Strength routines
The checklist flow, and everything around it: rest timers, substitutions, and how deviations get recorded.
Read before your first session
A strength day in Parameter is a checklist, not a stopwatch. Here’s exactly how it runs, block by block.
1. The checklist
Your routine runs as a block-by-block checklist: straight sets, supersets, circuits. Each set shows the planned load and reps, and right underneath it, “Last: 9 × 35 lb” or whatever you logged the previous time you ran this exercise. The one question that usually interrupts a set (what did I lift last time) is already answered before you ask it.
2. Check, or adjust then check
Did the set go as planned? One tap checks it off and moves you on. Did the bar feel heavier, or did you get an extra rep? Adjust the reps or load first, then check: the adjustment is what gets logged, not the original plan. If a change applies to every remaining set of an exercise (a rack you couldn’t get for the whole exercise, say), batch edit applies it across the rest of that exercise at once, instead of making you tap through each set individually.
3. Side-specific and duration sets
Single-arm and single-leg work logs each side independently, so a set of dumbbell rows tracks left and right as separate entries rather than assuming they matched. Planks, carries, and other hold work run on a timer instead of a rep count. Both of these are first-class set types in the checklist, not free-text notes bolted onto an ordinary set.
4. The rest timer
The rest timer starts itself the moment you check a set. There’s nothing to start manually. You can background the app or lock the phone; when the timer runs out, the rest-over notification lets you log the next set or adjust it without reopening the app.
5. Substitutions
Rack’s taken, or the machine’s down? You can swap the exercise mid-workout. Parameter suggests curated substitutions that match the movement pattern, so the swap stays true to what the exercise was training rather than just filling the slot. Substitutions are allowed once per exercise per workout, and they’re logged as a deviation rather than silently rewriting the plan.
6. What your AI sees after
Every adjustment, substitution, and side-specific detail you logged sits next to what was originally planned. That paired record (plan versus what actually happened) is the honest input that makes next week’s plan smarter, instead of just a repeat of this week’s.