I started lifting at age 47. I was scared that if I didn't start now, I would turn 50 and wouldn't be able to put on muscle anymore.
It wasn't casual. I went all in from day one. I tracked every meal, every rep, every pound. I wanted real data on how fast a natural lifter could build muscle starting later in life. I don't like guessing. I've seen too many people think they are cutting or think they are lifting heavy — and without the data, our minds rationalize too much corner cutting. I wanted to know with real data.
For the first year I used a spreadsheet. Paper first, then my iPhone. It worked, but it was clunky. Someone had to have already built an app that did what I needed.
I tried everything.
Some of them were OK apps that gave novices a place to start. Some have millions of users. Some charge $25–35 a month and position themselves as the science-backed solution for serious lifters.
Every single one of them had the same problem. None of them tracked a target rep count.
Here's what I mean.
After reading Bigger Leaner Stronger by Michael Matthews — a book every serious lifter should read — I understood exactly how progressive overload works. You pick a rep range, say 6 reps. Studies show you can grow almost the same amount of muscle anywhere in the range of 4 to 15 reps, so the exact number matters less than the discipline of tracking it. You work at a given weight until you can hit the top of that range across all your sets. When you can do your sets of 6 at 185 pounds, you add weight and start the process over, working back up to your target reps.
Simple. Effective. Proven.
The problem is that every app I tried only tracked what I did. They showed me last week's numbers. They logged my actuals. But none of them held my target — the top of my rep range, the number I was working toward — and showed it alongside what I actually hit.
That might sound like a small thing. It isn't.
Without a visible target, you're just logging. You don't know when you've earned the right to add weight. You rely on memory, on mental math mid-workout, on gut feel. For a casual lifter that's fine. For someone who is on a mission and wants real data, it's a fundamental gap.
I tried to make the existing apps work. I used notes fields. I created workarounds. Nothing felt right. So after a year of spreadsheets and another few months of frustration with apps that almost worked, I built Torqe.
What Torqe does differently.
The core idea is simple. Before you lift, you set your target weight, sets, and reps. During your workout, you log your actuals. Both numbers live on the same screen at the same time.
When you finish a set you can see immediately whether you hit your target, fell short, or exceeded it. When you hit your targets across all sets, Torqe flags the exercise for a weight increase at your next session. You choose the increase. Then rinse and repeat the next session.
No AI telling you what to do. No algorithm deciding your program. You already know how to lift — Torqe just tracks whether you did what you planned, and tells you when you've earned the right to go heavier.
It also has a rest timer. Obviously it has a rest timer.
Why I keep it free.
I'm not building Torqe to get rich. I'm building it because I want it to exist and it didn't. The app costs me almost nothing to run — maybe $50 a year in hosting. I'm in my 40s with decades of lifting ahead of me. Torqe will be free for at least that long.
If you lift with a plan, track your numbers, and want an app that respects that — I want you to have access to it too.
Download Torqe. It's free.
Progressive overload tracking for lifters who already know what they're doing.
Download on the App Store → Free. No subscription. No ads. iOS — Android coming soon.