Bodyweight strength, no gear
Become
unshakeable.
One baseline test sets your starting level, even if that number is one. Then three guided floor sessions a week for six weeks.
Push ups, squats and hollow hold are free, start to finish.
- 3 Free 6-Week ProgramsPush ups, squats, hollow hold
- Apple Watch IncludedRun sessions from your wrist
- No Gear or AccountFloor only, private iCloud sync
For iPhone and Apple Watch (iOS 18+), in the US and Canada. No advertising in any tier.
Magnus’s Field Note
“I packed for six weeks. It was one headband.”
The Oldest Beginner · a six-week series
A 4.5-billion-year-old rock tries his first workout plan.
Six episodes, one each Sunday from October 4 to November 8. The same six weeks you would do, in the same app, with considerably more geology.
Magnus’s Field Note
“These are my old plans. They have become sediment.”
Release tracker
Episode 1 drops Sun, Oct 4
How it works
One test. Six weeks. One final test.
Most workout plans start where someone else is. Mantle asks for your honest baseline number first, then scales eighteen sessions from it.
Magnus’s Field Note
“Finally, something more stubborn than me.”
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Step 01 · Day 1
One test sets your level.
Do one continuous set, as many as you can with good form. That number sets your starting column for the six weeks. Then pick a grade: light, steady or full.
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Step 02 · Weeks 1 to 6
Three sessions a week.
Each session has its sets, targets and rest built in on iPhone or Apple Watch. The runner counts the sets and times the holds and rest. You do the work.
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Step 03 · Session 18
The Final Test & Trophy.
Eighteen sessions later, take the same test again to put a second number beside your first and forge that dig site’s gem trophy.
Example app screens. Targets and records vary.
Interactive placement preview
Try the baseline placement math.
Pick one of the three free dig sites, slide a baseline test number, and switch between the three training grades to see your starting layer, Session 1 sets, and six-week final test goal.
Steady. A full six-week climb without the full Core spike. Final test sits between Surface and Core.
Starting Layer · Sediment (Column 1)
100 Push Ups · Crust (Steady)
- Set 12
- Set 23
- Set 32
- Set 42
- Set 53+
Session 1 minimum volume: 12 reps across 5 guided sets.
Inspect the in-app Grade Picker & Form Guide screen
Sanded-down Week 3 jumps, built in.
Standard six-week web tables often spike sharply in Week 3 or Week 4. Mantle lets you run every dig site at Surface (Light), Crust (Steady, default), or Core (Full), and you can step down a grade mid-arc without losing a single logged session.
Clinical grounding
Grounded in peer-reviewed resistance research.
Every built-in dig site scales from your single baseline test along clinical progression curves, paced at no more than three advancing sessions in any five days.
- Floor vs. Iron At equal effort, push-ups matched bench press for strength gains. Calatayud et al. 2015 · PMID 24983847 (opens in a new tab)
- Bodyweight Progression Light loads taken close to failure built similar muscle to heavy weights. Schoenfeld et al. 2017 · PMID 28834797 (opens in a new tab)
- Session Cadence Training a muscle group multiple times per week beat once-weekly volume. Schoenfeld et al. 2016 · PMID 27102172 (opens in a new tab)
Relics
Finish a week clean. Something surfaces.
Clear a week without missing a session and a geological specimen turns up at the base of the dig. Some are deep-earth minerals. One is fossilized droppings. Mantle is honest about it.
Magnus’s Field Note
“The headband is now carrying the entire outfit.”
Coprolite Nodules
Yes, fossilized droppings. Topsoil layer.
Geological note
Trace fossils preserved in calcium phosphate that record ancient ecosystems and diets across millions of years.
“I prepared a display case before reading the label.”
Trilobite Carapace
Among the first animals to really see. Sediment layer.
Geological note
Early Paleozoic marine arthropods whose compound eyes were grown from oriented crystalline calcite lenses 520 million years ago.
“I asked it to spot me. It was unavailable.”
Pyrite Sun Disc
Fool’s gold. Still counts. Bedrock layer.
Geological note
Radial iron-disulfide concretions forced to grow outward in two dimensions under the pressure of 300-million-year-old Carboniferous shale.
“I have already told everyone it is gold.”
Star Meteorite Core
Iron-nickel from a broken world. Magma layer.
Geological note
Differentiated protoplanetary core fragments showing interlocking Widmanstatten iron-nickel crystals cooled at one degree per million years.
“It has travelled further than I have. I am handling that poorly.”
Bridgmanite Crucible
The most common mineral on Earth. Deep Mantle layer.
Geological note
High-density magnesium iron silicate perovskite stable below 660 kilometers, accounting for roughly 38 percent of Earth’s volume.
“I have offered to take the credit.”
Radiant Core Crystal
1,800 miles down. Molten Core layer.
Geological note
Hexagonal close-packed iron-nickel crystal lattice forged under 3.6 million atmospheres of pressure at Earth’s inner core boundary.
“I have prepared a six-hour presentation. Kevin has left.”
The six relics of the Push Ups dig site. Free users keep the first six relics they unearth across the app.
21 specimens across four families
Every dig-site family unearths its own strata.
Push, leg, core and full-body dig sites surface different specimens at Weeks 1 through 5 before converging on the Radiant Core Crystal in Week 6.
Amber InclusionTopsoil · 40M yr resin
Ammonite SutureSediment · Fractal shell
Quartz GeodeBedrock · Hydrothermal cavity
Kimberlite DiamondDeep Mantle · 150 km pipe
Ringwoodite SpinelDeep Mantle · Deep-earth water
When life happens
Took two weeks off? Still where you left it.
