Mad Muscles Workout App: Honest Review by Expert
Is Mad Muscles worth it?
Over the past few weeks, my Facebook has been bombarded with advertisements for a workout app that goes by the name "Mad Muscles".
I had never heard of it but the advertisements I was getting were pretty worrisome.
They were telling me to do...
- "Tip-toe wall squats" rather than back squats (what are those?)
- Push-ups rather than bench press (they're both awesome, just do both)
- Other dubious exercises I've never even heard of (as an exercise scientist)
Curiosity got the best of me so I downloaded the app to check it out (good marketing I guess).
I was expecting a bit of a mess based on the ads but it wasn't as bad as thought it was going to be... at least at first.
In this Mad Muscles app review, I'm going to go over this new app to see what it's all about (and hopefully learn what tip-toe wall squats are).
Who I Am: Why I'm Qualified To Write This
My name is Garett Reid and I have been in this industry for over well over 10 years. I have earned my Masters in Exercise Science as well as hold several high level certifications and accolades including:
- NSCA CSCS
- CISSN
- Executive Council Member of the NSCA Strongman SIG
- Published writer in NSCA COACH
To be clear, I have been in the gym for over 20 years and have seen the rise of this industry which includes both the good and bad.
Along the way, I have witnessed the way some fitness brands will use various marketing techniques I have seen with Mad Muscles. As such, I will be able to differentiate what the truth is; is Mad Muscles a good app!
Now I want to disclose something. As I mentioned before, I was paid to try this app and others and give my thoughts. But I can confirm no one tried to influence my conclusions. This is honestly what I think, and the opinions are my own.
As developers of the Dr. Muscle workout app, we believe in fostering open discussions about health and fitness.
As part of this commitment, we occasionally ask freelance professionals to share their honest opinions on various apps and programs.
In the interest of full disclosure, a qualified trainer with at least 10 years of experience was paid to author this piece. He was was paid for his time and expertise reviewing this app and sharing his honest opinions in good faith. His opinions are entirely his own.
We value transparency and believe it's important for our readers to have this context when considering the views shared in this article. As always, we recommend researching and comparing multiple independent sources before deciding on any app or product.
We are committed to providing valuable, trustworthy content. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@drmuscleapp.com.
In a nutshell—honest review of Mad Muscles
I liked that it offers "extra-curricular" actvities, like setting achievements. But customers have complained about its programs, saying that:
‧ "Regardless of the questionnaire, you get the same workouts"
‧ "The 'personalised workout plans' are not personalised one bit"
Hundreds of customers say it's hard to cancel:
‧ "You can't cancel your subscription within the app"
‧ "When I tried to cancel they charged me an additional month"
‧ "You think you have cancelled but in fact you have not"
Unfortunately, the app has a list of issues which makes it hard to recommend. Overall, I simply cannot recommend it.
What Makes My Review Different
You can find personal reviews on the app's download page as well as on several "content mill" websites.
However, as Mad Muscles is relatively new, there are few, if any, full-length expert reviews. Due to the novelty of this workout app, this review seems to be one of the first, if not the first by an actual expert.
With that in mind, I will review this app using my vast experience in the world of fitness and workout apps. I will critique it from multiple angles including:
- Function
- Programming
- Price
- Customer Support
Basically, I will look at everything to judge if Mad Muscles is worth it.
How I Carried Out This Review
To carry out this review:
- I downloaded the app
- Reviewed Mad Muscles' website
- Read customer reviews
I did not actually buy a membership because I found hundreds of complaints related to billing. Those ranged from being unable to cancel in the app to extreme difficulty canceling. More on this later.
Mad Muscles Workout App: A Quick Overview
Mad Muscles is a relatively new workout app that aims to "make regular workouts accessible, effective and joyful."
They also claim the workout plans are personalized for users based on their answers to various questions such as:
- Goals
- Equipment
- Time available
One aspect I like about Mad Muscles are is it offers "extra-curricular" actvities outside of your regular workout program. This includes:
- Setting different "achievements" that you can unlock after achieving various milestones
- Joining different physical challenges
While Mad Muscles does supposedly offer nutrition programs, I did not purchase this option.
