To The Bar app user guide

1. Getting started

Create and confirm your account

1. Open To The Bar and select Create account.
2. Enter your details and submit the form.
3. Open the confirmation email and follow the account-confirmation link.
4. Return to the app and sign in.

The app normally keeps you signed in securely. You may occasionally be asked to authenticate again after security or account changes.

Set up multi-factor authentication

1. Open More, then Account.
2. Open the security or multi-factor authentication option.
3. Scan the displayed QR code with an authenticator app on another device, or use manual setup.
4. Enter the generated verification code in To The Bar.

Keep recovery information somewhere secure. To The Bar support should never ask you for an authenticator code.

Complete your profile and configure a gym

Add a display name, short biography and optional profile image. Other members may see this information in permitted club or coaching community areas, so do not add information you want to keep private.

A gym profile tells the program generator which equipment is available. Add a gym name, select equipment such as barbells, plates, cable stations, rowing machines, lifting platforms or resistance machines, then mark a preferred gym if required.

2. Understanding session types

To The Bar uses the same identity system throughout the app. Colours, icons and responsible coach or club names appear on session cards, calendars, history, summaries and active workout screens.

• Personal: created by you and private to your account.
• Coach: assigned through a coach relationship.
• Club: assigned through a club or club group.

The person who created a program and the athlete who completes it are recorded separately. Completing a coach or club session does not make the athlete appear to be its creator.

3. Creating a session

Open Create from the bottom navigation. Enter a required session name, choose the date, select Create your own or App assisted, choose the intended athlete or group if available, and select a training location when equipment filtering is required.

The Acting as panel confirms whether the session is personal, coach-created or club-created before you continue.

Create your own

Choose a training focus, select exercises from the library, use Favourites only if needed, reorder exercises, enable supersets when two or more exercises are selected, then configure programmed sets and tracking columns.

App-assisted creation

Choose duration, intensity, training focus and optional muscle areas. The generator prioritises exercises based on selected gym equipment, requested focus and favourites. Review the generated session before using it.

Sets and tracking values

Each exercise has a fixed set-number column and two configurable tracking columns such as reps and weight, distance and time, calories and time, or RPE and percentage.

Use Copy down to copy a value from the selected row into rows beneath it. Use Add another exercise to return to exercise selection without losing progress. Selecting Cancel discards the current draft.

4. Completing and logging a workout

Open a session from Today, Calendar or Programs. The overview displays session identity, exercise and set progress, repetitions, training volume, the session timer and coach or club notes.

1. Select Start session to begin the timer.
2. Open an exercise and enter the values actually achieved.
3. Mark the attempt as successful or missed.
4. Continue through the programmed sets and finish the workout summary.

Failed attempts do not count as personal bests. You can add extra sets during a workout. Programmed sets cannot be deleted, but additional sets created during the workout can be removed.

Exercise menus can clear logged results, add or remove favourites, or swap an unlogged exercise for another suitable exercise. An exercise with logged results cannot be swapped without clearing those results first.

The app includes a stopwatch and configurable countdown timer. Sessions are automatically completed after 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds to prevent a forgotten timer running indefinitely.

For coach and club sessions, choose whether results remain private, are shared with the coach, or - where available - are shared with the coach and club.

5. Programs and block programming

Open Programs to work with individual sessions and longer training blocks. Personal blocks are private to their owner and cannot currently be distributed through a program marketplace.

Programs assigned by an active coach or club appear in Received and are automatically added to the athlete calendar while that relationship remains active. Athletes cannot copy assigned coach or club blocks into their private program library.

Coaches and clubs can filter schedules by date, clients or clubs, then open a scheduled program to review or revise the assignment.

6. Exercise library

The exercise library contains app exercises plus exercises available through active coach or club relationships. Use search, muscle filters, focus filters and Favourites only to narrow the list.

Exercise labels identify their source: App, Personal, Coach or Club. Personal exercises are private. Coach exercises can be made available to active clients, and club exercises can be made available to authorised club members.

