The best hybrid training apps

The best apps for running and strength training, ranked

Ranked for someone who runs and lifts and wants both to progress: one app that plans both first, then the best way to add lifting to a running plan you already follow.

1. 1. Edge

   Best for: One plan that schedules runs, lifts and HIIT together

   Price

   $129.99/year or $22.99–$29.99/month; 7-day trial

   Platforms

   iPhone, Android, Apple Watch

   Where it wins

   • Strength, running and HIIT in one coordinated plan
   • Runs with target paces and heart-rate zones; lifts with suggested weights
   • Adjusts when you miss a session or travel
   • Syncs with Garmin, COROS and Apple Health

   Where it falls short

   • Paid after the trial
   • Fewer ratings than the bigger apps

2. 2. RIRLift

   Best for: The lifting half, if you already follow a running plan

   Price

   Free; Pro $9.99/month or $79.99/year

   Platforms

   iPhone and Apple Watch

   Where it wins

   • Sets every weight from your last set, free
   • Runs on the Apple Watch you run with
   • Saves to Apple Health as strength training, next to your runs
   • Runner plans for base, off-season and race builds

   Where it falls short

   • Doesn't plan your runs
   • iPhone and Apple Watch only
   • No interval or HIIT timers

3. 3. Runna

   Best for: Running first, with strength sessions on the side

   Price

   $19.99/month or $119.99/year; 7-day trial

   Platforms

   iPhone, Android; Apple Watch, Garmin, COROS

   Where it wins

   • Personalized running plans
   • Strength and conditioning routines alongside
   • Syncs runs to Strava

   Where it falls short

   • Strength is the side dish
   • Subscription after the trial

4. 4. Hevy

   Best for: Logging lifts that sit next to your runs on Strava

   Price

   Free; Pro $2.99/month, $23.99/year or $74.99 lifetime

   Platforms

   iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, web

   Where it wins

   • Syncs workouts to Strava automatically
   • Free with unlimited workouts
   • On almost every device

   Where it falls short

   • Doesn't plan runs
   • Weight suggestions need Pro
   • Free tier caps routines at 4

5. 5. Go One More

   Best for: Nick Bare's hybrid programs and nutrition lessons

   Price

   $14.99/month or $99.99/year; $1 first month

   Platforms

   Inside the Playbook app

   Where it wins

   • Nick Bare's strength and running programs
   • Mobility sessions and 8 nutrition lessons
   • Q&As with Nick and direct messages

   Where it falls short

   • No free version after the $1 first month
   • Runs inside the Playbook app

What a runner who lifts needs from an app

• One plan, or two apps

  Edge schedules runs and lifts in one plan. If you already follow Runna, a club plan or your own, you only need the lifting half.

• Lifting that knows your legs are tired

  The day after intervals, log the set as it went. In RIRLift, reps made but closer to failure than planned hold the weight; below the rep range brings the next set down.

  

• Both on the same Watch

  Runna and Edge run on Apple Watch. RIRLift logs every set, runs the rest timer and shows the next weight there, free.

• One history for both

  Hevy syncs lifts to Strava. RIRLift saves each session to Apple Health as Traditional Strength Training, in the same history as your runs.

• Weights that move without a spreadsheet

  Plans that list sets and reps leave the load to you. RIRLift sets it from your last set. How it decides.

Hybrid training, in two real cases

Half-marathon in 12 weeks, two lifting days to add

Runs four days a week on a plan they like, wears an Apple Watch, posts runs to Strava. Wants stronger legs without wrecking the long run.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Edge	Replaces the running plan with one that schedules runs and lifts together, from $129.99 a year.	Good if you'd switch running plans. This runner wouldn't.
Runna	Its own running plans, with strength and conditioning routines alongside, for $19.99 a month.	Fits a runner who wants one subscription.
Hevy	Logs the two lifting days free and posts them to Strava. Weight suggestions need Pro.	Fits the Strava habit; the jumps stay yours.
RIRLift	Runs the two lifting days on the Watch, sets every weight from the last set and saves to Apple Health next to the runs. Free.	The fit: the running plan stays, the lifting progresses itself.

Keep the running plan you trust. The lifting half is the part to hand to an app.

Leg day the morning after track intervals

The same runner in RIRLift. Reverse lunges planned for 8 reps with 2 left; split squats in an 8–12 range.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge	Set 1: 35 lb pair × 8, nothing left	Set 2: 35 lb pair × 8	You got the reps, just closer to failure than planned. The weight holds; you don't get cut for pushing.
Dumbbell Split Squat	30 lb pair, 12 / 12 / 12 reps per leg, 2 left	35 lb pair × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: the next pair of dumbbells, reps back to 8.

Heavy legs from the track held the lunge where it was and didn't cost the split squat its jump.

Runner plans that open in RIRLift

• The best strength workout for runners, built around your training

  Off-season or base phase, full gym

  Two heavier sessions a week in the base phase or off-season.

  2× a week · 24 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 strength workout for runners, built around your training

  Marathon or race build, once a week

  One session a week through a race build, to keep the strength.

  1× a week · 9 sets a week · ~30 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Put lifting around your key runs

  Choose your training days when you set up the plan, and keep the day before a long run or a workout free.

• Use Ask first in race season

  Next session's weights wait on the recap until you confirm them, so nothing climbs in a week you want to hold.

• Choose Steady on high mileage

  Steady takes smaller, surer steps. Switch to Standard in the off-season.

• Coming from Hevy? Import it

  Export a CSV from Hevy and import it in RIRLift, so your first weights come from your history.

When a different app fits better

• You want one plan that schedules both runs and lifts. Edge. RIRLift plans the lifting only.
• Your lifts have to land on Strava. Hevy. RIRLift saves to Apple Health, not Strava.
• You're on Android or train with HIIT intervals. Edge or Runna. RIRLift is iPhone only and has no interval timers.

Questions

Read next

• The strength training app for runners that fits around your miles

  Lifting plans for each phase of your season.

• Strength training for runners, on the Watch you run with

  Lifting on the Watch you run with.

• The best strength workout for runners, built around your training

  The runner plans in full.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Why the lunge held after intervals.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The strength training app for runners that fits around your miles

  Short lifting sessions for each phase of your season, with weights that hold when your legs are tired.

• Strength training for runners, on the Watch you run with

  Lift with the Watch you run with: sets logged on the wrist, saved to Apple Health next to your runs.

• 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