The App: every answer, checked

Rebel OS is a complete human performance system built around four dimensions: BUILD (strength and power), BURN (conditioning and metcon), SUSTAIN (recovery and mobility), and LIFESTYLE (sleep, fasting, cold exposure, and stress management). It is an operating system for your body and mind. Every tool, coach interaction, and program in Movement Rebels feeds into one of these four pillars.

You get a 7-day free trial with full access to everything: the AI coach, weekly plans, the full workout library, every tool, and wearable sync. No card needed. After the trial, the coach's morning and weekly briefs stay free, and the subscription ($20/month or $200/year) keeps full access: unlimited coaching, plan generation, and the complete library.

Most apps give you workouts. Movement Rebels gives you a system. You get an AI coach (Rebel Council) trained on the Rebel methodology, wearable sync via Garmin and Apple Health, biohacking tools like NSDR, cold exposure, and breathwork, plus a full training calendar and progress tracking, all in one place. It is built for people who train for performance.

BUILD is about strength and power, lifting, loading, and getting stronger. BURN covers conditioning and metabolic work, metcons, AMRAPs, and aerobic capacity. SUSTAIN is recovery, mobility, and longevity, the work that keeps you training for years. LIFESTYLE is everything outside the gym: sleep, fasting, cold exposure, breathwork, and stress management. All four are required for elite human performance.

Because the mainstream fitness industry is full of noise, fad diets, influencer fluff, and programs designed to sell supplements rather than produce results. Movement Rebels pushes back against that. The approach is evidence-based, performance-first, and built for people who think critically about how they train and live. Rebelling here means demanding more from your fitness than just aesthetics.

Start by completing your profile: your goals, fitness level, and training background, so the coach can personalize everything from day one. Connect Garmin or Apple Health if you use them. Then let the coach build your first week, that is its job. Do not try to use every tool on day one. Pick one or two pillars to focus on first.

The WOD Timer is a multi-mode interval timer that supports AMRAP, EMOM, For Time, Tabata, and custom rounds with rest periods. It is built for CrossFit-style and functional fitness workouts where you need precise interval control. You can run it standalone or pair it directly with a benchmark workout from the library.

Select AMRAP mode, set your total time (for example 20 minutes), and hit start. The timer counts down and you track your rounds and reps manually. When the buzzer sounds, log your score, that number becomes your benchmark for the next time you hit the same workout. AMRAP is one of the best formats for measuring fitness over time because the metric is simple: more rounds means more fit.

Select EMOM mode, set the number of rounds and the interval length (typically 60 seconds), and the timer will automatically alert you at the top of each new minute. You complete your prescribed reps within the minute and use the remaining time as rest. EMOM is excellent for building work capacity because the rest is self-regulating, the faster you work, the more rest you earn.

Tabata mode is preset to the classic protocol: 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 rounds for a total of 4 minutes. The original research protocol produced VO2max improvements from repeated short maximal-effort sessions, which made it one of the most cited conditioning formats ever. Hit start and go all out.

Yes. Custom rounds mode lets you set the number of rounds, work duration, and rest duration independently. This is useful for interval protocols outside the standard Tabata or EMOM formats, such as 40 seconds on / 20 seconds off for 10 rounds, or longer aerobic intervals with full rest. Build the structure that matches your program.

After your session ends, the app prompts you to log the result. You can enter your score (rounds, reps, or time), add notes, and the data is saved to your workout history. That history feeds into your Dashboard stats, streak tracking, and gives Rebel Council context when you ask for training advice. Always log, the data compounds over time.

Yes. When you open a benchmark workout from the library, you can launch the WOD Timer directly in the context of that workout. Your result is automatically tagged to that specific benchmark, so you can track PRs and see your progress on named workouts like Fran, Grace, or any custom benchmark you have set. This is how you turn random training into measurable progress.

NSDR stands for Non-Sleep Deep Rest. It is a protocol rooted in yoga nidra and popularized through neuroscience research, notably from Andrew Huberman's lab at Stanford. You lie down, follow a guided body scan and breath awareness protocol, and enter a state of deep physiological rest without falling asleep. It is one of the most effective recovery tools available and it costs you nothing but 10-20 minutes.

