Hevy on Apple Watch, and what RIRLift does differently

Hevy and RIRLift on the wrist

• Both log the session on the Watch

  Hevy's App Store listing says you can log sets, start rest timers and finish a workout without touching your phone. RIRLift does the same: start the routine, log each set and finish on the Watch, then it syncs to your iPhone.

• Reps in reserve on every set

  Hevy logs RPE. RIRLift asks the same question from the other end on your wrist: how many more reps you had. RPE 8 is 2 left. That number is what the next weight is built from.

• The next weight, decided on the Watch

  In Hevy, progressive overload guidance comes with Hevy Trainer, part of Hevy Pro. In RIRLift it's free: log a set and the next one adjusts on your wrist, and next session's weight is set from your weakest set. The rules are in how RIRLift picks your next weight.

• A rest timer you can nudge

  The countdown runs on your wrist with buttons to add or take off 15 seconds, so a busy rack or a hard set doesn't mean guessing.

  

• Your Hevy history comes along

  Export your workouts from Hevy as a CSV and import them in RIRLift. Your first weights come from those sessions instead of a starting guess.

• Plates per side, with Pro

  Type the weight and the Watch shows what goes on each side of the bar. The breakdown is free on the iPhone; on the Watch it's part of Pro.

  

Your first weeks after Hevy, run from the Watch

Week 1 after importing, phone in the locker

A four-day upper/lower split at a full gym. You imported two years of Hevy workouts and start bench day from the Watch.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	Imported: 185 lb × 8 / 8 / 7	185 lb × 8	Worked out from your Hevy sessions, so day one isn't a guess.
Barbell Bench Press	Set 1 on the Watch: 185 lb × 8, 3 left	Set 2: 190 lb × 8	11 reps to failure against a planned 10: 185 × 40 ÷ 39 ≈ 190 lb. It changed on your wrist before set 2.
Lat Pulldown	140 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 2 left	150 lb × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: one step up the stack, reps back to 8.

Same split you ran in Hevy. The difference is that the weights moved on the Watch, mid-session and for next week.

Home gym, adjustable dumbbells, used to logging RPE

You logged RPE 8 in Hevy. In RIRLift you log 2 left instead, the same effort, on the Watch beside the rack.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	60 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 2 left	65 lb × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: one 5 lb step on the dumbbells, reps back to 8.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Set 1: 50 lb × 7, 0 left	Set 2: 45 lb × 8	Below the 8–12 range with nothing left: 50 × 36 ÷ 39 ≈ 46 lb, rounded to the 45s.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Set 2: 45 lb × 8, 2 left	Set 3: 45 lb × 8	On plan, so it holds. The correction stayed one set, not the whole session.

RPE 8 became 2 left, and the set that went wrong was fixed before the next one.

Plans to run from the Watch after Hevy

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  4 days a week: upper/lower

  The split the first example runs: 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 with dumbbells, for the dumbbells you actually have

  Adjustable dumbbells and a bench, 4 days

  The home version, for adjustable dumbbells and a bench.

  4× a week · 71 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

• Import before your first session

  Export a CSV from Hevy and import it in RIRLift on the iPhone. Lifts you've logged start from your numbers instead of an estimate.

• Turn your RPE targets into RIR

  Set each exercise's target as reps in reserve: RPE 8 is 2 left, RPE 9 is 1. Your program runs as written.

• Choose how weights change

  Leave weights On to have them set for you, or pick Ask first and confirm next session's numbers on the workout recap before they're saved.

• Start from the Watch

  Open RIRLift on your wrist and start today's routine. The phone can stay in your bag; the session syncs when you're back.

When a different app fits better

• You train with friends and like a feed. Hevy has follows, a social feed and comparisons with friends.
• You're on Android or Wear OS. Hevy runs there; RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only.
• You log RPE and want to keep that scale. Hevy logs RPE per set. RIRLift logs reps in reserve.
• You sync runs and lifts to Strava. Hevy's listing says it syncs workouts to Strava automatically.

Questions

Read next

• Why logging on your wrist beats your phone between sets

  What changes when the phone stays in your bag.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  The rules behind every number in the examples.

• RPE vs RIR

  Moving from Hevy's RPE to reps in reserve.

• Best workout app for Apple Watch

  Hevy, Strong and others, chosen by what you log on your wrist.

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  The upper/lower split the first example follows.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Strong vs Hevy on Apple Watch

  Strong and Hevy are close on the wrist. Here's where they differ, and where RIRLift fits.

• 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 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.

Every lifter and goal