Drawbacks With Mad Muscles
I'm going to be honest right off the bat. No matter how much I tried, it was very hard to find something good to say about Mad Muscles.
In other words, there was a lot of negative to discuss. These issues seem to affect every part of the app:
- Programming
- Ease of use
- Bugs/glitchy
- Customer service
- Billing
In fact, several reviews genuinely question if the app is nothing more than a scam. While I don't think it's a scam, I completely understand the reasons why some may think it is. Here are a few.
Difficulty In Ending Subscription
Before we go further, I want to start with this problem.
One of the more troubling issues is a repeated complaint of users having troubles ending their subscription. These complaints ranged from being unable to cancel in the app to extreme difficulty canceling.
Cannot cancel in app
Madmuscles App: non-authorized transactions, possibly violates GDPR and Dev Content Policy
byu/Ok_Barracuda_6782 ingoogleplay
Extreme difficulty canceling
Comment
by from discussion
in webdev
Source: Reddit
Needing to contact support more than once
In fact, this is one of the driving factors that led some to accuse the app of scam; it must be extremely irritating.
Due to the numerous complaints of being overly charged, I actually did not buy a membership.
This is a huge red flag for me; especially when seen in context of the other reported issues.
Questionable Statements
One thing that concerned me were several statements made by Mad Muscles in terms of helping you with your fitness. These were made in either the marketing, on the website or the app home page.
Basically, these comments made me question the integrity of the website.
In total, there are three I want to touch on;
- Training by body type
- Controlling your hormones
- Training by career
Training by body type
Training by body type is a recent phenomena that claims that different people should train different ways depending on their body somatotype:
- Ectomorph
- Mesomorph
- Endomorph
You'll notice that ectomorphs (thin face, skinny) are basically treated as weight gain clients while endomorphs (round face, big belly) are treated as weight loss clients.
This is because your "body type" has nothing to do with your internal physiological systems. I've seen a rise in "train by body type" lately and every time I do, I know what system not to use.
A fun fact; the initial creation of these somatypes had nothing to do with fitness. Rather, it's creator aimed to associate certain personality traits with body shape, not design programs to lose weight.
Controlling your hormones
I'm really not sure what they mean by this. While your hormone balance does play a major role in your fitness, you can't control them with a workout; at least on a macro level.
Of course working out too hard or too often will raise your cortisol levels while resistance training can improve your testosterone levels (and also increase cortisol levels).
However, our hormone levels will also fluctuate during various times in the day naturally (Hayes, et al. 2010). In other words, your hormone levels always fluctuate.
All studies have shown these minor fluctuations throughout the day are normal and there are currently no studies to suggest an elite exercise program exists that can optimize these.
There is no secret exercise or sequence that will optimize these levels. You basically train hard with loads of 70-95% of your 1RM with appropriate volume and you're good to go. No need to make it complicated.
Train by type of career
This was seen on on one of their advertisements. They claimed to have challenges specifically built for you based on your career such as policeman or farmer.
Again, no idea what this is trying to say but it's wrong.
Together, these statements gave me the impression that Mad Muscles is trying too hard to seem like an advanced training system. While these don't necessarily affect the app, it's alarming that these claims are made.
Major Issues With Programming
I can't go through every issue seen with programming as there seems to be a lot; whether from what I noticed or complaints from other users.
"Regardless of the questionnaire, you get the same workouts"
"The 'personalised workout plans' are not personalised one bit"
"Inconvenient customization of workouts"
"Asked for gym workouts and got home workouts instead"
"The further I go the more problems I notice"
"Workouts seem to be the same regardless of the goal you choose"
"Workouts are not age related"
Lastly, according to this review, workouts are pre-recorded videos that play out. They're not personal plans:
Does not let you log weights lifted
For whatever reason, Mad Muscles does not let you log the weights you lift. As you probably know, tracking weight lifted is one of the most critical parts of proper training. That's why there are some apps that only work as a tracker. However, apparently Mad Muscles decided this isn't that important? I really am at a loss for this.
