Find Your Training: a new way to start (help us test it!)

We built something for everyone who has ever landed on DAREBEE, seen thousands of workouts, almost 100 programs, training plans and challenges, and thought: "okay... but where do I start?"

So we wrote an interactive guide / quiz. You answer a few questions - how you move now, what you want from training, how much time you actually have - and it gives you a clear starting point: a program, a training plan, or the Workout of the Day, matched to your difficulty level, with a challenge to layer on top if it fits. It takes about a minute.

It accounts for quite a lot: your current fitness level (based on what you can actually do today, not what you used to do), joint-friendly training if you need it, equipment or no equipment, training through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, perimenopause and menopause, running if you love the outdoors, and even whether you like your fitness with a side of RPG.

Everything happens in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere - your answers and results stay on your device only.

Try it here: https://darebee.com/quiz.html - we added it to Get Started at the bottom of the website so it's easy for new bees to find!

Now, the honest part: it is already useful, but we are still fine-tuning it, and for that we need real people with real answers. If you have a few minutes, take it and tell us in this thread:

1) Did the recommendation actually fit you? If not, what would have fit better?
2) Was any question confusing, or missing an answer that describes you?
3) Did anything feel off, too easy, too hard, or just wrong?
4) If you are a long-time bee: pretend you are new. Would this have helped you on day one?

Every reply makes it smarter for the next person who arrives overwhelmed and leaves with a plan.
Thank you for being our test crew - as always, you make this place what it is :thankyou:
 
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Cool, yeah this is a great idea!

1) Yes, it suggested Sage which I was considering and Amazon which I've done before - also Powerhouse, which seems a bit random tbh
2) I appreciated the option to skip the male/female question - but it might be simpler to just let everyone answer the question for pregnancy/menopause - to me that seems more inclusive for trans and nb users - and it can still be skippable for users who don't feel it's relevant
3) Just that one question about gender, like idk, it depends on your criteria and w/e tf the law is this week 💛🤍💜🖤 better to just ask what you need to ask than open up that whole can of worms imo
4) Yes definitely, the previous fitness model was a bit confusing because you could be in one bracket for push-ups, another for crunches and possibly even another for burpees -they're also all pretty challenging moves which could be off putting for newbies - I think this works a lot better at introducing people who might struggle, not know how to perform certain exercises, or possibly even injure themselves with challenging exercises right of the bat
 
1) Yes, great options I would love to do
2) I agree with the previous post about the male/female question :)
3) -The questions seemed great. Maybe in the results page, make the links open in a new tab? The previous button did lead me back to my actual results but I'm assuming a newbee would like to click everything and check it out, best to make it as easy as possible.
-Maybe add a short explanation for each suggested program?
-It's not clear to me how the challenges are suggested, what logic is it based on?
-The share button gave me an error
4) I might even use it now :sweat:

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It was great, i asked for a training plan and get these suggestions. The challenge are not my favorite, but it doesn't mean that they are not a good option for me.
I know it is intended for new users, but could the quiz consider our dashboard to propose something new as challenges (the ones that i wa proposed i didn't finish them) ?
I like the quiz to open directly in the app.

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For this question regarding what i am comfortable, it is confusing, because i am with squats, lunges and planks, but actually i prefer skipping jumping jacks and high knees. I think that push up are hard but not really in the same category to me than burpees, jump squats and jumping lunges. And to me, but it is personal, jumps squats and jumping lunges are easier than high knees. But i am maybe weird.

I like the recommendation regarding "i have all the time" answer

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I will continue to play with it. Thanks for this hard work
 
1) Yes! I asked for a program and it offered me Shadebound, which I've done and enjoyed, and Olympian, which looks good and I will likely do in the future.
2) I agree with prev that the options for what I'm comfortable with left me a bit confused as to what I should pick - I'm good with squats, high knees and planks, but find lunges and jumping jacks harder. And then I also like push-ups as long as there's not too many of them...
3) Just the question detailed above.
4) I would have loved it! I can see myself using it in the future to narrow down what I'm going to do next. I really appreciate the recommendation of what level ect I should do in a day based on how much time I have.
 
I think this is a great addition for new users! We definitely get people coming here, feeling overwhelmed with all of the choice, and not knowing where to start. This can be a very useful tool for such people, I think.

