One app to rule them all… Or so we wish.
Finding apps that do everything you need — from a fitness perspective — can be tricky, especially in today’s world of influencers and misguided media.
In this Alpha Progression app review, we’ll be looking at the workout app, its progression methods, and whether this is the “perfect” app to replace your personal trainer (or if it’s all just too good to be true).
What is Alpha Progression?
Alpha Progression is a company that’s focused on helping users track workouts and make progress in the gym. It was founded in 2019 by Benjamin Schnabel and Marwin Sinapius. They released their app to help people do this all on the fly while in the gym.
Their website is also a great place to visit, and you’ll find plenty of goodies on it, such as:
- A blog covering everything from building your own workout plans to how to approach personal records
- A podcast reviewing everything from nutrition to hypertrophy principles
- A glossary, which defines the terms you might need to know in the gym
- A one-rep max and calorie calculator
But the real beauty lies within the app itself. So let’s have a look, shall we?
Alpha Progression Details & Features
This app might seem like other fitness apps, but it’s really not “just a fitness app..” See, the Alpha Progression app is designed to use AI to help build your workouts. That’s right… Someone has actually combined Arnold Schwarzenegger and AI.
Who would’ve thought about that? It actually sounds like an excellent idea for a movie franchise that’ll slowly get worse over time after peaking in its youth…
Hey! I’m like that too!
Plan Generator
This is the part of the app that’s quite unique. More often than not, apps will simply allow you to use their exercise library and create your own workouts — big whoop. This idea isn’t that revolutionary.
That said, Alpha Progression does allow you to do that. If you simply want to use the app as a means to track progress, workouts completed, and your overall workout plan, it can do that. You can even go ahead and save those workouts to redo them at a later time.
This makes the app ideal for people who lift with a lot of thought and intensity.
But what most “normal” people will find more interesting is the ability to create custom training plans. But you won’t be doing it, no, the app will do it for you.
Remember the AI joke a minute ago?
Well, Alpha Progression uses AI to generate workout plans based on the following information you give them:
- Age: older people might not be able to do HIIT workouts
- Weight: heavier folks might not be able to jump or do plyometric work
- Equipment: since you can’t do a dumbbell bench press without dumbbells
- Length of workouts: some people have less time than others
- How many times a week do you want to train: some people even have social lives (can’t relate to that)
- Muscle Focus: others might want to see optimal gains for one part of their body
You can also create a specific profile with all this info on it. So, you could theoretically have two gyms if you’re the type of person who travels a lot.
These key features make the app ideal compared to other apps that limit you because of the “cookie-cutter” workouts created beforehand.
Being able to view (and do) customized workout plans makes this app potentially one of the best. The workouts are created around your needs and limitations, something you don’t usually get with apps or without a personal trainer.
Lots of Information
Sure, you get to create your own workouts, and the app can create them for you, but what if you’re a beginner and have no idea what you’re doing? What if you need a massive exercise library to see how to do these exercises?
Well, the app has that, too. In fact, there are more than 400 different exercises listed in the library.
What’s more, you get way more than just the different names of the exercises, including:
- A video of someone doing the exercise, usually from various different angles. This is key to teaching you the different muscle groups, how to avoid injuries, and how to approach each exercise.
- A detailed description that’s essential for muscle-building. Without knowing what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what not to do, you’re going to have a hard time in the gym.
- Your past workouts performance, which is crucial to allow for progressive overload. Personally, I use a book, but the app does this pretty well. You can view what your personal records are from weeks ago and compare them to now to see if you’re making long-term progress.
The app also uses this massive mountain of knowledge for its “Similar Exercises Feature.” When you’re crushing it in the gym, and you find yourself stuck — not because of fatigue but because the weird old guy has been using the Smith Machine for 45 minutes — you have my permission to get pissed.
But what if there was no need for this vulgar emotion? Well, the app uses its AI and data to help you find alternatives to your movement that’ll target similar muscle groups. Honestly, this is something that sets the app far and beyond the competition.
I struggle with this in the gym myself sometimes, and the app came in handy rather quickly. Because the app is easy to use and the UX/UI is great, both the exercise switch and integration with the app were seamless.
It’s Old School
We discussed the amazing way the algorithm analyzes your information to create a workout with suitable exercises, which will allow you to progress. I (and others who have used the app) did find something interesting — the app sticks to the basics.
The basics of training are called the “basics” for a reason: they work. Progressive overload, big movements, compound exercises, etc. The app seems to stick to these principles while helping you build muscle.
This almost guarantees long-term progression since this approach applies to all fitness levels. Sure, you have complete control of your workouts. But the AI-generated ones are science-based and designed to help accelerate muscle-building hormone production, which will drive muscle protein synthesis as well.
Now, this makes the app unapproachable to some. I’ve trained hundreds of clients, and some people just don’t like being challenged weekly. They like the idea of only doing what’s needed — nothing more.
And this is where the app sort of splits into two: one part gym logger, and one part customized training plan. Both can be used by fitness enthusiasts, but just keep in mind your workouts will be similar if you use the generated ones.
Who is Alpha Progression Good for?
As mentioned, the app has split itself into two … one part is a strength training app with strength-specific workout programming, while the other is purely a gym logger.
So, there’s actually a wide variety of people who’d benefit from this plan, such as:
- The everyday gym-goer who simply wants to track their workouts. The progress-tracking features are ideal for this type of person, and because the app is easy to use, your workout logging will neither be difficult nor tedious
- Beginners who don’t know how to program. Following a plan off the net might be hard, dangerous, and just plain stupid sometimes. The AI custom workout plans are designed around you as an individual. This means the intelligent algorithm creates a workout suited to your needs and limitations. The massive exercise archive also makes the app great for teaching you about different movements and how to do them.
