Coach

Coach shipped with four core features: workout logging, a warm-up calculator, a progression calculator, and account creation. It's live and functional at coachtest.vercel.app. The bigger win is what it replaced: an AI-generated strategy card now explains the reasoning behind every recommended weight, so beginners build training intuition instead of dependence on the app.

New lifters know they need to train progressively, but most apps either overwhelm them with logging or give nothing beyond a timer. Coach started as a fast build in Lovable to test the concept, and it worked well enough to prove the idea, but the early screens showed what moving fast costs: dashboards packed with more data than a lifter needed mid-set, UI elements crowded together with no breathing room, and a mobile view that barely held up on an actual phone. That first pass validated the concept but made it clear the interface needed a real design process behind it, not just more features.

Coach replaces guesswork with a structured workflow: AI-calculated warm-up sets prepare your nervous system before heavy lifts, double progression logic tells you exactly when to add weight, and the whole system is designed around how beginners actually build strength, not how advanced lifters track it.

Losing months of logged progress because you switched phones or cleared your browser would kill the habit entirely. Account creation syncs workout history to a database so users never start from zero. A friends layer builds on top of that, adding social accountability as a second reason to stay consistent.

Weight progression is slow, a beginner might train for weeks before their numbers move meaningfully, which is exactly when most people quit. Medals add a second progression track that rewards consistency over performance, so users feel advancement even when the plates aren't moving. Borrowed from ranked systems in competitive games, where visible milestones keep players returning regardless of skill level.

Coach shipped with four core features: workout logging, warm-up calculator, progression calculator, and account creation. The database is currently inactive, but the app is live and functional at coachtest.vercel.app.

Coach is live and functional. Try the warm-up and progression calculators yourself, right here.

I'd define the core feature set before writing a line of code. Design decisions that came from mid-build user feedback led to better features, but also extended the timeline. The lesson: validate the feature list early, then build with constraints.