The guide
Every term, explained in its first sentence.
The words a training plan is written in, each on its own page, each answered before it is explained. Where a number comes from Liftor, it comes from the app’s source.
- Training
Progressive overload, explained
Progressive overload is adding load, reps or sets over time so the body keeps adapting. What counts, how much to add, and how Liftor decides you have earned it.
- Recovery
What is a deload week, and when to take one
A deload is a planned week of lighter training that lets fatigue clear while fitness stays. When it is due, what to cut, and how Liftor writes one into a block.
- Training
RPE and RIR: the two ways to say how hard a set was
RPE rates a set out of ten; RIR counts the reps you had left. The table that maps one to the other, and how Liftor uses the numbers to set tomorrow's loads.
- Strength
One-rep max calculator: the Epley formula, worked once
Estimate a one-rep max from any set: weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). A calculator with Epley, Brzycki and Lombardi, a percentage chart, and how Liftor reads it.
- Recovery
HRV and training: what the number can tell you
Heart-rate variability is the spread in time between heartbeats. Why higher usually means better recovered, SDNN against RMSSD, and what Liftor reads.
- Recovery
Readiness score: should you train today?
A readiness score turns this morning's sleep, soreness, stress, energy and mood into one number that sets today's load. What goes in, what comes out, in Liftor.
- Planning
Periodization (periodisation): base, build, peak and deload
Periodization arranges training into blocks — base, build, peak, deload — so progress compounds. The evidence, the three kinds, and how Liftor draws them.
- Strength
Strength standards by bodyweight, per lift
The bodyweight multiples that count as advanced on the squat, bench, deadlift, press and row, for men and women, and why bodyweight is scaled to the 0.67 power.
- Nutrition
Calorie calculator: a target that moves with your weight
How many calories to cut or gain: a calculator on Mifflin–St Jeor and the app's multipliers, the ±100 kcal rule Liftor applies daily, and the floor.
- Training
How long to rest between sets
Two to five minutes for heavy compound sets, one to two for lighter work. What the evidence says, why the timer should start itself, and how Liftor's adapts.
- Nutrition
Supplement upper limits: magnesium, zinc, iron
Upper intake levels for supplemental magnesium (350 mg), zinc (40 mg), iron (45 mg) and calcium (2,500 mg): where they come from, and how Liftor caps a stack.
- Together
Training with a partner who has a different plan
Two people, two goals, one session: how a shared workout stays correct for both, what must stay separate, and how Liftor's Blend writes one and folds it back.
- Food logging
Voice food logging on iPhone: what to say
Log food by voice from your iPhone Lock Screen with Liftor on iOS 18+. What to say, how to check portions and how to correct a saved meal entry.
- Meal planning
How to share your daily meal plan as a PDF
Export your daily Liftor meal plan as a PDF on iPhone, send it to whoever cooks, and share the shopping-list PDF separately. See what each file includes.