Why Am I Not Seeing Progression Cues In My Workout?

If you've noticed that the up/down progression arrows are missing from your workout, don't worry—this doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your account.

There are a few reasons why progression cues may not appear.

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Reason #1: This Is Your First Time Performing The Exercise

Progression cues are based on your previous performance.

If you're performing an exercise for the first time, the app doesn't yet have enough data to determine whether you should increase, decrease, or maintain the weight and reps.

Once you've completed the exercise at least once and have established a baseline performance, the app can begin generating progression recommendations for your next workout.

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Reason #2: You Missed The Previous Week's Workout

If you skipped an entire week of training, progression cues may be temporarily removed when you return.

After a week away from training, the app cannot confidently assume you'll be ready to continue progressing from where you left off. Instead of recommending additional weight or reps that may no longer be appropriate, the system asks you to re-establish your performance first.

Once you've completed the workout again, progression recommendations can resume based on your updated performance.

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Reason #3: The Exercise Doesn't Support Progression Cues

Not every exercise in the app currently supports automated progression recommendations.

Certain exercise types, particularly bodyweight exercise or those with the 'Added Weight' fields, will not display progression cues even when previous performance data is available.

If an exercise has never shown progression recommendations despite being logged multiple times, this may be the reason.

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What Should I Do If Progression Cues Are Missing For A Week?

Use your most recent completed workout as a reference point.

A simple rule of thumb is:

1. Look at the last time you performed the exercise.
2. Try to match the weight and reps from your first set.
3. If you comfortably exceed your target rep range, consider increasing the weight.
4. If you struggle to reach the minimum rep range, consider reducing the weight.

You can learn more about the progression system and how recommendations are generated in this article:

How does progressive overload work in the BWS+ app?