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EnglishHow Liftosaur Handles Automatic Progressive Overload
Updated
Liftosaur adjusts your program automatically after each workout. It ships with three built-in progression types — Linear, Double, and Rep Sum — and lets you script any custom logic in Liftoscript if the built-ins don't fit. The automatic adjustment runs on the program you're following, so it works whether you picked a built-in routine like GZCLP or 5/3/1 or wrote your own.
What "automatic" means here
You log every set and rep during a workout. When you finish the day, Liftosaur applies the progression rules attached to each exercise and updates the targets for your next session — weight, reps, or both. You don't recalculate anything by hand between workouts.
This is the core difference from a plain logbook: the app doesn't just record what you did, it decides what you should do next based on what you just did.
The three built-in progressions
| Progression | How it typically works | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Add weight on a fixed schedule (e.g. every session or every week) | Beginners on simple linear programs like Starting Strength |
| Double | Add reps first within a range, then add weight and reset reps | Programs that wave reps before load, common in GZCLP-style setups |
| Rep Sum | Progress based on the total reps accumulated across sets | Schemes where total volume, not a single set, drives the next jump |
The exact trigger conditions and increments depend on how the progression is configured in the program you're running — the built-in routines come pre-wired, so you inherit their logic as-is.
Custom progressions with Liftoscript
If none of the three built-ins match your scheme, you write the logic yourself in Liftoscript. The site describes it as writing your program in plain text: you specify exercises by week/day, sets, and progressive overload rules, with optional scripting for advanced schemes.
The page lists what scripting can manipulate: weight, reps, RPE, and even the rest timer. It also names specific techniques as achievable — custom progressions, myo-reps, and drop sets. So the ceiling isn't "pick one of three"; it's "describe the rule and the app applies it."
A minimal example of the plain-text style, from the site's own illustration: adding a line like Bicep Curl / 3x10 / 12 to define an exercise with sets, reps, and a target. Changing sets, reps, or weight is a matter of editing that line.
Where 1RM and RPE fit
Liftosaur supports 1RM and RPE alongside the progression engine. That matters for two reasons:
- Intensity can be prescribed as a percentage of 1RM rather than a fixed weight, so as your 1RM estimate moves, the working weights move with it.
- RPE gives the progression a subjective input. If your script or progression keys off RPE, the next target can respond to how hard the set actually felt, not just whether you completed the reps.
The site also notes graphs for weight, reps, and volume per exercise over time, plus weekly volume per muscle group — both prescribed and actually completed. That completed-vs-prescribed split is how you check whether the automatic adjustments are keeping up with you.
Deciding whether this fits you
It's a good fit if you want the app to make the next-session decision for you, you're running a program with clear progression rules, or you're willing to write those rules in text when the built-ins don't cover your scheme.
It's a weaker fit if you prefer to eyeball your next weight each session, or you want progression handled entirely by a coach outside the app.
One practical note before you commit: the built-in programs are all written in Liftoscript and described as fully customizable, so you can start from a proven routine and edit its progression rather than authoring from scratch. That's usually the faster path — pick a routine close to your goals, then change only the progression rule you disagree with.