Is Apple Fitness+ strength training enough to get stronger?

What Fitness+ covers, and what to add

• Fitness+ covers the coaching

  Strength is one of 12 workout types, 5 to 45 minutes, with or without equipment. On the Watch you see heart rate and your rings during the class.

• A logbook covers the weights

  In RIRLift every set is logged on the Watch: weight, reps and how many more you could have done. Next session starts from those numbers, not from whatever dumbbells were nearest.

• The weight goes up when you've earned it

  When every set reaches the top of the rep range, the next session goes up a step and the reps reset. Short of that, it holds. The rules.

• A rest timer you can nudge

  The countdown runs on your wrist with buttons to add or take off 15 seconds, so a busy rack or a hard set doesn't mean guessing.

  

• One history in Apple Health

  With your permission, RIRLift saves lifting sessions to Apple Health as Traditional Strength Training, next to your Fitness+ classes.

Fitness+ weeks with two logged days

Three classes, one fixed pair at home

Fitness+ on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Tuesday and Friday you run a full-body plan with the 20 lb dumbbells you already own, logging on the Watch.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Bulgarian Split Squat	20 lb, 16 / 15 / 14 reps per leg, 1 left	20 lb × 15	Not every set reached 20, so it holds. The weakest set hit its target of 14, so it aims for 15.
Dumbbell Floor Press	20 lb, 25 / 25 / 25 reps, 1 left	25 lb × 10	Every set at the top of 10–25: one 5 lb step, reps back to 10. Your next pair is the 25s.
One-Arm Dumbbell Row	20 lb, 20 / 19 / 18 reps per side, 1 left	20 lb × 19	Holds; the weakest set hit its target of 18, so it aims for 19.

The floor press has outgrown the 20s, the other lifts still have reps to add, and the classes stayed exactly as they were.

Gym member, Fitness+ for HIIT and yoga

You lift at the gym twice a week and do Fitness+ HIIT and yoga at home. Shoulders felt flat after a long day.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Set 1: 30 lb × 8, 0 left	Set 2: 30 lb × 8	You got the reps, just closer to failure than planned. You did what was asked, so it holds.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Set 2: 30 lb × 6, 0 left	Set 3: 25 lb × 8	Below the 8–12 range with nothing left, so the next set comes down one step, to the 25s.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	50 lb, 10 / 10 / 10 reps, 2 left	50 lb × 11	Holds; every set hit its target of 10, so it aims for 11.

A bad day cost one set, not the week. The logged days carry the progress; Fitness+ fills the rest.

Two-day plans that sit beside classes

• The best workout for women, for your week

  2 days, alongside classes or running

  Two heavy days built for people who already do classes or run.

  2× a week · 23 sets a week · ~40 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout with dumbbells, for the dumbbells you actually have

  One light pair at home, no bench

  For one pair of dumbbells and no bench, like the first week above.

  3× a week · 45 sets a week · ~35 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Space the logged days

  Put them on non-consecutive days, around the classes, so a leg-heavy class isn't the day before squats.

• Rate reps left, not the class pace

  Log how many more reps you could have done on each set. That's the number the weight comes from.

• Buy the next pair when it keeps asking

  With one pair of dumbbells, slow the lowering and add reps. When RIRLift keeps suggesting the next weight up, that's the pair to buy.

• Allow Apple Health

  Turn it on so lifting days sit next to your Fitness+ classes in one history.

When a different app fits better

• You want a trainer on screen. Fitness+ is coached video classes. RIRLift has no classes.
• You want HIIT or yoga too. Fitness+ covers 12 workout types. RIRLift is built for lifting and has no interval timers.
• You train with your family. Apple says Fitness+ can be shared with up to five family members.

Questions

Read next

• The best workout for women, for your week

  The two-day plan built to sit beside classes.

• When to increase weight

  The rule the logged days follow.

• Double progression

  Reps first, then weight.

• The workout app that puts your lifting in Apple Health

  How lifting sessions land next to your classes.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The workout app that puts your lifting in Apple Health

  Lifting sessions saved to Apple Health exercise by exercise, next to your runs, with your next weights set.

• The dumbbell workout app that knows when to grab the next pair

  One fixed pair or an adjustable set: plans that fit, and weights that step the way your dumbbells do.

• Nike Training Club on Apple Watch, and where your weights go

  NTC's Watch app steps you through classes. RIRLift logs the weight you lift and sets the next one.

Every lifter and goal