Custom exercises can include a title, primary and secondary tracking metrics, a YouTube demonstration link, instructions, equipment tags and target tags. From an exercise, use Add to add it to a current or future session.

7. Calendar and rescheduling

The calendar indicates planned, active and completed sessions. Select any date to view all sessions scheduled for that day. Multiple sessions can be planned on the same date.

From a session action menu, you can edit an unstarted session, copy it to another date, move it to another date, reset logged results or delete the session.

Copying a completed coach or club session creates a fresh personal session without results. It does not impersonate the original program creator.

8. Progress, history and personal bests

Open History to view sessions and filter by Personal, Coach or Club. Exercise history links performance to the exact exercise and repetition scheme, so a five-repetition best is tracked separately from a one-repetition best.

Personal-best medals are only awarded for successful completed attempts. Percentage prescriptions can use the athlete matching repetition best where available.

Use Import from TrainHeroic in History to select supported CSV exports. Review imported information after completion because exercise names and export formats may differ.

9. Messages and notifications

The bell on the Today screen shows unread notifications. Opening a conversation marks delivered messages in that thread as read.

Messages can be group conversations, where replies are visible to the group, or private conversations between an athlete and coach. Group messages are clearly labelled before replying.

Coaches and clubs can send announcements to permitted clients, teams or members, such as programming updates or cancelled classes. Urgent communication should use an appropriate external channel.

10. Coach guide

Coach functionality is available to authorised coach accounts during testing.

Connect a client

The coach provides their coach PIN. The athlete enters the PIN in the coach-connection area. Once connected, the athlete can be selected when the coach creates programming. An athlete may be connected to more than one coach.

Create and assign programming

Open Create, set Intended for to Client, select one or more clients, confirm the Acting as Coach identity, add optional notes, then build and deploy the session. Assigned sessions are added automatically to each selected client calendar.

Coaches can also create multi-week programs and assign them to active clients. Clients can complete the program but cannot save it as their own private block.

Review client results

A coach can review results for sessions they assigned and that the athlete chose to share. This can include attempts, weights, repetitions, notes and summaries. A coach cannot see unrelated personal sessions.

11. Club guide

Club tools are available to authorised club accounts and members with the relevant permission.

Open Create, set Intended for to Club, select the club and deployment group, confirm the orange club identity panel, add notes and build the session. The session is distributed to eligible members and added to their calendars.

A coach who belongs to one or more clubs must deliberately select whether they are acting personally, as a coach or on behalf of a club. The selected identity stays visible during creation and logging.

Athletes decide whether completed club-session results are shared with the club. Leaderboard functionality is limited during beta and should be treated as a planned or controlled club feature, not a public marketplace feature.

12. Privacy, sharing and account security

• Personal sessions are private.
• Coach-assigned results are shared only when the athlete selects the relevant sharing option.
• Coaches can access assigned-program results, not unrelated personal sessions.
• Profile information is visible only in relevant permitted community areas.
• Data waiting to upload should remain associated with the exact signed-in account.
• Multi-factor authentication is recommended, particularly for coaches and club administrators.

Read the full Privacy Policy or follow the Account Deletion instructions if you need to remove your account.

13. Troubleshooting and offline use

No internet connection

Personal training data and workout logging can continue locally when the app temporarily loses connectivity. Pending supported changes are uploaded when the device reconnects.

Keep the app installed and do not sign into another user account while important data is waiting to sync. Cloud-dependent features such as receiving new programs, messaging or loading club information require a connection.

A program has not appeared

1. Confirm that the correct account is signed in.
2. Confirm the coaching or club relationship is active.
3. Check the scheduled date in Calendar.
4. Reconnect to the internet and reopen the app.
5. If it still does not appear, contact the coach or club before reporting the issue to support.

Report a beta problem

Include what you expected, what actually happened, the screen and action involved, whether the device was online, device and iOS version, and a screenshot with private information removed where possible.

14. Frequently asked questions