The periodization app that runs your block from what you lift

What a lifter running blocks needs from an app

• A block with a finish line

  Give a program an end, say week 8, and the Journey shows where you are and where your main lift is headed. Group routines into programs and switch the active one when a block ends.

  

• Weights from your sets, not the calendar

  No load table is planned for week 5 in advance. Each weight is worked out from the reps and reps-left you logged, so a good week moves you on and a bad week doesn't bury you. How RIRLift picks your next weight has the full rules.

• Deloads when a lift stalls, per lift

  A few sessions without a new rep and the recap suggests about 10% lighter for that lift. You tap Deload or Not yet. Lifts still moving keep moving. With Pro, Fine-tune sets how much a step back takes off.

• A new block drafted from your history

  Ask Coach to build the next block from your recent progress. It shows the plan as a preview, and nothing changes until you tap Apply changes or Adjust.

  

• Weekly volume you can see

  The weekly muscle map counts hard sets per muscle, so you can check a volume block is actually delivering more sets than the last one.

  

Inside a block, session by session

Week 3 of 8: an upper/lower hypertrophy block

Four years of lifting, four days a week, heavy and volume days. The Journey says week 3; the weights come from last week's sets.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	Upper Heavy: 185 lb, 8 / 8 / 8 / 8, 2 left	190 lb × 5–8	Top of 5–8 on every set. One step up, target back to 5.
Barbell Row	Upper Heavy: 155 lb, 10 / 9 / 9 / 9, 2 left	155 lb × 10	The weakest set hit today's target of 9. Same weight, aim for the top of 6–10.
Hack Squat	Lower Volume, set 1: 180 lb × 12, 3 left (planned 1) · sets 2–4: 190 lb × 12 / 12 / 12, 1 left	200 lb × 8–12	Set 1 was easier than planned, so set 2 went up: 180 × 44 ÷ 42 ≈ 189, loaded as 190. Every set at 190 reached 12: one step up.

Week 3 is a label on the block, not a percentage. Each lift is where its sets put it.

Week 6: the squat stops moving

Same block. Squat has logged 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 at 265 lb for three sessions. Romanian deadlifts are still climbing.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	265 lb, 6 / 6 / 5 / 5, third session in a row	240 lb × 5–8 if you tap Deload	No new rep in three sessions. About 10% lighter: 265 × 0.9 ≈ 239, rounded to 240 lb.
Romanian Deadlift	205 lb, 10 / 10 / 10, 2 left	210 lb × 6–10	Not stalled, so no deload. Top of 6–10, one step up.

The deload lands on the lift that needs it, in the week it needs it. Tap Not yet to push one more session.

Starting a new block after four weeks off

A month away between blocks. The first session back shows an Ease back in offer.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	Last session: 190 lb × 6, 2 left	170 lb × 5–8	Three weeks or more off: one week about 10% lighter. 190 × 0.9 = 171, rounded to 170 lb.
Barbell Back Squat	Last session: 240 lb × 8, 2 left	215 lb × 5–8	Same easier week: 240 × 0.9 = 216, rounded to 215 lb. Normal progression from the week after.

Choose Pick up where I left off instead if you kept training somewhere else.

Block-friendly plans that open in RIRLift

• The best workout plan for muscle gain, for where you are now

  Past a year of lifting, gains have stalled

  Heavy and volume upper/lower days for lifters past their first year. The block in the examples above runs this plan.

  4× a week · 76 sets a week · ~50 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Full gym, 3 days: heavy, moderate, light

  Heavy, moderate and light days in one week: undulating periodization on three days.

  3× a week · 50 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

• Give the program a finish line

  Set how many weeks the block runs. The Journey tracks the week and projects your main lift to the end, so you can judge the block before it's over.

• Set how hard it pushes

  Steady takes smaller steps, Standard is double progression, Push takes bigger jumps and waits longer before suggesting a step back. Change it any time.

• Decide how deloads work

  Keep Step back when stuck on and the recap offers a lighter week when a lift stalls, or turn it off and deload on your own schedule. Set Coach to Ask first and next session's weights are saved only when you confirm them on the recap.

• Draft the block on a computer

  Build the program on any computer in the web planner, then import it. With Pro you can also draft programs with Claude or ChatGPT and review them in the app.

When a different app fits better

• You want volume that ramps on a set schedule, with a deload fixed to the last week of every block. RIRLift sets load and deloads from your logged sets, not from the week number. An app built around planned mesocycle ramps fits better.
• You're peaking for a powerlifting meet. A meet-prep program fits better.

Questions

Read next

• What is a mesocycle?

  How to plan a training block from start to deload.

• Macrocycle, mesocycle, microcycle: the three training cycles

  How the three layers of periodization fit together.

• Deload week: the signs you need one and how to run it

  When a lighter week helps, and how light to go.

• Undulating periodization: does changing reps daily (DUP) build more muscle?

  The evidence behind heavy, moderate and light days.

• How to break a lifting plateau and start progressing again

  What to change when a lift stalls mid-block.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The hypertrophy app that sets your load from reps in reserve

  RIR on every set, weekly sets per muscle, and deloads when a lift stalls instead of on a calendar.

• The progressive overload app that decides your next weight

  Next weight and rep target set from your weakest set, corrected between sets, with stalls caught early.

• The workout app for intermediate lifters whose gains have slowed

  Progression past the beginner stage: jumps sized by RIR, stalls caught early, and years of history imported.

Every lifter and goal