Personal Trainer · Nym and Fitbod
Nym vs Fitbod: which one fits lifting at home
You’ve started lifting again at home and keep forgetting what you lifted last time. You asked Ridge, the Personal Trainer Nym, for a tracker. With Fitbod, you get workouts built from its exercise library.
Pick Nym if you want a tracker shaped around your own plan, your days and the equipment you actually have at home. No more guessing what you lifted. Pick Fitbod if you’d rather follow its generated workouts and videos.
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The same request to both
“I've started lifting again but I keep forgetting what weights I used last time. I have dumbbells and a bench at home, and about half an hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Could you make me a simple workout tracker with a plan to start from and somewhere to log my sets and weights so I can see how I'm improving?”
What you got from Ridge
You got an app. Ridge called it Home Lifting Tracker, and it’s built around the three half hours you mentioned, with six dumbbell-and-bench movements a day.
Here’s what you get in it, from Ridge’s own description:
| Part | What you do there |
|---|---|
| Today | See the day’s session, one row per exercise. Type the weight and reps you did, then save. |
| Plan | The Monday, Wednesday and Friday routine: 18 movements, six a day. Add, edit or swap any of them. |
| Progress | Every set you’ve logged, so you can watch the numbers climb. |
| Last time | Each exercise shows what you lifted last time, already filled in. |
| Next weight | Suggested once you hit the top of your rep range. |
Ridge also told you to start light in week one, because the starting weights are a guess, not a prescription. It offered to change the days or the volume, add a warm-up and cool-down, or add a notes field to each session.
What you’d get from Fitbod
With Fitbod, you start from a profile, not a question. You fill in a gym profile with your goal, your experience, your equipment and how long you train. Dumbbells and a bench work fine.
Then you get each session built for you. Its algorithm picks muscles that have recovered and raises the weight as you log sets. You can watch a video of each exercise.
| Setting | For your request | The choices |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Get Stronger | Build Muscle, Get Stronger, Get Lean, Lose Weight or general fitness |
| Experience | Beginner, since you’re starting again | Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced |
| Equipment | Dumbbells and a bench | Whatever you have, from bodyweight to a full gym |
| Duration | 30 minutes | Anywhere from 1 minute to 4 hours |
| Split | Full Body | Full Body or Fresh Muscle Groups |
Because it follows recovery, your next session can differ from your last. That’s handy for a gym habit. It’s less handy if you want the same routine every Monday.
What changes for you
Your plan
Nym
You describe your days, time and equipment in a sentence, and Ridge writes the plan. Ask to change a day or swap a movement and the app changes with it.
Fitbod
You set the goal, the equipment and how long you train. Fitbod then picks each workout’s exercises from how recovered your muscles are.
The tracker
Nym
You keep Home Lifting Tracker as a private app in your Nym. Your sets stay saved between visits, and you can log a session just by telling your Nym. You get two apps on Free, five on Plus. Coming from Strong or Hevy? Your Nym brings your history over.
Fitbod
You log in Fitbod’s own screens, the same for everyone, or from an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch. You also get an estimate of the most you could lift once.
Next week’s weights
Nym
You decide when to go up. The tracker suggests a heavier weight once you top your rep range, and you can ask Ridge to change the range.
Fitbod
Fitbod decides for you, raising the weight from the sets you log. You see the new numbers when each session arrives.
Learning the moves
Nym
Nym has no exercise video library of its own. Ask Ridge how to do a movement and it explains it in the chat, and can find you a demonstration video.
Fitbod
According to Fitbod’s site, you can watch a video for each of its more than 1,000 exercises.
Price and devices
Nym
You pay $0 on Free or $20 a month on Plus. You can use Nym in your browser or the desktop app, and text or call it from your phone.
Fitbod
You pay $15.99 a month or $95.99 a year after a 7-day trial. You use it on iPhone or Android, and the web is for setup only.
The two side by side
| Detail | Nym | Fitbod |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Web; desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux); text or call from your phone | iPhone and Android; web for setup only; Apple Watch and Wear OS |
| Your plan | Written from your sentence; change it by asking | Generated from your profile and recovery |
| Exercise videos | None | Over 1,000 exercises with videos |
| Your log | A private app built around your plan, saved between visits | Fitbod’s own logging screens |
| Free | $0, as many Nyms as you like, two personal apps | 7-day trial, then you can only read past workouts |
| Paid | Plus $20 a month; Pro $60 a month | $15.99 a month or $95.99 a year |
When to pick Fitbod instead
Fitbod is the better choice if you want each session picked for you and a video for every exercise. Nym has no video library. If you’d rather keep your own plan and a log that remembers, start with Nym.
By hand
On paper, write the plan on one card and log each set on the back. Circle any set where you hit the top of the range. That’s the weight to raise next time.
| Exercise | Weight | Reps in each set | Next time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell bench press | 20 lb each hand | 12, 12, 12 | Top of the range every set: try 25 lb |
| One-arm dumbbell row | 25 lb | 12, 11, 10 | Stay at 25 lb until every set reaches 12 |
| Goblet squat | 30 lb | 10, 9, 8 | Stay at 30 lb |
Next step
Try the workout generator here with the minutes and equipment you have.
Try the workout generator · Explore Personal Trainer
Sources
- Fitbod: gym profile settings
- Fitbod: how the algorithm uses recovery and logged sets
- Fitbod: muscle recovery
- Fitbod: FAQ (pricing, trial, platforms)
Reviewed . Read Ridge’s full answer on the Personal Trainer page and check Nym pricing.
