private beta

Find My Gym Bro logo: a red map pin with two lifters in it, above a barbell

Find My Gym Bro

Find a training partner who fits what you want, and see exactly why. Then train together from wherever you both are: share splits, meal preps and PRs, check in every week, and push each other to your goals.

Free · 18+ · Private by design. Built to complement LIFT, and open source under the same license.

Join the beta waitlist

How to join the beta

  1. Join the waitlist at tinyurl.com/beta-find-gym-bro. It asks for an email to send your invite to, what phone you use, and a few quick questions about your training. Your email is only used for the invite. It's never shared or sold.
  2. Watch your email. The beta starts small, with DugCanLift followers first, and invites go out in batches. Your invite has the link to the app.
  3. Open the link on your phone and add it to your Home Screen.
    • iPhone: open the link in Safari, tap Share (the square with the arrow), then Add to Home Screen, then Add. Open it from the Home Screen icon from then on. Notifications only work that way on iPhone.
    • Android: open the link in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then Install app (or Add to Home screen).
  4. Make your profile. Enter your date of birth (it stays on your phone; you must be 18 or older), then read and accept the terms. Each one is its own box to tick: you choose what you share, when and with whom.
  5. Fill in your card. A handle (it doesn't have to be your real name), your lifts, your normal working sets, your PR goals and how often you train. If you track in LIFT, paste the link LIFT makes for Send to Coach and it fills in your lifts for you.
  6. Say what you're looking for. Similar strength or stronger, same goal, same focus, gym bro or muscle mama, how many days a week. Then publish.
  7. Back up your account on the Me tab. There's no email or password: your account is a key on your phone, and a backup file with a passphrase is the only way back in if your phone's browser data gets cleared.

How matching works

There's no score and no algorithm deciding for you. Your card says who you are, your wishes say what you want, and the app shows you three lists:

  • Both ways: you meet each other's wishes.
  • You matched to: they meet your wishes.
  • Matched to you: you meet their wishes, even if they don't meet yours.

Every match lists every wish, met or not, with the real numbers ("Similar strength on Squat + Bench + Deadlift: 840 lb vs 863 lb"). You see someone's wishes before you connect, and they see yours. Strength is compared only on the lifts you both list, so someone who doesn't bench isn't counted as zero.

The Matches screen on a phone: a match card for a test lifter with her lifts, her about line, and a green tick next to each of her wishes
A match, with the reasons on it (test account).

Training together

Tap Connect. When they accept too, you're gym bros, and each one gets their own page:

  • Feed: results, weekly check-ins, splits, meal preps and goals from both of you, with reactions. PRs from your LIFT log post themselves.
  • Plan: their split, their goals with progress bars, and their meal preps with macros.
  • Compete: this week scored against each person's own goals (workouts against the days on their card, protein days, progress to PR goals), so different strength levels compete fairly. Turn on head-to-head, both of you, and it keeps a weekly win/loss record. It's optional.
  • Chat: messages between the two of you.
  • Sharing: what you release to them, and disconnect, report or block.

Your own split, meal preps, goals, results and check-ins live on the Plan tab. Each time you post, you pick which gym bros get it.

Private by design

  • No email, no password. Your account is a key made on your phone.
  • End-to-end encrypted. Messages, posts and shared LIFT data are sealed so only you and your gym bro can open them. The server passes along envelopes it can't read and deletes them once they're delivered.
  • Nothing shared until you share it. Training, food and "about me" (name, age, height from LIFT) each have their own switch per gym bro, all off to start. Your card is the only thing other members see.
  • Notifications say nothing. If you turn them on, they only say "something new", never who it's from or what it says.
  • You're in control. Block anyone at any time, report problems, or delete your account from the Me tab.

Works with LIFT and LIFT Coach

Find My Gym Bro is the third piece of the DugCanLift apps, all free, with no accounts and no ads.

LIFT is a nutrition and training tracker that works offline and keeps your data on your phone: calories and macros against your goal, your workouts and sets, steps, and charts of how it's all trending. It's where you track. Find My Gym Bro reads the same link LIFT makes for Send to Coach to fill in your lifts, and it's what you share with your gym bro when you turn Training or Food on. Install LIFT on iPhone, Android or in a browser.

LIFT Coach is for trainers. It collects the training and eating your clients send from LIFT and lays it out as a roster you can read on a Monday morning: who trained, who ate to their numbers, and who has gone quiet. A coach keeps you on the plan, and a gym bro trains alongside you. You can have both.

Questions

Is it free? Yes. No premium tier, no ads, no tracking. It's open source under the AGPL, the same license as the LIFT apps.

Do I need LIFT? No. You can type your lifts in by hand. LIFT just saves you the typing, and lets you share your training and food with your gym bro.

Do we have to live near each other? No. The beta is built for training together remotely.

What if I get a new phone? Restore from your backup file on the welcome screen. Without a backup, your account can't be recovered by anyone, including me.

Why 18+? Safety. The beta asks for your date of birth at sign-up and it stays on your phone.

Join the beta waitlist

More on why I built it: Find My Gym Bro: the Private Beta Waitlist Is Open.