# 5x5 Workout - Zen Labs — user reviews > 36 indexed App Store user reviews of 5x5 Workout by Zen Labs, rated 4.70/5 from 1,632 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/5x5-workout-zen-labs/id1359084503/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/5x5-workout-zen-labs/id1359084503.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,353 · 4★ 162 · 3★ 74 · 2★ 16 · 1★ 27 ## What do users think of 5x5 Workout? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 👍 Concise and well-designed app - 🚀 Accountability and precision - 💪 Helps achieve fitness goals **Cons** - 🔧 Limited customization options - 🐛 Bugs and glitches - 💰 Forced subscription model **Commonly reported bugs** - Settings cannot be changed - Lost progress due to app crashes - Paid features not unlocking properly **Most requested features** - Allow changing weight for individual sets - Add a lower body/core focused workout - Include dumbbell exercises ## Newest reviews (11 of 36) ### 4/5 — Very concise *2024-12-17* Only problem is that you can’t switch to a women’s barbell since that is all I have. **Developer response:** Hi! We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback and suggestions. If there is anything else we can look in to, please let us know at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com as we would love to earn 5-stars. ### 4/5 — Solid app, good ui *2022-06-16, version 1.6* The app is well designed. The ui is responsive and well thought out. The workout flow is good as well. Feature To Add: I wish they would allow you to change the weight for individual sets in case you want to go up from your normal weight. Currently you can only change weight for the full workout not each set. ### 3/5 — Decent *2022-04-20* Fairly solid app… simple enough to navigate and the program is easy to follow… but on the “assistance exercises” tab you can’t read the whole screen… petty complaint I know but still… also it has workout A and workout B… I feel there should be a workout C that focuses more on lower body and possibly core **Developer response:** Hey there! We are very sorry that you have experienced this. To help you fix it, could you please make sure that your app is updated? If this still persists, please contact our support via contactus@zenlabsfitness.com so we can help you sort this out. Hope to hear from you soon! ### 3/5 — Bugs *2021-02-17* Love the app but it has never allowed me to adjust the weights. Contacted support but never received a response ### 4/5 — Good App *2020-11-06* Hello could you put the timer in bottom instead of covering the whole screen so that one can see the weights needed on bar also the timer should make noise when it hits 90 and 180 seconds ### 3/5 — Mechanics *2019-12-07* 2.5kg don’t work for me, if I squat 80kg one day then the next day it should read 82.5kg however it doesn’t do this, it will stay at 80kg until I finish that workout and the next time it says 85kg, I would like it to show the 2.5kg parts as sometimes I forget. ### 4/5 — Not quite there *2019-10-08* While I enjoy all the Zen Labs apps I’ve used, and will continue to, I wish the 5x5 include more lower body. The squats and deadlifts are great, but what about some calf work? I would assume that many of us workout in a gym or similar and have access to or can do a makeshift job on something to use for these. This would continue with the barbell work and provide more of a full body workout. Thanks! ### 3/5 — This is killing me *2019-08-02* Wish I could start at a lower weight this is discouraging. I do what I can. ### 2/5 — Only free for a few weeks *2019-07-05* Better than the strong lifts version in that it gives you the plates to add, but after two or three weeks you have to upgrade to pro. I’m going back to stronglifts. ### 3/5 — One drawback *2019-04-25* Only drawback I see so far is that it won’t allow for me to enter less than 45 pounds. I don’t count the bar, just the weights that I put on and I’m currently lifting 40 lbs ### 5/5 — Dmack32 *2019-03-10* I like the way computes a progression to achieve ones goal. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Uselss: Settings Cannot be Changed *2025-05-10* Why can’t I change the weight setting in an app designed for WEIGHT LIFTING?! It defaulted to 45 lbs. there is no way I can lift that. Plus I have injuries that prevent some of the exercises and there’s no way to customize - at very least give a rename feature. Just sad **Developer response:** Hi, we would love to help you look further into this. Kindly email our support team at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com with all the details. Hope to hear from you soon! ### 1/5 — Lost progress *2024-12-28* I haven’t found a way to log into the app easily even though I paid for a subscription. The app kept crashing every time I opened it after using it for a few months. I deleted the app and reinstalled it subsequently, losing all the progress I had stored in the app. Everything essentially reset back to my beginning point. **Developer response:** We sincerely apologize for this experience! As we would love to look into this for you, kindly reach out to us at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com with all the details. Hope to hear from you soon! ### 1/5 — Bare Bones *2024-04-08* I get wanting to keep it simple for someone starting out, but it would be nice to be able to at least swap for similar exercises. Not worth a subscription at all. **Developer response:** Hi there! We're sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your experience. