How training works, one rule at a time.
The rules of strength training, explained with numbers: how progressive overload works, when to add reps and when to add weight. Each article opens with the short answer, works an example you can copy and lists its sources.
3x10 vs 5x5: which set scheme to useThree sets of ten or five sets of five. What the studies found, the sums for each, and the rule that makes either one progress.8 min readBest workout split for 3, 4 or 6 days a weekStart from the days you can train, not from the split. Four plans with their real numbers, and what the studies say about full body, upper/lower and push/pull/legs.8 min readCompound vs isolation exercises: how to use eachA squat moves many joints, a curl moves one. What the studies say about each, and how a plan gives them different sets, rests and warm-ups.7 min readDoes the bar count as weight? Bench, deadlift, SmithThe bar is part of what you lift on a barbell. Here is the sum for a bench press and a deadlift, the bar weights RIGOR starts from, and why a Smith machine is logged differently.7 min readGym terms: a one-page glossary for liftersSets, reps, RIR, PR, push/pull/legs, Smith machine, spotter. The words lifters use, defined in plain language, and what RIGOR does with them.7 min readHow to start lifting weights: days, plan, weightsFour steps in order, each with the rule RIGOR follows and a guide that goes deeper. The path a beginner takes from choosing days to adding weight.7 min readHow to track workouts: 3 numbers per setThree numbers per set, one note about how the weight is counted, and a look back before the next session. What to write down, and what RIGOR does with it.8 min readHow much is 2 plates? Plate math in lb and kgGym shorthand for one, two, three and four plates, turned into the total on the bar. Pounds and kilograms, bar included.7 min readBest rep range for hypertrophy, by goal and liftThe research on loads is wide open for muscle and narrower for strength. What RIGOR does with it: a range for each kind of exercise, and the rule that needs a range, not a single number.8 min readTypes of barbells and their weight, kg and lbFive kinds of bar sit in RIGOR's gym setup. Here is what each weighs by default, in kilograms for a kilogram gym and in pounds for a pound gym, and where those figures stop being true.6 min readWarm-up sets for every exercise? Which get themWhich lifts get warm-up sets, how many, and which skip them. The rule RIGOR follows, kind of exercise by kind, and one session worked through.7 min readHow to know what weight to lift on every exerciseA chart cannot tell you what you can lift. Day one is a test with a few trial sets. After that your own log picks the weight, and a first guess that was far off is corrected.8 min readDouble progression: when to add reps or weightA rep range, one rule and a record of last time. How double progression works, with a worked example you can copy.8 min readFirst day at the gym: what to do, lift by liftOne workout, a weight to find for each lift, and a log that sets the next step. The first session, walked through with real numbers.8 min readFractional plates: what they do to a barbell jumpFractional plates make the smallest jump on a barbell smaller than 2.5 kg or 5 lb. What they are, the percentages behind a jump that is too big, and what RIGOR does with and without a pair of 0.5 kg plates.7 min readFull body every other day: 3 or 4 sessions a weekA rolling schedule, worked out. How a three-day full-body plan maps onto calendar weeks when you train every other day, and what the app does with the days.8 min readProgressive overload: what to add and whenReps first, then weight, in the smallest step you can load. What to add, when to add it, and what to do when a lift stops moving.8 min readReps in reserve (RIR): meaning, chart, how to useThe reps you had left, as a number. What each one feels like, how it lines up with RPE, and what a plan does with it.8 min readShould you train to failure? What studies foundGoing to failure on a set, or stopping with reps left. What the research found, how it maps to reps in reserve, and what a plan can do with it.7 min readUpper lower full body: the 3-day hybridOne upper day, one lower day and one full-body day. How often it trains each muscle, why RIGOR does not build it, and the three-day week the app gives instead.7 min readHow long to rest between sets, by lift and goalThree minutes on heavy sets and leg lifts, two on presses and rows, less on the small lifts. The times by lift and goal, and what a short rest costs.7 min readStraight sets vs pyramid sets: what to useOne weight for every set, or a new weight each set. What the studies found, with a worked example of each.8 min readStrength plateau: what counts as stuck, and fixesOne miss, two misses and a stall are three different things. What each one means, what the app does about it, and what to change when a lift stops going up.6 min readHow to track gym progress: reps, weight, e1RMTwo numbers per lift and a third to join them. How to read your log, with the formula and a worked example.8 min read
RIGOR applies these rules after every workout.