Sleep is unconscious and takes hours. Meditation trains attention and awareness. NSDR sits between them: you stay conscious while your nervous system shifts into a deeply parasympathetic state. Early imaging research on yoga nidra suggests effects on dopamine in the brain's reward circuits, but that evidence is young. The practical case rests on how reliably NSDR downregulates stress.

The three highest-value windows are: post-workout (to accelerate recovery and lock in skill learning), mid-day (to restore cognitive performance and offset sleep pressure), and pre-competition or pre-important event (to reduce cortisol and sharpen focus). Even one 10-minute NSDR session can meaningfully shift your physiological state, use it whenever you need to recover fast.

Ten to twenty minutes is the sweet spot for most people. Ten minutes is enough to shift your nervous system into deep rest and restore some dopamine. Twenty minutes produces deeper effects and is especially useful post-hard-training or after a poor night of sleep. Sessions longer than 30 minutes risk putting you to sleep, which is fine if that is the goal, but defeats the purpose of NSDR specifically.

NSDR reliably reduces perceived stress and downregulates the sympathetic nervous system, and doing it shortly after practice may support motor skill learning. One small imaging study suggested increased striatal dopamine after yoga nidra, treat that as early evidence. The practical effect: you come out refreshed, calm, and cognitively sharp, without the grogginess of a nap.

Daily practice produces the best results. Even three to four sessions per week will create a noticeable shift in recovery quality and mental resilience within two to three weeks. Think of it the same way you think about training, consistency beats intensity. A daily 10-minute NSDR habit is more valuable than an occasional 30-minute session.

The app includes box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, physiological sigh, and Wim Hof-style hyperventilation breathing. Each protocol is guided with a visual timer and cues. They are grouped into activating protocols (Wim Hof-style) and calming protocols (4-7-8, physiological sigh) so you can match the tool to the context, pre-training, stress relief, or sleep preparation.

Box breathing is a four-part equal-duration cycle: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. It is one of the most studied breathwork protocols for regulating the autonomic nervous system and is used by Navy SEALs and high-performance athletes before high-stress situations. Use it pre-competition, before a heavy lift, or anytime you need to enter a focused, calm state without losing alertness.

4-7-8 breathing involves inhaling for 4 counts, holding for 7, and exhaling slowly for 8. The long exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system and the breath hold allows CO2 to build, which has a calming effect on the nervous system. It is most effective for anxiety management and pre-sleep wind-down, use it in the 20 minutes before bed or during an acute stress response.

The physiological sigh is a double inhale through the nose (a short second inhale stacked on top of a full one) followed by a long, slow exhale through the mouth. The pattern reinflates collapsed air sacs in the lungs and offloads CO2 quickly, triggering a fast parasympathetic response. In a Stanford trial it reduced stress and improved mood more than the other breathing techniques tested. One to three repetitions is enough.

Wim Hof-style breathing involves repeated cycles of rapid, deep breaths (typically 30-40) followed by a breath hold after exhale. It deliberately induces hypocapnia (low CO2), creating a tingling sensation and significant sympathetic activation, useful before cold exposure or for building stress tolerance. Critical safety rule: never do this protocol in or near water and never while driving. The hypocapnia can cause loss of consciousness without warning.

For activation pre-workout, use Wim Hof-style breathing or box breathing (shorter exhale ratio), both increase sympathetic tone and prime your nervous system for performance. For calming protocols, 4-7-8 or physiological sigh, use them post-workout or before sleep to shift out of fight-or-flight. The wrong protocol at the wrong time will either blunt your workout or keep you wired at night.

Slow, exhale-dominant protocols like 4-7-8 and box breathing raise HRV acutely during the session by working the baroreflex. Regular practice may nudge resting HRV upward over weeks, though individual responses vary a lot. If you track HRV through Garmin or Apple Health, watch your own trend rather than expecting a fixed gain.

