← Back to BenchBear

Getting started

BenchBear

A training log. You record what you lift and what you weigh, and it shows you what you did last time so you can beat it.

Do the five steps below on your phone. It takes about fifteen minutes, including one workout, and it can be a made-up one.

You're testing a beta. The most useful thing you can send back is any moment where you stopped and thought what am I supposed to do here? That counts as a bug even when nothing is broken.

Your first fifteen minutes

1

Make your account

Open the link you were sent and tap New here? Create an account. Enter your email and a password of eight characters or more, tick the box to agree to the privacy notice and terms, and tap Create account.

A code arrives by email. Type it into the app and you're in. If it hasn't arrived after a minute, check your spam folder.

Swipe for the next screen →

Tap New here? Create an account.
Fill it in, tick the box 1, then Create account 2.
Type the code from the email, then Confirm account.
Forgot your password? Tap Forgot your password? on the sign-in screen. You'll get a code by email the same way, and you can then set a new password.
2

Put it on your home screen

iPhone

Open the link in Safari, not Chrome. Tap ··· at the bottom right, then Share, then Add to Home Screen, then Add. On an older iPhone, Share is in the bar at the bottom, with no ··· to tap first.

Tap ··· 1, then Share 2.
Scroll down to Add to Home Screen.
Tap Add, top right.

Android

In Chrome, tap ⋮, then Add to Home screen. Some phones call it Install app. In Samsung Internet, tap ≡, then Add page to, then Home screen.

Chrome: ⋮ 1, then Add to Home screen 2.
Samsung Internet: ≡ 1, then Add page to 2, then Home screen.

From then on it opens full screen like any other app, and it updates itself, so you never reinstall it. You stay signed in until you log out.

3

Answer a few questions

The first time in, it asks a few questions about you, one per screen. Only your name is required. Skip anything you'd rather not answer. Your weight is the one worth filling in, because it becomes today's weigh-in. You can change any answer later under Your details at the bottom of Home.

Spin the wheel to your answer 1, then Next 2. Tap Next without spinning to skip it.
4

Log today's numbers

Tap Daily Check-in on Home. Weight, waist, calories, steps, protein, how you feel, and notes. Every field is optional, so fill in the ones you'd actually keep up with and tap Save Check-in at the bottom.

Next day, Same as yesterday at the top copies the last check-in in, so you only change what moved.

On Home, tap Daily Check-in.
Fill in what you track, then Save Check-in.
5

Log a workout

Log Workout → Open Workout. Use Add Exercise to pick lifts from the list, or type a new one if yours isn't there. Enter the weight and reps for each set.

Tap Mark Done when you finish an exercise. To time your rest, tap the stopwatch. Its ring turns green when you've rested long enough. It makes no sound, so glance at it.

When you're finished, tap Save Workout. It asks whether to keep this as a session: say yes and give it a name. Next time it's waiting on the Log Workout screen with every exercise already in it.

Stopwatch 1 after each set. Mark Done 2 when the exercise is finished.
Next time, tap the exercise's name: last time's reps slide out beside each set.
The part that matters: open that session again next time and tap an exercise's name. Each set shows what you did on it last time and the number to beat. You don't have to remember anything. Just beat it.

Good to know

Home and Stats look empty

They're built from your history, so they fill in after a week or two of logging.

There are buttons I don't need

Extras such as effort ratings, supersets and drop sets are there when you want them. Ignore them until you do. Weight and reps are all a set needs.

Changing or deleting something you logged

History shows every workout and check-in. Tap one to edit it. A workout's Delete is at the bottom of its card.

Tap anywhere on the card to open it.

Added it on an iPhone and it still looks like a web page

It was added from Chrome. Delete the icon and add it again from Safari.

Your data

Only you can see your log. No other user can. The bottom of Home has Export my data, Delete account, and the privacy notice and terms, which explain exactly what's kept and who can access it.

When something is wrong

Message the person who sent you the link, and tell them four things:

  1. What you tapped.
  2. What you expected.
  3. What happened instead.
  4. The build number at the very bottom of Home.

The build number says which version your phone is running, so it's clear whether you hit something that's already fixed. A screenshot beats a description.