Gravl review: what it does with your sets

Gravl, Fitbod and RIRLift side by side

Gravl and Fitbod both write the workout for you: Gravl plans the week and spells out its progression rules, Fitbod varies sessions more and maps recovery per muscle. RIRLift is the pick if you want a plan you keep and the next weight set for free.

What decides whether Gravl is right for you

• You want the week written for you

  Gravl builds the whole week from your split, goal, gym and session length, then recalculates it after every workout. It accounts for muscles still recovering and lifts you've neglected. If you already run a program you like, that's work you don't need.

• How it picks the weight

  Each logged set becomes an estimated one-rep max. The target weight is a share of it that shrinks as the reps go up, about 7% less when an exercise is the second one for that muscle, and snapped to the plates or stack your gym has. Tap a weight and Gravl says why.

• What you tell it after the work

  Gravl asks you to rate each exercise Easy, Ideal or Hard. Hard climbs a rep ladder, 8-7-6, 8-8-6, 8-8-7, 8-8-8, before the weight goes up a step. RIRLift asks how many reps you had left after each set and can change the very next set.

  

• What it costs after the first week

  You can log 3 workouts free, then Gravl asks you to subscribe: $14.99/month, with yearly plans from $59.99 to $89.99. A lifetime plan is sold only on its website.

• Phone, watch or both

  Gravl runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS and Garmin. The watch needs your phone within reach, because the phone app owns and saves the session.

Gravl and the alternatives in real situations

Three free workouts done, subscribe screen up

You tried Gravl on a four-day upper/lower week and liked not having to pick weights. After the third workout it asks you to subscribe.

App	What it does here	For this lifter
Gravl	Keeps planning your week and pre-filling every weight once you pay $14.99/month or a yearly plan.	Fits if you want the exercises chosen too, and the price is fine.
Fitbod	A 7-day trial, then $15.99/month or $95.99/year. A new workout each session, built around recovered muscles.	Fits if you want more variety than Gravl gives, at a higher price.
RIRLift	Runs your four days free, the same lifts each week, and sets every weight from the reps you had left.	Fits if the part you liked was the weights, not a new workout each day.

Decide which half you were paying for: the exercises picked for you, or the weight on the bar.

Rows that felt easy from the first set

Back day, coming from Gravl's Easy, Ideal or Hard rating. In RIRLift you log how many reps you had left after each set instead.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
T-Bar Row	Set 1: 115 lb × 10, 4 left	Set 2: 120 lb × 10	14 reps to failure against a planned 12, so 115 × 43 ÷ 41 ≈ 121 lb, loaded as 120 lb.
Leg Extension	100 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 2 left	110 lb × 10	Every set at the top of 10–15: one step up the stack, reps back to 10.

The row moved during the session, not next week, because the first set said it was light.

Plans for a lifter leaving Gravl

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  4 days a week: upper/lower

  Four days, with the leg extension from the example; fits the 4 free routines.

  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

  New to lifting, 3 gym days a week

  If Gravl was your first program: the main lifts repeated, so every weight can climb.

  3× a week · 44 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

• Expect one light first set

  RIRLift can't read Gravl's history. On a lift it hasn't seen, it starts light and asks for one set of as many good reps as you can, then works from that.

• Log reps left on every set

  Instead of one rating per exercise, log how many reps you had left after each set. The next set adjusts straight away.

• Ask Coach if you miss the planning

  Tell Coach your days, goal and equipment and it drafts a plan you review before anything changes.

• Set your gym once

  Pick the equipment you have so plans, swaps and rounding match your plates and stacks, as Gravl's gym profile did.

When a different app fits better

• You want every exercise chosen for you each week. Gravl, which plans the week around recovery and neglected lifts.
• You train on Android, Wear OS or Garmin. Gravl runs on all three; RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only.
• You want a daily readiness score from sleep and HRV. Gravl's Readiness tells you whether to train or rest. RIRLift only reads your logged sets.

Questions

Read next

• Gravl vs Fitbod

  The two workout generators compared row by row.

• Gravl vs Hevy

  A planned week against a log you write yourself.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  Where the 120 lb on set 2 came from.

• The double progression method

  The rule behind Gravl's rep ladder and RIRLift's next session.

• The AI workout planner that keeps planning after day one

  A plan drafted for you, then weights set from what you log.

• Fitbod alternatives, free and paid

  Gravl and the other Fitbod alternatives, ranked.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Gravl vs Fitbod

  Both write your workouts. Here's how each picks the weight, what each costs, and the free third option.

• Gravl vs Hevy

  Gravl decides your workouts and weights; Hevy logs what you decide. Here's who each fits, and a free middle.

• The AI workout planner that keeps planning after day one

  A plan built for your goal, gym and week, with every weight set from what you actually lifted.

Every lifter and goal