The calisthenics app for your Apple Watch

What bar-and-floor training needs on the Watch

• Reps and reps left, at the bar

  Log each set's reps and how many you had left from the Watch, prefilled from last time, with the phone nowhere near the bar.

• A next rep target, not a guess

  If your weakest set hit today's target, the next one is a rep higher. If not, it holds. Bodyweight moves progress by reps until you add weight.

• Weight when reps run out

  At the top of the range, add a backpack or a belt and log it as added weight. With your bodyweight in iPhone Settings, both count as the load.

• No workout type to choose

  A session with pull-ups, push-ups or dips saves to Apple Health as Traditional Strength Training. A day of only burpees and jump squats saves as Cross Training.

• Rest and holds on the wrist

  The rest countdown starts when you log, with ±15 s buttons. Timed holds run with Start hold and Stop on the Watch.

  

Bar-and-floor sessions logged from the Watch

A park bar, phone in the bag

Upper day outdoors: pull-ups on the bar, push-ups on the grass, dips on the parallel bars.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Pull-Up	Bodyweight, 10 / 9 / 8 reps, 1 left (target 8)	Pull-Up × 9	The weakest set hit 8, so the next target is 9.
Push-Up	25 / 22 / 20 reps, 1 left (target 20)	Push-Up × 21	The weakest set made today's target. One more rep next time.
Chest Dip	12 / 11 / 9 reps, 1 left (target 10)	Chest Dip × 10	The weakest set missed 10, so the target holds.

Three movements, three rep targets, set at the bar without touching your phone.

Pull-ups top out, so you add a backpack

A few weeks on. Pull-ups have reached the top of 6–12, and your bodyweight is set in iPhone Settings.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Pull-Up	Bodyweight, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 1 left (range 6–12)	Add weight and log it	Every set at the top of the range. Bodyweight moves progress by reps until you add weight, and now's the time.
Pull-Up	+10 lb backpack, 8 / 7 / 7 reps, 1 left (target 6)	+10 lb × 8	The weakest set made 7, past the target of 6, so the next target is 8 with the same backpack.
Inverted Row	15 / 15 / 14 reps, 2 left (target 14)	Inverted Row × 15	The weakest set hit 14. One more rep.

The Watch logged the backpack as weight on top of your bodyweight, so the work kept counting.

The dip bars are taken

A busy gym's calisthenics corner. You replace dips with pike push-ups from the Watch and finish with a dead hang.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Pike Push-Up	Replaced dips: 10 / 9 / 8 reps, 1 left (target 8)	Pike Push-Up × 9	The weakest set made 8. One more rep next time.
Chin-Up	Bodyweight, 9 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left (target 8)	Chin-Up × 9	Every set made the target, so it climbs a rep.
Dead Hang	Target 30 s: held 32 / 30 / 25 s	30 s × 3	Timed holds keep the duration your routine sets. Raise it once all three holds are comfortable.

A swap and a hold, both handled on the wrist, and the session still saved as strength training.

Calisthenics plans that open in RIRLift

• The best workout for home, with little or no equipment

  Pull-up bar and bands, 4 days

  Pull-ups, push-ups and band work with a bar at home or in the park.

  4× a week · 58 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 for home, with little or no equipment

  No equipment, 3 days a week

  No bar at all: floor, chair and stairs.

  3× a week · 44 sets a week · ~35 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout for upper body, for the week you actually train

  Home: dumbbells and a pull-up bar

  Upper body built around a pull-up bar.

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

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Set your bodyweight once

  Enter it in iPhone Settings so pull-ups and dips count it as load and get an estimated 1RM.

• Replace a move when the station's taken

  Swap an exercise from the Watch mid-session, and it keeps its own history from then on.

• Keep rests honest

  Take 15 seconds off or add 15 on the rest screen instead of eyeballing the clock between sets.

• Pick a range that fits the move

  Set wider rep ranges for push-ups and tighter ones for pull-ups in the routine, so each tops out at the right time to add weight.

Questions

Read next

• Calisthenics exercises

  The pulls, pushes, holds and skills worth training.

• Pull-up bar exercises

  Everything a single bar can train.

• Pull ups

  Form, your first rep and the best alternatives.

• The best workout for home, with little or no equipment

  The bar-and-bands and no-equipment plans in full.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The calisthenics app for getting stronger one rep at a time

  Pull-ups, push-ups and holds: rep targets that climb each week, and weighted work when reps run out.

• The Apple Watch weightlifting app that runs the whole session

  Log sets, rest, load plates and swap machines from your wrist, with the next weight set on the Watch.

• The Apple Watch rep counter that leaves the last word to you

  A rep count suggested on your wrist for curls, presses and pull-ups. You tap to use it and confirm the set.

Every lifter and goal