Taking a break does not move your week and day. Your descent pauses and nothing is erased. After two weeks away, Today offers a lighter grade or a fresh baseline test. Or just dig.
Magnus’s Field Note
“I said I wanted depth. I should have been specific.”
No streak guilt
Miss two weeks and your week, day and unearthed relics wait where you left them. Zero guilt notifications.
The five-day pace
Three sessions in five days is the pace on the built-in dig sites, so one keen evening can’t eat into next week. Rest is part of the descent.
- 01Pause at any pointTravel, illness or a busy fortnight freezes your exact Week and Day.
- 02Choose your return on TodayResume right where you stopped, step down one Training Grade, or re-test your baseline.
- 03Keep every relic & logUnearthed specimens, past sessions and forged trophies never expire or reset.
What’s inside
Floor and bodyweight only. Everything else is geology.
Magnus’s Field Note
“I will be mentioning this at every gathering.”
Sixteen dig sites
Push ups, squats, planks, lunges, burpees and more. Every one is six weeks, scaled from your own baseline.
Apple Watch
Run a session from your wrist with haptic hold timers. The watch app is free.
Apple Health
Save finished sessions to Health if you want to. It is optional.
Your devices, your iCloud
Sync runs through your own private iCloud. There is no Mantle account and no Mantle server.
Build your own Pass
Pick a bodyweight move and a goal, and build your own six-week custom Claim.
Prefer it plain?
Minimalist Mode drops the geology. Same training, fewer rocks.
Apple Watch Companion · Included Free
Leave your phone on the floor.
Run every unlocked dig site from your wrist. Tap to log sets, feel haptic taps when a timed hold or rest interval finishes, and sync straight back to Today.
Today on Apple Watch: two active dig sites ready on your wrist.
Rig & Voice · Included Free
Geology on, or Minimalist Mode.
Love the strata and relics? Keep the geological voice. Prefer plain strength labels? Flip one switch in Rig and every screen speaks standard training terms.
- Programs
- Dig Sites & Claims
- Placement
- 6 Strata (Topsoil to Core)
- Difficulty
- Surface · Crust · Core
- Completion
- Gem Trophy & Relics
Free and the Subterranean Pass
Three dig sites are free, start to finish.
Filter or tap any of the sixteen built-in dig sites and custom Claims below to inspect its exercise art, graded six-week targets, clinical citation, and forged gem trophy. We never revoke a purchase.
- Push upsFree
- SquatsFree
- Hollow holdFree
- Sit upsPass
- PlankPass
- LungesPass
- Wall sitPass
- Glute bridgesPass
- Calf raisesPass
- BurpeesPass
- Pike push upsPass
- Diamond push upsPass
- Side plankPass
- Mountain climbersPass
- Bird-dogsPass
- Single-leg bridgesPass
- Custom ClaimPass
Included Free · 6-Week Program
100 Push Ups
Chest and triceps, no gear. Six weeks from your first test to a hundred.
Form cue: Keep a straight line from head to heels, with no sag in the hips.
| Feature | Free | Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Push ups, squats and hollow hold, six weeks each | Included | Included |
| The other thirteen dig sites | Not included | Included |
| Build your own dig site (Claims) | Not included | Included |
| The Endless Dig: keep going after the final test | Not included | Included |
| Relics | Six | All of them |
| Baseline test, session runner, archive and streak | Included | Included |
| Apple Watch app | Included | Included |
| Apple Health and iCloud sync | Included | Included |
| No third-party ads | Included | Included |
What if I cannot do a single push-up yet?
Your baseline test sets your starting column, even if that number is one or three, and you can choose the Light (Surface), Steady (Crust) or Full (Core) grade before Session 1 begins.
What happens if I miss a week or two?
Nothing is erased and your week and day never reset. Your descent waits where you left it, and after two weeks away Today offers a lighter grade or a fresh baseline test if you want one.
Do I need a pull-up bar, bands or dumbbells?
Never. Every built-in dig site and every custom Claim uses floor and bodyweight only.
Is the Apple Watch app included in the free tier?
Yes. The Apple Watch companion app, Apple Health logging, private iCloud sync and three complete six-week dig sites (Push Ups, Squats and Hollow Hold) are free from first test to final trophy.
Why does Mantle cap built-in sites at three sessions in five days?
Strength happens during recovery between sessions. Pacing built-in dig sites at three advancing sessions per five days stops anyone racing through six weeks in two. Custom Claims are never paced.
How much does the Subterranean Pass cost, and is there a lifetime option?
The Free tier is $0 forever for Push Ups, Squats and Hollow Hold. The optional Subterranean Pass is $4.99 per month, $19.99 per year, or $39.99 once for lifetime access. There are no ads in any tier, and nothing you buy or unearth is ever taken back.
Where is my workout data stored? Do I need to create an account?
Your logs stay on your iPhone and Apple Watch and sync across your own devices through your personal iCloud account. There is no Mantle login, no password to forget, no server and no analytics SDK.
Can I train without the geological theme or build my own exercises?
Yes. Minimalist Mode in Rig switches the entire interface to standard fitness terminology (Programs, Levels, Light/Steady/Full, Awards). With the Pass, Custom Claims let you build a six-week progression for any bodyweight movement or timed hold.
Ruby Trophy · Forged at Session 18 of 100 Push Ups
1,800 miles down
End of the website. Beginning of the dig.
He spent 4.5 billion years preparing to start. The preparation was mostly sitting.
Three dig sites are free, start to finish.
Magnus would make a speech, but he has used all his words on the relics. Back to the Surface