Nike Training Club on Apple Watch, and where your weights go

NTC and RIRLift on the wrist

• NTC runs the class

  NTC's Watch app follows a trainer-led or whiteboard workout: next movement, pause, skip, with heart rate and calories on your wrist. It's free with a Nike Membership.

• RIRLift remembers the weight

  On a lifting day, every set is logged on the Watch: weight, reps and how many reps you had left. Next time it starts from those numbers.

• The weight goes up when you've earned it

  When every set reaches the top of the rep range, the next session goes up a step; a set that goes badly brings the next one down on your wrist. The rules.

• 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.

  

• Both land in Apple Health

  NTC works with Apple Health. With your permission, RIRLift saves lifting sessions there as Traditional Strength Training, so classes and lifting sit in one history.

A week with NTC classes and logged lifting

Two NTC classes and two dumbbell days at home

You do NTC classes on Monday and Thursday, and lift with adjustable dumbbells on Tuesday and Friday, the Watch on, the phone on the shelf.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Goblet Squat	35 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 2 left	40 lb × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: one 5 lb step, reps back to 8.
One-Arm Dumbbell Row	40 lb, 10 / 10 / 9 reps, 2 left	40 lb × 10	Not every set reached 12, so the weight holds. The weakest set hit its target of 9, so the target moves to 10.
Flat Dumbbell Press	35 lb, 12 / 12 / 11 reps, 3 left	35 lb × 12	One set short of the top, so it holds and aims for 12 on every set.

The classes stay the same. The lifting days are where the weights climb.

Gym machines, NTC yoga on rest days

You lift on machines twice a week at the gym and use NTC yoga and recovery sessions in between.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Machine Chest Press	100 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 3 left	110 lb × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: one step up the stack, reps back to 8.
Seated Leg Curl	Set 1: 90 lb × 6, 0 left	Set 2: 80 lb × 8	Below the 8–12 range with nothing left, so the next set comes down one step on the stack.

A hard leg curl after a long day was corrected on the Watch before set 2.

Plans that fit around classes

• The best workout for women, for your week

  2 days, alongside classes or running

  Two heavy lifting days built to sit beside classes or running.

  2× a week · 23 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

  One light pair at home, no bench

  For home days with one pair of dumbbells and no bench.

  3× a week · 45 sets a week · ~35 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Put lifting days between classes

  Schedule your two lifting routines on days without a hard NTC leg class, so your legs come in fresh.

• Allow Apple Health

  Turn on Apple Health in RIRLift so lifting sessions sit next to your NTC workouts.

• Rate reps left honestly

  After each set, log how many more you could have done. That number is what moves the weight.

When a different app fits better

• You want to follow a trainer on video. NTC is classes, with trainer-led and whiteboard workouts. RIRLift has no classes.
• You want conditioning, yoga or pilates. NTC covers them. RIRLift is built for lifting and has no interval timers.

Questions

Read next

• The best workout for women, for your week

  The two-day plan built to sit beside classes.

• When to increase weight

  The rule the lifting days follow.

• How to use RIR

  Rating the reps you had left.

• The workout app that puts your lifting in Apple Health

  How lifting sessions land in Apple Health.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Is Apple Fitness+ strength training enough to get stronger?

  Keep your Fitness+ classes and add two logged days where the Watch sets the next weight.

• Peloton Strength+ on Apple Watch, compared with RIRLift

  Strength+ coaches you through each workout. RIRLift sets the next weight on your wrist after every set.

• 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.

Every lifter and goal