5/3/1 Workout - Zen Labs

I purchased the bundle with all of the running apps 4 years ago, but now due to their subscription model they have taken away the program from those who already paid for it. I feel taken advantage of, charging nearly $15 for a software bundle only to make it unusable due to a business model change. It’s unfortunate that everything has gone to a “subscription model.” Especially when the model doesn’t really give anything new from what was previously available. Stay clear, there’s better options out there.

Couldn’t figure out how Jen to start or stop working! I thought there will be guided instructor voice ! May b I need some time to get used to it

The workout ceases to follow the 5/3/1/Deload rotation after the first cycle, and gets stuck in the 3x5 after that. The only way to fix it is to start the program over, which requires wiping your data from the app. Also, there is no mechanism to get your plan to adapt if you find the weights laid out by the app are too light.

Overall it’s an okay app. I like the timer and the auto calculations feature. I like that I can add in custom assistance exercises. I don’t like that I can’t add weight values to assistance exercises lower than 45 lbs (there’s a big range between body weight and 45 lbs, especially for some assistance exercises). I don’t like that there’s no option to add notes, either to exercises or the whole workout. App also tends to glitch a lot and you have to cancel and restart a workout to fix it. Overall these imperfections make it come off like a cheap paint-by-numbers development. I’m going to be looking for others after my cycle is over.

This app works great, easy to use and keeps you on track. Especially like the built in rest timer - rest time is never long enough when self calculated.

Great app. I had a minor hiccup with the reps on the first day of the 4th week, but that has been fixed. Perfect for tracking and gauging performance improvement

Good for what it is intended for but can use more functionality. The 531 program tends to not provide enough volume and there are variations to this program that I feel would be very beneficial to this app.