Morning is ideal for activating protocols, it reinforces cortisol's natural morning peak and sets your nervous system tone for the day. Evening is best for calming protocols like 4-7-8 or physiological sighs to wind down before sleep. Mid-day breathwork (box breathing or a few physiological sighs) is underrated as a cognitive reset. Even two minutes matters, the bar for starting is low.

The fasting timer supports 16:8, 18:6, 20:4, 24-hour fasts, and fully custom windows where you set your own start and end times. You can set a start time, see your progress through the fasting window, and track streaks over time. The protocol you choose should match your training schedule, recovery needs, and tolerance, not what someone else is doing on social media.

Open the Fasting tool, select your protocol (or set a custom window), choose your start time, and hit start. The timer displays your elapsed fasting time, how far you are through your window, and when your eating window opens. You can set a notification for when the fast ends. That is it, the simplicity is the point.

Water, black coffee, and plain tea (no milk, no sweeteners, no additives) do not break a fast in the metabolic sense, they contain no calories and do not trigger an insulin response. Anything with calories, protein, fat, or most sweeteners will break the fast. Electrolytes with no calories (plain sodium, potassium, magnesium in water) are a grey area, they will not spike insulin but are technically not zero-input.

Fasted training is fine and even beneficial for low-to-moderate intensity work, it enhances fat oxidation and may improve metabolic flexibility. For high-intensity training, strength work, or heavy metcons, breaking the fast with a small protein-containing meal 60-90 minutes before the session will typically produce better performance and better recovery. Match your fasting window to your training time rather than forcing a compromise.

Protein timing is the key lever. When you open your eating window, prioritize protein in your first meal: 30-50g starts muscle protein synthesis after the fasted period. Total daily protein matters more than distribution, so hit your target across the eating window even if that means one larger protein-dense meal. Resistance training also signals muscle retention on its own.

Monitor electrolytes, sodium, potassium, and magnesium drop quickly in extended fasts and deficiency causes headaches, cramping, and fatigue that people often mistake for hunger. Drink more water than usual, add a pinch of salt to your water, and consider a magnesium supplement. Avoid intense training on a 24-hour fast unless you are well-adapted. If you feel dizzy, have heart palpitations, or feel faint, break the fast, no protocol is worth a medical event.

Yes. completed fasting sessions are logged and contribute to your fasting history. Consistency is what produces the metabolic adaptations associated with intermittent fasting, so the streak feature is there to make that consistency visible and reinforce the habit. Your fasting data also feeds into the broader biohacking history that Rebel Council can reference when giving you recovery and nutrition recommendations.

The dead hang is hanging from a bar with a full grip, straight arms, and relaxed shoulders. It decompresses the spine, builds grip strength, and supports shoulder health by creating traction in the joint. In Movement Rebels it is one of the Athlete Baseline tests: your hold time is logged as a baseline marker you can retest as you get stronger.

Build progressively: start with 10-15 second holds to develop grip and get used to the shoulder position, work toward 30 seconds, then 60 seconds, and eventually toward two-minute holds for serious decompression and grip development. Accumulate time over multiple short sets rather than white-knuckling one max effort. Retest your baseline hold now and then to see the progress.

For most shoulder impingement and general shoulder discomfort, passive dead hanging is safe and often therapeutic, the traction can provide immediate relief. However, if you have an acute rotator cuff tear, a recent shoulder dislocation, or a diagnosed SLAP lesion, you should consult a physiotherapist before dead hanging. Start with very short holds (5-10 seconds) and see how your shoulder responds. Pain that worsens means stop.

A passive dead hang has your shoulders fully relaxed and elevated toward your ears, pure decompression, all the load goes to the passive structures of the joint and the grip. An active dead hang means depressing your scapulae (pulling your shoulders down and back) while hanging, which activates the lower trapezius and serratus anterior. Active hangs build the foundational pulling strength needed for pull-ups and develop shoulder stability. Both have a place, passive for decompression, active for strength building.