This being said, I don't know that it would ever have been a useful tool for me. I'm more of a "tell me all my options and let me decide for myself what I want" sort of person. I actually hate it when other people try to decide for me, and would sooner invest an entire day in searching through DAREBEE's vast site to figure things out for myself than be told to choose from only two options based on my responses to a handful of questions. (I actually felt a bit of stress answering the questionnaire, with thoughts of "if I answer this question honestly will it limit my options?" racing through my head, even though I was only doing the questionnaire to test it, and I'm quite familiar with DAREBEE's resources and entirely aware I can use any of them I want to at any time, regardless of anyone else's opinion re: what I should be doing at this time!)

Given that I'm not the target audience for the quiz and never would have been, I don't know how useful my thoughts on it will be. But for what it's worth... (answering with lettered bullet points, since I'm not strictly following the questions as asked):

a.) I agree with @SevenDeadlyExes and @Nox re: the gender question. It's a loaded question for some people. And it's irrelevant. Just ask everyone: "Are you pregnant?" "Are you recently post-partum?" "Are you in peri-/menopause?"

I happen to have physiology that's typical of a person with 2 X chromosomes. I 100% reject the notion that this tells anyone anything at all about me other than the fact that I have physiology that's typical for a person with 2 X chromosomes. I care not in the slightest which pronouns people use to identify me by. But if a fitness platform asks me to gender myself, my first thought is: "If I admit I'm female, they'll assume I have limitations I don't have." And then I'll feel angry. Because I have 55 years of life experience of people assuming I have limitations I don't actually have (and in many cases aggressively attempting to force limitations onto me) because of my XX-typical physiology. Just don't go there.

b.) What is the relevance of the age question? This is another one that raises my hackles. I have actually encountered other fitness platforms that recommend only gentle, low-impact exercises to women over 40! WTELF? I am an athlete! I didn't stop being an athlete just because I turned 40!

For the record: because I find age and gender questions on questionnaires of this type problematic, I took the quiz multiple times, maintaining the same answers for the relevant questions, but changing my responses to the two problematic-for-me ones. I was pleased to note that I got the same recommendations when I said I was a 55-69-year-old female as when I said I was an 18-39-year-old male. But when I said I was 70+, male or female, the quiz stepped me down a training level. Why? If I can still do push-ups and burpees and running when I'm over 70, and high impact activities still aren't uncomfortable to me at that age, why step me down a training level?

c.) This point is along the lines of your question #2. It's also one where my personal preference for more details and more options and complete lack of concern for option overwhelm/indecision paralysis may mean my preference on this matter is less relevant to a quiz of this nature. But for what it's worth: the "Which of these [exercises] could you comfortably do today?" question is problematic for me because it lacks the specificity necessary for me to answer it honestly.

Can I do pull-ups? Not without assistance, no. But jump knee tucks are very easy for me. Hook kicks I can also do (thanks to @Damer 's excellent videos). Handstands? Yep! One-legged balances? Lots of them, and they're generally easy and fun for me. I can do all sorts of calisthenics-type exercises, and am not limited by their complexity. But I don't have an unassisted pull-up.

On the question of push-ups, I find myself asking: "How many?" I can do 5 good-form, full push-ups anytime, any day. But 10 in one set I can only do when I'm fresh. (Obviously this question could apply to any of the exercises. Push-ups is the one that triggers it for me because I know from experience there are DAREBEE workouts that include push-ups which are easy for me and also DAREBEE workouts with push-ups which are brutally hard, and the difference is in the volume, not simply in the presence of the exercise, which I can actually do quite well in low volume.)

d.) Similar to the above, and not an issue for me personally. I both run and walk outdoors and love doing both. But for many people the answer is yes for walking but no for running.

e.) This is perhaps another point where I personally would like more information than the target audience for this questionnaire. If I say "no, I cannot do pull-ups", I don't want the program to simply nix Difficulty Level 5 workouts for me. Rather, I'd want it to ask me: "Are you interested in learning pull-up progressions and working towards your first pull-up?" Similarly, if I could not do push-ups, I'd want the same option. DAREBEE has such great training materials for both, and pull-ups and push-ups are goals for many people who cannot do them yet. For people who do have these goals, I think links to the relevant training resources in the additional links section at the bottom of the results page would be very welcome. Perhaps a question re: people's experience with/interest in learning martial arts would also be good, with links provided at the bottom to the relevant Guides for people who express an interest in this material.

f.) Generally speaking I really like the layout of the results page. Two options is probably a good amount for people who would actually use this resource, and the explainers and additional information sections lower down the page provide useful information as well as good teasers for some of the other resources available on DAREBEE.
 
