Spent 9 months trying to save a app. ignored, so built it (100% open-source)

• About
• Project Origin & Motivation
• Quick Start
• Exercise Database Import
• Project Architecture
• Roadmap
• Contributing
• Deployment
• Resources
• License
• Sponsor This Project

A comprehensive fitness coaching platform that allows create workout plans for you, track progress, and access a vast exercise database with detailed instructions and video demonstrations.

This project was born from a personal mission to revive and improve upon a previous fitness platform. As the primary contributor to the original workout.lol project, I witnessed its journey and abandonment. 🥹

• 🏗️ Original Contributor: I was the main contributor to workout.lol
• 💼 Business Challenges: The original project faced major hurdles with exercise video partnerships (no reliable video provider) could be established
• 💰 Project Sale: Due to these partnership issues, the project was sold to another party
• 📉 Abandonment: The new owner quickly realized that exercise video licensing costs were prohibitively expensive, began to be sick and abandoned the entire project
• 🔄 Revival Attempts: For the past 9 months, I've been trying to reconnect with the new stakeholder
• 📧 Radio Silence: Despite multiple (15) attempts, there has been no response
• 🚀 New Beginning: Rather than let this valuable work disappear, I decided to create a fresh, modern implementation

Someone had to step up.

The opensource fitness community deserves better than broken promises and abandoned platforms.

I'm not building this for profit.

This isn't just a revival : it's an evolution. workout.cool represents everything the original project could have been, with the reliability, modern approach, and maintenance that the fitness open source community deserves.

I'm not just a developer : I'm a user who refused to let our community down.

I experienced firsthand the frustration of watching a beloved tool slowly disappear. Like many of you, I had workouts saved, progress tracked, and a routine built around the platform.

If you were part of the original workout.lol community, welcome back! If you're new here, welcome to the future of fitness platform management.

• Node.js 18+
• Either:
  • Docker
  • OR PostgreSQL external database
• pnpm (recommended) or npm

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Snouzy/workout-cool.git cd workout-cool

2. Install dependencies

3. Set up environment variables

   Fill in your database URL and other required environment variables:

   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/workout_cool" BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="your-secret-key" # ... other variables

4. Set up the database

   The project provides a convenient make command that handles everything:

   This single command will:

   • Start the PostgreSQL database using Docker
   • Run database migrations
   • Start the development server

   Option 2: Manual PostgreSQL Setup

   If you prefer to use your own PostgreSQL installation:

   # Run migrations npx prisma migrate deploy npx prisma generate # Start the development server pnpm dev

5. Open your browser Navigate to http://localhost:3000

The project includes a comprehensive exercise database. To import a sample of exercises:

1. Prepare your CSV file

Your CSV should have these columns:

You can use the provided example.

• TYPE: STRENGTH, CARDIO, PLYOMETRICS, STRETCHING, etc.
• PRIMARY_MUSCLE: QUADRICEPS, CHEST, BACK, SHOULDERS, etc.
• SECONDARY_MUSCLE: Secondary muscle groups targeted
• EQUIPMENT: BARBELL, DUMBBELL, BODYWEIGHT, MACHINE, etc.
• MECHANICS_TYPE: COMPOUND, ISOLATION

This project follows Feature-Sliced Design (FSD) principles with Next.js App Router:

• Feature-driven: Each feature is independent and reusable
• Clear domain isolation: shared → entities → features → widgets → app
• Consistency: Between business logic, UI, and data layers

Here are the next steps and goals for Workout.cool:

• 🏋️‍♂️ Add new exercises and videos
• 📱 Mobile app (React Native)
• 🏆 Badges and gamification system
• 📊 Advanced progress statistics
• 🤝 Integration with wearables (watches, trackers)
• 🌍 Multilingual support
• 🔒 OAuth authentication (Google, Apple, etc.)
• 💬 Built-in community forum

Feel free to suggest your ideas via issues!

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: add amazing feature')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
6. Open a Pull Request

• Follow TypeScript best practices
• Use Feature-Sliced Design architecture
• Write meaningful commit messages
• Add tests for new features

• Feature-Sliced Design
• Next.js Documentation
• Prisma Documentation
• Better Auth

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

This is about rebuilding what we lost, together.

• 🌟 Star this repo to show the world our community is alive and thriving
• 🐛 Report issues you find. I'm listening to every single one
• 💡 Share your feature requests finally, someone who will actually implement them !
• 🔄 Spread the word to fellow fitness enthusiasts who lost hope
• 🤝 Contribute code if you're a developer : let's build this together

Appear in the README and on the website as supporter by donating:

If you believe in open-source fitness tools and want to help this project thrive,
consider buying me a coffee ☕ or sponsoring the continued development.

Your support helps cover hosting costs, exercise database updates, and continuous improvement.
Thank you for keeping workout.cool alive and evolving 💪