back to the gym after a break: how much lighter to go

Two weeks off costs less strength than it feels like it should. Here is how much to take off the bar for the first session back, and why it is only one session.
A loaded barbell resting in a squat rack

Training31 October 20268 min read

When to add weight at the gym: double progression explained

Reps go up first, then the weight, then the reps start again. One rule, written down, that tells you what to put on the bar next time.
A row of cable machines and a lat pulldown station in a busy gym

Training31 October 20269 min read

Gym machine taken? What to do: wait, reorder or swap

The bench is taken, the rack has a queue and someone is texting on the lat pulldown. Three options, a substitution table, and how to ask to work in.
A lifter under a loaded barbell, photographed in black and white

Training11 September 20265 min read

Progression without a spreadsheet

Every serious lifting programme is a set of rules that somebody maintains by hand. We wrote the rules down and let them run.
Slices of cucumber, apple, lemon, celery, kale and spinach arranged in a grid on a pale green background

Engineering8 September 20265 min read

Diet is not a ladder

Vegan is not a stricter vegetarian, and Jain is not a stricter vegan. Model diet as one slider and you will quietly serve people food they will not eat.
Ingredients laid out on a wooden cutting board: avocado, tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms, spinach, rocket and spring onions

Nutrition2 September 20265 min read

Nobody weighs a roti

Food apps ask for grams. People eat in rotis, katoris, slices and cups. We built the catalog around the second one, and it changed the schema.
A lifter setting up over a loaded barbell on a gym floor

Product28 August 20266 min read

The gap between the bar and the bowl

Your training app does not know what you ate. Your food app does not know what you lifted. Every interesting question lives in the space between them.

Know exactly what to lift today.

Free on Android. Six questions, then your first workout. No account needed.

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