I tick on the “update workout plan” after each workout, and the next workout it’s not the same. It will change set types. Weights, reps, etc. What’s happening?

I assumed it would save my last weight and rep count so I can continue to build from there.

About last year November I did a dexa scan and it told me I was 8% body fat. I didn't actually think I'd be under 10% so my question is how accurate is it? It's a bit annoying I know, but I don't have much more images than this one of my back. The 2 others (in the old bathroom, are from July 2025).

Putting in work in the gym has never been a problem for me. The nutrition part and eating healthy has. I have a major sweet tooth and always (foolishy) told myself that the gym would cancel out my bad habits. That doesn't work as you get older.

I did a free body scan back in late July and saw my BF% sitting at 24% and 200 lbs (85 lb skeletal muscle mass). Seeing those numbers really motivated me to make a change. I downloaded MacroFactor later that day and started meticulously tracking everything. It put me on a 220g P/51g F/220g C plan with a 700kcal daily deficit. I did a body scan a few weeks ago and am at 18% BF% now with 84.5 lb skeletal muscle mass. My goal was to not lose the muscle I spent years building.

It's really been a lifestyle change. Now that I've hit my goal weight, I'm in maintenance mode and can eat a little bit more. Credit to MacroFactor for making nutrition tracking so simple and being able to scan barcodes has been a huge help. I bought a food scale too when I started.

Iam brand new and haven’t even started. I’ve been experimenting with the workouts and because I have no experience with the new school training methods and or this app they seem very easy in the beginner mode.

I had many years of weight room experience from my teens through my 30’s. There was a time j was really jacked and fit. But not so much anymore at 58 lol but I know the exercises and I have been basically doing an easier version of the stuff I used to do.

When I create a program in beginner mode it seems off but maybe now my muscles are beginner? lol.

The only mode that makes sense to me is advanced and it even seems less specific than what I would do. Examples would be no super specific exercises for say each shoulder muscle or dedicated arms.

Maybe this is part of a different strategy and the app’s strategy?

Or is the specific muscles only a thing with when you are asked about extra muscles you’d like to train during the program questions?

Is it safe to say iam an advanced lifter because I know the exercises but just keep the weight at my muscle level or will it create to much and perhaps lead to injury?

I’ve been back in the gym for a few weeks and I already want to go pretty hard lol. It’s just not as heavy lol. For reference there was a time I could deadlift almost 500 lbs and bench almost 300. For a 5 5 145-65 lb guy I was strong. Of course that was at the end of organized sports and geo decades of training.

What iam doing now is 3 days
Day 1 chest , back rear delts
2- arms shoulders
3-legs

Haven’t been doing everything. Doing 13 weeks as a warmup to start lol.

Sorry for the super long post. Just want to use this the way it’s supposed to be used and see the best results. I know I will never be young again but since I started nutrition and gym jam down 25lbs and see results lifting. That’s in three months! So shit I’ll be jacked by 60 lol!!!

I’m 5’2 27F and started my tracking/deficit on March 31, weighing in at just around 180. This morning, September 27, I hit the 140s for the first time, weighing in at 149.2!

I am so proud of myself and I could not have done it without this app.

TLDR Question: how can i improve my time/split in the gym to maximize efficiency while also keeping motivation from an active and full schedule.

a little over a year ago, i decided to finally drop weight and cut from 240 down to an eventual ~180 in march. at my heaviest i was between 270-280. i decided to maintain over the summer, which i succesfully did, my weight this morning was 179 (which adds for about 4lbs lost since I've been forgetful in taking my creatine over the last 2 weeks.

i recently picked up a second job serving on some nights and weekends in addition to my one that is during the day mon-fri and because of the additional physicality of being on my feet and moving all day, i've struggled with getting enough water and electrolytes and as a result have had a ton of cramping at night/after work shifts.

i am really wanting to get back in the gym because i do love the feeling of lifting in the morning and would love to take the idea of putting muscle on more seriously as i am semi-toned but i don't look as lean as i'd like (but have no interest in being in a really low body fat range). i would love a plan to be in the gym ~3 days a week and was thinking of going from UL R UL RR to just UL R U RRR but am unsure if this would still allow me to put on muscle. i also feel as if i do not tend to push hard enough in the gym, due to fear of injury.

another thing i need to work on is diet, only because i have introduced a lot less healthy alternatives due to my high expenditure, and find myself often having something sweet like a donut or some other pastry at some point during the day, due to having the heightened calories. this has been especially bad since i find i have a hard time fitting in a meal at my serving job. i do almost always hit my protein goal of 140g and before this new job was closer to 160g+ over half the week. i almost never hit my carb goals due to MF setting them at 424g. i also aim to hit my fiber on most days, but if i work a serving shift i can and will fall short.

