What if I don’t like an exercise? How to switch workouts on a LatticePlan
With app update v4.3.0, we’ve just made it super duper easy to swap a workout for another one.
Picture this: You’re at the gym, ready to train. You open your plan, and there it is — the exact same hangboard repeaters you’ve been grinding out for the past three weeks. Or maybe someone has set up camp on the only hangboard in the building. Perhaps you’re supposed to deadlift, but your hotel gym only has dumbbells. Or maybe, you just really, really don’t like the prescribed exercise today.
Until now, your options were pretty limited: push through anyway, improvise something completely off-plan, or just skip the session entirely.
Not anymore. With our latest app update for iOS and Android, when your scheduled workout doesn’t fit the moment, you can now easily replace it with a similar, highly-ranked alternative that matches your exact training goals.
Introducing ‘Switch Workouts’
Switch Workouts puts the power of the Lattice algorithm directly into your hands. Here is how you can use it to adapt your training on the fly:
- Tap the menu: Hit the hamburger menu at the bottom of your training plan and select Switch Workouts.
- Choose the session: Select the workout you want to replace.
- Pick your alternative: You’ll see a curated, ranked list of alternative workouts.
- Swap it: Apply the change to just that single session (perfect for a busy gym or one-off change), or apply it to all future instances (perfect if you’ve found a variation you simply prefer to do long-term).
Your plan stays entirely on track; you’re just taking a slightly different path through it.
Total Flexibility, Strict Guardrails
The magic behind Switch Workouts is that it uses the exact same algorithm that built your training plan in the first place.
When your plan was initially generated, it was constructed across more than 50 different dimensions based on your climber profile and goals. In many cases, the algorithm was already choosing between two or more equally suited workouts. Switch Workouts simply surfaces those runner-up options and lets you make the final call.
Because we use the exact same dimensions to rank your alternatives, you get real flexibility safely within the guardrails of your plan:
- Your skill level is protected: If your conditioning experience is listed as a beginner, we aren’t going to suggest complex barbell movements like an overhead snatch.
- The stimulus stays the same: You cannot swap the core training stimulus. If your plan calls for endurance, you will only see endurance alternatives. You can’t accidentally swap your endurance day for an extra limit bouldering session.
- Your equipment is respected: Switch Workouts follows the exact same equipment rules as your plan generation, so the alternatives you see will match your declared home or gym setup.
Anticipating Your Questions
Q: If the alternatives are ‘equally suitable’, why wasn’t the best one picked in the first place?
A: Training is rarely a situation where only one specific workout will work. Often, there are several equally effective options that score almost identically across our ranking dimensions. The original generation had to pick one, but now you have the freedom to choose between the others that were right there alongside it.
Q: Is there a limit on how many swaps I can make?
A: No, you can swap as many workouts as you like! Every alternative has been vetted against the same dimensions as your original plan, so you are never degrading your training by making these changes.
Q: If I swap from a barbell bench press to a dumbbell press, will the app tell me what weight to use?
A: Not directly. When you swap a workout, you’ll need to use your own judgment to match the intensity of the original movement. However, every workout includes an intended effort guide (Very Easy, Easy, Moderate, Hard, or Very Hard) so you always know what difficulty you should be aiming for.
Q: Can I use this if I’m on a Climbing Training Plan or Climbing Training Plan PLUS?
A: Switch Workouts is exclusively for LatticePlan users.
Q: What if no alternative workouts show up?
A: If the list is empty, it means we didn’t have an alternative that we felt confident recommending for your specific skill level, equipment, and training phase. This will occasionally happens in highly specific cases where the safe, effective options are narrow.
Ultimately, the more your plan reflects where you train, what you have access to, and how you actually like to work, the easier it is to stay consistent. Switch Workouts removes the friction so you can focus on making progress.
