The gym timer app that knows what you lift next

What a lifter needs from a gym timer

• A countdown you can read from across the rack

  Log a set and the rest timer fills the screen. When it ends, the next set is already filled in with its weight and reps.

  

• On the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island

  Lock the phone or switch to your music and the countdown keeps going as a Live Activity, so you never reopen the app just to check the time.

• On your wrist, with one-tap adjustments

  With an Apple Watch the timer runs on your wrist, with buttons to add or take off 15 seconds. The whole session can run from the Watch, including logging the next set.

  

• The right rest for each lift

  Rest is set per exercise in your routine: three minutes after heavy squats, a minute after lateral raises. How long to rest between sets explains the lengths.

• Supersets and timed holds

  Pair two exercises and alternate them, each set followed by its rest, so a session gets shorter without losing sets. Planks and other holds get a target time with a stopwatch, so you log what you actually held.

Three sessions where the rest timer earns its place

Superset Day A in 30 minutes, dumbbells and a bench

Three days a week on the 30-minute dumbbell superset plan below. You go straight from the first move of each pair to the second, then rest: 90 seconds after the big pairs, 60 after the small one.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Goblet Squat	60 lb, 15 / 15 / 15, 2 left, paired with the row	65 lb × 8–15	Top of 8–15 at the planned effort: next dumbbell up, reps back to 8.
One-Arm Dumbbell Row	50 lb, 12 / 11 / 10 per side, 1 left	50 lb × 11	The weakest set hit this session's target of 10. Same weight, one more rep.
Flat Dumbbell Press	Set 1: 45 lb × 12, 4 left (target 10 with 1 left)	Set 2: 50 lb	Three more left than planned: 45 × 45 ÷ 40 ≈ 51, so the next set uses the 50s.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	15 lb, 17 / 15, 1 left, paired with curls, 60 s rests	15 lb × 16	The weakest set hit this session's target of 15. Same weight, one more rep.

One rest per pair kept the session to half an hour, and every lift still got its own next step.

Heavy squat day: you cut a rest short

Squat is set at 225 lb for 6 reps with 2 left, with 3 minutes of rest. Between sets 1 and 2 you got talking and went back after 90 seconds.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Set 2: 225 lb × 4, 1 left	Set 3: 205 lb × 6	Below the 5–8 range: 225 × 34 ÷ 37 ≈ 207 lb, rounded to 205 lb.
Barbell Back Squat	Set 3, after the full 3:00: 205 lb × 6, 2 left	Holds at 205 lb	Exactly on plan at the corrected weight, so it holds.
Plank	Target 45 s, held 52 s	45 s target	Timed holds keep the duration your routine sets. The stopwatch records what you actually held.

The timer told you to wait. When you didn't, the next set adjusted to what you could do.

Arm pair, phone in the locker

You run the session from your Apple Watch. Curls and pressdowns are paired, with 60 seconds after each set.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Incline Dumbbell Curl	25 lb, 15 / 14 / 13 reps, 1 left	25 lb × 14	The weakest set hit its target of 13 but not the top of 10–15. Same weight, one more rep.
Cable Triceps Pressdown	50 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 1 left	55 lb × 10	Every set at the top of 10–15: one pin up, reps back to the bottom.

You tapped +15 s once when the pressdown station was busy. Everything else ran from your wrist.

Plans with rest times set for you

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Short sessions, 4 days a week

  The arm example's plan: short sessions built on paired sets.

  4× a week · 60 sets a week · ~25 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout with dumbbells, for the dumbbells you actually have

  30 minutes, 3 days, supersets

  The superset example's plan: dumbbells and a bench, 30 minutes, every exercise in a pair.

  3× a week · 48 sets a week · ~25 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  Stronger squat, bench press and deadlift

  Heavy squat, bench and deadlift with 4-minute rests, where a timer matters most.

  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

Make it fit you

• Set rest per exercise

  Edit an exercise in your routine to change its rest. Longer on heavy compounds, shorter on small isolation moves.

• Pair exercises into supersets

  Group two moves in a routine and alternate them. It's the quickest way to shorten a session without dropping sets.

• Add a timed hold

  Planks, side planks and other holds take a target time. The stopwatch runs and logs what you held.

• Run it from your wrist

  The Watch app shows the countdown with +15 s and -15 s buttons, then the next set to log. The Watch is optional.

When a different app fits better

• You want Tabata, EMOM or HIIT rounds with work and rest intervals. An interval timer app fits better. RIRLift times rest between lifting sets.

Questions

Read next

• How long to rest between sets

  Rest lengths by goal and by lift.

• What is a superset?

  Types of pairs and how to log them.

• Why logging on your wrist beats your phone between sets

  The case for leaving the phone in your bag.

• How long should a workout be?

  Work out a session's length from sets and rests.

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Full-body plans with rest times for every exercise.

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 for busy moms and dads who still want to lift

  Short lifting sessions with the weights already set, and a plan that waits when the kids come first.

Every lifter and goal