How Grain Gym picks your next weight

Every program runs on one or more of 11 progression rules, and the rule is part of the program. Add 5/3/1 Strength and you get its weekly wave. Add 5x5 Strength and you get a fixed add-on every session. A program you build or import carries the rules it was written with.

What each rule does

• Linear: the percentage of your training max steps up each week.
• Wave: the weight follows a repeating cycle of heavier and lighter weeks, as in 5/3/1.
• Step: the weight holds for a set number of weeks, then jumps.
• Undulating: weight and reps change across the days of the week.
• Double progression: hit the top of the rep range on every set and the weight goes up.
• Absolute increment: finish every set and the weight goes up by a fixed amount.
• 1RM ladder: you move up or down a ladder of weight and rep pairs built from your estimated max.
• Variation progression: you move to a harder version of a bodyweight exercise when you reach the rep target, and back down after repeated misses.
• RPE-based: the program gives a target RPE and rep range, and you choose the weight.
• Top-backoff: one heavy top set, then lighter back-off sets. You choose the top weight.
• AMRAP: a set taken for as many reps as you can.

What Grain Gym reads

It reads the weight and reps from your working and AMRAP sets. Warm-ups and drop sets are ignored. A logged RPE stays on the set as a record, and it doesn't change the next target.

Misses

On double progression, two failed sessions in a row cut the working weight by 10 percent. Absolute increment does the same after a set number of failed sessions (three in 5x5 Strength). Linear and wave fall one step behind after two failed sessions, except in 5/3/1, which doesn't react to misses. Step, undulating, RPE-based, top-backoff and AMRAP rules don't react to misses at all. Variation progression steps back to an easier variation after two failed sessions.

Which rule a program uses

Each built-in program page shows its main rule. 5x5 Strength uses absolute increment, and Push Pull Legs uses double progression with linear. 5/3/1 Strength uses wave and RPE-based.

Your training max sits behind the percentage-based rules. You can change it from an exercise's menu during a workout, under Set Training Max.