Product case study

From a personal problem to an Android MVP.

The idea for GymBuddy: Guided Strength grew out of my own experience. The most helpful part of working with ChatGPT was not another list of exercises, but having a clear weekly plan, reassurance that I was doing enough, and reminders not to increase the weight on impulse.

GymBuddy: Guided Strength is my attempt to turn that kind of support into a more consistent and predictable tool. The current MVP does not yet bring the full idea to life, but it already creates a structured program, keeps the overall workload manageable, records what was actually completed, and carefully adapts future workouts.

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Problem

Many apps record sets and weights, but still expect the user to know which program to follow. GymBuddy: Guided Strength starts one step earlier: it helps create a first realistic plan.

Primary user

A gym user who knows leg press, lat pulldown, dumbbell press, hack squat, and RDL, but still wants confidence that the plan is balanced and realistic.

What makes GymBuddy: Guided Strength different

A trustworthy first program, a clear separation between planned and completed work, and cautious weekly adjustments.

What the MVP includes

  • Sign in with email and password or Google.
  • Onboarding that covers exercise familiarity, previous working weights, and preferred training days.
  • Rule-based program generation and calendar-based workouts.
  • The ability to edit completed sets, replace exercises, and finish a workout.
  • Workout history, basic exercise insights, profile settings, local storage, and cloud sync.

Why the architecture matters

The key design choice is to keep the recommended plan separate from the completed workout. Users can lower a weight, add a set, or replace an exercise, while GymBuddy: Guided Strength stores both the original plan and what actually happened.

Completed workouts are never changed in the background. When the program adapts, GymBuddy: Guided Strength creates a new version for future workouts and keeps previous workout records unchanged.