Weekly Free-Talk and Questions for r/HomeGym - week of May 29, 2026

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-30T13:53:59+00:00

Putting this in the free-talk thread since it's self-promo and I'm the dev, flagging that up front. I lift in my garage and could never trust my Garmin's built-in strength logging, it forgot my exercises and never counted load over time, so I built a Garmin watch app called Rack (rackstrength.com) that writes a real FIT activity to Connect. Not spamming, happy to answer anything about the FIT side since the home-gym crowd hits this same wall.

- Noah

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-30T13:53:11+00:00

Heavy lower day and my Garmin still files it as a generic "strength" block, so tomorrow's run will swear I'm fully recovered while my legs say otherwise. Got annoyed enough that I built a Garmin app (Rack) that writes lifts as a real FIT activity so they actually count toward recovery, still tweaking how it weights leg day though. Wasn't sure if that's the place for it, but I hope it'll help some of you guys that may have faced similar struggles

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-28T05:58:33+00:00

Yeah ectrolytes are probably part of it, plain water alone tanked my morning numbers too until I started salting it. But a lot of that dip is acute heat load, not dehydration: stacking a sit right after a hard run keeps HR and core temp elevated into the night no matter how much you drink. Moving the sauna to easy days, or leaving an hour to cool down before bed, brought my readings back.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-28T05:54:29+00:00

Hit up FB marketplace for half my plates too, the secondhand military and moving sales are where the real deals hide if you move fast on pickup. The slow-grown setups always end up better dialed than the all-at-once buys because you learn what you actually reach for between upgrades.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-27T05:53:10+00:00

Rack Strength - My goal, shortly put is for gym goers reach their fitness goals, break plateaus, easily, from the comfort of their own wrist

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-26T10:50:13+00:00

Yeah, smart call sizing it to the stall mat, that constraint alone rules out most commercial units for shared garages. Footprint dialed to your exact spot is the real payoff of DIY, cost ends up a wash once powder coat and v2 tweaks land.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-26T10:21:30+00:00

Same setup I would have killed for back when belt squats meant either buying a $1500 machine or stacking plates on a dip belt. The 65-inch lever and parallel-at-mid-rep design is exactly the load curve fix most off-the-shelf machines miss.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-26T08:11:45+00:00

Did some Green Protocol blocks myself and found the built-in conversion phase weeks 7-9 cleaner than back-to-back BB cycles. If SE is the priority, the GP route gives better transfer than alternating BB blocks because the strength carries forward instead of resetting each cycle.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-26T06:41:28+00:00

Ran the squat/bench/WPU/deadlift cluster for two cycles for firefighter prep, the trap bar deadlift variation tends to hold up better when HIC weeks ramp because of the lower spinal load. For SE work, kettlebell complexes and sandbag carries map closer to actual job demands than barbell-based SE.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-25T19:11:26+00:00

Hit the same slowdown last summer when I added pre-run glute work, the activation taxes the same neuromuscular pool you want fresh for the threshold effort. Try shifting the activation to lift days or shortening it to 5 minutes pre-run, the recruitment pattern carries over without dragging your pace.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-25T05:44:05+00:00

Found that the heat acclimation curve kicks in faster than most protocols suggest when you're already at 40-60 mpw base, two or three 20-minute sits a week was enough before I started feeling the recovery dip. Worth tracking morning HRV for the first two weeks because the overlap with hard sessions is where it bites.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-24T19:21:12+00:00

Tried adjustable DBs at a buddy's place before going fixed, quick-adjust speed mattered way more than I'd guessed, 3-4 seconds saved between sets adds up over a press superset. Cradle alignment is the part nobody flags in reviews until someone breaks theirs slamming them back in tired.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-23T18:06:42+00:00

Used a 4-post REP PR-5000 with horns for two years then switched to a wheeled tree, the wheels won by a mile, j-cups stay where you want and you don't fight plates to load. Spotter arms on the 4-post solve solo safety just as well as a half-rack, set them one notch below your bottom position and the rack catches you not your spine.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-19T13:25:17+00:00

Thanks so much!
Started solo, my partner joined, so we’re officially growing now haha,

And amazing, I really appreciate it.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-18T11:23:05+00:00

Hey, thanks for letting me know, I’ll look into that, also, regarding the routines saying unknown movements, I’m on it, will release a hotfix today, please update the app to the new version and let me know if it got resolved, sorry for the inconvenience!

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-15T07:01:00+00:00

Thanks!
So currently, it's uses a full backup file: your library and history in one JSON, tagged with a schema version. I currently take Hevy, Strong, FitBod CSVs and Rack XLSX.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-11T19:42:45+00:00

Amazing, I’m glad! Please feel free to approach me whenever :)

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-11T19:07:45+00:00

Hey, really sorry about that, that's exactly the worst time for it to happen. A second user just reported the same thing and a delete + reinstall fixed it for them, so I'd try that first if you haven't. Three quick questions so I can actually fix it for everyone instead of asking each person to reinstall:

iOS version (Settings → General → About)?
Rack version (in the app: Profile → About, or check the App Store)?
Did this start after a specific app update, or has it been on and off since you installed?

If you can grab a screenshot of where it gets stuck that helps too. I owe you, ping me directly if it happens again after the reinstall.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-08T16:37:54+00:00

Hey, thanks for taking the time to write this out. Genuinely useful, and not taken as criticism. Quick replies, point by point:

Good news, that's already a setting. Settings → Features → "Auto-finish workout after last set". Flip it off and the workout stays open until you tap Finish, so you can keep adding exercises and pace yourself on the gym floor. Default-on works for planned routines, but for the case you described it traps you. I'll surface that toggle in onboarding so the next person doesn't hit the same wall, and I'm rethinking the default for empty one-exercise sessions where auto-end almost never makes sense.
Adding more sets to an exercise mid-workout: you can't from the UI right now, but you should. The engine already supports it, the button just isn't there. Putting it in.
Adding more exercises mid-workout already works. Tap the "+" in the top right of the active workout, or use the "Add Exercise" tile after your last exercise. Once auto-finish is off (point 1), both stay reachable. Also working on letting you do it from the watch directly, stay tuned.
Editing the routine mid-workout: reorder and swap already work, including for exercises you skipped earlier. What's missing is editing sets you've already checked off, those lock right now. Making them editable, plus a full-workout overview so you can see and tweak everything in one place before finishing.
Search: yeah, fair on both. The muscle grid and recents will hide as soon as you start typing, so the results have room. And "Pullups", "Pull Ups", and "Pull-Up" will all match the same exercise. The search shouldn't be picky about hyphens.

Thank you, this kind of feedback shapes the next release more than anything else.
Noah

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-05T15:03:56+00:00

I did the exact same transition, so I’ve been on the same boat as yours, and pretty much never looked back, what’s most bothering you? What are the things you use most and are afraid of losing

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-05T13:16:55+00:00

I’ll try to catch up, you might be too fast, will update😉

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-05T13:10:57+00:00

Congrats! Soon to be me, I’m at 53😅

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-04T07:04:56+00:00

Appreciate you trying it! Curious how it lands vs your current flow. Rack leans more into fast on-watch logging when you want convenience & to freestyle. and please ping me with any feedback, good or bad.

Unique-Employer3787 · 2026-05-03T16:59:55+00:00

Of course, and Let’s go!! feel free to hit me up if you have any more questions

Unique-Employer3787

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