// Peer-reviewed fitness intelligence

Science.[1]Not bro-science.

Get the research, not the myth — cited from 0+ peer-reviewed studies.

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[1] Unlike every other fitness AI. See for yourself below.

01
0+
peer-reviewed papers
02
100%
of research-backed answers cited
03
0
influencer opinions

// Live replay

Watch it cite its sources.

This is a replay of real Gainsplain answers — evidence grade first, every claim footnoted to an actual paper.

gainsplain / chat — live replayreplay
Does cardio kill gains?
Strong evidence

Mostly a myth. Meta-analytic evidence shows concurrent cardio and strength training produces only minor interference with hypertrophy[1] and mainly when cardio is high-frequency, long-duration running. Keep it to 2–3 moderate sessions per week (cycling interferes less) and lifting gains are essentially unaffected[2].

Sources

  1. [1] Wilson, J.M. et al. (2012). “Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises.” J Strength Cond Res. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823a3e2d
  2. [2] Schumann, M. et al. (2022). “Compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training for skeletal muscle size and function.” Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01587-7

// Why Gainsplain

Better than a hunch.

Ten years of training tells you what worked for you — it can't tell you why, or whether it'll work for anyone else. A chatbot answers from memory. Gainsplain answers from the research.

Where the answer comes from

  • Gainsplain:Controlled research across thousands of people
  • ChatGPT:Its memory — can invent papers that don't exist
  • Experience & influencers:One person, no control group

Citations you can actually check

  • Gainsplain:Real DOIs, linked to the study
  • ChatGPT:Often fabricated or unverifiable
  • Experience & influencers:"Trust me, bro"

Tells you when the evidence is weak

  • Gainsplain:Graded strong / mixed / weak on every answer
  • ChatGPT:Sounds confident either way
  • Experience & influencers:Never admits doubt

Free of survivorship bias & genetic luck

  • Gainsplain:Pooled results, not the outliers
  • ChatGPT:Inherits whatever it was trained on
  • Experience & influencers:Shows you only the people it worked for

Has nothing to sell you

  • Gainsplain:No program, no supplement stack, no agenda
  • ChatGPT:No fitness agenda
  • Experience & influencers:Usually selling a program or a powder

// Methodology

The anatomy of an answer.

Every Gainsplain response is built to be checked. Here's the same answer, dissected.

gainsplain / responsedissected

Q · Does cardio kill gains?

Strong evidence

Mostly a myth. Meta-analytic evidence shows concurrent cardio and lifting produces only minor interference with hypertrophy[1] — and mainly with high-frequency, long-duration running. Keep it to 2–3 moderate sessions a week and your gains stay essentially intact[2].

scanned 0+ papers · cited 2
  1. [1] Wilson, J.M. et al. (2012) · J Strength Cond Res · DOI 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823a3e2d
  2. [2] Schumann, M. et al. (2022) · Sports Medicine · DOI 10.1007/s40279-021-01587-7

// retrieval

Retrieved live, per question. Drawn from a corpus of 0+ peer-reviewed papers at the moment you ask — not training-data folklore.

// evidence grade

Graded, not guessed. Strong, mixed, or weak on every answer — and when the science is thin, Gainsplain says so instead of bluffing.

// citation

Citations you can check. Numbered footnotes link to the real study — author, journal, year, DOI. Click through and read it yourself.

// No bluffing

It won't fake confidence.

The fitness internet is full of people who sound certain because certainty gets clicks. Real research is often messier than that.

Gainsplain grades every answer — strong, mixed, or weak.

When the studies genuinely disagree, it tells you the evidence is mixed and explains why — instead of picking a side to sound smart. That's the difference between an answer you can trust and one that's just trying to win the argument.

gainsplain / responseunsettled

Q · Do I have to train to failure to grow?

Mixed evidence

The honest answer: probably not. Training close to failure clearly matters, but studies disagree on whether going all the way to failure adds meaningful muscle — and the trials are small and heterogeneous[1]. Most show similar hypertrophy stopping 1–2 reps short, with less fatigue[2]. Bottom line: the evidence isn't strong enough to claim failure is required.

  1. [1] Grgic, J. et al. (2022) · Sports Medicine · DOI 10.1007/s40279-021-01620-9
  2. [2] Refalo, M.C. et al. (2023) · Sports Medicine · DOI 10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y

// Pricing

Peer-reviewed answers, priced for what they’re worth.

Research-backed answers come fully cited and evidence-graded — on every tier — and when no study fits, Gainsplain says so instead of guessing. Dial in the monthly volume that fits how you train.

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// FAQ

Fair questions.

ChatGPT cites from memory — it can invent papers that don't exist. Gainsplain retrieves real studies from a curated corpus of 0+ peer-reviewed papers at question time and answers only from what it retrieved. Every citation maps to an actual paper with a clickable DOI, and when no relevant research exists, it tells you instead of guessing.

Yes. Citations are rendered directly from stored paper metadata (authors, journal, year, DOI) — the AI never reconstructs them from memory. The corpus is sourced from PubMed and Semantic Scholar, limited to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, RCTs, and well-designed observational studies, and checked against the Retraction Watch database.

No. Gainsplain summarizes peer-reviewed exercise science — it does not diagnose conditions or prescribe treatment. Questions that touch on medical issues get the general fitness-science context plus a clear pointer to consult a qualified healthcare professional.

5 cited answers — yours for life, no credit card required. Every one runs the full research-retrieval pipeline: when the studies are there, the answer comes back fully cited; when none fit, Gainsplain tells you instead of guessing. That's enough to genuinely test whether the evidence holds up before you pay anything.

A normal cited answer counts as one. Deep Research and full program builds do a lot more work behind the scenes — reading across several bodies of literature to assemble the response — so they use a bit more of your monthly allowance. The app always shows you what one will use and asks before it runs, so nothing bigger happens without your say-so.

Yes. Every paid plan offers annual billing for the price of ten months — so you get roughly two months free versus paying monthly. You can switch between monthly and annual, and cancel anytime; there's no long-term lock-in either way.

Honest answer: anti-abuse. Phone verification stops people from farming unlimited free accounts, which keeps the free tier generous for everyone. Your number is verified once, stored only as a hash, and never used for marketing.

Train on evidence.

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