Fitbod vs Strong

Fitbod, Strong and RIRLift side by side

Strong is the cheaper, plainer tool for lifters with a program; Fitbod is for lifters who never want to write one. RIRLift keeps the Strong way of training and adds the one thing Strong leaves to you: the next weight.

What separates Fitbod and Strong

• Your program or theirs

  Strong logs whatever program you bring, from 5/3/1 to your coach's spreadsheet. Fitbod replaces the program: it writes each session from your goal, split, equipment and recovery.

• What stays free

  Strong's free version saves unlimited workouts with 3 custom routines. Fitbod has a 7-day trial, then logging needs a subscription.

• The next weight

  Strong shows your last numbers and leaves the next weight to you. Fitbod sets it, and varies it on purpose, so a lighter day is part of the plan.

• On the Watch

  Strong's Watch app logs with or without the iPhone. Fitbod's needs the iPhone to start the workout, swap an exercise and save.

• Where RIRLift is different

  Same program every week, like Strong, and the next weight worked out from each set you log, like Fitbod, for free. Tap any weight to see why.

  

Fitbod, Strong or RIRLift in a real week

Running 5/3/1 from a spreadsheet

You train four days on Wendler's 5/3/1, with percentages of a training max worked out in a sheet, and want somewhere to log it.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Strong	Logs whatever the sheet says. You type the weights in each week.	The best fit for a percentage program.
Fitbod	Writes its own sessions instead of following 5/3/1, with lighter and heavier days of its choosing.	Not a fit if you want to keep 5/3/1.
RIRLift	Sets weights from your logged sets and rep ranges, not from a percentage table, so it doesn't run 5/3/1 as written.	Fits if you're moving from 5/3/1 to rep-range training for size. The 5/3/1 calculator covers the percentages.

A percentage program wants a logbook. Strong is the honest pick here.

Strong user who adds weight by feel

You run an upper/lower plan from Strong and add 5 lb when a session feels easy. Your incline press hasn't moved in a month.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Seal Row	135 lb, 10 / 10 / 10 reps, 2 left	140 lb × 6	Every set at the top of 6–10: one 5 lb step, reps back to 6.
Machine Incline Press	120 lb, 9 / 8 / 8 reps, third session with no new rep	Step back offered: 100 lb × 8	A stalled lift: the recap offers about 10% lighter, 120 × 0.9 = 108 lb, rounded down to 100 lb on your stack, with the reps back to the bottom of 8–12. Nothing changes unless you accept.

One lift earned a step up, one a step back, and you saw both before the next session.

Plans for a lifter coming from Strong

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  Stronger squat, bench press and deadlift

  Squat, bench and deadlift first, the way most Strong logs start.

  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 plan for muscle gain, for where you are now

  Past a year of lifting, gains have stalled

  For the stalled lifts in the example: more weekly sets, the same lifts twice a week.

  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

• Import from Strong

  Export your Strong data as CSV and import it in RIRLift. Weights worked out from it are marked From history.

• Turn RPE into RIR

  RPE 8 is 2 reps left, RPE 9 is 1. Set the target once per exercise.

• Pick Ask first if you want the final say

  With Ask first, next session's weights wait on the recap until you confirm them.

When a different app fits better

• You run a percentage program like 5/3/1. Strong. RIRLift sets weights from your sets, not a percentage table.
• You never want to plan. Fitbod writes every session.
• You're on Android or log RPE. Strong or Fitbod. RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only and logs reps in reserve.

Questions

Read next

• Fitbod review: who it's worth paying for

  Is Fitbod worth it, and for whom.

• Fitbod alternatives, free and paid

  Every option ranked, free and paid.

• The Strong app on Apple Watch, and an option that sets the weight

  What Strong does on the wrist.

• Strong app review: free vs PRO, and is it worth it

  Strong's free tier and PRO, in full.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Why the incline press got a step back.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Fitbod review: who it's worth paying for

  What Fitbod does with your sets, what it costs after the trial, and who should pay for it.

• The Strong app on Apple Watch, and an option that sets the weight

  Strong logs on the Watch with or without your iPhone. RIRLift also sets the next weight on your wrist.

• 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.

Every lifter and goal