The progressive overload app that decides on your wrist

What progressive overload needs from a Watch app

• The next set, corrected between sets

  Log weight, reps and reps in reserve. If you had more left than planned, the next set goes up right there on the Watch, marked as a correction rather than passed off as the plan.

• Next session, decided on the Watch

  Between sessions RIRLift uses double progression, judged on your weakest working set: every set at the top of the range moves the weight up one step; otherwise the rep target climbs first.

• The phone can stay in the locker

  Start, log, rest, swap and finish on the Watch alone. Next session's weights are set on the Watch when you finish, and the session syncs when your iPhone is back in range.

• Labels that say where a weight came from

  A lift you've never logged opens at a weight marked Estimate. An accepted deload shows Lighter week, and the easier week after time off shows Easing back.

• Rest you can nudge

  Heavy sets need longer. Take 15 seconds off or add 15 from the rest screen without touching the plan.

  

Progressive overload, run from the Watch

Upper day: the first bench set was too easy

A four-day upper/lower plan. Bench is set for 8 reps with 2 left, in a 6–8 range, and you've had 195 on the bar before. The phone is in your bag.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	Set 1: 185 lb × 8, 4 left	Set 2: 195 lb × 8	12 reps to failure against a target of 10: 185 × 41 ÷ 39 ≈ 194.5, rounded to 195 on the bar.
Barbell Bench Press	Set 2: 195 lb × 8, 2 left	Set 3: 195 lb × 8	Exactly on plan, so the weight holds.
Incline Dumbbell Press	55 lb, 9 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left (target 8, range 8–12)	55 lb × 9	The weakest set hit today's target of 8. Same dumbbells, one more rep.

The plan was ten pounds light, and the Watch fixed it before set 2, not after the session.

Upper B: three lifts, three answers

Same plan, two days later. The session finishes on the Watch, which sets the next Upper B before it syncs to the iPhone in your bag.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Row	155 lb, 10 / 10 / 10 reps, 2 left (range 6–10)	160 lb × 6	Every set at the top of the range: one 5 lb step, reps back to the bottom.
Lat Pulldown	140 lb, 12 / 11 / 10 reps, 1 left (target 11, range 8–12)	140 lb × 11	The weakest set missed 11, so weight and target both stay.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	20 lb, 20 / 20 / 20 reps, 1 left (range 12–20)	25 lb × 12	Top of 12–20 on every set: one dumbbell step, reps back to 12.

Overload is a separate decision for every lift, and the weakest set, not the best one, makes it.

A lower day with the phone at home

Monday, Watch only: squats in 5–8 with 2 left, Romanian deadlifts in 8–12. The iPhone stays at home until Wednesday's session is done.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Monday: 225 lb × 8 / 8 / 8, 2 left	Wednesday: 230 lb × 5	Every set at the top of 5–8: one 5 lb step, reps back to 5. Set on the Watch when Monday's session finished, and on your wrist for Wednesday.
Romanian Deadlift	Monday: 185 lb × 10 / 9 / 9, 2 left (target 9)	Wednesday: 185 lb × 10	The weakest set hit its target: same weight, one more rep.
Barbell Back Squat	If you'd chosen Ask first: Monday 225 lb × 8 / 8 / 8	230 lb once you confirm it on iPhone	Ask first shows the raise on the iPhone recap and saves it only when you approve it.

Keep Coach On to have each raise saved on the Watch the moment you finish; Ask first if you want to approve every change.

Plans that progress well from the Watch

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  4 days a week: upper/lower

  The plan in the first two examples: four days, each lift twice a week.

  4× a week · 68 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 plan for muscle gain, for where you are now

  Past a year of lifting, gains have stalled

  For lifts that have stopped moving and need the stall logic.

  4× a week · 76 sets a week · ~50 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Full gym, 3 days: heavy, moderate, light

  Three days a week, barbell and dumbbell.

  3× a week · 50 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

• Choose how much the Watch decides

  Coach On saves each change when the session reaches your iPhone. Ask first shows each change on the iPhone recap to approve. Off shows no suggested weight at all.

• Set the range and reps left per exercise

  Each exercise in a routine has its own rep range and target reps in reserve. The Watch uses them for every correction.

• Pick a pace

  Steady takes smaller, surer steps, Standard is plain double progression, and Push takes bigger jumps.

• Accept a deload when it's offered

  After a few sessions without a new rep, the iPhone recap suggests about 10% lighter. Accept it and the Watch shows Lighter week on that lift.

Questions

Read next

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Every rule the examples follow, in full.

• The double progression method

  Reps first, then load: the rule between sessions.

• When to increase weight

  The question the app answers for you, explained.

• Progressive overload calculator

  Your next weight from your weakest set, worked out by hand.

• How to use RIR

  The number that sizes each correction.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The progressive overload app that decides your next weight

  Next weight and rep target set from your weakest set, corrected between sets, with stalls caught early.

• 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 workout tracker that remembers every set

  Weight, reps and reps in reserve for every set, tracked on your wrist and turned into next week's numbers.

Every lifter and goal