The kettlebell app that tells you when to buy the next bell

What a kettlebell lifter needs from an app

• Progress with one bell

  A single kettlebell stays the same weight, so reps carry the progress. When your weakest set hits today's target, the next target is one rep higher. Every set ends with a tap for how many reps you had left, which is how the app knows a set was hard enough.

• A clear signal for the next size

  When every set reaches the top of the range, the app calls for one step heavier, 5 lb, so a 35 lb bell becomes a 40. If you don't own it yet, the plan's rule takes over: slow the lowering and work back up the range.

• Rest you can see from the mat

  The rest timer fills the screen, runs on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, and shows on Apple Watch with buttons to add or take off 15 seconds.

  

• Every move shown

  Kettlebell rows, presses, split squats, swings and get-ups each open to an illustration and the muscles they train, offline. The kettlebell exercises page groups them by what they work.

  

One 35 lb kettlebell, session by session

Day 1 with a single 35 lb bell

Running the one-kettlebell plan below twice a week in a living room. The bell is a 35, and it's the only one you own.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Kettlebell Split Squat	35 lb, 12 / 12 / 11 / 10 reps per leg, 1 left	35 lb × 11	Today's target was 10 and your weakest set made it, so the next target is 11.
Kettlebell Deadlift	35 lb, 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 reps, 2 left	40 lb × 10	Every set reached 20, the top of 10–20. One step up is 5 lb, the next bell size, and the target resets to 10.
Kettlebell Overhead Press	35 lb, 7 / 6 / 5 reps, 1 left	35 lb × 6	The last set fell one short of 6, so the target stays. Pressing a bell overhead moves slowest.

One lift is ready for a heavier bell, two keep climbing in reps. The same 35 lb bell runs all three.

The press stops moving

Three sessions later, the overhead press is still at 6, 5 and 5.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Kettlebell Overhead Press	35 lb, 6 / 5 / 5 reps, 1 left, third session running	30 lb, or stay at 35	Three sessions with no new rep, so the recap suggests about 10% lighter, rounded down to 30 lb. No 30 lb bell? Choose Not yet and slow each lowering to 3 seconds.
Kettlebell Row	35 lb, 15 / 15 / 14 / 13 reps, 1 left	35 lb × 14	Your weakest set hit today's target of 13, so next time it's 14.

A stall gets a choice, not an order. You pick Deload or Not yet based on the bells you have.

You bought a 40

The deadlift called for 40 lb, so you picked one up. Now there are two bells by the couch.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Kettlebell Deadlift	40 lb, 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 reps, 2 left	40 lb × 11	First week on the heavier bell. Your weakest set hit the target of 10, so the next one is 11.
Kettlebell Split Squat	35 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 / 15 reps per leg, 1 left	40 lb × 8	Top of 8–15 on every set. The app calls for one step up, and this time the bell is already in the room.

Each lift asks for the next bell when it's ready. Buy them one at a time, in the order your lifts call for them.

A kettlebell plan that opens in RIRLift

• The best workout for home, with little or no equipment

  One kettlebell, 2 days a week

  The plan in the examples: one kettlebell, a chair and a step, two days a week with push-ups and calf raises filling the gaps.

  2× a week · 40 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

• Add kettlebells to your equipment

  Select kettlebells in your equipment list and plans and swaps will use them. A kettlebell exercise with no history starts with a light Estimate and one set of max reps.

• Use the units on the bell

  Units are set per exercise, so if your bell says 16 kg you can log it in kg while your scale stays in lb.

• Add swings to any day

  Kettlebell swings, clean and presses, snatches and get-ups are in the library. Add them to a routine and log weight and reps like any lift.

• Pick a slower pace

  Settings has three progression paces. Steady takes smaller, surer steps, which suits a press you're still learning.

• Run it from your wrist

  With Apple Watch, log sets and start rest without touching the phone. It's optional; the iPhone app does everything on its own.

When a different app fits better

• You want EMOM, AMRAP or Tabata timers and follow-along flows. RIRLift times rest between sets, not intervals. A kettlebell timer or class app fits better.

Questions

Read next

• Kettlebell exercises, grouped by what they train, with sessions for the bells you own

  Every kettlebell move, grouped by muscle.

• The best workout for home, with little or no equipment

  The one-kettlebell plan in full, next to the bodyweight and band plans.

• Kettlebell swing: how to do it, what it works, and what to swap it for

  Form for the move most people buy a kettlebell for.

• How to break a lifting plateau and start progressing again

  What to do when the press stalls.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  The rules behind every number in the examples.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The workout app for home that plans around what you own

  Bare floor, a pull-up bar, bands or one kettlebell: a plan for your gear that gets harder as you do.

• The dumbbell workout app that knows when to grab the next pair

  One fixed pair or an adjustable set: plans that fit, and weights that step the way your dumbbells do.

• The resistance band workout app that tracks every band

  Log each band by its rating, stack them, and move up when every set tops the range.

Every lifter and goal