Pull-up failure usually comes down to two things: grip giving out before the muscles do, and weak scapular control at the bottom of the movement. Dead hangs fix both. Regular hanging builds grip endurance and teaches you to initiate the pull from scapular depression instead of arm pulling. Athletes who hang daily often see pull-up numbers improve within weeks, without adding pull-up volume.

Daily is ideal, two to three sets of 20-60 seconds takes under five minutes. Morning is a natural fit because the spine is compressed from sleep and the decompression effect is maximized. Post-workout is also excellent for shoulder recovery after pressing or pulling sessions. The low recovery cost means you can do it every day without accumulated fatigue, treat it like brushing your teeth.

The Cold Exposure tool includes a cold shower protocol with guided temperature and duration targets, and an ice bath timer with configurable duration. Both are tracked in your biohacking history so you can build a streak and see your cold exposure frequency over time. The protocols are based on research-backed parameters, not just what feels extreme.

Cold showers should be genuinely cold, aim to turn the dial all the way to cold rather than just cool. Duration of one to three minutes produces measurable autonomic nervous system effects. The key is that it should be uncomfortable enough to trigger the stress response, if it is comfortable, it is not cold enough. Build tolerance over two to four weeks before extending duration.

A common target is 10-15°C (50-59°F) for two to five minutes. Colder is not better: below 10°C the risk rises faster than the benefit for most people. Cold immersion triggers a large norepinephrine release, which drives the alertness and mood effects. Beyond five minutes the return flattens. Use the in-app timer, it is easy to lose track in the cold.

Cold water immersion reduces inflammatory markers and has consistent evidence for reducing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in the 24-72 hours after hard training. It accelerates perceived recovery and gets athletes back to quality training faster. One nuance: if your goal is maximum hypertrophy (muscle growth), avoid cold exposure within four hours of a strength session, the anti-inflammatory effect blunts some of the anabolic signaling. Use it after conditioning work, not immediately after your strength block.

Deliberately stepping into cold discomfort trains the prefrontal cortex to override the survival brain's threat response. Every time you choose the cold when your instincts say no, you practice a skill that transfers to other high-stress moments: a heavy lift, a hard conversation, a race. The mechanism runs on norepinephrine release and controlled stress adaptation. Cold exposure is neurological training.

Morning cold exposure is preferred for most people because it amplifies the natural cortisol morning peak, increases norepinephrine and dopamine for sustained focus and mood, and sets an activating tone for the day. Evening cold exposure can interfere with sleep for some people by raising core temperature initially and increasing alertness. If evening is the only practical time, finish at least two to three hours before bed and keep the session shorter.

Yes. people with cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias, Raynaud's syndrome, or uncontrolled hypertension should consult a doctor before any cold water immersion protocol. Never do cold immersion alone if you are new to it. Exit immediately if you feel chest pain, significant dizziness, or lose coordination. Start with cold showers before progressing to ice baths, and always have someone aware of what you are doing for your first few sessions.

Yes. Garmin Connect integration is live. If you have a Garmin device, you can connect it through the Health Sync section of the app to pull in your biometric data automatically. This is the primary wearable integration in Movement Rebels right now and it is the foundation for data-driven readiness and training recommendations.

Garmin sync provides HRV (heart rate variability), sleep score, stress score, daily step count, and active calorie burn. This data feeds directly into your readiness score and gives Rebel Council the context it needs to make smarter training and recovery recommendations. The more consistently you wear your Garmin, the more accurate these inputs become.

Go to Health Sync in the app and follow the Garmin Connect authorization flow. You will be directed to authenticate with your Garmin account and grant permissions for the data fields Movement Rebels needs. Once connected, data will sync automatically when you open the app. Make sure your Garmin device has synced recently with the Garmin Connect app before checking your data in Movement Rebels.

HRV (heart rate variability) is the variation in time between consecutive heartbeats. A higher HRV generally indicates a well-recovered, adaptable nervous system. A suppressed HRV indicates accumulated stress, under-recovery, or illness. For training purposes, HRV is one of the best objective markers for deciding whether to push hard, train moderate, or prioritize recovery on a given day. It removes guesswork from training load management.