Hello! I have in fact rejoined after a reaaally long break, so I might as well be a new bee. Perfect to take the test!

1) I asked for a program and the recommendation did fit me for the most part, as it offered two programs I have done in the past (Foundation and Ten). But, the third suggestion had a higher difficulty and I think I got it because I said I like RPG and I have some equipment. But, that program is too challenging for me right now (the Valkyrie one).

2) I agree with what was said above about the gender question. Better to just ask the relevant ones and skip the gender part.
Also, maybe the equipment question could be more specific, like different options for the equipment you have instead of a generic one. I selected the equipment option, and then the program recommended used some equipment I don't have.

3) As I said, one of the programs felt too hard.

4) It definitely helps a lot! It's a great feature!

Thanks for all the hard work :)
 
As a nonbinary person, I would like to second what everyone here has said about the gender question.

Also, I don't know how difficult it'd be from a web programming perspective, but it'd be nice if there was a back button on the results page so that if you selected program but then are also interested in what a plan might have to offer, you don't have to retake the whole quiz.
 
...Alright! Here's everything that changed since this thread started - and yes, all of it came from you:

The gender question is gone. @SevenDeadlyExes, @Nox, @Laura Rainbow Dragon, @jothefanbeing - you were right, and the fix was exactly what you suggested: one optional question, shown to everyone, that simply asks about pregnancy, postpartum and menopause directly. No assumptions, no inference, skippable, and the quiz even got shorter for it.

Equipment is now specific. @Flourish - no more "yes I have equipment" followed by a program that needs kit you don't own. The quiz now asks exactly what you have (dumbbells, kettlebells, pull-up bar, punching bag, even a bokken) and only suggests equipment programs that fully match it. Your first recommendation is always doable with nothing at all - equipment unlocks options, never requirements.

It notices what you've already done. @graoumia - the quiz now reads the same tracking your dashboard uses, so programs and challenges you've finished or started move to the back of the line and fresh suggestions come first.

You can share your results. The share error is fixed, and better: there's now a proper "share my results" option on the results page. The link shows your level and your picks - and only that. What you answered stays with you, always.

Plus the smaller things you caught: result links open in new tabs so you never lose your page (@Nox), there's a "Try a different route" button so you can peek at what a plan would offer after asking for a program without retaking anything (@jothefanbeing), walking and running are now separate answers so runners get running content and walkers don't (@Laura Rainbow Dragon), the challenge picks now say how they're chosen, the RPG suggestions match your level properly (@Flourish), and the results page now opens with the truth several of you reminded us of: this is a starting point, not a fence - everything on DAREBEE stays open to you, always.

Next on the list: clearer wording on the "which exercises can you do" question (you don't need to be able to do all of them - most of them, comfortably, is the bar), and rethinking the automatic level step-down at 70+, because being over 70 and being capable are clearly not opposites.


Let us know if all oft this is working OK!!! And thank you so much for the feedback :thankyou:
 
I like the quiz! It is really helpful, especially when you are new to Darebee.

I think age does affect your capabilities and recovery time, so it should be something to take into account when recommending exercise. But the starting point is, like for everyone, dependant on where you come fom or where you start from now. Like my 70+ y/o mother has done no exercise ever in het life except cycling for transportation. Her 1.5 year older brother is the opposite; he has been active all his life and cycled 2-3 times a week for sports, and now still does twice a week, though a bit shorter. Two totally different starting points, but both need adjustments in comparison to their 20 or 50 year old self. I also notice it, the difference between when I was 25 or 35. The beauty of Darebee is that you can adjust to your level. When you're experienced, you know yourself and will probably already adjust the level to what fits you. If you're new to sports, you need the guidance. I don't see the quiz and it's results as a limitation, but it really is a starting point which can always be personalised or adjusted.

