You’ve heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger. You are familiar with the best fitness apps. Put the two together and what do you get? The pump, that’s what.
The app is Arnie’s latest way to offer his considerable training experience and expertise to “anyone with access to a phone.”
Instead of offering thousands of clear video workouts like rivals like Peloton, The Pump offers a select number of long-term plans, a goal-setting framework for everyday life called “Action Plans,” and a blog-like “Community” section where Arnold’s team shares interesting information and like-minded users can chat.
The training plans are designed to help you achieve one of two fitness goals: “get big” or “shred.”
Admittedly, this may seem like you’re not getting as much bang for your buck as you would with similarly priced alternatives like Sweat and Centr, which put a huge library of fitness content at your fingertips. But that’s the whole point, claim the makers of The Pump. This is because the two pillars of any successful strength training plan are consistency and systematic progress. If you randomly flit from class to class in a more comprehensive app, you’re unlikely to get any of these things.
The Pump, on the other hand, offers you a limited number of longer-term plans that you can follow based on your fitness goals. Consistency is key, with workouts scheduled on set days and ticked off as you complete them. If you want to build muscle, this, combined with the right diet, will deliver results.
Granted, this approach isn’t for everyone. If you just want to exercise more for your health or enjoy a varied fitness routine, look elsewhere. But if you’re a fan of strength training and want to build muscle, purchasing a subscription to The Pump could pay off.
| Element | Value |
| Operating system | iOS (tested), Android available |
| Price | $9.99 per month / £10.49 per month / about AU$15 per month |
| Pairs with device | Pairs with phone |
| Guided content | No |
| Track sleep | No |
| Tracking food and water | Water intake |
| GPS | No |
De Pomp: Price and availability
- $9.99 per month (£10.49 in the UK, about AU$15 in Australia)
- $99.99 per year (£105.99 in the UK and about AU$150 in Australia)
You can download The Pump app for free, but you’ll have to pay $9.99 per month to unlock access to the training plans. Or you can save $20 by paying $99.99 for an entire year. New participants also receive a seven-day free trial so you can try it before you buy it.
This is a pretty standard price for a fitness app. You won’t get anywhere near the amount of content you’d get from the likes of Peloton, which costs $12.99 per month for the App One membership, but all that is there’s all experience-based muscle building gold.
From a training perspective, I know people pay a lot more per month for a solid training program, and that’s exactly what this app provides.
Some may argue that the StrongLifts app is a cheaper alternative, with a free version or a pro version costing just $50USD per year. However, the focus here is more on improving your strength for the big three lifts (squat, bench press and deadlift), with these three lifts dominating most programs. That’s why I think the community element, broader scope of bodybuilding and more varied sessions make The Pump a worthy additional investment for most people.
The pump: design
- Easy to navigate
- Clean design
This app isn’t as busy as others I’ve tried, like Peloton, Echelon, and Freeletics, and that’s one of its strengths.
There are five tabs – a homepage, training, community, action plan and profile – and each tab is easy to use. The white text on a black background is easy to read and I found the navigation quite intuitive. If anything, it could have benefited from a few more images from Arnie’s colorful career, but that’s just my preference.
As mentioned in the introduction above, there are a limited number of training plans (not individual training) available. Those who appear are matched to your answers during a quick introduction (equipment available, goals, training experience – the usual culprits).
As a new starter, I found that I had to complete a 90-day “The Foundation” program to access other plans. The focus is on drilling consistency; If you only have one workout to focus on at a time, you’re more likely to stick to the plan, and that’s a surefire path to results.
However, if you’re a seasoned gym-goer, you may not want to reduce your training to three days a week for 90 days before you can return to your usual frequency.
The pump: features
- Everything you need to support training for muscle growth
- Informative and enjoyable “community” blog
- Minimal extras besides a goal setting page
This app’s features are limited, and again, I’m not sad about it. They can be summarized in three main offers; training programs, “Action Plans” and community.