- Those looking for the best muscle-building app in their strength endeavors. If you don’t wanna use a coach or an online plan but you still want to exercise effectively and increase your bench press performance, this is a great app. You can generate workouts tailored to your needs, add your own exercises, and track everything neatly and easily.
Who is Alpha Progression Not for?
Unfortunately, there are people who simply won’t like you for who you are. Even if you have the most solid workout app out there, some people will still say, “No, thanks” — and that’s okay.
The app might not be best suited for the following people:
- People who don’t like training hard or for strength. This is, after all, a strength training app and focuses on how much weight you can move over time. Training plans are designed with progress in mind, and if you don’t like that style of training, it won’t be good for you.
- Those looking to drop their body fat percentage since the app only gives training info. Sure, you can use the app in conjunction with other fitness apps to help you lower your body fat percentage. But the app wasn’t designed with that in mind, and the workouts might seem a wee-bit hard sometimes.
How Much Does Alpha Progression Cost?
You do get a nifty free version for a certain time period, but this time seems to change depending on which review you look at. At the moment, the free trial period is rated at 14 days.
However, the normal costs for the app will run you:
- $59.99 per year
- $9.99 per month
Alpha Progression FAQs
Is Alpha Progression Free?
The Alpha Progression app is a great fitness app that can help you by displaying a huge exercise database (exercise videos, etc.) and allowing you to track workouts while also generating workouts themselves. There is a 14-day free period before you have to pay $59.99 per year or $9.99 per month.
Is Alpha Progression Good?
Extremely good! Alpha Progression takes what other fitness apps offer and dials it to 11. It does this by having a workout generator function, allowing you to enter your details before the app gives you a workout to do. The app also has more than 400 exercises listed in the library for you to watch, read, and learn about.
Alpha Progression Apple Watch
Being able to connect to your Apple watch makes the Alpha Progression app a lot more useful than some other apps. You can easily download the app from the Apple App Store and use it via your Apple watch.
Alpha Progression Alternatives
Fitbod
Fitbod is the natural competitor to Alpha Progression. It was designed in a similar fashion with similar features and will also use training data to make your muscle-building endeavors a lot easier. If you actually want to make progress, then go for Alpha.
The workouts will run you for a few weeks, which is fantastic for someone looking to make gains. Fitbod creates a new workout each day. It’s fun, sure, but not for those who wanna become the best they can be.
BodyFit
BodyFit is a huge conglomerate app created by Bodybuilding.com and contains several different workout plans within. In this case, BodyFit takes the edge, seeing as you get way more bang for your buck.
There are several workouts to follow (for weeks!), and you also get videos from coaches, nutrition advice, and even discounts on supplements. The paid subscription is a bit more expensive but worth it.
Alpha Progression Reviews
As always, we’ll go to the newspaper of the internet, Reddit:
“Alpha progression is great! I’ve been lifting for about 30 years, and it’s my favorite way of logging/planning programs I’ve ever come across. I actually learned about MF in their Facebook group!”
“I’ve been using Alpha Progression since July 2022. There’s a Facebook group. The founder gave everyone 6 months of free premium. Mine just expired 2 days ago so I’m looking for options. The app is really good. By far the best out there hands down.
I started using MacroFactory last week. This with Alpha I think you have the best app for your workout and food.”
Most other reviews of the app are amazing. If you use Google for reviews or if you check on Reddit, they’re all exclaiming how amazing the app is — and I agree.
You’ll even find a whole subreddit for people to use to discuss lifting. They often give tips to other users and the designers of the app. This creates a beautiful community, something you don’t see every day.
5 Alpha Progression Pros
The Auto-Generation
The ability to make your own workouts without having to have any knowledge is something amazing. Most people don’t have a clue how to train, and the app provides! This is perhaps the best feature of the app, in my opinion, and the workouts that pop out are actually pretty decent.
Easy To Use
Many apps will overwhelm you with information. This app doesn’t do that. In fact, it gives you the perfect amount of information needed — nothing more, nothing less. The UX/UI is also pretty darn good.
Still a Gym-Logger App
While the app’s main focus is the plan generator, it doesn’t let down on its tracking capabilities. These are easy to use and are necessary if you want to build muscle perpetually.
Huge Exercise Library
With more than 400 different exercises listed in their archives, the ability to watch someone do the movement via video, and the ability to read an in-depth description of it, there’s nothing more you could ask for. It even allows you to see how you’ve performed on that exercise in the past.
The Website Has Some Goodies
The website is forgotten by many, but there are some really nice goodies on there, like the macro calculator. You can also listen to the podcast or simply read the blog to learn more about gaining muscle.
If you want nutrition advice, this is kind of the only place you can go, and there’s certainly enough here to help you gain muscle.
1 Alpha Progression Con
A Few Missing Parts
Nothing is perfect except for Pepsi Max — that stuff is so good that I got it tattooed on me.
Regardless, Alpha Progression can be improved. The app is great, and so is the website, and while the UX/UI is phenomenal, there are parts missing.
The website has certain links that just don’t work, and many users also complain about the app not having any cardio sections, etc. It’s not perfect, but with a few more updates, it’ll be pretty damn close.
Final Thoughts
Alpha Progression might be the best app I’ve reviewed in a long time. The number of people I’ve shown this to and have liked it dwarfs the number of people who didn’t (it was 23:3, btw).
The app has everything you could ask for from a muscle-building app. It allows you to track your progress, make your own workouts, and simply get your workouts made by the AI system.
Frankly, the only thing you need now is nutrition advice.
Which you can get on their website.
Job done.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5