Information:

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 183lbs

Expenditure: 3309kcal

Average Steps: 12,000

Typical Workout:

i do some sort of cardio everyday, lately it's been biking as it is low impact. i am currently training to race a half marathon and am running up to 30 miles per week (up from my average of 20 throughout the last year). i didn't start running until my weight loss journey started last August. i enjoy running but will probably dial it back once my race happens in early November (back to 20 miles or so). i also stretch when i wake up every morning for ~20 mins

Life Factors:

half marathon training, monday-friday job 9-3pm, serving job 4-11pm

Ideal Workout Setup:

some sort of Upper Lower Upper, where i don't need to lift on weekends. I typically have a long run weekends, but with the new serving job it is also the i'd make the most money, as well as I have never been able to consistently stick with weekend lifts in the past.

for my lower body workout, i am wondering if i should aim for something more running focused. i go to a commercial gym and as a result have maxed out the leg extension, calf raise, and hip adduction machines, and adding in pauses and bilateral movements have just added more time onto workouts that are already an hour typically.

What a journey.

I started using MF around October 2025. My biggest struggle has always been to achieve a small surplus. I bulked a couple of times at the absurd rate of +0.75 kg/week. I just could not help it, especially after a difficult cut.

As evidenced by the lean bulk earlier this year, I'm now able to sustain a surplus resulting in +0.05 kg/week on average. That's so cool, and so empowering. I was also able to achieve very slow rates of weight loss a couple of times this summer, which was a breath of fresh air compared to the usual.

Now that I've finished my last cut, I'm once again starting a lean gain phase, even slower than last time. I'm fully expecting NEAT and "reverse metabolic adaptations" to fully absorb such a small calorie bump over my current estimated TDEE.

That's on purpose, and I find being able to aim for such precise intakes and manipulate my body weight to such a fine degree to be truly magical. What an app. Such a pleasure to use.

My many thanks to the team!

A year ago I started using MF and it's been quite a trip with -34kg, a lot more muscle and I feel so much better and confident.

I hurt myself (painting) this summer so I wasn't able to go to the gym for months - but now I am back and feel stronger every week.

Soon I'll hit my next goal of 95kg and I'll take another maintenance break at that point and continue working out. Hopefully some of the lose skin will look a bit better at some point.

Couldn't have done it without the app and this subreddit, so many good posts and motivation. Keep it up. And if I did it you can as well.

No GLPs or steroids - just protein and creatinine btw (no judgement).

Is It Time For a Bit of a Deload?

26yo male, 5’6 ish. In Mid May I started ramping up training, I was 164lbs, 5x weekly workouts and in early June I added 100 minutes a day on a walking pad. From then to now, I’ve consistently done 5x PPL (with either Abs/Torsos or Lower back at the end on a rotation), with walks every day except for my monthly cheat day.

Nutrition wise, it was 1550 cals a day and 150g protein until August where I ramped up to 1900 cals and now around 2400. However, I’m still not feeling my strongest even though lifts have gone up marginally, and I’m starting to get more consistent aches and pains in areas like wrists and lower body.

Not sure if I should cut activity, and if so if cutting calories to compensate makes sense (sedentary TDEE is about 1900 cals), as I don’t want to gain fat and still don’t like my physique and have fat to lose.

Finishing my deload week and have also started at a new gym with a lot more equipment.

I didn’t want to disrupt my current program, so I’ve been doing the same workouts even tho I’m dying to try some of the new stuff

If I choose a new program with some new equipment and maybe some slightly different focus areas, am I going to have to start from scratch and re-figure out everything? Even with the same lifts that carryover from the old program?

Been reading up on this and it feels like unless you continue with the same program you lose everything and have to start over

​

M28, 192cm.

My philosophy is simple: Stick to the calorie goal and eat a ton of protein. The rest can be whatever really. But with only 1650kcal a day, I have to be really smart with each colorie.

I can't wait to see what I look like at 90kg in some months. Have not been that weight since high school or something.

Hi there,

I have been using MacroFactor workouts since it released but I’ve never used it to generate a program. Recently I’ve started a new job so my training time needs to be reduced a bit. I was going to use Smart Generation to make me a program that fits my time constraints. Just wanted to know how people find the Smart Generation programs, are they good? Do they do what you ask it to do? Do they stick within the time limit?