Your Garmin HRV data is factored into your daily Readiness Score alongside your self-reported sleep quality, energy, soreness, and motivation. When HRV is suppressed relative to your baseline, the readiness score reflects that and Rebel Council will recommend backing off intensity or prioritizing recovery work. When HRV is elevated, the system signals that you are primed to push. It is the difference between intuition-based and data-informed training.

No. Garmin Connect and Apple Health (through the native iOS app) are the supported wearable integrations, and Concept2 is live for erg workouts. On iOS, Apple Health often works as the bridge: if another device writes its data there, the coach can read it.

First, make sure your Garmin device has synced with the Garmin Connect app recently, Movement Rebels pulls data from Garmin Connect, not directly from the device. Second, check that the authorization is still active in Health Sync. If the connection has expired, re-authenticate. Third, give the data a few minutes after syncing to propagate. If the issue persists, disconnect and reconnect the Garmin integration.

The Dashboard is your performance hub. It shows your current streak, daily Readiness Score, body tracking data (weight and body fat trend), personal records on key lifts and benchmark workouts, recent workout activity, and health data from Garmin. Everything in one view so you can assess your current state and trajectory without digging through menus.

Your streak increments each day you log a qualifying activity, a completed workout, a timer session, or a biohacking activity like a breathwork session, NSDR, cold exposure, or fasting completion. The streak is visible in the header as a badge and tracks your current streak alongside your longest streak ever. Consistency is the most reliable predictor of long-term results, and the streak makes that consistency visible.

Go to the Dashboard and open the Body Tracking section. Enter your current weight and optionally your body fat percentage. The app stores each entry with a timestamp and displays your trend as a sparkline so you can see the direction of change over weeks. Weigh yourself under consistent conditions, same time of day, same state of hydration, for the data to be meaningful.

Benchmark workouts are standardized tests, named workouts with fixed movements, reps, and scoring methods that you repeat over time to measure fitness progress. When you complete a benchmark, log your result and it saves to your PR history for that workout. The Dashboard shows your benchmark PRs with percentile badges so you can see how your performance compares. Retesting the same benchmark every 4-8 weeks is one of the most objective ways to measure if your training is working.

The Readiness Score is a daily check-in that combines four self-reported sliders, sleep quality, energy level, muscle soreness, and motivation, into a single score from 0 to 100. If you have Garmin connected, HRV data also informs the score. The result gives both you and Rebel Council a quick read on your physiological state and informs whether today should be a high-intensity session, a moderate training day, or active recovery.

Yes. the Dashboard shows historical trends for body tracking and benchmarks, and your workout history is searchable and filterable. For benchmarks specifically, each time you log a result it is stacked against your previous performances for that workout. Rebel Council also has access to your history and can give you a direct comparison when you ask questions like 'am I fitter than I was six weeks ago?'

Four weeks of consistent logging is the minimum for trends to become meaningful. Benchmark retests at the 4-week and 8-week marks give you objective performance data. Body composition changes become visible in the trend line around the same timeframe if you are logging consistently. The more data points you enter, the sharper the signal becomes, sporadic logging gives you noise, not insight.

Open the Profile modal and fill in your primary goal (strength, conditioning, fat loss, health maintenance), current fitness level, and any dietary restrictions or preferences. These inputs are used by Rebel Council to personalize training suggestions and nutritional guidance. A complete profile means more accurate recommendations from day one, the more context you give the system, the better it performs for you.

Rebel Council is the AI coach at the core of Movement Rebels, trained on the Rebel Way methodology: the four pillars of Rebel OS, evidence-based training principles, and performance-first coaching. It reads your training history, wearable data, and readiness, and it coaches you on plans, nutrition, recovery, and mental performance whenever you need it.

Anything in the domain of human performance, training program design, workout selection, nutrition and macro strategy, recovery protocols, sleep optimization, breathwork, fasting, cold exposure science, mental performance, goal setting, or help interpreting your data. If it relates to how you perform, recover, or live, Rebel Council is the right tool. The broader the context you provide, the more specific and useful the answer.