I got the postpartum plan as suggestion, which totally fits my current situation. It is not really the question of this thread (the postpartum plan is outside the quiz's scope if I am correct?), but I always like simple graphical overviews. The postpartum plan contains a lit of text, which is helpful and clear with very essential information about your body and recovery, but in the end I would like a graphical overview/summary of what to do (similar to the nice overview of the phases in the beginning), because my brain is still a mess 😆.
 
Looks great @neilarey !

Small thing, but it might be a good idea to find a way to exclude One Punch Man from the Challenge options the quiz suggests (except perhaps for people who claim they have all the time in the world to train). Currently the results page is suggesting One Punch Man to me even if I say I only have 15 minutes a day to train.

At the peak of my running career I could have just about completed the challenge requirements in under an hour (on some days--likely not every day for a month). A truly elite 10K runner could maybe do it in 45 minutes? But even the 10K world record holder couldn't complete One Punch Man in less than 30 minutes a day. In any case, this Challenge certainly doesn't fit in the "few minutes a day" add-on realm the quiz results suggest DAREBEE Challenges do.
 
Hmm. The quiz suggested the Solstice training plan to me, even when I said I am under 18 years old.

Not that there's anything wrong with a young person following this training plan. It looks to me like a solid, well-rounded training plan that would be great for pretty much anyone who's fit enough to handle the HIIT day. But language around who the plan was designed for, and why would maybe be off-putting to a teenager.
 
Does the Workout of the day work for woman going trought peri-menopause too? I saw the Solstice training plan but I prefer not to choose the workouts
 
lizita said:
Does the Workout of the day work for woman going trought peri-menopause too? I saw the Solstice training plan but I prefer not to choose the workouts
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Yes, you can follow the Workout of the Day, and if not having to choose is what keeps you consistent, that matters more than anything else. You'll still get regular strength work, cardio, and recovery days, which covers most of what your body needs right now.

The honest caveat: the WOD is a general fitness schedule, not one built around perimenopause. It (currently) leans a bit more into high intensity work than is ideal at this stage. So just one adjustment: on days when a workout feels too intense, drop a level or slow down. Treat that as part of the plan, not cheating.

What you won't get from the WOD is the third weekly strength day and the dedicated yoga day that Solstice includes, both of which pull extra weight for bone density and sleep at this stage.

If you ever want something that is fully built for perimenopause but still requires zero decisions, try SOMA 40+ (if you haven't already). Honestly, it might be the best fit of all three.

I hope this helps :thankyou:
 
@Laura Rainbow Dragon
Both fixed, thank you - these were exactly the kind of catches we needed.

One Punch Man: you're right, it has no business in the "few minutes a day" slot. The quiz now only draws challenge suggestions from the fitness category, matched to your difficulty level - One Punch Man and its running siblings live in the running challenges section instead, which runners get linked to directly. On top of that, we're tagging big daily-commitment challenges (One Punch Man, the step-count ones) so they only ever get suggested to people who said they have all the time in the world. Your math on elite 10K times made the case better than we could have.

Solstice: also fixed, and it was a good catch of a deeper issue. Purpose-built plans (Solstice, the prenatal plans, Postpartum) are no longer reachable through general goal matching at all - they only appear for the people they were made for. Anyone under 18 now gets pointed at the Junior plan instead. And to be clear, you're right that there's nothing wrong with a young person following Solstice - the plan itself is solid for anyone - the quiz just won't be the one to point a teenager at it.

Keep them coming. This is exactly what testing is for :thankyou:
 
Thank
neilarey said:
Yes, you can follow the Workout of the Day, and if not having to choose is what keeps you consistent, that matters more than anything else. You'll still get regular strength work, cardio, and recovery days, which covers most of what your body needs right now.

The honest caveat: the WOD is a general fitness schedule, not one built around perimenopause. It (currently) leans a bit more into high intensity work than is ideal at this stage. So just one adjustment: on days when a workout feels too intense, drop a level or slow down. Treat that as part of the plan, not cheating.

What you won't get from the WOD is the third weekly strength day and the dedicated yoga day that Solstice includes, both of which pull extra weight for bone density and sleep at this stage.

If you ever want something that is fully built for perimenopause but still requires zero decisions, try SOMA 40+ (if you haven't already). Honestly, it might be the best fit of all three.

