The time to drop the weight on an exercise is when your last working set fell below the bottom of its rep range. That is the exact rule Zyra Workouts runs: reps under repMin means the next recommendation is one equipment step lighter, at repMin reps. Not a reset to a percentage, not a deload — one small step down, to a load where you can hit the range again and start climbing.
Below the rep floor means back off
Every set target in a program has a range (repMin–repMax) and an RIR target. Double progression uses the top of the range and the RIR to decide when to add weight. The bottom of the range does the opposite job. From the engine:
if last.repsFull < repMin → weight = snap(max(0, last.weightKg − step), step), reps = repMin
Three details in that line matter.
- `repsFull` — only full reps count. A set logged as 5 full and 2 partial against a 6–10 target is a 5, and it triggers the back-off.
- `− step` — the reduction is one equipment step:
2 × smallest plateon a barbell (2.5 kg with 1.25 kg plates, 5 kg with 2.5 kg plates),2 kgon dumbbells, machines and cables,0on bodyweight. The step sizes are explained in what is progressive overload. - `reps = repMin` — the rep recommendation goes to the bottom of the range, not to what you got. The point of the lower weight is to get back inside the range.
Worked on a barbell with 1.25 kg plates, target 6–10 @ RIR 2:
| Last logged set | Test | Next recommendation |
|---|---|---|
100 kg × 5 | 5 < 6 | 97.5 kg × 6 (back off) |
100 kg × 6 | 6 ≥ 6 | 100 kg × 6 (hold) |
100 kg × 3 | 3 < 6 | 97.5 kg × 6 (back off — still one step, not three) |
bodyweight × 4 | 4 < 6 | same load × 6 (step is 0; the rep target resets) |
Notice that missing by one rep and missing by three produce the same recommendation. The rule does not scale the drop to the size of the miss. That is a deliberate simplification: a single session is a noisy measurement, and one step is the smallest correction the equipment allows.
In plain terms: if you could not reach the bottom of the range, the weight comes down by the smallest amount that exists.
One bad session versus a trend
The back-off rule looks at exactly one thing — the most recent session in which the exercise appears. It does not average the last three, and it does not remember that you hit 100 kg × 9 two weeks ago. That has a consequence in both directions.
On the forgiving side, one bad day costs you one step. Lift 97.5 kg × 8 next time — inside the range — and the recommendation holds there; lift 97.5 kg × 11 (above the ceiling of 10) and it goes straight back to 100 kg × 6. A back-off is a step down a staircase you are still standing on, not a fall to the bottom.
On the strict side, the rule cannot tell a bad night's sleep from the start of a slide. That distinction lives elsewhere in the app, on the dashboard's exercise trajectory, which looks at the estimated 1RM over 30 days rather than at one set. When the e1RM has fallen 2% or more across the window and the logged RIR has averaged 1 or less, it says Deload needed — a signal that repeated back-offs are not the fix. That rule, and the plateau flag beside it, are on training plateau or time to deload; the broader load model is on signs of accumulated training fatigue.
So the honest reading of a back-off is: *this set, at this weight, missed the floor*. Two or three in a row on the same exercise while the RIR is pinned near zero is the pattern to notice. One, on its own, is a Tuesday. This is arithmetic on your log, not a judgement about your training.
What the yellow wand means in Zyra Workouts
In a session, Smart Progression shows a small wand icon beside a set with a recommendation. Its colour is set by the engine, and the meaning is fixed:
| Wand | When | What the sheet says |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | progress or hold | "Last time 100 kg × 8 · target 6–10 @RIR 2 (ceiling 10) → hold 100 kg × 8." |
| Yellow | back-off | "Last time 100 kg × 5 · target 6–10 @RIR 2 (ceiling 10) → under the rep floor, backing off to 97.5 kg × 6." |
| Red | the recommended load cannot be built from your plate inventory | "…→ 102.5 kg, but that load can't be built from your plate inventory. Adjust the plates or pick a nearby weight." |
Yellow is not an alarm. It is the app telling you, in a sentence you can check against your own log, that the last set missed the floor and here is the smaller load. Red is a different problem entirely — the maths produced a weight your gym profile says you cannot load (the bar weight plus available plates does not reach it exactly). Fix the plate inventory or choose the nearest buildable weight; the plate calculator will show what your plates can make. Blue means nothing needs your attention.
Whatever the wand says, the recommendation is a pre-fill, not a lock. Change the weight, do the set, log what actually happened, and the next recommendation is computed from that.
The short version
Drop the weight when your last working set had fewer full reps than the bottom of its range — by one equipment step, to repMin reps. One miss is one step, and one good set at the lower load takes you straight back. Whether misses are piling up is a question for the 30-day e1RM trend, not for a single set. In Zyra Workouts the back-off is the yellow wand, with the reason written out. Zyra Workouts is in development and not yet on the App Store; the rules quoted here are read from its source code and may change before release. Training guidance, never medical advice. Educational overview only — not medical advice.