Rebel Council has access to your profile data, your goals, fitness level, training history, and readiness scores. When you ask a question, it uses that context to give you relevant, specific answers rather than generic advice. If your HRV has been low and you ask about training today, it will factor in your recovery state. The more your data is filled in, the more personalized the coaching becomes.

No. and it is important to be clear about that. Rebel Council is a powerful tool for intelligent, data-informed guidance and it can do things a traditional trainer cannot, like being available at 2am when you are planning tomorrow. But it cannot assess your movement quality in person, cannot diagnose injuries, and is not a substitute for a qualified medical professional or physiotherapist when you have pain. Use it as a complement to professional support, not a replacement.

Rebel Council is built on the Rebel Way methodology, it knows the four pillars of Rebel OS, the app's tools and protocols, and the coaching philosophy behind them. It is integrated with your personal data inside the app, so it can reference your readiness, history, and profile. A general LLM like ChatGPT has no knowledge of your data, no context for Rebel OS, and no awareness of what you did in training yesterday. Context is everything in coaching.

English is the primary language for Rebel Council and all Movement Rebels content. Swedish is supported, if you write to the coach in Swedish, it will respond in Swedish. The app's UI is in English but the conversational AI layer adapts to the language you use.

Yes. describe your goal (what you want to achieve), your available training days per week, your equipment access, your current fitness level, and any constraints like injuries or time limits. Rebel Council will design a structured program with specific workouts, progression logic, and loading recommendations. Give it more detail and it gives you a better program. You can also ask it to adjust or progress the program as you go.

The calendar is where planned training sessions live. Your coach (or you) can schedule sessions on specific days, and the calendar shows what is planned for the week ahead. When you complete a session, mark it done and the data feeds into your history and streak. The calendar gives structure to your training, moving from ad hoc workouts to a sequenced, planned approach that produces better long-term results.

The Programs library holds multi-week structured blocks across strength, conditioning, and mixed goals, and the coach can build a fully custom program from your goal, schedule, equipment, and constraints. Programs load straight into your calendar so each day is already planned. They are the fastest path to structured progress if you do not want to design your own training.

Go to Programs in the Tools section, select the program that matches your current goal, and hit start. The program loads its sessions into your training calendar automatically so each day's work is already planned for you. All you have to do is show up and train. Your progress through the program is tracked so you can see exactly where you are in the block.

Open the session in the calendar, complete the workout using the WOD Timer or manually, then tap the Done button to mark it complete. The session receives a completed status and a checkmark appears on the calendar. The Done button disappears after completion to prevent double-logging. Completed sessions contribute to your streak and feed into your overall training history and Dashboard stats.

For beginners, a structured program is almost always the better choice. It removes the daily what-should-I-do decision, builds baseline fitness progressively, and teaches you how sessions fit together. Self-directed training rewards people who already know how to program. If you are new, follow a program for at least one full block before building your own structure.

Calendar hold freezes your calendar. While it is on, nothing is written to it: not by me in chat, not by the automatic weekly plan, not by the morning adjustments. You can still add, move and delete sessions yourself. Turn it on under Coach, Start Here, Preferences (the Calendar hold card next to Notes for your coach), or just tell me: pause my calendar until a date. It always has an end date (default 14 days, max 90) and ends by itself on that date.

Tap Release in the banner at the top of your calendar, or tell me to release the hold. If a week was drafted while the hold was on, it waits under Weekly Briefs with a Held tag; I load it when you release through chat, and the banner offers to load it when you release there. The hold also ends on its own on its end date.

Yes. I keep briefing and planning. A new week is saved as a draft under Weekly Briefs instead of going straight onto your calendar, and every morning brief reminds you the hold is on. Nothing lands on the calendar until you release.

Your calendar hold is on. While it is on I have no calendar tools, on purpose, so I cannot make changes by mistake. Release the hold from the calendar banner or by telling me, and I will do it. You can also add the session yourself in the calendar; hand edits are never blocked.