Exercise Selection: Water Bottles And Towel Rows!?
Remember above when I spoke about suggesting "standing toe squats" as well as other silly exercises? Well, this stuff really happens.
Here's a screenshot of Mad Muscles suggesting you perform a "towel row" rather than a bent-over row:
One of the weird suggestions I saw was to use water bottles for weight. Sure this might work if you have zero weights and it's all you have. However, in no way, shape or form should this be what you're using if you have full access to a gym. I saw multiple complaints of this so I'll leave a screen shot below.
There is a list of reasons why this is a less effective option, including:
- Difficult to implement progressive overload
- Limited max weight
- Difficult to hold
The only reason I can think of why an app would suggest this is that the developers want to try and look different; stand out from the crowd. While this makes them stand out, it's not for the reasons they think.
Expensive For What It Is
While Mad Muscles isn't the most expensive app on the market, it's definitely not cheap. Below is the price point as of the time of writing this review (September 2023):
- 1 Month: $19.99
- 3 Months: $39.99
- 1 Year: $59.99
- Lifetime Access: $119.99
This high price is only exacerbated when you consider the app has so many issues. While the prices could be appropriate for an awesome app, you should expect top quality with real personalization and minimal bugs.
There were plenty of reviews in which people who still had access to Mad Muscles went ahead and downloaded other apps as they found Mad Muscles so frustrating.
Mad Muscles Workout App For Bodybuilding
Do I think Mad Muscles is a good workout app for bodybuilding? No.
Apart from all of the logistical issues that would make using this app difficult, I still think there are major issues with the programming.
From what I've seen, there is not enough customization available to optimize a bodybuilding program for an individual. I simply cannot recommend it.
Verified Reviews for Mad Muscles Workout App
Overall scores
Customer reviews
[Editor's Note: Updated with overall scores, more positive reviews.]
Summing Up: Mad Muscles App Review
I'm not sure where to start with my summary of Mad Muscles. I feel as if all I had to say was negative and I really don't like to just criticize an app. However, this is the way it is with Mad Muscles.
Perhaps my review wouldn't have been so negative without the high price tag. However, when an app is asking for a premium app, they will be critiqued accordingly. Therefore, there are far too many recurring issues, especially for the price they're asking, to recommend this app to anyone.
As mentioned, many users stopped using it even after they paid for it. To these people, Mad Muscles wasn't worth using even after they paid for it.
With all that in mind, at this point, I can not recommend Mad Muscles to anyone.
After publishing this review, we received a complaint from Mad Muscles. They alleged inaccuracies and misleading statements in our article, and provided clarifications.
- In-app cancellation: They clarified that "within our application, we provide a cancel button for easy subscription cancellation". However, it is important to note that this button redirects you to the app's website to complete the cancellation process. It does not seem possible to cancel directly in the app with Apple or Google at this time. Moreover, the button may not always be visible. From their own website: "If you don't see the cancellation button in your account after clicking on the subscription details and selecting the reason for cancellation, please note that it takes +- 24 hours for data to sync. So, if you want to cancel the subscription - please wait for the cancel button to appear first." This may explain some of the complaints and confusion around cancelling inside the app.
- App features: Mad Muscles added that "users can log water intake and weight, and they enjoy the flexibility to adjust workout programs according to individual preferences, including frequency and targeted areas; all completed workouts are accurately marked within the app."
We are committed to providing accurate, valuable, and trustworthy content. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@drmuscleapp.com.
FAQ: Free trial, cancel anytime & more
Is Mad Muscles workout app free?
No. While you can set up a profile for free, you are very limited to what you can explore on the app without paying. There is also no free trial.
Is Mad Muscles just for men?
Anyone can use mad muscles but it seems to be geared towards men.
Is Mad Muscles a good workout plan?
Compared to other workout plans, Mad Muscles has many issues with programming.
Is Mad Muscles actually good?
Mad Muscles has a lot of areas to work on. It seems to have been released too early.