I hope this helps :thankyou:
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Thank you for the explanation. I'm going to give a try to Solstice training plan and later (when I can afford the dumbbels) do the Soma 40+ program
 
I'm not a beginner bee but I really like the questionnaire! I tested it with my current fitness level. Actually, it came at the right time for me because I currently feel a bit stuck on my fitness journey and don't know how to proceed. As a result I got the Amazon training plan with level 4 workouts and I think this is a perfect fit for me.

The questions seemed well designed. The explanations helped to understand them as well as the intention behind the question.

Two minor issues: The challenges that got recommended to me are too similar ("push up streak" and "upper body & core") so it doesn't really feel like a choice. Because of tendon issues my arms need more rest time and I can't do upper body exercises daily, so both of the challenges are not suitable for me. I think, recommending two challenges with different focus would be helpful.

Also, the second training plan ("power house") did not really fit my goals. I want to get fitter overall, so a trainig plan focussing only on lower body strength doesn't really suit me. But, as Amazon is perfect for me and I have to choose one plan it doesn't really matter.
 
I tried the quiz few times now and I found problems trying to find my fitness level. Is there any change to make a baseline to check the exercises? For example 10 squats, 20 steps jacks, etc. I can do high knees, few reps of jump squats, lunges, also 2 or 3 burpees but the level recommendation I get (level 3: normal) is a bit difficult for me and I can only do 1 or 2 sets

I am in between two levels and I don't know what to do

I hope that is compressible. English is not my first language
 
The quiz worked well in narrowing everything down to two plans that seemed to fit my level and goals. The only problem I had was navigating all the things. It took me way too long to discover my dashboard. Is it really just a tiny link at the bottom of the page? Before I found that, I was bookmarking things, but they seemed to just disappear. Maybe there is a great resource to show newbies how to navigate and organize all the things to use the this amazing resource efficiently, but if so, this newbie missed it and was starting to get a wee bit frustrated.
 
I just saw this and tested it according to my current level, worked great and gave me good recommendations. I really like the structure and the wording.
Thanks for this, it would have indeed been helpful as a new bee!
 
So after clearing my cache recently, everything is gone - my program, my progress. It seems my dashboard is not connected to my account? Is that correct?
 
WendyJo said:
So after clearing my cache recently, everything is gone - my program, my progress. It seems my dashboard is not connected to my account? Is that correct?
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Oh no!! :waitno: I'm so sorry - I hate that this is the answer, but yes, that's exactly what happened.

Your dashboard progress lives in cookies on your device, not on your account. So when the cookies got cleared, your program and progress went with them. Clearing cache on its own is harmless (that's just images and files) - it's the cookies that hold all the good stuff. I know that's not obvious at all, and I wish I could pull a backup out of a drawer for you, but we don't keep copies on our end - your data stays on your device, which is great for privacy and terrible for moments like this one.

For the future, two things that will save you from ever reliving this:

1. Both your dashboard and your bookmarks have a backup and restore function - download your data before any browser cleanup and you can bring it all back afterwards, streaks included.
2. If you're just clearing cache, leave the cookies box unticked and everything stays exactly where you left it.

And for what it's worth - the progress bar is gone, but the work you did isn't. Your muscles kept their own records :thankyou:
 
neilarey said:
Oh no!! :waitno: I'm so sorry - I hate that this is the answer, but yes, that's exactly what happened.

Your dashboard progress lives in cookies on your device, not on your account. So when the cookies got cleared, your program and progress went with them. Clearing cache on its own is harmless (that's just images and files) - it's the cookies that hold all the good stuff. I know that's not obvious at all, and I wish I could pull a backup out of a drawer for you, but we don't keep copies on our end - your data stays on your device, which is great for privacy and terrible for moments like this one.

For the future, two things that will save you from ever reliving this:

1. Both your dashboard and your bookmarks have a backup and restore function - download your data before any browser cleanup and you can bring it all back afterwards, streaks included.
2. If you're just clearing cache, leave the cookies box unticked and everything stays exactly where you left it.

And for what it's worth - the progress bar is gone, but the work you did isn't. Your muscles kept their own records :thankyou:
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Thanks for the detailed response!

Cookies ARE good :)
 
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