Training programs should speak for themselves. Everyone starts with a 90-day basic course to master them. Then there are a few different plans to choose from depending on your answers to the introductory questionnaire.
For me, there was the prospect of unlocking muscle-building plans called “Next Level,” Foundations Continued,” and “The Classic Arnold Throwback.” The final option is a six-day-a-week lifting plan, inspired by Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding training of old, that will delight die-hard (wrong action movie?) fans.
Action plans are Arnie’s proven method for setting goals, both in and out of the gym. Set a longer-term goal, identify something you can do every day to achieve this goal, and then check off each day you take this action. . I think some people will find this useful, but I found this wasn’t something I kept coming back to.
Finally, Community is set up like an old-fashioned blog, with posts displayed chronologically in a vertical feed. You’ll find nutrition tips, guest posts, muscle-building tricks, and occasional Q&As with Schwarzenegger, and members have the opportunity to chat in the comments. I loved this element. The blog posts aren’t just PR fluff: they’re actually interesting and useful. Expect insights from experts, interviews with actors and discussions about recent research findings in health and fitness.
Schwarzenegger’s (approximately bi-weekly) Q&As are also a highlight. There is a real focus on inclusivity, with users of all fitness levels being celebrated for their successes.
This is all overwhelmingly positive, so you might be wondering why The Pump only scores 3.5 out of five for the features below? The simple answer is that there just aren’t many of them.
What’s there is very solid, but I can’t award it a four or higher knowing what the rivals have to offer. Companies like Fitbit and Apple Fitness+ can link to their brands’ respective smartwatches, which provide insights on sleep, nutrition tracking and more.
Meanwhile, Peloton, Hydrow and the like offer a plethora of follow-up workouts with engaging videos and enthusiastic instructors, as well as the chance to hop on exercise machines for a connected workout.
The only videos I came across on The Pump were exercise demonstrations tied to each workout, as well as occasional nostalgic clips from the golden age of bodybuilding in the 1960s and 1970s. And while I thoroughly enjoyed Arnold’s stories and insights on how to get the most out of each move, this wasn’t enough to boost the app’s overall score.
The pump: performance
- Clean and easy to use
- No problems
- Don’t push the envelope
The Pump isn’t much wrong in terms of performance, although some of this can be attributed to the app not particularly pushing the boundaries. It’s intuitive to use with a clean design, and I didn’t find any of the landing pages overcrowded, as can sometimes be the case with busier fitness apps. Instead, it’s just a functional combination of text and buttons – no thumbnails or moving parts.
The no-nonsense approach of the app continued during my training. And as someone who likes to keep their gym sessions mostly analog, I appreciated this. There were boxes to enter my reps and the weight I lifted for each set, which allowed me to monitor my performance so I could improve my lifts week after week. This allows you to benefit from progressive overload, which is the principle behind any successful strength-building plan.
There was also an automatic timer to keep your rest periods from taking too long, if that’s a common problem for you. If not, you can put your phone back in your pocket (or toss it aside, as hitchhikers like to do).
The pump: scorecard
| Category | Remark | To score |
| Value | At just $10 per month, The Pump’s price is about comparable to Peloton and other fitness apps. The training programs are great, but there isn’t much deeper content. | 4/5 |
| Design | This app is clean and intuitive to use and does everything it needs to. It could be a bit livelier at times. | 4/5 |
| Functions | The features are limited, but what is there is very good: muscle building plans and a community section full of interesting blog posts and the chance to chat with other members. | 3.5/5 |
| Performance | The pump is simple and effective. Enter your weights and reps for each set and try to improve these numbers during your next session – progressive overload in action. | 4/5 |
The pump: should I buy?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
How I tested
I used The Pump app for a week, following ‘The Foundation’ training plan, using the Action Plan feature to work towards a goal outside the gym, and regularly checking new posts in the community section of the app.
The Foundation program provided three full-body workouts that I had to complete every other day during the week, so I went to the gym and took it for a spin.