A rep counter that watches you do the rep

How it counts

The camera feed is turned into a stick figure on the phone, in real time. From that, FormMate measures the joint angles that define the exercise: elbow angle for push-ups, hip and knee for squats, chin height against the bar for pull-ups. A rep is counted when the movement goes through the full range and comes back, in that order.

That order matters. A tap counter counts whatever you tap. A wearable counts wrist motion and hopes it was a rep. A camera counter can tell the difference between a push-up where your chest reaches the floor and one where it stops halfway, and only counts the first.

What makes a rep count

• Depth. The joint has to pass the bottom gate. Chest down for push-ups, hips below the knee for squats, chin over the bar for pull-ups.
• Lockout. Then it has to come all the way back. A push-up that never straightens the arms is half a rep and is not counted.
• No bounce. A small wobble at the bottom or the top does not register as two reps. The counter waits for a clear change of direction.

Three strictness levels let you choose how hard the gates are. Lenient forgives a few degrees for tired sets or stiff joints. Strict is for people who want every rep to be textbook.

What you need

An Android phone and somewhere to lean it. Side-on at roughly hip height works for most exercises; the app shows the skeleton so you can see when it has you in frame. No internet needed during the set and no account to create.

Exercises at launch

Push-ups, knee push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, squats, lunges, sit-ups and crunches. Each one has its own set of gates and its own spoken cues. More are planned after launch.

It also tells you what to fix

Counting is the part you see. Between reps, FormMate speaks one short cue when something is off: "chest all the way down", "drive through your feet". One cue at a time, mid-set, so you can act on it during the next rep instead of reading a report afterwards.