Why I Built WorkOnFitness

I’m Shubham Singal, the founder of WorkOnFitness. I built it for people who want to exercise but get stuck before they start, because they aren’t sure what to do or because nothing they find fits their goals, their level or the time they have. For a long time I was one of those people.

Where I started

I’ve trained hard for fitness and sport since I was 15. Sport shaped the way I trained. I never followed a gym-style split where each day belongs to one muscle group, and I never wanted to bulk up. What I needed was the strength, speed and conditioning my sport asked of me.

Then, for a few years, other parts of life meant I had to step away from sport. My fitness dropped further than I expected. Getting back to where I had been took a lot of work, and improving beyond that took more.

Along the way I ran into the same problems most people do: a busy routine, injuries from sport and long stretches when a job, and later a master’s degree, left little room for training. Keeping sport, fitness and work or study going together over years is hard, and I felt every part of it.

What I couldn’t find

When I looked for help, I kept running into the same walls.

• Some platforms were paid only, so even basic information sat behind a subscription.
• Many handed out preset workouts. A fixed plan can suit the person it was written for, but it may not fit anyone else.
• Most were built around the gym and around building size. My needs as an athlete were different, and little of what I found understood that.
• Very few helped me decide. A list of exercises was easy to find. Knowing which one suited my level that week, and what to do after it, was not.

The bigger gap was motivation. Everyone has their own reason to train: a sport, an injury to come back from, a busy life they want more energy for, a goal they set years ago. Most platforms gave everyone the same push.

What I wanted instead

I wanted one place that starts from the person: their goals, their current level and the time and effort they can give. From there it should help them find the right next step. It should explain things clearly enough for a beginner and in enough depth for someone who has trained for years.

That is what WorkOnFitness is for. My aim is for it to become the place anyone can turn to for fitness, wherever they are starting from.

What the site offers today

• An extensive library of exercise guides. It covers strength training with free weights, machines and bodyweight, along with cardio, yoga, Pilates, mobility and stretching, balance, martial arts, sport drills, breathwork and more.
• An easier and a harder version linked from every exercise, so you can find the step that fits where you are now and see where to go next.
• Plain explanations, with the precise term given next to the everyday word, so a beginner can follow along and an experienced trainee still gets the detail.
• Articles on training theory that explain why a method works and how a program is put together.
• Plain answers to everyday questions, such as coming back after a break, which is the part of my own story that took the most work.
• Workouts to do with a partner: Working Out Together for couples and Training With a Friend for friends.

Training for a sport has needs of its own. For sport-specific coaching and training guidance, our sister site A Wise Athlete covers that ground.

If this sounds like you

If you have wanted to train but didn’t know where to begin, or found that the plans out there didn’t fit your life, I built this with you in mind. Start with any exercise you already know, read its guide and use the easier or harder version to find your level. Then build from there. About WorkOnFitness has a short overview of everything on the site.

Shubham Singal Founder, WorkOnFitness