Load Playground
The Load Playground is a sandbox that shows how an exercise's settings turn a set into the numbers HyperIron reports: the load per rep, set volume, estimated 1RM, and how big the next weight step really is. Change any setting and every number, and the math behind it, updates live. Nothing you do there is saved.
Opening it
Mobile app
- More → Load Playground opens it on a worked example.
- On any exercise's detail sheet (from the Exercise Library or the Workout tab), tap See how this exercise's load is calculated to open the playground with that exercise's settings already filled in.
- Inside the playground, From my library… loads the settings of any exercise in your library.
Web
- Load Playground in the sidebar opens it on a worked example.
- On any exercise's page in the Exercises library, click See how this exercise's load is calculated. The link includes the exercise, so you can bookmark or share it.
- Inside the playground, type in Or copy settings from your library… to load the settings of any exercise in your library.
Built-in exercises can't be edited, and you don't need to edit them to see how they work: the playground copies their settings so you can experiment freely.
The three settings
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Load type | Weighted (you log the weight), Bodyweight (you log reps only), or BW + added (you log only the added weight: belt, vest). In the app this comes from the exercise's equipment: tagged bodyweight, or bodyweight plus weight belt. |
| Bodyweight factor | The fraction of your body mass the movement lifts against gravity each rep, from 0 to 2. Auto means 1 for bodyweight exercises and 0 for weighted ones. |
| Implements | 2 · a pair for two dumbbells or handles. You log the weight of one, and load and volume count both. 1 means you log the weight as-is. |
Typical factors from the built-in library:
| Factor | Examples |
|---|---|
| ×1 | Pull-up, dip, chin-up |
| ×0.95 | Calf raise |
| ×0.85 | Squat, lunge, split squat |
| ×0.65 | Push-up |
| ×0.5 | Inverted row, ab wheel |
| ×0.35 | Hanging leg raise |
| ×0 | Plank, cable crunch |
How the numbers are calculated
body term = bodyweight factor × your bodyweight
external load = logged weight × implements
total load = body term + external load
The body term is never multiplied by the implement count: you carry two dumbbells, not two bodies.
Worked example: Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat
Bodyweight 180 lbs, 40 lb dumbbell in each hand, 10 reps. The exercise has factor ×0.85 and 2 implements.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Body term | 0.85 × 180 | 153 lbs |
| External load | 40 × 2 | 80 lbs |
| Total load / rep | 153 + 80 | 233 lbs |
| Volume (External) | 80 × 10 reps | 800 lbs |
| Volume (Total) | 233 × 10 reps | 2,330 lbs |
| e1RM (External) | 40 lbs per dumbbell × 10 | 53.3 lbs |
| e1RM (Total) | 233 × 10 | 310.7 lbs |
| e1RM (×BW) | 310.7 ÷ 180 | 1.73× |
- Total load is the =233 badge next to the weight while you train (shown once your bodyweight is logged for the workout).
- Volume and e1RM each have lenses on the Progress screen: External counts only the weight you lift, Total adds the body term, and ×BW divides the total e1RM by your bodyweight.
- The External e1RM stays per dumbbell, so your PRs compare with the dumbbell you actually pick up.
- A set only counts toward volume and e1RM if it has at least 1 rep and, for a weighted exercise, a weight above 0.
Why the next weight step looks smaller than you'd expect
The playground's last step compares adding one increment (5 lbs, or 2.5 kg) to the external load with adding it to the total load. For the split squat above, +5 lbs per dumbbell is +12.5% of the external load but only +4.3% of the total load.
It's even starker for a weighted pull-up at 180 lbs bodyweight with 25 lbs on the belt: adding 5 lbs is +20% on the belt but +2.4% of what you're actually lifting. Suggested weights and rep targets are sized by the total jump, so HyperIron treats it as the small step it really is.
Changing an exercise's settings
- Custom exercises: edit them in the Exercise Library to set a bodyweight factor or turn on Uses two dumbbells. See Custom Exercises.
- Built-in exercises: these come with the factor and implement count already tuned. See Exercise Library.