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to let us know at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com. ### 1/5 — Forced subscription *2022-11-26, version 1.9.1* Hate subscriptions on fitness apps ### 1/5 — Not working garbage *2022-04-18, version 1.6* Look for other app ### 1/5 — App is crap! *2020-11-10, version 1.4.11* Worst 5x5 workout set up ever! Should be easily navigated, is not. Set up for weights is stupid and tedious, can’t input numbers with keypad but individual clicks. Rest periods not explained. ### 1/5 — Rip off *2020-03-14* I paid to upgrade to unlock the features after week 3 and I still don’t have access to them. It is still prompting me to upgrade. I received the receipt that I paid for it but it was a waste of money. I’ve emailed zen support twice and have gotten no where. Extremely unhappy **Developer response:** Please contact our customer support so that we can investigate this issue in detail To contact us, you can go inside the app's setting, click Feedback, and if you select email, you'll see that all the device/app info is auto-populated. ### 1/5 — App doesn’t function properly most of the time *2019-01-06* The program is sound and I like the layout of the app, but when I’m trying to change settings, they don’t change 90% of the time. For example, it defaulted to me as male, when I tried to switch to female it would never register. After about 20 attempts it finally worked for seemingly no reason. The same thing happened when I was trying to set my weights. I was trying to drop down to 70lbs from 90 for my sets. It took about 20-40 attempts for each set to get the correct weight to show. Unfortunately, the pro version also has this problem (as does the 5/3/1) and I don’t even want to try setting this all up again. I’m really disappointed because I own most of the Zen fitness apps and haven’t dealt with anything this frustrating from any of them. Hope this gets fixed, but right now I’m considering getting a refund. **Developer response:** Please contact our customer support so that we can investigate this issue in detail To contact us, you can go inside the app's setting, click Feedback, and if you select email, you'll see that all the device/app info is auto-populated. ### 1/5 — Problematic *2018-06-14* Upgraded to Pro after the first two weeks so I would have access to the remainder of the program. Worked for a while until I tried to add in my own assistance moves to the program. The app wouldn’t carry over the name of the assistance move to the workout - it would just leave it as “Exercise Name” so you had no idea what it actually was. At the end of week 4 workout 3, the app glitched whenever I tried to hit “finish” on the workout and erased my workout 4 times before I gave up. Tried closing all apps and rebooting my phone and it didn’t work. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling and it didn’t import my data and it bumped me back down to the FREE version and now I only have access to two weeks worth of workouts again and I have now thrown my money down the toilet. Have sent three messages so far to the developer about issues and am awaiting response. If they can fix these issues in a timely fashion, I will consider changing my review. So far, not happy with this purchase/app. ### 2/5 — They change the app without informing customers *2021-02-24* I purchased the app in august 2019. I go to use the app the other day and apparently they updated their platform (to include a suite of Zen Labs apps) to a monthly fee. As a purchaser I was never informed of this change, and my app was reverted back to the free version, which is not what I paid for. I emailed customer service and never received a reply. **Developer response:** Hello! I'm really sorry about this experience, would you mind contacting us at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com again and I can assure you that we will find a way to fix the issue. Thank you! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — One of the best free apps for gym workouts *2024-08-07* Fitness has become a cash cow for so many but I love that this app has no gimmicks, just a great program available to all in a great interface! **Developer response:** Thank you so much for sharing your valuable feedback! If there is anything we can do to help, let us know at contactus@zenlabsfitness.com. Have a wonderful day! ### 5/5 — Great app for getting results. *2023-03-08* Im that guy who goes to gym all the time but no results. Last few lifts I did not break a sweat. With the app, first day and I’m sweating bullets. Simpler workout than what I was making up. Get this and get some. **Developer response:** Thank you for your review. We are excited to hear your progress and thoughts!! ### 5/5 — Accountability and precision *2022-04-27* I am a 3 time Ironman triathlon finisher. I have been scrambling for strength training for several years. I love the precision and accountability of the 5x5 App! **Developer response:** Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience with us and for rating us 5 stars! :) ### 5/5 — Simple and comprehensive to meeting goals *2022-03-09, version 1.4.20* . ### 5/5 — This is the one. *2021-05-06* When I save a bit of coin, I’m buying the full version. It’s exactly what I was looking for to build dense strength. Look no further than this program. ### 5/5 — Workout *2021-04-26, version 1.4.15* Great workout ### 5/5 — Awesome App *2020-03-01* Love this app. Very easy to use and modifications can be made during the first few workouts. Highly recommend ### 5/5 — Miner Mavis *2019-10-24* Great app for someone wanting to build up strength over time ### 5/5 — Great *2019-08-06, version 1.4.7* Great app ### 5/5 — Great *2019-04-14, version 1.4.3* Best thing ever --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*