Log effort on your wrist, set by set

What an effort-based program needs on the Watch

• Reps in reserve on every set

  Each set on the Watch has three inputs: load, reps and RIR. Weight and reps are prefilled, so rating effort is the one new number.

• Your RPE program, converted once

  RPE 10 is 0 reps left, RPE 9 is 1, RPE 8 is 2, RPE 7 is 3. Set each exercise's target RIR to match and run the program as written. RPE vs RIR has the full scale.

• Effort that changes the next set

  Reps and RIR add up to reps to failure, and the next set is converted from it: next = load × (29 + logged) ÷ (29 + target), rounded to a weight you can load. More left than planned goes up.

• Pushing never costs you weight

  Got the reps but went closer to failure than planned? The weight holds. Only reps below the range bring it down.

• Rest that matches the effort

  A set closer to failure needs longer. Add 15 seconds from the rest screen without changing the routine.

  

Effort-based sessions run from the Watch

Your program says squat 3 × 5 @ RPE 8

A three-day squat, bench and deadlift plan. RPE 8 is entered as 2 reps in reserve, so the target is 5 reps with 2 left: 7 reps to failure. You've squatted 285 before. Phone in the bag.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Set 1: 275 lb × 5, 3 left (RPE 7)	Set 2: 285 lb × 5	8 reps to failure against a target of 7: 275 × 37 ÷ 36 ≈ 283, loaded as 285.
Barbell Back Squat	Set 2: 285 lb × 5, 1 left (RPE 9)	Set 3: 285 lb × 5	Harder than planned, but the reps were made, so the weight holds.
Barbell Bench Press	185 lb, 5 / 5 / 5 reps, 2 left (range 3–5)	190 lb × 3	Every set at the top of 3–5 at RPE 8: one 5 lb step, reps back to 3.

The squat was ten pounds light today, and the Watch fixed it after one set.

Bench after a bad night's sleep

Upper day in an 8–10 range, target 8 reps with 2 left. The first set feels like RPE 10.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	Set 1: 205 lb × 8, 0 left (RPE 10)	Set 2: 205 lb × 8	All 8 reps made, so it holds, even at failure.
Barbell Bench Press	Set 2: 205 lb × 7, 1 left	Set 3: 195 lb × 8	Below the 8–10 range: 205 × 37 ÷ 39 ≈ 194.5, loaded as 195.
Incline Dumbbell Press	55 lb, 10 / 9 / 8 reps, 1 left (target 8, range 8–12)	55 lb × 9	The weakest set hit today's target. Same dumbbells, one more rep next time.

Missed reps cut the weight. A high effort number on its own never did.

Isolation taken to failure on purpose

Shoulder and arm work with a target of 0 reps in reserve, the last few reps of every set a real fight.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	20 lb, 20 / 20 / 20 reps, 0 left (range 12–20)	25 lb × 12	Top of the range on every set at the planned effort. One dumbbell step, reps back to 12.
Cable Triceps Pressdown	60 lb, 15 / 13 / 12 reps, 0 left (target 12, range 10–15)	60 lb × 13	The weakest set hit 12. Same weight, one more rep.

Set the RIR target per exercise: 2 on the squat, 0 on raises, in the same routine.

Effort-based plans that open in RIRLift

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  Stronger squat, bench press and deadlift

  Squat, bench and deadlift days with the big lifts at 2 reps in reserve, like the first example.

  3× a week · 49 sets a week · ~55 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  6 days a week: push/pull/legs

  Six days, where effort targets keep the volume honest.

  6× a week · 102 sets a week · ~45 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 stalled on a fixed effort target.

  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

Make it fit you

• Convert your RPE targets once

  RPE 8 is a target of 2 reps in reserve, RPE 9 is 1, RPE 10 is 0. Enter them per exercise in the routine on iPhone.

• Lower the target on isolation

  Keep compounds at 2 or 3 in reserve and take raises and pressdowns closer to failure, each with its own target.

• Approve weight jumps on iPhone

  Set Coach to Ask first and next session's weights wait on the iPhone recap for you to confirm instead of being saved automatically.

• Add your bodyweight

  Enter it in iPhone Settings and bodyweight lifts like pull-ups count it as the load, so they get an estimated 1RM and show in your effort accuracy.

Questions

Read next

• RPE vs RIR

  The two scales side by side, and which to log.

• What is RPE in lifting?

  The scale your program is written in.

• RPE chart

  Reps and RPE to a percentage of your max.

• RIR vs going to failure

  When a 0 RIR target makes sense.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  The formula behind every correction in the examples.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The RPE and RIR app where effort sets the weight

  Log reps in reserve on every set, and your effort decides the next set's weight and the next jump.

• 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 progressive overload app that decides on your wrist

  Next set corrected on Apple Watch; next session's weights decided there when you finish, phone or not.

Every lifter and goal