The Apple Watch workout tracker that remembers every set

What an Apple Watch workout tracker should record

• Every set, three numbers

  Weight, reps and reps in reserve, logged on the Watch after each set. They're prefilled from last time, so most sets are one confirm.

• Rest that runs itself

  Log a set and the rest countdown starts on your wrist, with buttons to take off or add 15 seconds, then the next set is ready to go.

  

• The log decides the next weight

  Every set at the top of the rep range moves the weight up one step. Below that, the weight holds and the rep target climbs. The rules are in how RIRLift picks your next weight.

• Saved without the phone

  Finish on the Watch and the session is saved there and queued for your iPhone, so a locker-room phone or a dead battery loses nothing.

• In Apple Health as strength training

  With your permission, the session saves to Apple Health as Traditional Strength Training, alongside your runs and rides, with the heart rate the Watch recorded.

• Your week, per muscle

  On iPhone, the weekly muscle map counts the sets each muscle got this week, so a lagging muscle shows up in the log before it shows up in the mirror.

  

Three weeks a tracker turned into decisions

Upper day, phone in the locker

Day 1 of a four-day upper/lower plan. You start the routine on the Watch and log each set with a tap.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	185 lb, 8 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left (range 6–8)	190 lb × 6	Every set reached 8, the top of the range, at the planned effort. One 5 lb step, reps back to 6.
Barbell Row	155 lb, 10 / 9 / 8 reps, 2 left (target 8, range 8–10)	155 lb × 9	The weakest set hit today's target of 8 but not the top of the range. Same weight, one more rep.
Lat Pulldown	130 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 2 left (range 10–12)	140 lb × 10	Top of 10–12 on every set: one step up the stack, reps back to 10.

Next week's three numbers were set on the Watch as soon as you finished.

Week 4: the log says your back is behind

By Thursday the iPhone's muscle map shows chest well ahead of upper back. You add three sets of cable rows to Upper B and keep logging from the Watch.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Seated Cable Row	Added: 120 lb, 12 / 11 / 10 reps, 2 left (target 10, range 10–12)	120 lb × 11	Its first week in the plan. The weakest set hit 10, so the target moves to 11 at the same weight.
Chin-Up	Bodyweight, 8 / 7 / 6 reps, 2 left (target 6)	Chin-Up × 7	Bodyweight lifts progress by reps. The weakest set made its target.
Face Pull	40 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 2 left (range 12–15)	50 lb × 12	Top of 12–15 on every set: one stack step, reps back to 12.

A set count per muscle made "more back work" a decision, not a hunch, and the new sets were tracked like the rest.

Thirty minutes, arms as supersets

A short day: triceps and biceps paired. Between sets the Watch shows which exercise is next and which round you're on.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Cable Triceps Pressdown	50 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 1 left (range 10–15)	60 lb × 10	Every set at the top of the range at the planned effort. One stack step, reps back to 10.
Hammer Curl	30 lb, 12 / 11 / 10 reps, 1 left (target 10, range 10–12)	30 lb × 11	The weakest set hit today's target of 10. Same dumbbells, one more rep.

Alternating two exercises, each still got its own record and its own next weight.

Plans to track from your wrist

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  4 days a week: upper/lower

  The plan the first two examples follow: four days, every muscle 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 for arms: biceps, triceps and forearms together

  Short on time, arms twice a week

  The supersets from the third example, for days with half an hour.

  2× a week · 24 sets a week · ~15 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 full-body days if four don't fit your week.

  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

• Log reps in reserve honestly

  It's the number that tells the app whether a set was easy or a grind. How to use RIR shows how to judge it.

• Pair exercises in the routine

  Set two exercises as a superset on iPhone and the Watch walks you through them round by round.

• Remember machines at your gym

  When a routine starts on the Watch at a gym you've saved, review its machines and turn on Remember at this gym, so each keeps its own loads.

• Allow Apple Health once

  Grant Health access on the Watch the first time it asks, and every finished session lands next to your other workouts.

Questions

Read next

• Best workout app for Apple Watch

  Choose by what you need to log on your wrist.

• Why logging on your wrist beats your phone between sets

  What changes when the phone stays in your bag.

• How to log workouts

  What to write down for each set, whatever you track it with.

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  The upper/lower plan the examples follow, in full.

• Sets per muscle group calculator

  How many weekly sets to aim for, per muscle.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• 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 gym tracker that turns your logs into your next weight

  Bring your old logs, chart every lift, and see a stall answered before it eats another month.

• 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.

Every lifter and goal