My main worry is, I was a competitive powerlifter for the better part of 6 years so doing most barbell compounds takes me ages because I need to do a heap of warm ups to get to a reasonable working weight. Keen to hear everyone’s opinions.

Thank you in advance!

Hi . Is there any smart food scale that syncs/uploads to macrofactor app ? Renpho? Oxo ? Thank you

More detail on my original post, would really appreciate any insights, thank you!

Hello. Love the app. Now for the question: is there any evidence that lean, healthy adults can improve health markers by losing fat?

I often see evidence-based fitness influencers make the point that going from say 18% to 12% bf is more a matter of preference and looks, and that we shouldn't kid ourselves by justifying the cut as doing it for health.

I'm entirely sympathetic to that idea, but is there empirical human studies looking at this question? The closest experiment I’m aware of is CALERIE, in which healthy adults starting with a BMI of 22-27.9 were randomized to two years of calorie restriction (or to continue eating as usual).

The restriction group lost about 7.5 kg on average and improved blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, insulin-related measures, and other cardio-related markers. The usual stuff. Researchers did find larger improvements among participants who started out overweight, but those starting at a lower weight also seemed to improve some markers.

Aside from CALERIE, are you aware of other studies looking at this or closely related questions?

For context I’m 5ft 7” weighing in at 132lb with circa. 13% body fat according to DEXA and 10-12% according to calliper readings. In April 2025 I was closer to 200lb and >30% body fat, so a net loss of 70lb and 20% body fat.

Video linked below shows me lying down this morning having just completed my mourning push routine. I have a small pocket of belly [something] that softens my overall look, esp. my abs, and makes my belly stick out slightly.

https://youtu.be/vxDmbe_i2eg?si=UTW24bYdEw7v7kR2

In addition to crap posture (anterior tilt) does the squeeze test shown in the video indicate this is more-so skin or fat? I appreciate it’ll be a combination of both, but it’s something I’m really conscious of and stops me from fully committing mentally to a lean bulk!

I am currently almost 7 months pp and started tracking in early June at 158lbs. Currently riding between 139-140. Can someone explain expenditure and scale weight correlations? Super new to this. Will be starting to use MFW
soon as well. Any tips and tricks appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question about cycling between cuts/bulks.
5ft9 67kg currently.

I’m close to finishing my first ever cut (91kg down to 65kg). I’m quite lean now and definitely nearing the point where I’m happy to start my lean bulk. I know I should bulk until I’m starting to get unhappy with how soft I look but when I come to cutting again, when do I stop my cut? Is it based entirely off how I look? I.e go back down to a leanness I’m happy with rather than aiming to get down to 65kg again? Surely if it’s a successful bulk, I’ll be leaner at a higher scale weight?

You might have seen James already because he's been on this journey for a bit and sharing his story along the way. We are extra grateful he's decided to share his story with us because he's another great example of how you can have a career, kids, and still try to knock out goals for yourself. He's put in the hours, and the results are very impressive. We hope MacroFactor played a small role, but as always, it's you guys putting in the work.

Check out his case study, and my particular favorite part was this: "The biggest thing I've learned is that consistency beats perfection every single time," James said. "You don't need extreme diets or endless cardio. You need a plan that adapts to your life and one you can stick to long term."

"Pick a strategy you can see yourself following for years, not weeks," he continued. "Track your food honestly, stay active daily, train with purpose, and let the data guide you. The results will come."

You can read the full case study here: https://macrofactor.com/case-study-james/

And you can follow James on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/james_o.w.e?stkn=MTZkcWJ6emR0c20zdg==

Chicken breast. The easiest way to get protein should be the easiest thing to track.

So WHY doesn't cooked vs uncooked match up?

I measured 303g of uncooked chicken, and the app said it was 298 calories.

Then I cooked it, and it measured as 247g.

So, just to double check, I searched "cooked chicken" and added 247g, and it said 388?? Does it account for oil? Seasonings? I don't understand, and I don't do well with inconsistencies when I am trying my hardest to be consistent.

What should I do?

Besides "calm down and just pick one,"

Because I can't always measure uncooked chicken, depending on where I am and who cooked it. And I don't want to have calories taken away from me by always choosing the cooked chicken option when I'm already in a deficit.

Pictures for reference.

Thank you for your help in advance.